Are you an extreme couponer? I know some of you are while others of you are not (TLC actually contacted me this week about going on Extreme Couponing.. I declined ;)). Well, this article was very interesting. NOT in a good way. I’ve been hearing more and more stories about people stealing Sunday papers and/or coupon inserts. This article is about a lady who stole more than 185 newspapers. I thought you all might be interested in reading this article. Go HERE to read the article courtesy of fox8.com. And yes, I would love to hear your thoughts! 🙂
Thanks for coming to Addicted to Saving! Here’s a little bit about me so you can know who’s behind all these posts!
My name is Liza and I began my money-saving journey in the Spring of 2009 as a way to stretch a limited household income. I had lost my job and my hubby was self-employed. I launched Addicted to Saving in November of 2009 and it has grown by leaps and bounds. Since then, my hubby and I have struggled with the ups and downs of two failed adoptions and are now LOVING being parents to our little man Asher who we brought home from Ethiopia in August of 2013. I feel incredibly blessed to be able to help you save money. My goal is that you will have FUN and become empowered to save more and more money each week..
THANK YOU FOR DECLINING TLC!!!!!!!!
YES Thank you for declining TLC!!!!! OR….you could accept but do it the RIGHT way LOL!!!! Oh boy would they love that!! 🙂
Me personally I think that is so wrong.It will drive the price of papers up and eventually limit us on what we can get.I ask for coupons,buy one’s I can’t get and I buy 5 newspapers a week,one for each member of my family.It will all pay off in the long run if you do it honestly:)
we just increased the price of our newspaper in Va because of theft.
That is just horrible. I remember 1 episode where the lady was stealing newspapers off peoples driveways.Some people are more than a couple sandwiches short a picnic.
LissaL – I remember that episode too! I was schocked by that behavior – and the fact that she was so nonchalant acting like her behavior was acceptible! P.S. I love your sandwiches saying. Hilarious!
I also remember the episode, and although I still think it is wrong, she justified herself because the homes she took from were forclosed and/ or had no occupents but were still receiving the paper. Personally, I would have contacted the newspapr to let them know and asked what they wanted me to do, if anything, with the papers or if I could have them since they were already paid for. We were receiving a daily paper we hadn’t ordered, but we were getting the Sunday edition, so initially I thought it was some promo they were running. I finally decided to call and they told me that someone had ordered the weekly paper for our address, it was a transfer or something, and that until they called in to complain about not geting the paper it was ours to keep. Not exactly the same, but the papers are still paid for and until the subscriber cancels or changes their address with the newspaper, they are just going to waste. I wouldn’t personally do it, but to each his own.
Thank you for the article and I am happy you declined. I don’t think hoarding 2 years of toilet paper in your home should be promoted.
Keep doing what you do best, help a lot of people save tons of money!!! The decent and honest way. 🙂
I have had this happen to me! My husband went in to a gas station to buy my usual sunday newspaper. Two women were going through the stacks of papers and taking out all the coupons and then putting them back. I was very upset to hear this. Gives us all a bad name! Good for you for declining that silly show. 🙂
Good Grief! She’s stealing newspapers so she can feed her coupon habit and have what? 200 bottles of bodywash and toothpaste? No common sense! What a dimwit. If this keeps up they’ll just quit putting out coupons.
I use to have my newspaper stollen. We actually witnessed the neighbor pulling out the coupons out of the paper.
This is why couponing has become such a challenge. We try to do it the right way and stores snub their noses at us as if we are doing something wrong. When one person does it wrong or unethically it makes the thousands trying to do it the right way and for the right reasons look bad. I’m glad she has to answer for her actions. I also hope it shows others this really is wrong. I’ve seen people do this and said something. They laugh at me like I’m the crazy one. UGH!
Glad you declined the offer for TLC – now if we could just get people to stop watching that show! I have never seen an episode and will not watch it because of the bad rep it portrays of “Couponers”! Since the show aired it has done nothing but drive down coupon values, lessened the sales and driven merchants and manufacturers to change their coupon policies! As usual just a few greedy people ruin it for the ones that need to be able to save as much as possible!
I am so glad you declined TLC extreme coupon show. That show has caused so many problems for people who want to use the coupon system the legal way so they can save money and feed their household for less. This show is now spoiling the way we can use coupons. Stores are getting stricter and stricter with coupons and making the one that us coupons the legitimate way look like criminals.
Well the idiot now has to pay either time and/or money for her crime. 😀 Dumbass.
There are other ways of getting coupons besides stealing them. I have an inbox at my office and I have rounded up like 10 dedicated employees who usually bring them to me, they usually just throw them away. Every Monday morning there is a big stash of coupons in my inbox, YEA!
I COUPON TO SAVE MONEY BECAUSE IM A SINGLE MOM WITH A KID IN COLLAGE THAT RAIDS MY PANTRY . I WATCHED A WOMAN IN OUR TOWN ONE NIGHT GOING THRU THE SUNDAY PAPERS IN THE BOXS TAKING OUT THE INSERTS. THIS WAS WHEN I WAS JUST STARTING AND DID NOT THINK ANYTHING OF IT. WELL NOW I DO BECAUSE THE NEWSPAPERS MY BROTHER BOUGHT AT WINN DIXIE THIS WEEKEND ALL SIX HAD THREE OF THEM MISSING THE INSERTS. ITS JUST WRONG WHEN YOUR LOCAL PAPER CAN GIVE YOU A DICOUNT ON YOUR SUNDAY PAPERS DELIVERD, IM STARTING THIS MONTH . IM ALSO GLAD YOU DID NOT SAY YES TO TLC!! I DO NOT LIKE THE SHOW !):
Heather – every week when I buy my newspapers, I go through them to make sure they have the correct inserts before I buy them. I too have bought papers missing inserts :(.. Also – remember that coupon inserts are regional so sometimes you may not find every insert in your local paper..
I have also bought a paper and didn’t look at it before I left, got home and found no coupons! I told Publix they needed to put the papers behind the counter so no one could steal the inserts. They said they might start doing that. I can’t believe people can stand right by the customer service counter and take them out and no one says anything. You can buy the dang paper for .99 cents starting on Tuesdays at Publix and Walgreens.
HOW DO I TURN OFF THE BIG LETTERS!
Heather – I have no idea what is going on with your letters.. Did you check to see if your Caps Lock button is pressed?
I steal newspapers…..from my parents and friends 🙂 (I ask though since they don’t use them).
You should have said yes to TLC so that the world knows how to do it right. I am sick of the cashier looking at me like I am a criminal. Then they are like “Are you an extreme couponer?, I’ve seen that show…” and I’m like no, the people on that show are wackos.
WOW! I can’t believe someone did that! I am glad they got busted for it. I can’t imagine how many people do it and don’t get caught.
People are insane! Do they not think about anyone other than themselves?
I have heard of couponers checking the recycle bins for coupons – BE CAREFUL. The police threatened to arrest a lady in our neighborhood who was doing it. They consider it county property once it is on the curb!!
I think when this happens its turned into a really bad obsessive compulsive disorder. It takes the joy of out it for everyone. Its stealing plain and simple.
I know the Dollar Tree in a near by town had to stop letting the papers set outside of the store because someone came by before they opened and cut the banding and stole all the coupon inserts out of the papers.
I believe some places will stop carrying the paper if this continues.
I agree with Susan, I stopped going to my usual Publix because I felt like I was on “shoplifter watch” when I was there. These coupon extremists are just making it worse for the those of us that use the coupons the way they were intended…..
Her defense of she didnt know it was a crime is really lame. You have to pay for 1 newspaper what makes someone think the rest are free? If you dont pay for something that requires you to pay to receive….well now that would be stealing, shoplifting…etc I agree with LissaL…sounds like this lady is a couple sandwiches short of a picnic! Love that saying!
I am just wondering if she is stealing them in quantities that large so she can turn around and sell them on ebay and reap the benefits. Maybe she isn’t actually using them herself. Things that make you go hmmmm….
how disgusting!!! That really ruins it for the rest of us. (the lady stealing the papers). I’m so glad you declined 🙂
They don’t even put papers in those machines on Sundays here. It’s been that way for years! I hope this show goes away soon.
I’m sorry but that’s downright stupidity. She had to have known that was a crime. STEALING, is a crime. So my local paper has threatened to stop putting coupons in the sunday paper because of thefts just like that one. Only people are stealing from the dispenser. They put in money for 1 paper and end up stealing more. This is the St. Petersburg Times in Tampa, fl.
Glad you declined the offer… For the most part, I really dont like how that show portrays “couponers”.
On the newspaper thing… I have to always check the sunday newspaper before I buy it at the stores… The other day I bought two and none of them had the coupons inside… Went back to CVS, and all the newspapers had been “cleaned out”!!! Its pretty sad…
Just wrong!!!!It really makes it hard for those of us who do it honestly. And glad you are not doing the show. The TLC show is actually what led me to couponing, but I don’t like the way it portrays couponing.
Ugh, I wish they would take Extreme Couponing off the air; great concept, terrible follow through! And really? Is this lady an idiot?! Let’s steal some papers and claim that you didn’t know any better. Common sense says, if I take something that’s for sale…and didn’t pay for it…that’s called stealing…dumb @$$! And if you are getting everything for free or close to it, you can afford the $1 per paper! =-O
I know I’m a little late to the game, but as someone in the newspaper business (I’m a copy editor), this really bothers me! Not only does it give coupon users a bad name, it’s down right stealing. It also makes my job more difficult. Newspapers are having a rough time as it is, and an idiot stealing not only eats into company profits but my paycheck as well. The woman not knowing this is a crime isn’t a defense, and it makes her crime even more disgusting.
What I love is how she was upset that they were not going to drop the charges. Really? That is what is wrong with this country? Everyone thinks they deserve a slap on the hand instead of being held accountable for their actions. Ticks me off!…and yes, then we get looked at like criminals for trying to save a buck. God help us all.
I too am in the newspaper business I am a circulation district manager What people don’t realize, Not only are they hurting the newspaper itself They’re taking money From the carrier The carrier pre pays for the newspapers When you steal the paper You stealing from an independent contractor Someone is trying to support your family I really am surprised at how many people do not realize that.