Manufacturer's Coupons

When we first moved here, people kept on asking us if we had any other coupons at the end of a sale - in department stores, supermarkets, shoe stores, you name it. We felt distinctly nervous to reply 'no'... Now, of course, being seasoned expats, and having had access to cable TV for the first couple of months, we know what coupons are all about. Namely, manufacturer's discounts (and some times store discounts) extra on top of whatever the thing has cost, but you need to have clipped (cut out) the coupon. You get books of coupons in the Sunday papers (which we happen to get). There are also coupons for our supermarket in their weekly specials leaflet, and often, there are additional % off in department store leaflets. I also get mailed coupons from a fabric/haberdashery store (which are actually quite useful), and if you sign up by email to stores, there are all sorts of special deals emailed (extra % off, 'flash' sales, previews of sales, etc). It is quite a machine, and not being organised, or having time to rush off to 10 different stores for various specials, we are doing the best we can to take advantage, without changing spending habits.
So, I clip what I think we're going to use, and occasionally am able to claim an extra 20% off at Gymboree because I have turned up to do kids clothes shopping on the right day. So, it hasn't changed our lives heaps, but we are learning not to buy stuff full price, because there are always sales on at some time or other (ALWAYS), and secondly, to keep an eye on the coupons, because we might be able to get 2 for 1 or something.
Extreme couponing is when people have a stockpile in their basement - basically a mini supermarket, because they get their hands on lots of coupons, then look up the specials in the supermarket leaflets, then buy an entire shelf full of an item at a deeply discounted price. ie - if a handwash was on special at .99c, and you had a coupon for $1 off two, I think that would mean it would cost .98c for two, then if you were to buy 50 at that price which would require 25 coupons (not sure how you would get that many coupons, but people do), you could stash them on your shelf and use as you needed and not need to buy hand wash for the next three months. This takes a lot of time in organisation and clipping of the coupons. But people are really clever, just watch the show Extreme Couponing... Some also coupon and donate to shelters etc, so it would be just an activity in that case. But there are people who manage only to spend $50 per week on groceries for a family of 6 which allows them to make an extra mortgage payment.