My Coupon Binder

Hello all!
I hope everyone is enjoying my posts! I went to Taylortown Coupon Preview today, and it looks as though it's going to be another great coupon day tomorrow. So, I thought this would be a great time to show you how I organize my coupons.

Let me back up one step first.....clipping multiple coupons. The easiest way I have found to clip the 3-4 papers of coupons for me is to take each matching page and stack them on top of each other. Then cut them all together. Be very careful to keep the pages lined up, or you could end up cutting into some of the coupons. I've heard that some people will staple the pages first to prevent them from coming out of alignment. I just go slow, and cut a little outside of the border when I can to help ensure that I'm not cutting into the other coupons.

Ok, here's my coupon binder. I use a Five Star 2" zip up binder. I highly recommend a zip up binder to prevent you from losing any coupons. Set aside the time you spend clipping, let's face it....that's money in that binder, so you definitely don't want to lose any of them!




When you open the binder the first thing you see is a large pocket. This is where I keep my ads for the stores that I don't regularly shop in, like Michaels, Staples, Bed Bath & Beyond etc. I keep them just because you never know when you might end up in one of these stores, and you can use the % off coupon that is usually in the ads. There is also a smaller, mesh, zip up pocket. This is where I usually keep scrap pieces of paper for notes, or to stick coupons pulled out of the blinkie machines for filing later.



Next, I have the mesh zippered pencil case that came with the binder. Here is where I keep a pen, post it notes, paper clips, scissors (you never know when you made need to clip out another coupon, children's scissors are a great size for this), etc.


Then, I have 5 of these pocket page holders. 1st red=CVS, 2nd yellow= Rite Aid, 3rd clear=Wags (Walgreens), 4th green=Publix, 5th blue=Kroger In each of these I keep the list I've made out with the coupons I plan to use, pulled and paper clipped to the list, the current ad, and rain checks (I usually paper clip my rain check to the matching ad).


Now I have my dividers. The first divider says FREE, this is where I keep all the coupons that will get a free item NPN (No Purchase Necessary), then I have a MISC Coupon (these are the coupons that have more than one item on them, so it's hard to put under one category ex: $1 off Jet dry or Finish Dishwashing tabs), finally I have the remaining dividers in alphabetical order. I find this the easiest way for me to find the coupon I'm looking for. Tide goes under T, Cheerios goes under C, etc. Each divider has baseball card holders in between them for holding the coupons. I put coupons back to back so that you can see coupons on the front and back of the baseball card holder. Sometimes you have to fold them to fit, or I know some people will also put photo holders in their binders for the larger coupons.




My last divider is a Restaurant divider. You have to remember to use those coupons at your favorite restaurants too!


Well, that's my coupon binder. It's best to take it with you EVERY TIME you leave the house. I can't tell you how many times I didn't think I was going to need it, and I wish I had brought it with me. I hope you all find this post helpful! Comments and or questions are welcomed and appreciated!

Have a great day!
Happy Shopping!
Jennifer

Today's shopping trip....

Hi all,
I went to Kroger today, so I thought I would pass along my trip. In this week's ad they are having a buy any 4 participating items, get $4 off. So basically $1 per item.

-1 Herbal Essence Shampoo $2.99 (part of buy 4 promo)
-1 Herbal Essence Conditioner $2.99 (part of buy 4 promo)
-2 Men's Gillette body wash $2.99 ea= $5.98 (part of buy 4 promo)
-3 Speed Stick deodorants $.88 ea. = $2.64
-1 Suave deodorant $1
-1 Schick hydro 5 razor $6.19

Total (before tax) = $21.79

Coupons used:
-2 Herbal Essence shampoo or conditioner $.50 MQD (Mannufacture Coupon Doubled)
-2 Men's Gillette Body Wash $2
-3 Speed Stick deodorant $.50 MQD
-1 Suave deodorant $.50 MQD
-1 Free Schick hydro razor loaded on Kroger card (I won this from spinning the wheel here )
-$4 off for buying 4 participating items in promo

Total OOP: $2.50!!!!! Total savings: $28.07!!! The savings total is store sales + coupons used.

I hope everyone finds my shopping posts informative! Please feel free to comment if you have questions, or suggestions. I would love to hear from you. :)

Happy Shopping!
Jennifer

Summertime Blues

There's nothing like a beautiful blue sky summer day spent with friends! One of my friends called last week, and invited my daughter and I to her sister's pool. The weather was perfect, with gorgeous blue skies and billowy white clouds floating by. My friend and I enjoyed laying by the pool, while my daughter and her two children played in the cool, clear blue water. At one point we got hot, so we decided to move our conversation into the pool on floats. Needless to say we had a good laugh at the sight of the both of us trying to daintily get on the floats without falling into the water! I failed miserably! :)

Afterwards, we went to the neighbors house to pick blueberries. The bushes were overflowing with juicy, sweet, blue bundles of nature. We all had a blast. We were a sight.....eat a few, bag a few, eat a few, then eat a few more, bag a few. :). We just couldn't resist that juicy goodness! I have ample blueberries to freeze for future recipes. Mmmmmm, I see blueberry pancakes, muffins, and may try a cobbler in the near future.

Ahhh! All in all it was a wonderful day spent with friends. Thanks ya'll! ;) Now that's what I call the Summertime Blues!

I hope you all are having the summertime blues too!
Jennifer


P.S. Freezing tip: Lay blueberries spread out flat on a cookie sheet to freeze, then put in freezer bags or containers. This way they won't freeze in one big clump, which makes it easier to measure out the amount you need.



I couldn't wait, I had to make homemade pancakes yesterday morning. :) They were so good, Mmmmm!

Today's little shopping trip.

Good afternoon all!
I thought I would share my little shopping trip today. Now, for all you seasoned coupon shoppers, this is a very small shopping trip. However, if you are new to the coupon shopping, this is a great time for you to learn. I have been out of the routine of buying multiple papers, and stockpile shopping, so it is as if I'm starting all over again.
This morning I woke up early, so I poured myself a cup of coffee, and clicked on CouponMom to check this weeks Publix deals.
Here was my trip:
-1 double pack Sunday paper $3
-1 Crest toothpaste $1
-1 Spray & Wash spot remover $1.50
-1 Smart Balance Milk half gallon (I've never tried this before today.....it's very good!) $2.50
(I told you it was a small trip! :) )

Subtotal before tax: $8

Coupons used:
1- $.50 MQD *M-Manufacture Q-Coupon D-Doubled
1-Spray & Wash $.50 MQD
1-Smart Balance Milk $2.50 MQ

Total OOP (Out Of Pocket) $3.86
I also have a Mail in Rebate offer for the Smart Balance milk for $2.50, so once I recieve that new oop= $1.36!!!

Woo Hoo!! With saving like these.....who needs window shopping! :) How do you all like that song? Hee! Hee! :)

I hope you all are having a great day! Until next post,

Jennifer

Savvy Savings Saturdays-Teach your children as well!

It's Saturday, which means new sales ads are coming out tomorrow, Yippee! For those of you who don't know, I LOVE shopping with coupons! This is one of my contributions to help ease the grocery budget. I started really coupon shopping going on about
two years ago. You wouldn't believe what you can get for free (although in my state you have to pay tax), or almost free. This is a great way to add more money to your budget! I thought I would share with you what I like to do to prepare for my savvy shopping.

This is also a great learning opportunity for your children. Get them involved! Help your little ones perfect their motor skills by letting them help clip the coupons. The older children can help you sort the coupons into the proper filing section. This also is a great lesson for being savvy with your money. Be sure you let them see that by matching sales with coupons, they can get those items that you would not normally buy at full price. My daughter loves to help me clip coupons, and looks for the blinkie machines in the stores to add coupons to our collection. What a great way to teach our children while they're young to value a dollar, and to make it stretch, and to not be wasteful.

First, I like to visit Taylortown Coupon Preview to see a preview of the coupons that will be coming out in the Sunday paper. I like to buy at least three to four Sunday papers for the coupons. I do this so that if there is a really good sale on something, that has a coupon out to pair with it, I can get more than one. This is called stockpiling. Now, I am a novice compared to most stockpilers whose pantries look more like stores. There are some real pros out there! I find for us that buying 3 or four of the sale item generally lasts us until it goes on sale again, for the exception of a few things. You'll find that there are cycles, and typically items go back on sale again in a couple of months.

Second, I absolutely love checking out erica's site: i heart cvs ! I have added her button below, so feel free to access her site by pushing it anytime. She has great posts showing what items will be free, along with other great deals. Once on her site she also has buttons for i heart rite aid , and i heart wags (which is Walgreens).

Third, while I'm visiting these sites, I make a list of the items I want to get, then pull the coupon and paper clip it to my list. This way I have everything right at my finger tips when I arrive at the store.

This covers my three drugstore shopping lists. My grocery store shopping lists are prepared on another day. I normally check out Publix on Thursday, because in my region this is when their ad breaks through to the following Wednesday. Kroger, Target, and Walmart are usually looked at on Sunday. I check out these four stores at CouponMom . As I look through the sales these stores, I make lists for each of them, and paper clip the coupons like I mention above.

There are so many great things to learn to help you save BIG, and I don't want to overwhelm you with this first post on saving. So, I'm going to stop there for now. In the future, expect to see each of the things I mentioned above featured in their own post, and broken down into further detail.


Please leave comments on what you would like further explanation of! It will help inspire some more posts, and I'll know what you all would like to hear.

Thanks for stopping in, and come back 'ya hear! :)
Happy Shopping!
Jennifer


Do you have a homemaking tip you would like to share? Link to your post here at: Raising Homemakers

Hello!

Welcome to Just Peachy in Dixie! I am just a Southern gal in creativity overload. I feel I need a place for all these thoughts and ideas bouncing around in my head. Maybe I can get some clear idea of where I want to start first by talking it out. :) I love couponing, trying new recipes, homemaking, homeschooling, and learning new things. I just recently learned to crochet and attempting to teach myself to sew.

I am new to the world of blogging, and not quite sure what I'm doing. My hope is to inspire, entertain, and fullfill (and hopefully not bore you in the process ;) ), while I use this blog as my creative outlet. So, grab a cup of coffee, and join me on this new adventure!

Thanks for stopping by, and please come back, ya hear?!

Jennifer

P.S. Don't forget to leave comments on topics you would like to see in the future. :)