I spoke to coupon maven Jill Cataldo (dropped from the TLC's "Extreme Couponing," according to her blog) and The Krazy Coupon Lady's Joanie Demer (shown on TLC Dumpster diving with her son) about last night's TV special and how it portrayed the people it featured.

I chatted with each lady in separate phone calls, and yet it feels like it could have been all one conversation. As we chatted, one theme arose: All three of us agreed that some couponers are so extreme that they just might have a problem. But not us.

Yet, each of us confessed to behaviors that the average person would find odd. Maybe even ... extreme.

Jill Cataldo said, "I would definitely consider myself aggresive. Extreme, no. An aggresive couponer is willing to jump in the car at a moment's notice before a great deal has passed. And who is wiling to buy in quantity ... what your household might reasonably use before the expiration date."

To Jill, her stockpile -- two plastic shelving units under her basement stairs, plus an extra refrigerator, plus an extra freezer -- is quite reasonable to feed her family. She woudln't go so far as one of the couponers profiled on the show, who turned his entire garage into a warehouse for extra deodorant and such. And yet, she finds it hard to explain exactly what divides her from the extremists.

"It's such a fine line," she said.

One thing Jill will not do is use coupons to buy products for resale. In addition to teaching coupon workshops and writing about grocery deals online, Jill consults for manufacturers. The manufacturers are not too fond of reselling couponers, she said.

Joanie Demer watched the show "with one hand over (her) face," nervous about just how crazy she was going to look. "After a couple of the promos...  I (thought), buckle up, here we go," she said. As the show's production went on, she said, "it became more and more apparent that it was going to show the extreme side. When we filmed the show it was called 'Coupon Masters.'"

Demer doesn't think anything she was shown doing was too extreme. Yes, she was in a Dumpster, but it was a recycling bin full of newspapers, not some back-alley bin full of rotting fish. On her blog, she posted a Q&A about the show, and in it said that she does not Dumpster dive very often.

Other than size of stockpile, the amount of time spent couponing could be used to separate enthusiasts from extremists. And here Demer wants to clarify something: Her husband seems to say on the show that couponing is a full time job for her. But he was really referring to her work publishing The Krazy Coupon Lady blog with partner Heather Wheeler, she said. She only spends about two hours a week actually clipping coupons and shopping, partly because she has her stockpile to draw upon, she said.

Here's what I think is truly extreme: One of the people profiled on the show said that she has skipped out on obligations to go coupon shopping. She's skipped dates with her husband and other things she's promised to do. (This was all in the footage shown online -- since I don't have cable, I still haven't seen the whole show.)

The definition of problem behavior is one that causes problems in your life. If your stockpile isn't encroaching on your living space, I don't care if you're storing a year's worth of deodorant or five years -- you're fine. A little weird maybe, but fine. But if you can't get to your bed because of crates of extra toothpaste stored in your room, that's a problem, no matter how cheaply you got them. And if your coupon shopping is stopping you from doing other things you enjoy and hurting your relationships, then it's problem behavior.

So what did I confess in the "maybe weird but not extreme" behavior category? Well, I have a stockpile too -- one Rubbermaid cabinet full of food items, one full of diapers and other paper products, and a bin full of toiletries. No extra fridge but I do have a deep freeze. I also have gone to some lengths to acquire extra coupons. I haven't entered a Dumpster, but I may have been spotted grabbing a coupon insert -- or some Coke Rewards or Box Tops -- that were sticking out of the top of a recycle bin. I'm not shy about searching magazines in waiting rooms or at friends' houses for coupons that no one else wants.

But I don't care if people think I'm weird, because I'm saving money to take care of my family, and having fun, too. Like Joanie told me today: "I think the ones paying full price are crazy."