We must be in Reality TV’s decadent “late period” — channel surfers are now barraged with low-stakes and mundane moments like items being sold to a pawn shop, parking tickets being issued, and wedding dresses being chosen.

In that context, TLC’s Extreme Couponing, which follows bargain-savvy consumers as they buy items at incredible discounts, is downright thrilling. I watch and think, Maybe if I put my mind to it, I could get seasoning packets for free, too.

Glen Burnie woman Zadia Hardy, 37, is just such a seasoned shopper, and filmed an episode of Extreme Couponing at Saubel’s Market in Whiteford, in which she nabs three-dollar bags of frozen vegetables for 17 cents apiece, among other miraculous feats.

As much as I envy her ability to work around the usual impossibility of “combining this coupon with any other offers,” I’m happy that unlike her I don’t have “as many as 10,000 products” stacked in my home at any given time. But on the other hand…