BRIAN CASHIER CUSTOMER_SERVICES FAATIMA FRANCESCA FRANK JUDY NARRATOR STORE_MANAGER TEQUILA NARRATOR Forget cash or credit. NARRATOR For these savvy shoppers the answer is always coupons. JUDY This is the money i’m using today. FAATIMA A lot of money here! JUDY Couponing to me is like breathing. JUDY Hmm, i love you. NARRATOR Meet the coupon diva who’s addicted to savings. FAATIMA It’s like this adrenaline rush, like oh my goodness, it's like sex! NARRATOR And the connecticut mom who lays down a beat with every bargain. FAATIMA (rapping) i am the couponator aka the super saver, i’m saving up dollars always now and never later-ter-ter-ter. NARRATOR When extreme couponers take on the registers… FAATIMA I feel like i’m always getting ready for the fight. NARRATOR …they run the risk of getting knocked out. JUDY This is going to be the make it or break it moment. FAATIMA No couponer wants this to happen to them. It’s a nightmare. NARRATOR This isn’t grandma’s trip to the grocery stores. JUDY If it doesn’t work at this moment then that would mean i would be a failure. NARRATOR This is extreme couponing. JUDY Jack that beat blake. (rapping) i am the couponator, aka the super saver, i’m saving up dollars always now and never later. Get in your papers, cut it out, they be money, ain’t no doubt, helping you save every single day and i wouldn’t have it any other way. NARRATOR In the past five years coupon redemption in the united states has steadily increased by almost 27%. And connecticut mom judy lives by the golden rule no coupon no sale. JUDY I am judy from connecticut and i would change my middle name to coupon if i could. JUDY Free, love free, free is for me. JUDY Couponing to me is like breathing, it just makes me tick. I can’t imaging it not being in my life, that would be like withdrawal, do they have withdrawals for coupons? Coupon withdrawal. NARRATOR Judy’s obsession with savings has left her refusing to pay full price for anything, and incapable of walking away from a sale item. FRANK My wife is known as the couponator. FRANK Kind of like the terminator. FRANK She’s like a machine when it comes to shopping with her coupons. JUDY I cannot leave something that’s on sale that i have a coupon for on the shelf, i must have it, i would give it to an innocent bystander outside the store if i had to, but it can’t stay in the store. NARRATOR Judy’s compulsion to take home every sale item she finds has resulted in one of her most prized possessions, a stockpile of 2200 items accumulated in only four months of couponing. JUDY Over here we would have, let’s see, paper towel tower, and it has to be at that height, if it goes lower than that i’ll have like a panic attack. JUDY My stockpile’s like part of me, it's almost a family member. JUDY I love this shelf, hm, i love you. JUDY I thought about getting insurance on it, i’ve actually called and i’m waiting for my agent to call me back, no joke. NARRATOR Worth over $15,000, judy’s stash includes close to 60 air fresheners, a variety of oral care products numbering over 350, and an arsenal of make up and beauty products. JUDY I have it all, mascara, foundation, these were all free, and every time i went to the register they print out a catalina which is a register coupon for more of these, so every time i went they said “please come back and buy more”, and guess what? So i did. NARRATOR Amassing such a large collection of products for rock bottom prices means this stay at home mom diligently scours sales ads and the internet for high value savings. JUDY There’s a few websites they always have coupons, so i check them like twice a day, because they only let you have a limit of printings. JUDY I use three computers in my house so i can print two coupons per computer, so that’s how i can maximise my savings. NARRATOR Although judy has saved her family thousands of dollars she has yet to convince her daughter of the value of couponing. FRANCESCA I hate coupons, absolutely and really hate them. NARRATOR But judy devotes up to 35 hours a week to couponing to keep her own budget on track and to also help others. Today she’s planning a large shopping trip to supply a friend’s family With much needed groceries. JUDY My shopping trip today is for my friend, she and her husband work more than 40 hours a week, they have two little children, and they’re struggling to make ends meet. My goal today is to get about $650-$700 worth of products for no more than £150. Not even $150 and like 1 penny. NARRATOR Anxious about getting everything her friend’s family will need whilst staying on budget, judy heads to the supermarket with her husband and daughter along to help with the shopping. FRANK Walking into a supermarket with my wife can feel like you’re going onto a battle field, she wants to save as much money as she can and she wants to walk out with as much merchandise as she can. JUDY Awesome, look at these marinades, these are normally four for $5.00, they’re on sale for $1.00, i’ve a 50 cent off coupon, doubles for a dollar, so guess what? That would be free! JUDY I’m on the hunt, that better be the aisle. JUDY Let’s see, free up to $2.89, so which one do we want? What’ll be the best one? Okay, that’s $2.50 and that's less than $2.89. FRANK I think your coupon powers are failing you. JUDY I don’t think so. FRANK Because… JUDY Oh, now i didn’t even see that! FRANK Ha-ha. JUDY $2.69, all right, so one point for you, and i still have more points. When you get these coupons and they’re for free times you have to like read the fine print, up to $2.89, so you want to max it out, you want to get the biggest you can get, so silly me, i was getting One two for $5.00 which would be $2.50, and then he found one which was $2.69, but it’s more, it’s a better value, so get the better value because it's free anyway, so if you’re not paying for it, have it. JUDY I see the deodorant, come on. Let’s go. Yey, you get five of that kind and then five of that one, they’re both… NARRATOR The deodorant retails for $5.49, but is on sale two for $5.00, judy also has coupons for $1.00 off every two, making each deodorant just $2.00. JUDY With this coupon it says buy one deodorant and then you get a free body wash, and the body wash is $4.49 each, so we get over $40 in free body wash, so it’s a win, win situation. NARRATOR With the deodorant and body wash in hand judy next moves onto a food item she knows will make her friend’s children very happy. JUDY $1.00 off each one, and they’re two for $3.00, so that’s a bargain! JUDY She will really like those a lot. JUDY But we have one big order, i have to go to the customer service desk. CUSTOMER SERVICES Hi. JUDY How are you? CUSTOMER SERVICES How can i help you? JUDY Yeah, i put in an order for 105 ice teas, the one that’s on sale this week. CUSTOMER SERVICES I can call someone from… JUDY Awesome, thank you. FRANCESCA 105? JUDY You wouldn’t buy it, isn’t that awesome! JUDY I knew i was going to go and get 105 combination of teas and lemonades for my friend, so i called the store ahead of time and i ordered those, it’s just a courtesy to the other shoppers and the store would prefer it. JUDY Yey. Iced tea and lemonade. All right, we’re ready to check out. NARRATOR With two carts and a large palette overflowing with over 300 different products judy nervously heads to check out. JUDY Now i’m thinking i really hope this goes well, i hope i don’t break down, so it’s nerve wracking but it’s exciting. JUDY Hey. CASHIER Hi, how are you. JUDY How are you? I am good, i think i’m good, i think i have everything… CASHIER I think you do! JUDY ..i hope i have everything. FRANCESCA Don’t go bankrupt, don’t go bankrupt! CASHIER So this is going in your stockpile francesca right? JUDY Nope, we’re giving it away. JUDY Where are we at? CASHIER Where are we at? $363.57. JUDY Oh my god. FRANK Trying to keep busy, because if i think about i think i’d break a sweat. JUDY Oh my god, is that the total? CASHIER Your total today is $646.48. FRANK Oh hells no. JUDY When i saw the numbers on the register i felt like i had a huge elephant on my chest. NARRATOR With $650.00 worth of groceries already bagged judy needs every coupon in her arsenal to feed her friend’s family. JUDY This is going to be the make it or break it moment whether this family, you know, gets all this great stuff or not. CASHIER Do you have any coupons today? JUDY I have lots of coupons for you today. CASHIER (gasps) you do have lots of coupons. FRANK That’s all i can say! JUDY Let’s see now, oh yey, it’s under $400, woo-hoo! Small victories! JUDY I’m trying not to even look at the screen because if i look at the screen like i’m probably going to throw up. CASHIER We’re at $203.24. JUDY I know. JUDY Oh my god, we have more coupons, i’m so excited. CASHIER We have more coupons, a lot more coupons. JUDY I think it’s going to be less than $150. CASHIER I think so. CASHIER Your total after all your coupons today is $79.49. Cheers JUDY I love this day, i love my coupons, this is just the best, this is the epitome of like what makes me breathe and what makes me wake up in the morning, i love it. CASHIER Oh, she’s so happy! JUDY That’s great. CASHIER Awesome. JUDY That’s like way more than i expected. CASHIER You did a good job too! JUDY I can’t believe i’m crying so much! FRANK I’m tremendously proud, but if she doesn’t stop crying she’s going to make me cry. Stop! FRANK I could have danced but i ain’t doing it on tv! Sorry! Sorry ladies and gentlemen, you ain’t seeing that today. JUDY No it is. FRANCESCA Aah. JUDY Good job. NARRATOR Judy’s haul includes 30 condiments, 40 health and beauty products and 170 beverages. Her total retail cost was $646.48, but with coupons she only spent $79.49. The 88 percent savings and all The groceries bought with so little money are things judy can’t wait to share with her friend. FRANK Hi, how are you, come on in. JUDY Hi, are you all right? Hey, we got you like a lot of cool stuff. JUDY’S FRIEND Oh good. JUDY Have a look at it! JUDY’S FRIEND This is wonderful. FRANCESCA And it also cost only $79.49. JUDY’S FRIEND Wow, for all this? JUDY We got a really good deal, we saved a lot, a lot of money. JUDY’S FRIEND Thank you very much, this helps a lot, you have no idea how much this helps. JUDY You’re very welcome. JUDY I’ve always been a person that likes to pay it forward, like to get stuff free and to give it to someone and see their smile, like that’s…you can’t pay for that, like there's no coupon to buy that. FRANK Family hug! JUDY Fight, fight. FRANK I fight nothing, give me a hug! JUDY Love you, good job. FAATIMA Get this deal, get that deal! NARRATOR A coupon addict whose using discounts to get her family out of danger. FAATIMA My daughter’s boyfriend, he got robbed and shot at. These coupons are the key to get us out of here. FAATIMA Going to make space, so you don’t mind do you? BRIAN Oh it’s always a stockpile. FAATIMA Always a stockpile. NARRATOR When sales and coupons drastically lower an item’s retail price, more than 70 percent of shoppers claim to stock up on those savings, but for detroit, michigan’s extreme couponer Faatima, bargain hunting for deals happens 100 percent of the time. FAATIMA Zero, we love zero! FAATIMA My name is faatima and i am a coupon addict. FAATIMA (roars) we get this deal. Get that deal. FAATIMA It’s like a tragedy when a coupon expires, i feel like i lost a family member, it’s crazy though! FAATIMA Woo! FAATIMA Before i started using coupons i would spend a tonne of money and i always felt like i was getting nothing. It’s always just like the casinos, the house always wins! FAATIMA And now it’s like faatima always wins now! (sings) ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh. NARRATOR Despite her busy schedule as a wife, mother and small business owner, in just 10 months faatima’s couponed her way to a two room stockpile, that could sustain her family for Nearly two years. FAATIMA This is my precious stockpile. FAATIMA It’s worth about $15,000, but i’ve only paid about $500, or less. FAATIMA This is my wall of water, 3,000 bottles of water, you can live without food for 30 days, but you cannot go without water. NARRATOR But her stockpile covers more than just her own family’s essentials. FAATIMA I think that a real extreme couponer is an extreme giver. If you have too much of something you give. FAATIMA I’ve got 1,000 cans of dog food and i donate it, more than half of it, to the humane society. FAATIMA My noodles were on sale in the store, ten for ten, and i had a coupon for 50 percent off which doubled to a dollar, made them free. My milk, this is worth about $3,000 and i probably have…i have about 100. NARRATOR With 80 bottles of laundry detergent, 200 bottles of bath soap and 300 boxes of dental floss on her shelves, faatima is prepared for any household need. BRIAN When faatima first brought up the idea of couponing i thought she had lost her mind. BRIAN But i don’t think she’s crazy any more. FAATIMA (laughs) NARRATOR Faatima first began her stockpile has a way to thank brian for carrying the family’s finances when she could not. FAATIMA I had got really sick and i was in the hospital for two weeks, bills don’t stop coming in, you know, it just made me feel bad because i don’t want my husband to do nothing on his own. We’re a team. NARRATOR Couponing isn’t just faatima’s passion, it’s also her ticket out of a dangerous neighbourhood. FAATIMA My daughter’s boyfriend he had got robbed and shot at, they shot at him twice and took his car and beat him up. So i said i was done, please, i’m out. NARRATOR The only place faatima wants to go? A pacific paradise she fell in love with during past vacations, hawaii. FAATIMA It costs a lot to live in hawaii, so we’re trying to save everything, because if we don’t save we don’t move. Coupons is the key to getting us out of here. NARRATOR Every week faatima buys 200 newspapers for their coupon inserts, spends 30 hours matching those discounts with deals posted to online computer databases, and then takes great care To keep her savings organised. FAATIMA I will stack my coupons, put them all together so they match, stable them together, so when i cut them…they come out in a book, my book of money. NARRATOR And today she needs every penny in that book, because faatima’s not just shopping so she can afford to move, she’s also building up a stockpile of food to bring with her. FAATIMA Going to be a challenge, this is a big haul, this is one of the biggest hauls. NARRATOR Faatima’s prepared a shopping list for her hawaii move that retails over $1,000, but she’s hoping to pay less than $50 total. NARRATOR With the trailer on the hitch and more than 1000 coupons in hand, faatima heads into the supermarket with her husband brian and daughter tequila. FAATIMA I feel like i’m ali getting ready for the fight! NARRATOR Round one in faatima’s fight is cereal, that will be crucial to her trip’s success. FAATIMA We’re getting 1200 boxes of cereals. BRIAN That’s quite a bit! NARRATOR Using a high value coupon that does not restrict sizes faatima’s cereal won’t just be free, it will actually become a money making deal. FAATIMA They’re on sale currently four for a dollar. So that means they’re a quarter a piece, my coupon is for a dollar off of two, i make 50 cent off of each coupon, i have 600 coupons, that’s $300 in overage. FAATIMA Wow. FAATIMA The overage obviously this is going to pay for the things that i don’t have coupons for. If this don’t go right nothing goes right. NARRATOR Next, faatima eyes a sale on bags of rice. FAATIMA So we’re going to get 200 rice, the rice is a dollar, and our coupons is 50 cents which is double to a dollar which means it will be free. FAATIMA Free is always better! FAATIMA Holy moly! That's a lot of rice! NARRATOR More than two hours into the trip faatima’s family begins to tire. FAATIMA Tequila, stop it, you’re going to make be…you’all going to make me act [unsure of word] up in here! TEQUILA My back hurts and my feet hurt, and i’m hungry. FAATIMA We’re in a grocery store, you’d better crack open some cereal. NARRATOR To keep their energy up faatima heads to the meat department letting brian and tequila choose how to spend some of her coupon overage. FAATIMA All right, so we’re going to get us about $70 worth of meat. BRIAN Love turkey. TEQUILA We just take it? Where is the t bone? FAATIMA I only buy meat maybe once every three months, so when i buy it i stockpile it. FAATIMA All right, i think this is probably going to be about it, because i think you probably went through our meat budget. NARRATOR Having exhausted both her overage budget and her family, faatima completes more than five hours of grocery shopping. FAATIMA I’m ready, come on guys, let’s check out! FAATIMA I apologise for all of this now. FAATIMA If the theory, if it doesn’t go right then everything has gone off. So we’re going to make sure everything goes right! FAATIMA Oh. CASHIER Something happened to the register! NARRATOR With less than 300 of her 2000 items scanned the register stops working, and forces the store manager to shift the entire purchase to another check out. FAATIMA We’re going to move to a new register so we can continue with the rest of the cereal, aisle two, i’m getting back out. I’m going to win this fight right now! FAATIMA That one hiccup gave me an instant headache, everything is based on the cereal. NARRATOR The cashier scans the remaining cereal and finally moves onto the rest of the order, calming fatima’s nerves, but only for a moment. CASHIER This till’s gone. It won’t let me do anything else. TEQUILA It’s ridiculous, breaking a register. FAATIMA I have never in my life broken a register before. And i didn’t only break one register, i broke two registers. FAATIMA No couponer wants this to happen to them, nightmare. NARRATOR The manger shuts down the register and resets the system completely, but it does nothing to help. FAATIMA The coupons wasn’t even scanned at this part, we weren’t even half way through the order before everything crashed! I didn’t know if i was going to get my overage, there were so many unknowns. FAATIMA I was just scared. NARRATOR However, a second store manager suggests an unconventional solution. STORE MANAGER You know the system can’t handle every single item because there’s not enough memory to store each item on the system, we’re going to start bundling them all. We’ve never encountered something like this before, there’s a first time for everything though. NARRATOR Instead of scanning items individually the cashier rings in just one of each item and then manually enters the total cost for the quantity of that item being purchased, this Bundling drastically reduces the number of scans and allows the register to accept faatima’s entire transaction. CASHIER Your total today is $1,176.67. Do you have any coupons? FAATIMA Yes. NARRATOR Every coupon must be individually counted, doubled up to a dollar and collectively summed in batches no greater than 99, so as not to overload the system yet again. FAATIMA At this point i don’t know what’s going to work! Because of how everything has to be rang in, it’s nerve wracking. NARRATOR Calculating each stack of coupons takes time, but it also drops faatima’s total in large increments. FAATIMA I have $569.17 left to go and i am numb, i just want everything done right. FAATIMA We’re just trying to get it done, trying to get out of here. NARRATOR With nearly nine hours gone and 1100 coupons counted out by hand the cashier reaches the end of faatima’s stack. FAATIMA That’s it. NARRATOR And reveals her final total. CASHIER Your grand total, after your coupons, is $35.38. FAATIMA (screams) BRIAN Well done! FAATIMA Woo! (cockerel impersonation) FAATIMA I’ve got a lot of receipts, i love them! FAATIMA I pulled off a major feat, i got nine baskets full of stuff and a whole cart, so this is $35 worth of…i paid $35! FAATIMA Plus the store is actually closed now, we have been here nine hours. NARRATOR Faatima’s haul includes 200 bags of rice, 350 assorted beverages and 1200 boxes of cereal, a retail value of the purchase totals $1,167.76, using coupons she paid just $35.38, a 97 percent Savings that grows the stockpile she’ll bring with her to hawaii. FAATIMA To people that don’t coupon i would say this, don’t be foolish and listen to some people who say you can only get junk, because you can get a ton of stuff, get out here and get some of these deals, and these are going to feed your family.