MORGANTOWN -
The show extreme couponing has shoppers stunned at how much money can be saved at the register, but local couponers say the show is giving the 'unextreme' couponer a bad name.
"I'm not extreme," proclaimed Stormy Matlick, a Morgantown couponer who holds regular instructional meetings. ‘I don't go to the store and spend thousands of dollars and pay $2 out of pocket. That's not reality."
"It doesn't show couponing in a positive way," agreed Christina Piper. "So, now when I go through the line, I'm getting eye rolls because I'm a couponer, even though I follow the rules. I don't shelf clear and I buy just what I can use myself."
Stormy Matlick and Christina Piper are both couponers who want to show shoppers how to save, the right way.
"You know, anything I can do to save money obviously is a good thing," said Matlick.
If the world of coupons is intimidating to you, the ladies say it doesn't have to be time consuming once you find a method that works for you.
Some use binders, others use plastic bins to sort their coupon stash, but the only important thing is that it is quick and easy to organize..
"I can customize it to however many tabs I need," explained Piper. "And add like subcategories. It's all color coded. So, if I need something like say, baby wipes. Go back to the yellow section, which is my households and right here in the front, they'd be right here."
Also unlike their extreme counterparts, Matlick and Piper are realistic about their needs.
"The difference between what I do and what they do, I learned a way to track what my household uses. So, I only purchase the number of items that my household is going to use in a 3 month period of time," explained Matlick.
And while "extreme" couponing isn't the image the ladies want to have, they are still saving upwards of 50 percent on shopping trips, but only on items they need.
"The total retail before was $89.14. After I used my coupons and paired that with my savings on my rewards card, I ended up paying $8.14 out of pocket," Matlick shared of one trip to purchase dog food.
Piper, who has been couponing since she was a teenager, once took her roommate and friend to Kroger in college.
"I think our bill was like $108.00 and I got it down to like $30-something," said Piper.
If you are interested in local couponing, you can join the "Morgantown Couponers" Facebook group, or check out the Coupon Wizard's website, where Matlick learned many of her tips and tricks.
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