CHECK_OUT_GIRL CORY DARRAH KADDIE MANAGER MICHELLE NARRATOR TYLER TYLER_AND_DARRAH TYLER_AND_MICHELLE

DARRAH
Timber!  

NARRATOR
For extreme couponers enough is never enough. 
 
TYLER
I will not get two of something, i’ll get 60, 70 of that item.

MICHELLE
Alright!  108 free chocolates.  

NARRATOR
In the next half hour meet a woman who’s always on the hunt…

MICHELLE
That’s a dead deer.  

NARRATOR
… for a good deal.  

MICHELLE
Holy kanoley, that’s a lot of coffee!  

NARRATOR
And a shopaholic who’s out to prove he’s finally learned the value of a dollar.  

TYLER
A lot of money my parents give me goes to shopping.  

TYLER
All of these sports i got for free, the pasta free, hairsprays were only 25 cents apiece.  

NARRATOR
They’ll go far and wide to track down the best bargains.  

MICHELLE
I actually drove 30 miles to get this sale ad.  

NARRATOR
But their hearts will break when deals fall through.  

TYLER
It is the worst feeling ever having to put stuff back on the shelves when you’re getting it for free.  

NARRATOR
This is ‘extreme couponing’.  

TYLER
Boop-boop… 


TYLER AND MICHELLE
… hoop yeah!  That’s right.  

MICHELLE
There wasn’t that many meat coupons this week, so i’m gonna practise hunting.  

MICHELLE
That’s a dead deer, it’s a kill shot.  

NARRATOR
Only 25 percent of the most widely distributed coupons in the u.s. Are for food related items, and none of those are for fresh food.  

NARRATOR
But this isn’t a problem for avid hunter and extreme couponer michelle.  


MICHELLE
Hi, my name’s michelle and the only thing i like more than hunting big bucks, is saving big bucks.  

MICHELLE
Alright!  108 free chocolates.  

MICHELLE
Free is my thing.  I hate full price.  It needs to be with a coupon or in clearance.  

MICHELLE
They’re free, so we’re getting ‘em.  

NARRATOR
With a forest filled with deer for her to hunt, her own private chicken coop and a flourishing garden that has all types of fresh produce, missouri extreme couponer michelle doesn’t 
Have to go far for the staples she needs to feed her family of four.  


MICHELLE
We’ve got tomatoes, [unsure of name], this is all my fresh vegetables all for free.  

NARRATOR
To supplement this steady supply of fresh food, michelle keeps a 1700 item stockpile in the spare bedroom of her mobile home, that includes 55 bottles of hot sauce, 75 barbecue sauces and 100 protein bars.  

NARRATOR
By using coupons michelle has reduced her monthly grocery budget from $800 down to $200.  

NARRATOR
She and her husband cory are going to use all the money that they are saving to help build their new home.  

CORY
We are going to build our dream house right here where we’re standing.  

NARRATOR
But with only cory’s income to support the family, none of this would be possible without michelle’s couponing.  


MICHELLE
My husband and i decided i would be a stay home mom.  Well the finances changed drastically and it didn’t take long for us to realise “oh my gosh, did we get in over our heads?”  

MICHELLE
That’s when coupons saved the day.  

NARRATOR
Michelle has managed to put away over $10,000 towards her dream home, thanks to her detailed couponing system.  

MICHELLE
I’ll cut my coupons out, i’ll organise them and then i get my spreadsheet with all the items that are on sale, match with my coupons, and i’ll print them out and take it to the store.  

NARRATOR
Michelle’s couponing has been serving her family well, but she feels that she can help them save even more for their dream home.  

NARRATOR
Today she will attempt to spend only $10 on a month’s worth of groceries instead of the usual $200 budget.  

MICHELLE
This shopping trip is going to be my biggest ever.  

NARRATOR
Michelle heads to the supermarket with her binder filled with almost 4,000 coupons.  

NARRATOR
To help her pull off this massive haul, she’s having her mom and husband cory join her on this trip.  

MICHELLE
You guys ready to do the biggest shopping trip ever?  

CORY
Let’s do it!  

NARRATOR
First up on michelle’s list is one of cory’s favourite items to pack with his lunch, canned coffee drinks.  

MICHELLE
This coffee is a dollar 29 and i actually have coupons that are up to a dollar 79 per can, so all of the 112 will be completely free.  

MICHELLE
Holy kanoley, that’s a lot of coffee! I’m gonna be awake for a really long time.  


MICHELLE’S MOM
So we’ve got all this coffee, we’re caffeinated and ready to go, what’s next on the list?  

MICHELLE
Oh let’s see.  The brown rice is next on the list, so follow me.  

CORY
Health food.  

MICHELLE
Okay, we need to get 20 of these.  

MICHELLE
This rice is usually a dollar 39, but i actually have a coupon for 50 cents off one, and that will double to a dollar so it’ll make it only 39 cents. 

MICHELLE
I’m gonna get 20 bags of rice for only 39 cents each.  

MICHELLE
Okay guys, we got the rice, now it’s time to go get the dog treats.  

MICHELLE
Alright, i’m gonna be price matching the three ounce size, i do believe, let’s take a look, it should be these, yes.  

MICHELLE
Let’s see how many we can get, i’ve got 200 coupons.  

MICHELLE
Okay i am getting 60 bags of free dog feed and they’re normally $2.29 at the store i’m shopping at, but at a different store they have these for a dollar, so i’m actually gonna price match these, they’ll be a dollar, and then i have a $4 off any four coupons.  

MICHELLE
So that’ll make all 60 completely free.  

MICHELLE
I won’t have to buy dog treats for probably a year at least.  

NARRATOR
With two growing kids in the house, michelle goes through a lot of chocolate milk, so she’s taking this opportunity to stock up.  

MICHELLE’S MOM
How many?  

MICHELLE
108.  Let me find the item.  

NARRATOR
Michelle is taking advantage of her store’s price matching deal.  

NARRATOR
This product is normally a dollar 15, but her store will match the competitors price of one dollar.  

MICHELLE
I’m going to combine my price matching with my 50 cent off one coupon which will double to a dollar and it’ll make all of these free.  

CORY
Alright!  

NARRATOR
Michelle travels for ads so  she can price match at her favourite local store.  

MICHELLE
Now this is a special deal to me because i actually drove 30 miles to get this sale ad alone, and they actually had this cereal for a dollar 59, here at the store it’s $5.19, so i’m going to price match it and i’m gonna add a coupon.  

MICHELLE
The coupons off 50 cents off one and it’ll double to a dollar, so my cereal will only be 50 cents a box.  

NARRATOR
Michelle has coupons for two free protein bars, and like any extreme couponer she can’t say no to free.  

CORY
What flavour do i have to get?  

MICHELLE
Whatever flavour that you wanna get.  

CORY
They’re all gross!  

MICHELLE
Well it doesn’t matter cos they’re healthy and they’re free, so we’re getting ‘em.  

NARRATOR
After four hours of shopping, michelle has filled three carts and she is finally ready to check out.  

MICHELLE
How are you?  

MICHELLE
I’m actually gonna have three separate transactions today. I’m getting ready to check out and let’s just say the nerves are getting to me because i really wanna shoot for that ten dollar goal, and i’m gonna be very disappointed if it doesn’t happen.  

MICHELLE
Oh lordy!  Can’t watch.  Can’t watch.  

CHECK OUT GIRL
Okay it’s gonna be $110 and 67 cents, happen to have any coupons handy?  

MICHELLE’S MOM
These.  

CHECK OUT GIRL
Alright.  

MICHELLE
Okay, let’s see how low we can get it.  


CHECK OUT GIRL
Your total is $5.26.  

CORY
Yes!  

CORY
It’s like a kick to the junk.  

NARRATOR
After only one transaction michelle has spent over half her budget for this shopping trip.  

MICHELLE
The original goal was $10 or less, i’m already at $5 and i only have five more to go, so i hope i can do it, that’s all i’m gonna say!  

MICHELLE
Come on, come on, come on.  

CHECK OUT GIRL
Okay your total is $117.38.  

MICHELLE
Well hopefully we can get this transaction down to $2.  


CHECK OUT GIRL
Okay, your total is $6.38.  

MICHELLE
Oh man!  Man, man.  

MICHELLE
We’ve already gone over my limit.  

NARRATOR
After two of the three transactions michelle’s post coupon total is $11.64, both she and cory can’t understand how they have failed at their goal of a $10 checkout.

NARRATOR
A review of the receipts shows they miscalculated the tax on their transactions, but michelle wants to confirm this with the manager.  

MICHELLE
With the taxes, is it taken off at the total, like at the end?  

MANAGER
Oh no, they’re actually, it’s added on like every single time you ring an item… 

MICHELLE
Okay.  

MANAGER
… so when each, one item goes through it adds the tax on that item by item.  

MICHELLE
Okay.  

MICHELLE
I am totally bummed out, but, you know, we’ll just have to go with it.  

NARRATOR
Michelle’s third and last transaction will be the largest one yet.  Disillusioned over already exceeding her limit, michelle is unsure of what her total will be.  

CORY
[10:09:10:23 inaudible] time is standing still.  

CHECK OUT GIRL
Okay, the total for transaction three is $458.25.  

MICHELLE
I don’t have that much money, do you, did you bring that much money?  

CORY
No.  

MICHELLE
Ah,  still at $400.  Oh my lord!  I’m getting nervous.  

CHECK OUT GIRL
Okay, you’re down to $315.  

CHECK OUT GIRL
Almost down to a hundred.  


CHECK OUT GIRL
You’ve got about 12 left.  Are you ready?  

MICHELLE
Oh yeah.  

CHECK OUT GIRL
Okay.  

MICHELLE
Okay, let’s go.  

CHECK OUT GIRL
Your total after coupons is $13.88.  

MICHELLE
Yes!  Oh my god.  Yes!  

CORY
Nice work.  

NARRATOR
Even though she has spent more than her $10 goal, michelle is thrilled that her last transaction was less than she expected.  


MICHELLE
I really thought that my total was going to be $30 or more, so the fact that it’s $13.88, it really makes me happy.  

NARRATOR
The [10:10:18:08 inaudible] retail value of michelle’s transactions is almost $860 and even with complications she got her total down to under $26, a nearly 97 percent saving.  

NARRATOR
But before she goes home disappointed, the store manager has something to say.  

MANAGER
I looked into it and it turns out we were actually charging you tax on the items that were supposed to be coupon, which isn’t right, so we went back and we fixed that, and we actually owe you another $20.68 back for a grand total of all you paid today. $4.84.  

MICHELLE
Yooo!  No way!  Oh my god!  

MICHELLE
I can’t believe it.  

CORY
Can i give you a hug?  

MICHELLE
Oh my god!  

NARRATOR
Despite the up and downs, michelle kept to her budget and all in all that includes 20 packages of rice, 40 candy bars, 48 hot dogs and 60 dog treats, for a retail value of $857.79.  

NARRATOR
And she only paid $4.84.  A 99.4 percent saving.  

MICHELLE
My shopping trip was exciting and a little frustrating, and then in the end it was magnificent.  

MICHELLE
I don’t know how i pulled it off, but i did.  

TYLER
Okay we have got to get all this under control.  

NARRATOR
Meet an extreme couponer whose stockpile has taken over his kitchen.  

TYLER
Oh i don’t like this, it’s making it look like it’s getting worse.

TYLER
We have 12 years of body wash just sitting in the kitchen and my mom’s coming to visit.  I think we need to do something!  

NARRATOR
In the united states adults between 55 and 64 use more coupons than any other age group, but college student tyler is an extreme couponer, and he’s only 20 years old.  



TYLER
My name’s tyler, in between school work and partying i still have time to coupon.  

TYLER
My favourite part of the whole thing is the checkout.  It gets your heart beating, you’re kind of fist pumping in your head as you see the price start to go down.

TYLER
I will not just go in and get two of something, i’ll get 60, 70 of that item, because i know i’m gonna use it.  

TYLER
I love cheap shampoo, let’s take 20 of ‘em. 

NARRATOR
With an allowance of $100 a month from his parents, the indiana university junior struggles to cover both his grocery and social expenses.  
 
TYLER
It’s pretty hard to live off $100 a month when you’re in college, and i don’t have a job.  

TYLER
I have always been a shopaholic, its kind of been a bad part of my life, a lot of money my parents give me goes to shopping.  


TYLER
What drives me in couponing is just the saving of the money.  

NARRATOR
But saving money is just one reason he coupons.  

NARRATOR
Tyler also wants to show his mom that despite his shopaholic tendencies, he can be responsible with money. 

TYLER
My ma, she’s always been supportive of whatever i do, so i know she’ll definitely be supportive of me saving money i, hope.  

NARRATOR
Tyler has proved that he can save money by building a stockpile valued at about $1500, which includes 22 boxes of cereal, 35 bottles of laundry detergent, 74 body washes, and 92 Packages of pasta, that has completely taken over the kitchen he shares with his roommate darrah.  

DARRAH
Tyler’s  sacrificed space in the house for sure, like the kitchen, like we couldn’t get into our fridge for a while!  

TYLER
All of these sports drinks i got for free.  The pasta, free.  All of these mouth rinses were free.  Hairsprays were only 25 cents apiece.  

NARRATOR
Today tyler’s mom is coming to visit the apartment for the first time since he began couponing, and he wants to make sure to impress her with how far he’s stretching his allowance. 

NARRATOR
He has taken some of his savings and invested in industrial shelves to organise his stockpile.  

TYLER
Okay, we have got to get all this under control before my mom gets here.  

TYLER
Oh i don’t like this, it’s making it look like it’s getting worse!  

TYLER
Whooo we have a kitchen!  

DARRAH
You’re talented!  


TYLER
It looks a lot better.  

DARRAH
Yeah.  

NARRATOR
Tyler has excess storage space now that everything is arranged neatly. 

NARRATOR
Since he wants his mom to be amazed when she sees the stockpile, tyler needs to fill the rest of the shelves.  

NARRATOR
To do this he will have to pull off his biggest haul ever.  

TYLER
Okay darrah, you ready to prepare for this shopping trip?  

DARRAH
Yeah.  

TYLER
Each week we try to get about 15 to 30 inserts.  We get inserts sent to us from my aunts, my mom, our friends.  


NARRATOR
On today’s shopping trip tyler is bringing darrah along as he attempts to purchase over $300 worth of groceries for less than half of his monthly $100 budget.  

NARRATOR
Unlike most extreme couponers who have to break up their purchases into many transactions, tyler intends to buy 280 items using 160 coupons in a single checkout.  

TYLER
My store doesn’t have a limit.  On coupons you see you’re doubling, so i always just do one large transaction.

TYLER
We just got to the store, i’m super excited.  

TYLER
We’re building up my stockpile as big as we can get it so my mom will walk in and have her socks blown away.  

NARRATOR
First up on tyler’s list is a popular item in his and darrah’s house – drink mix.


TYLER
They’re $4.19 usually and today they’re on sale for a dollar 69, and then i have a dollar off coupon making ‘em 69 cents.  

NARRATOR
Next up is laundry detergent.  

NARRATOR
Even though tyler has an 11 year supply in his stockpile he can’t resist getting more of his favourite grocery item.  

TYLER
These laundry detergents retail for $3.99 a bottle.  Today they’re on sale for $2.39 and i have a one dollar at one bottle coupon making each laundry detergent only a dollar 39.  

TYLER
This one makes year number 12!  Boop-boop!  

NARRATOR
The final item on tyler’s list are a staple of any college student’s diet – frozen dinners.  

TYLER
We need 64 of them.  Keep on stacking.  


DARRAH
Just one more.  

DARRAH
Timber!  Yeah!  

TYLER
Whooo!  

NARRATOR
After three hours of shopping tyler and darrah have filled their carts and are finally ready to check out.  

TYLER
Feeling pretty good about checkout.  We’re here all the time, we never have any problems with restrictions.  

TYLER
Hello.  

KADDIE
Hi.  

TYLER
How are you today?  

KADDIE
I’m great, how are you?  

TYLER
I’m very good, have you ever had someone come in with this many coupons ready?  

KADDIE
That’s a lot of coupons.  

TYLER
Yeah.  

KADDIE
Are you familiar with our coupon policy?  There’s a limit of ten like items redeemed in one shopping trip.  

TYLER
Okay, you can’t have more than ten like items in a shipping trip?  We’re gonna have to go change out first these pastas, make sure all the body wash and shampoos are different.  We will be back okay.  

KADDIE
Okay, i’ll be right here.  

TYLER
This is awful.  It is the worst feeling ever having to put stuff back on the shelves when you’re getting it for free.  

NARRATOR
After rearranging and re-stocking his cart so that he doesn’t have more than ten of the same type of item, tyler is once again ready to check out.  

NARRATOR
He will now have to do multiple transactions in order to get the deals he had originally planned.  

TYLER
We’ll be doing six total transactions with the last being the largest transaction.  

DARRAH
Okay.  

TYLER
The most coupons.  

TYLER
Okay… 

KADDIE
Hi.  

TYLER
… are you ready for round two kaddie?  

KADDIE
I’m ready, yeah.  

TYLER
Okay, let’s start it off.  

KADDIE
Your total is $28.78 and do you have your plus card?  

TYLER
Yes i do.  

KADDIE
Thank you.  And your coupons.  

TYLER
There you go.  

KADDIE
This is your last coupon, your new total is $8.38.  

TYLER
What’s going on right now i’m ready to get through the next four transactions, and then get to my big one which should be a pretty large total and hopefully i’ll get it down real small.  

DARRAH
The total on this order is $10, we’ll need your card and your coupons.  

KADDIE
$2.90.  


KADDIE
That total is $10.  


KADDIE
$10 is your total.  

TYLER
There’s my coupons.  

KADDIE
Thank you.  

KADDIE
A dollar 80.  

NARRATOR
With only one transaction to go, tyler has purchased almost $70 worth of groceries but has paid less than 16.  

NARRATOR
Despite his need to impress his mom with this haul, tyler still wants to spend as little of his $100 monthly allowance as possible.  

NARRATOR
If anything goes wrong with this final transaction, it could bust his budget.  

TYLER
Usually i know down to the exact dollar what i’m spending, but right now it’s all up in the air.  

TYLER
We’re rocking, sitting here watching the total go up and up and up!  

KADDIE
You total’s getting high, do you have the money to pay for this?  

TYLER
I definitely don’t have that much money right now!  

KADDIE
Your total today is $224.45.  


TYLER
I don’t have that much money in my wallet so hopefully my store card and my coupons work.  

KADDIE
Could i have your store card?  

TYLER
Yes you can.  Alright, this is terrifying me!  It’s heart dropping!  

TYLER
It’s dropping, it’s dropping, dropping, dropping.  

KADDIE
Coupons.  

KADDIE
Your total after coupons is $37.53.  

TYLER
Boop-boop… 

TYLER AND DARRAH
… hoop, yeah!  That’s right!  That’s right. 


KADDIE
Your total today was $293.23, you’ve paid only $53.11, that’s great!  

DARRAH
Oh yeah!  

TYLER
Thank you so much!  

TYLER
So excited, i know my mom is gonna be so happy too when she sees it.  

NARRATOR
Despite having to make emergency recalculations, tyler’s shopping trip was still a success.  

NARRATOR
He managed a haul that includes 20 bottles of shampoo, 30 packages of pasta, and 60 frozen dinners.  



NARRATOR
A total retail value of $293.23, but tyler only paid $53.11 an 82 percent saving.  

TYLER
Let’s get out of here, we gotta stock the shelves before my mom gets in town.  

DARRAH
Alright.  

TYLER
Hey!  

TYLER’S MOM
Hey.  

TYLER
You’ve heard so much about the stockpile, so what do you think about it?  

TYLER’S MOM
Oh wow, when you said you were couponing i didn’t expect anything like this.  

TYLER’S MOM
You have a lot of frozen dinners.  

TYLER’S MOM
Tyler is not the most organised or diligent person and for him to be into extreme couponing is unbelievable.  

TYLER’S MOM
I’m very proud of him.  

TYLER
When she walked in the door she was definitely wowed, it makes me feel very good to hear my mom say those things.