My Favorite Find

I used to have one of those cute little coupon organizers that is about 6 inches long, made of cardboard and closes with a long elastic. That was when I didn't really use coupons as I do now. There are all manner of boxes, binders and organizers that you can buy. Some of them are really pretty expensive too! Obviously, I'm cheap, so I didn't want any new fangled "thing" that was going to cost me a lot. I started looking online and in stores and finally settled on the one I have now. It was cheap and on sale when I bought it. (hurray!) As you can see, it has an outside zipper pocket and on the other side it also has another slide in open pocket. In the zipper pocket I keep a pen and a tiny pair of scissors. (that my children are not allowed to touch, under threat of near death)

It came with plastic dividers that are attached to the inside, but only 12, so I improvised and made more so I could be more specific as I file things. For example, one of my categories is "Personal Care". In that category I added these categories - Make up, Shampoo/Body Wash, Shaving, Dental. To make my extra dividers I just used a piece of white cardstock cut to the proper length and then cut a tab at the top that would stick up with the other plastic tabs. So far, that's worked great and I haven't had any trouble with it.

- I find that it is important to file my coupons in order of expiration dates. (e.g. earliest dates in front, later dates to follow) That way you won't miss one before it expires.

-I also make sure to clip every coupon, even if there are some that I wouldn't normally buy. The reason I do this is because often if an item is on sale for a really good price then I can couple it with a coupon and end up with a free or nearly free item. For example, I don't normally buy Pillsbury Toaster Strudel, but this past week it was on sale and coupled with the coupon that was also doubled, I got them for .50 cents a box! It makes for a fun and inexpensive way to get a special treat, which for us, that is. (and don't worry Mom, we only eat them as a dessert, not as breakfast)

So, I guess that's all I have to tell you about how I use my coupon organizer. If you're interested in finding one like it, let me know. We could work out some sort of Paypal deal and I could buy it for you and send it your way.

I hope all of this has been helpful. Its been such a blessing to our family! My ultimate goal is to save as much as I spend. This past week I came close. I spent $90.53 out of pocket and had saved $ 86.20, so if I hadn't used any coupons or extras I would have spent a lot more. That's groceries for 2 weeks for our family, minus a dairy and egg run. I just stocked up today on bread and saved an embarrasing amount on that too. We figured that we got $ 90.27 worth of bread items (bread, bagels, eng. muffins, & hamburger buns) for $27.28!! I didn't steal anything, I promise.