The Wise, Wacky Women Of Extreme Couponing

Last night TLC aired new series Extreme Couponing, which is just what it sounds like: Ladies going to extremes to save on their grocery shopping. J’amie — seen in the clip above — is a self-proclaimed Coupon Diva, which means she shops wearing lipstick, eyeshadow and heels. It’s a bizarre experience to watch her buy sixty-two bottles of yellow mustard: Sure, it doesn’t spoil, but why would you buy that much mustard? When are you going to have a chance to use that much mustard? Where the hell are you storing all that mustard? I was both impressed and vaguely nauseated by her exploits, especially when her husband noted, “I don’t even eat mustard.” Still, it is a tough economy, and J’aime is an inspiration of sorts. It’s not easy to spend hours and hours clipping coupons, organizing files and checking on deals, and J’aime’s checkout process at the register took two hours. It paid off, of course: Of her $1,902.63 grocery bill, J’aime paid a mere $103.72 in cash. Still, 62 bottles of mustard? You’ve definitely crossed over into “eccentric” territory. Jon Caramanica of The New York Times calls the show “a revenge fantasy and a heist flick all in one,” but at times it felt like a pseudo-porn-y niche fetish film. The money shot is the receipt! J’aime even did a little dance of ecstasy after she paid a mere 5% of the retail value of her purchases.

Lest you have any doubt that there’s something a little compulsive, slightly manic and a wee bit peculiar about these folks, meet Jessica: She’s so obsessed with her couponing “stockpile” that she has cereal in her bedroom closet, and says, “all the pretty labels” make her happy.