What's with all this hype on the news about coupons?

There has been many news articles recently about coupons and how stores are starting to clamp down on us couponers. While there have been some changes to store policies, there have not been any substantial changes made. Publix recently changed how they view "competitors" and Target changed their view on BOGO sales. Target will no longer allow you to combine a BOGO coupon with a BOGO sale making both items free. Other than these two changes, there has not been any other major change in couponing. The Publix and Target change will actually help to eliminate those "shelf clearers" and help others to be able to get in on the good deals.

Many people, even the media, is contributing this to the show Extreme Couponing.  It seems the show has brought  couponing to the attention of some businesses and they are trying to crack down. While I do like watching the show, I do not agree with all of their antics. Stealing newspapers and purchasing 100 of the same items is a bit too much for me to handle. Unfortunately this has led to some stores limiting how many "like" coupons per transaction. However, this will also help to ensure that other customers get in on the deals as well.

There are some draw backs to the new changes, but lets be honest. How aggravating is it to get to your store and there be NO items left that were on sale? Some of the changes can be beneficial to us that are not trying to wipe a store clean.

So while the media is playing it up that couponing is getting harder to do, just sit back and laugh. The way I see it is, those that were planning on joining our wonderful couponing community and were in it for the wrong reason will now be deterred from doing so! And once this "couponing craze" has passed, so will the media hype and all the policy changes.