anything called extreme is, well, maybe too much

Ok . . . so yesterday on facebook, I posted this prediction:

72% of people featured on TLCs extreme couponing will later be featured on TLCs hoarding show.


And if you think about it, it's a brilliant strategy--what better way to ensure programming in the future? But it got me thinking, too. (I know, uh-oh.) There are definitely some extreme couponers who use their excess and stockpiles for good by donating to foodbanks or homeless shelters. That is awesome. And there are others who have an abundance of toilet paper, paper towels, toothpaste, razors and canned goods in the event that they lose their job or end up in District 12 or 13 after the Uprising. (oops, that's the Hunger Games, sorry.) And I guess that you can never really be too prepared in our world or economy. I guess the Y2Kers were the original extreme couponers.

Here is where I get annoyed or concerned or some emotion I can't quite identify--people who buy umpteen boxes of cat food and cat litter because they are getting them for free, but THEY DON'T ACTUALLY HAVE A CAT!!!!!! What do they plan to do with it?

And that can't help the economy for 2 reasons--1) who is paying for it? someone is paying for it 2) inflated demand will drive the prices up, won't it? I mean, I didn't do so well in Howie's micro and macro economics classes, but still . . . (econ wasn't my strong class unless you count the limericks that Mary and Billy and Andy and I came up with--if we had been graded on limerick creativity, I would have so aced that class).

Anyway, no offense to those of you extreme couponing with a side of sanity. I am somewhere between amazed and appalled by the phenomenon. I am definitely all for saving money, I am just unsure that buying 130 boxes of couscous that will expire in a year and you have never tried couscous is a good thing. I think that we have Americanized coupons--bigger has to be better right?

That is all for soapbox wednesday. I am off to take Spider-Man to occupational therapy.

You can thank me later when he can save the world because he has overcome his sensory issues.