Extreme Couponing

So while the boys were napping today, I caught the TLC special, Extreme Couponing.  Now, some of the folks featured seemed a little looney, creating stockpiles that would put any nuclear fallout shelter to shame.  One of the shoppers featured, however, (a man, incidentally), had an impressive personal stockpile, but also wielded his couponing power to acquire tons (literally) of first quality cereal, toiletries, etc. for his local food bank.  Granted, he spends hours pouring over store ads and online coupon sites and planning mega-shopping strategies, but - this got me thinking.  These couponers would walk out of a grocery store with carts filled with name-brand items, paying just a few dollars.  What if there were volunteers at food banks who strategically clipped coupons and helped these food banks stock their shelves for pennies on the dollar?  Or what if more of us were a little more conscious about how we pay for groceries - we could end up saving lots of $$$ for our own household, but also passing those benefits along to others in our community for whom affordable food is a real problem.  I don't anticipate I'll ever reach "extreme couponing" status, but it probably wouldn't hurt for me to a little more intentional about how I spend my family's money.  I mean, I get a huge thrill when the bottom of the Kroger's receipt tells me how much money I've saved.  I can't imagine if that number got exponentially bigger.
Curious if any of my throngs of readers are couponers - any tips or helpful strategies?