Staying Orgainzed

This is my coupon book. It is a basic expandable file about 4x8 inches.On the inside there are 12 different tabs to add your own sections. I have mine labeled baby, grocery, dairy, frozen, meat, house, personal, cleaning. I then have the names of the stores I go to most. MarketPlace, Wayne's, Walmart, and Frederic Grocery. I have mine set up this way because it works for me. If you have other things you buy, make the tabs work for you. Realize there are coupons out there for almost everything. Some people, like my mom, use a crate with dividers and paper clips, while others use baseball card sleeves and a 3 ring binder. I thought that would be too cumbersome and I wouldn't have enough coupons to fill it to make it worth while. Inside each tab I put the coupons relating to that category. Baby has all diaper, wipes and formula coupons. Grocery has any dry grocery or beverage coupons you would find in the middle aisles of the store. Dairy has anything in the dairy cases, cheese, gogurt, Pillsbury rolls. Frozen has everything from pizzas to waffles and veggies. House is everything household, well mostly just batteries. Personal is all the feminine items, soap, shampoo, and razors. Cleaning is just that, all cleaning products, dish soap, scrubbies, and cleaners.

When the Sunday paper comes out, I go through that to take all the coupons for products we normally use, even if it is for a different brand. I never cut the coupons if we won't use it, like soy milk or pet food. When I look at the store ads to see who has the best prices, I make my list according to that. With my coupon book it makes it easy to find the coupons and pair them with each store. The stack of coupons then goes in the tab for that store. I take my whole file with me. You never know when an item is on clearance or a big store markdown and you would have a coupon for that item. I also go to coupon websites and print the coupons for the items we use. I usually only do this when they match up with the ad because any coupon you print expires 30 days from date printed. Also coupons always come out again and sales always cycle themselves.

Closed view of my coupon book.

Open coupon book.

This is a new endeavor for me. People have been asking how I manage to raise 2 boys and a husband on very little income. Well, the answer is very cheap. I shop sales, clearance racks, and thrift stores. Garage sales are my best friend. I go to the grocery store and buy only sale items and make sure I always have my coupons with. It has even come to the point when going to a garage sale I don't like buying things unless they are 25 cents to $1.00. My son even said last night, "We have to put this back. It is not on sale." My cheapness and coupons is rubbing off on him. He enjoys cutting coupons too.

If you were to come to my house you would see 2 very happy boys. I also have a growing stockpile of food in the basement on shelving, in our kitchen cupboards, and a large freezer on the porch. I am going to be adding a smaller freezer soon as well. I am by no means an "extreme couponer." Our local grocery stores don't double or triple coupons or have rewards programs. I live in a VERY small town in northwestern Wisconsin, but I have found a few tips and secrets to stretching the food budget. My plan for this blog is to help people realize they can eat more than Ramen and pizza with a budget and have plenty of food left. I will be looking at the local ads and pairing them up with the coupons. I will gladly share my grocery shopping list with you and my receipts to show how it can be done. I will share with you some of my favorite coupon sites and where to find them. Also tricks to printing more than the 2 coupons allotted. Soon I will share how I got started and some of the easier ways to stay organized.