getting started - organizing coupons

You know how sometimes you make a bigger deal of something than it really is? Maybe that's just me. Anyway, I've had writer's block lately. I'm just going to stream-of-consciousness this - please let me know if you have any questions or if it doesn't make sense!

Let's start with organizing. The hardest part about couponing, for me, is organizing my coupons. I've used several different methods and I've basically settled on this system:

1. Browse through insert. Clip coupons for products I know we use and for items that I suspect will be moneymakers.

2. File those coupons in my binder (actually a photo album). Here it is. The smaller one is where I keep my ECBs and coupons I'm planning on using at CVS.



3. Write the date of the insert on the front cover and file it in a magazine file. My magazine files have lived several different places. Currently, they reside in a laundry basket, so I can haul it out whenever I need it and hide it, when I don't need it. Don't let this scare you:


Now, that's in a perfect world. The reality is that I usually make my lists by scanning the ad previews on hotcouponworld and the "best of" weekly posts on the blogs over in my sidebar. In that case, I just clip as I need them. As I've mentioned before, I file them in envelopes with my list on the outside. My envelopes are usually tucked inside the front cover of my binder:


That covers inserts, but there are lots of other kinds of coupons - tearpads, booklets, blinkies, home mailers, internet printables, and so on. This is where I still struggle. I'm great at locating them - not so great at organizing them. As a result, I usually have a box like this:


This works for me for now as long as I put anything coupon related into it. At least I know right where to look for missing coupons or I-thought-I-had-a-blah-blah-blah coupons.

It is very easy to drown in a sea of papers when you start couponing. The secret to big savings is to have multiples of the same coupons - that means a. lot. of. paper. Try to find a system that works for you. If it's not working, change it.

I do not clip every single coupon and I honestly don't think you should either. It takes so much time and unless you're planning on regularly going up and down every single aisle of every store you shop - it will be time wasted.

Here's what I try to clip for sure:

• organics
• high dollar coupons for toothpaste, shampoo, make-up, etc. These are the moneymakers.
• products that I'm ok to get conventional - rice, pasta, frozen veggies, cheese, eggs
  
• diapers and wipes

Here's what I usually have waiting in designated envelopes:

• Kroger - home mailers that I know I'll use, catalinas that I think I'll use, Eggland's best eggs - these are usually cheapest at Kroger for me and I know where to find the coupon if I need it at another store
• Tom Thumb - catalinas that I think I'll use, ad coupons that I've clipped
• Target, Walgreens, CVS - I try to clip and add coupons for upcoming sales when I can - it helps me to remember to watch for the sales.

oops - K's up from her nap - that'll have to do for now. questions? comments? is anybody out there?

$500 challenge - on your mark

Pay check hit the account this morning, so here we go. I think I'm going to do stream-of-consciousness style posts, so you can see how I go about grocery shopping in a month. LMK if it gets confusing, or if you need more explanation.

A reminder - my $500 for the month includes:
food & eating out
gas
clothing
coffee & beer making supplies
household necessities
entertainment
crafting supplies
gifts

I've spent the past couple of days going over what we have currently. I need to restock diapers/pull-ups for Kira. Kroger has a deal this week on Huggies that I may take advantage of. I also have a back-up raincheck from a sale at Walgreens from a couple of months ago - for $4.50 per pack on the Walgreens' brand diapers. I had the cashier write the raincheck for 4 packs. Rainchecks are a great way to guarantee yourself a sale for later.

We've also used almost all of our canned organic tomatoes stash, so I'll be keeping an eye out for a chance to restock those.

We're good on pasta, but getting low on brown rice.

Whole Foods has ground beef for $2.49/lb this week - I need to get there by Wed.

Derek ordered coffee this morning - $52.05 for 10 lbs including shipping. We'll be drinking this and this this month, if you're interested.

There's a moneymaker at Walgreens right now that I may try to take advantage of. I'll do a separate post on that - if I end up making it over there today.

Just read back over this and realized that I should start at the beginning! Before I shop, I look at the current ads. I check for organic produce sales and any obvious freebies. I then check the blogs over in my blogroll for any deals they've mentioned. I check the individual forums at Hot Coupon World and then I click on "new posts" to see what people are talking about - that's how I found the moneymaker deal mentioned above. I usually do all of this checking in little bits of time a couple of days before I actually plan on shopping.

I have an envelope for each store. I note the sales I want to hit on the outside of the envelope and then put any relevant coupons inside. I try to list things in the aisle order of the store. It cuts down on my time in the store, since I rarely have to back track. I do take my coupon binder in the store, too, but I rarely use it.

Kind of a random post here, but hopefully you find a nugget of useful info!

Now for the math:
I'm taking the $52.05 from the coffee off the top and adjusting my weekly amounts. That leaves me $111 per week to work with.

$500 Challenge running totals.
$52.05 - coffee

And finally - I changed the format of the blog - I didn't like how the last template ran the top and bottom of each new post together. What do you think?

I'd love questions! Ask away!

I prefer Coupon Duchess

My friend, Tara, sent me this link (thanks Tara!). A Coupon Queen saving lots of money - watch it and let me know what you think.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/living/2009/04/28/dnt.coupon.lady.wjla

Shopping trips like the one featured leave you so pumped up - an adrenaline rush that lasts for hours.

I agree with most of what you'll hear, except I definitely DO NOT clip every coupon from the paper. That's the quickest way to get burned out on couponing if you're just getting started. I clip the coupons I know I'll use and the ones I believe will turn into freebies/money-makers.

I leave my inserts whole and write the date on the cover. I store them in magazine files and clip as needed for my trips. I use the coupon database at HCW to locate specific coupons.

This is what works for me - you may find that clipping everything works for you. There are lots of couponers who shop aisle by aisle searching for clearance deals and unadvertised sales. They do need to have everything clipped and easily accessible. I am so thankful that they do and that they post about their finds. I make sure to say thank you when I can and use their info to get myself into and out of the stores quickly. And on the rare occasion that I stumble across an unexpected deal, I make sure to post about it for others.

Couponing Karma!

Q&A - Part 1

I have a handful of questions to answer. Most of these will end up as posts in themselves - they're really good questions!

Lacia asked: My biggest problem is that I buy mostly fresh stuff, and I find all the coupons are for boxed/pre-packaged food that I don't tend to ever buy. Plus our stores here (remember, I live in Canada), don't do coupons like they do in the U.S. I guess i have to get on some sort of mailing list with the companies I do buy from?

Yes - contacting companies is a GREAT way to get coupons for products you buy. You will often even receive coupons for FREE products. It doesn't take much, just a quick email letting the company know that you like their products and including your contact info.

I'd also suggest really getting to know the stores you shop most frequently. Do they have in-store coupons? Do they offer a bulk discount? If so, take advantage of it when a product you like goes on sale. With fresh food, like meat or produce, really pay attention to costs. I have a buy price and a stock-up price on meats - and stockpile in the freezer when I can. I check the on-line ads of the three stores I buy produce from before heading out - that way I know who has the best prices that week and buy accordingly.

Lourdes asked: I'd love to hear about how you have paid $10k of debt in about 2 years. Also, what does your "fun" budget look like (vacation, entertainment, etc.)?

Short answer on the debt repayment - Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover, budgeting, and no new debt.

As far as "fun" money - we each get $20 a month for whatever. I use the kids' money to cover unexpected play date expenses, little treats here & there, etc. It's not much, but until we're totally out of debt, it'll do. We're blessed to have all of our family close by, so most of our family fun involves extended family get-togethers and events. If I know something's coming up (like the State Fair in October - woo-hoo!!), I budget that in for the month.

We also take full advantage of the library - we check out books, DVDs, CDs, even magazines.

Our downfall is eating out. We only eat out about 6 times a month, but that's still too much. I also have the hardest time actually budgeting for it. It's like I don't want to admit that we do it! Ah well...it's a work in progress.

Lourdes had a Walgreens issue: went to Walgreens today and they didn't let me use my MC because they said that RR wouldn't print out. THEN, they didn't let me use my RR to purchase a different item. I haven't read anything about this being a new policy. Did I just go to a crabby Walgreens?

More likely you had a poorly informed cashier. A manufacturer's coupon shouldn't have an effect on the RR printing. I have heard of one occasion where the coding on the coupon did prevent the RR from printing - but just that one time. I'll let you know if I read anything else, though.

The RR is "good on your next purchase." They absolutely should have let you use it to purchase another item. I would request a manager's assistance next time on both of these issues.

I have rarely had issues with cashiers, but when I do I just calmly smile, request the manager, and calmly explain the situation to the manager. Although I may be sweating bullets while my heart beats crazily, I just keep smiling. You can always say, "Thank you, I won't be needing this then."

Karly asked: What kind of storage system do you have for all your stockpiling? I feel like I need a deep freezer and maybe some shelving in my basement.

This one will most definitely be a future post with pictures. When I started couponing and was having so much fun getting freebies/money-makers I had HBA items coming out my ears and nowhere to store them all. Plus, I'm the only one in the house using a lot of those things - I don't buy products with phthalates for the kids to use and Derek's shaved head doesn't require much shampoo. So, I've scaled back my stockpile on those items.

I have a shelf in my linen closet for shampoos, bodywashes, the kids' Burts Bees wash, shaving cream, and lotions. I have two Sterlite carts with drawers that I use for make-up, soap, toothpaste/toothbrushes, razors, and pads/tampons. Toilet paper is stored in the top of my bathroom cabinet.

For food, I actually don't have the towering food stockpile you may have seen in the stockpile pics of others. We don't eat a lot of processed foods - most of our cooking is done from scratch. I over-stocked when I began couponing, and ended up having to throw things out that had expired. I try to be conscious of rotating my stock, now - and give things away as needed.

We have a laundry room off of the kitchen that I've added shelves to for a pantry. I have one shelf dedicated to pasta (it's often free or very cheap with coupons - Whole Foods actually has a Buy One Get One coupon out right now for their pasta). One shelf holds condiments (mustard, hot sauce, worcestershire, barbeque sauce). One shelf holds canned tomatoes.I have flour stored in rubbermaid containers - 5 bags per container. (I've never had a problem with bugs - but use the containers just in case). These are stacked next to the shelves. I have another container that holds bagged rice (brown and white). I'm actually re-stocking that one right now with the current Mahatma .50/1 insert coupon.

I do have a small upright freezer that I purchased at a garage sale for $50. I currently have meat, veggies, tortillas, and cheese stored in it. I'm gradually switching to keeping the majority of the meat in our small fridge freezer, though. The upright's door was accidentally left open one day - I'd much rather have the free/cheap veggies and cheese get ruined than the meat, next time!

I'd say that we could comfortably live on my current stockpile for 2 months, although some meals would have to be very creative. I'd like it to be enough for 3 months, but it ebbs and flows with our needs. It really is like a back-up emergency fund.

If you're interested in adding a freezer, I'd research whether an upright or chest would be better for your needs. There are pros and cons with both. If adding shelves is an option for you, I'd go for it. I'd love to eventually have built-ins in our laundry room.


Keep the questions coming! If I can't answer something, I'll do my best to find someone who can.