I find tons of coupons at Coupons.com and they have come in very handy! Coupons are changed on their website sometime around the 2nd week of each month, so now is a good time to print off what you want! Click on "See all Coupons" on the image above to print them out before they change! You can also scroll the coupons from the image and print only the ones you want!

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Ok, so I went on my coupon shopping adventure and I have to tell you, it was MORE than worth the time I put into it!  I had stated earlier that I wasn't going to CVS today, but decided to drop by.  From what I've read, there will be better savings for next week (flyer out on Sunday), so I'll use my 25% off then!  Most of what I got today wasn't anything I needed, but I WILL need.  So, I'm stocking up now while there is a good sale at the store AND I have a manufacturers coupon.  Several of the items I purchased were completely free - like toothpaste.  We go through toothpaste big time in this house and it isn't cheap.  Needless to say, I don't have to buy it for awhile The whole point of shopping like this IS to stock up on items you use.  I'm not going to buy things that I don't use unless I get them for free.  At that point I'll decide if I want to try it out, or donate it. Either way, its worth getting it if its free!

Here's how my savings panned out today:

Savings at Walgreens:

Savings at CVS:

I think I did pretty good for my first try!  Just think how much I'll save in a grocery store.  I plan to try that out next week.  If you get a chance, let me know how you think I did - it would be much appreciated!  Have a great rest of the day

5 Lowes 10 off June Coupons 06-15-10 Best Buy 10    US $2.81

5 Lowes 10 off June Coupons 06-15-10 Best Buy 10    US $.99

5 Lowes 10 off June Coupons 06-15-10 Best Buy 10    US $.99

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I know I said yesterday that I would finish up my coupon binder and post some pictures of it, but it just didn't get finished last night!  We had a very busy day yesterday and once I sat down with my glass of wine to enjoy Bones, I had a phone call(s) from a couple of old friends.  After our 3 way call was over, I just didn't feel like doing anything else with it!  Promise, it will get done today.

BUT - I'm gathering all my stuff right now to go on my first "shopping trip with coupons adventure".  I decided to start slow, because this is all so new to me and confusing as all get out!  So, I'm starting with Walgreens and CVS.  I'm going to lay out my plan here, then after I've gone on my shopping trip, I will post again with results!

First and foremost, learning the coupon lingo is very difficult - so I keep referring back to my coupon lingo cheat sheet. I've included a copy here - thanks so much to both The Coupon Game and The Frugal Coupon Mom for posting all of this valuable information.  Without these two sites, I would never be able to make sense of all of this!!

So here are my plans for coupons today. I found it easiest to go to one of the sites above and copy/paste the items that I want to buy OR have the coupons for.  These places are great because they list the exact deal from the store, along with any coupons you could possibly get/have.  They break it down by actual price vs coupon then give you a bottom line price. I've gathered all my coupons, printed my lists for each store and I'm ready to go!  Just know it took me quite awhile since (1) I'm new to this (2) My binder isn't finished   Once that is done, I'm sure it will go much faster!  Anything in RED means the item will be free after all coupons/rebates.

Walgreens

Coffee-Mate Liquid Creamer, 16 oz
Price BOGO $2.49 - 2 $1/1 Printable = Pay $.49/2 ($.25/each)
or
Price BOGO $2.49 - $1.50/2 Printable = $.99/2 ($.50/each)

Colgate Total Advanced Toothpaste, 4 oz
Price $3.49 - $2.50/1 ESQ - $1.50/1 March All You Magazine Q = FREE + $.51 overage
or
Price $3.49 - $2.50/1 ESQ - $1/1 Printable or $1/1 All Well & Good Coupon Booklet = FREE
or
Price $3.49 - $2.50/1 ESQ - $.75/1 from 2/22 SS = Pay $.24

Advil PM Liqui-Gels, 16 ct or Caplets, 20 ct
Price $4.49 - $2/1 Printable = Pay $2.49 (Receive $2 RR)
Final Price $.49
or
Price $4.49 - $1/1 Printable or $1/1 from 3/8 RP = Pay $3.49 (Receive $2 RR)
Final Price $1.49

Aquafresh Toothpaste, 6.4 oz - Weekly Flier Q
Price $.99 - $.75/1 Printable = Pay $.24

Crest Pro-Health Toothpaste, Whitening or Enamel Shield, 4.2 oz
Price $2.49 - $1/1 Printable Whitening = Pay $1.49 (Receive $1 RR)
Final Price $.49

Electrasol Gelpacs or Powerball Tablets, 20 ct or Jet Dry, 8.45 oz
Price $3.99 - $.50/1 from 2/8 SS (exp. 3/8) Electrasol = Pay $3.49 (Receive $1 ESR)
Final Price $2.49

Garnier Fructis Hair Care, 2-13 oz (excludes Serum, 5.1 oz)
Price $2.99 - $2/1 ESQ - $1/1 from 3/8, 2/8 or 1/4 RP = FREE

Gillette Fusion Gamer Manual or Power Razor
Price $8.99 - $4/1 from 2/8 P&G = Pay $4.99 (Receive $4 RR)
Final Price $.99

Glade Air Fresheners, Plugins Scented Oil Lasting Impressions, 1.4 oz or Sense & Spray Kit
Price $7.99 - $4/1 ESQ - $4/1 from 2/8 SS or $4/1 March All You Magazine = FREE

Irish Spring Body Wash, 15 or 18 oz
Price $4.49 = Pay $4.49 (Receive Catalina Q for FREE Irish Spring Body Wash for use on your next purchase)
Final Price $4.49/2 ($2.25/each)

Right Guard or Dry Idea Antiperspirant/Deodorant, 2.25-4 oz (excludes aerosol, clinical, and professional strength)
Price $2.99 = Pay $2.99 (Receive $2 RR)
Final Price $.99

Sally Hansen Hard As Nails
Price 2/$3 - 2 $.50/1 from 3/8 RP = Pay $2/2 ($1/each)

Skintimate or Edge Shave Gel, 7 oz
Price $1.99 = Pay $1.99 (Receive $1 RR)
Final Price $.99

Smart Balance Butter Spread, 15 oz
Price BOGO $2.99 - $1/2 from 2/1 RP = Pay $1.99/2 ($.99/each)

Walgreens Extra Strength Headache Relief, Quick Gels, 20 ct
Price $2.99 (Receive $2.99 ESR)
Final Price FREE

Dry Idea Antiperspirant/Deodorant, 2.25-4 oz (excludes aerosol, clinical, and Professional Strength)
Price $2.99 - $2/1 Printable Roll-On variety, if included = Pay $.99/1 (Receive $2 RR)
Final Price $1.01 Money Maker!!

CVS - Not going today, but waiting until 3/14 so I can use my additional 25% off coupon on my whole purchase!

Dry Idea, 2-4 oz

Price $2.99/1 - $2/1 Printable = Pay $.99/1 (Receive $2 ECB)

Final Price $1.01 Money Maker!!

Arm & Hammer 2X Liquid Laundry Detergent, 32 loads
Price BOGO $6.99 - 2 $1/1 Printable = Pay $4.99/2 ($2.50/each)

Colgate Total, 4.2 oz
Price BOGO 2.79 - 2 $1/1 Printable or $1/1 All Well & Good Coupon Booklet = Pay $.79/2
CVS Brand Vitamin D-400, 100 ct
Price $2.99 (Receive $2.99 ECB)
Final Price FREE

Palmolive Dish Soap, 10 oz
Price $1.49 (Receive $1 ECB)
Final Price $.49
*Limit 2 offers per CVS card

Crest Pro-Health Toothpaste, 4.2 oz, Rinse, 250ml or Oral-B Floss, 27-55 yds
Price $2.99 - $1/1 from 2/8 P&G = Pay $1.99 (Receive $2 ECB)
Final Price FREE + $.01 overage!

I'll be back later today (hopefully) to report on my success!  For now, here is your quote for the day, fitting for Friday the 13th!

“It is bad luck to fall out of a thirteenth story window on Friday”  LOL!

Happy Friday

5 Lowes 10 off June Coupons 06-15-10 Best Buy 10    US $2.81

5 Lowes 10 off June Coupons 06-15-10 Best Buy 10    US $.99

5 Lowes 10 off June Coupons 06-15-10 Best Buy 10    US $.99

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Coupon lingo can be very confusing so I'm posting this cheat sheet for everyone.  Thanks again to The Frugal Coupon Mom and The Coupon Game sites for this!

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In an earlier post, I had stated that I had decided to go the route of using an accordion folder to organize all my coupons.  BUT, after all of the reading I did yesterday, I am back-pedalling a little.  I read a ton of stuff yesterday and everyone seems to have a different system.  After watching about 20 YouTube videos about coupon binders (let me just say that I was shocked at how many there were!), I have a concrete system that I'm putting in place.  So here goes:

Number one on my list was to return the previous folder I purchased.  I won't use it for anything else and hey, 15 bucks is 15 bucks!

I went to the Office Depot and I was floored by the number, size and shape of the binders/organizers they had.  There are zipper, 3 ring, 1 1/2 - 3 inch, ones with straps, etc.  I picked up and looked through every single one until I was happy with the one in my hand.  I decided on the "Case It" brand, 3-Ring, 3 Inch binder with a built in expandable file. At $19.99, it was a little more than what I wanted to spend, but I'm perfectly happy with it. This took about 20-30 minutes.

So, I've got a smile on my face - off to find what I'm going to put inside!  Where the heck are the baseball card holders? While I was wondering around looking for them, I'm scanning the end caps where all the clearance stuff is.  I haven't been in a big box office supply store in ages.  I typically pick up what I need as far as office stuff at Walmart, CVS and sometimes the Dollar Store.  I had no idea they had so much stuff at great prices there.  Of course, since these things are on clearance, I must look at them.  After wasting another 20 minutes, I decide to get back on my mission.

As I'm rounding the corner of the aisle that has the sheet protectors, I notice some binders on clearance.  You guessed it!  The exact same binder that I had spent 30 minutes trying to find was right there on the end cap for only $8!  Woohoo!  Ok, so it is Purple and looks like it should be used by a 10 year old girl, but who cares? (picture below, let me know what you think) I got it for cheap!

My Coupon Binder

Off to find the baseball card holders.  After watching those videos last night, this just seemed to be the most efficient way of organizing the coupons.  Very clear cut and easy to see.  Much easier than envelopes and zip lock bags!  I finally find them, but they only have 2 packs left.  So I pick up those at $3.49 each for a 10 pack - they will hold 18 coupons per sheet when put back to back.  Remember, you will have duplicates of coupons sometimes that you can just put in the same sleeve. Here is what they look like:

Trading Card Pages

Next, tab dividers.  I pick up the cheapest pack I can find at $4.49 for 24 dividers.  This is more than enough.  I'm sure you know what these are, no picture required!

I also want to use plain sheet protectors (for a full 8 1/2 x 11 sheet), but I have some of those at home.  I'll expand on what I'm using them for tomorrow.

I take all my stuff up to the register while trying very hard not to look at all the clearance items.  All the while, chanting to myself  "I don't need anything else, so I'm not gettin' anything else".

Here is how it breaks down:

So, I've got my binder materials ready and tonight I plan to start putting it together and adding all the coupons. Hopefully I'll make a nifty little video of the binder when it is all finished! Wish me luck please.

Here's a quote for today and so very true:

"Today, there are three kinds of people: the have's, the have-not's, and the have-not-paid-for-what-they-have's."
-Earl Wilson

Happy Wednesday!

Coupon Binder Organizer Pages-will hold 90 coupons    US $3.50

10 pages of 3-slot Coupon Pages for Organizer Binder    US $4.00

Coupon Organizer BinderSystem To Increase Savings    US $38.99

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Good Morning!   Short post for the moment, but I will be back later to talk about my plan for coupons.  I know you are all waiting with bated breath - LOL!  I thought these were pretty decent, so I'm throwing them out there!  Be back a little later.

Zaxby's & Red Robin Freebies

Double Coupons at Kmart on Sunday

Sunday, Kmart is doubling coupons up to $2. I believe this means you could double a $2 coupon (thus $4 off.) Call your local Kmart to see if they are participating I would hate for one of you to waste a trip to a location that was not participating.

Boston Market $3/$6

Buy One / Get one FREE at Seattle's Best Coffee Cafe

Seattle's Best Coffee, found in Borders book stores, is offering a B1G1. You can print this coupon Here. It expires April 28, 2009.

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I thought this was pretty cool. Someone has a youtube video of their coupon binder. Just one take on organizing!

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Ok, so you started clipping coupons and you have all good intentions on getting these things organized, coming up with a system and sticking to it - right?  For me, good intentions - abolutely; organized - absolutely NOT!  I've been clipping my coupons and searching, downloading and printing them from all sorts of websites.  Now here I sit with these beautiful piles of coupons and not a clue as to how I'm going to organize them.  Where do I start?  This feat lands squarely in my "tedious" category and I'm not quite sure how I plan to tackle it.  Back to the internet to search around for the best way to organize.  Everyone has their own way of doing it and I, need to find my own way also.  I'm sure this will be trial and error, but I plan to post each and every step right here!

First I want to back up a second and talk about the actual "clipping of the coupons".  There are quite a few ways you can do this:

• Don't clip them until needed:  You can choose to save the entire newspaper insert or sales ad and store them in a large notebook.  Remember, when choosing the container you plan to use to organize, you need to take into account the room needed for inserts.  Personally, I won't be doing this.  I want to be organized from start to finish and don't want to be stuck with 2 months worth of coupons that haven't been clipped, only to go back and see that there were actually coupons in there I could have used.
• Clip the coupons you plan to use: You can sit down with the inserts and clip out only those that you or your family will use.  This will take some time because you will need to look at each and every one of them.  But if you are very brand loyal, this might be the right way to go.
• Clip them all: This is my plan of attack for a couple of reasons. (1) It just seems easier to allot a specific time to sit down with all your coupons and cut - like when you are watching tv, or sitting at one of your kids sports practices.  Its mindless work and you really don't need to concentrate very much - except on the scissors!  No running with scissors!  (2) Since I'm a member of FreeCycle, there may be people on there that could use some of the coupons I don't need.  Like diapers and other baby products.  I'll just offer them up to someone!  Believe me, there is someone that can use them and its like throwing away money - I don't want to do that anymore.

After I decided that I would be clipping them all, I purchased a cheap little organizer on clearance at Target on Saturday.  I wanted the accordian file type where I can choose to alphabetize by store, department or brand.  I can then further organize within the tabs with envelopes or ziplock bags.  This is my plan and we will see how it works!  Here are some of the other options for organizing that I found:

• Baskets: Some people use small baskets to organize them.  You can find cheap 4x6 or so baskets at a dollar store OR they have plastic organizers with drawers.  That would be handy also.
• Shoeboxes: Something that most people have lying around!  These would work great for organizing if you used tabbed index cards between each section.  At the very least, you could use a shoebox to stack your coupons in as you are clipping.
• File (4x6) or recipe boxes: You can pick these up at a dollar store also and most of them come with blank index tabs.  Since I plan to clip a lot of coupons, I didn't think this was the best route for me!

So now I have my coupons and my organizer - how am I going to organize it all?!  That is my task for later today and I'll fill you in on it tomorrow. Until then, here is your quote for today:

“Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up.”  Appropriate, huh?

Happy Tuesday! 

New Hannah Hansen Coupon Organizer Purple Stripe READ    US $3.25

New Hannah Hansen Coupon Organizer Oatmeal Dots READ    US $1.25

Hannah Hansen Coupon Organizer Dark Blue Trim 6 Cards    US $4.99

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Brace Face - not nice, huh?  Well, I had to get the twins up and at'em extremely early this morning due to orthodontic appointments starting at 6:45 a.m. Yes, I said 6:45 AM! Good Lord - why on earth would you want to look at teeth that early? Oh well, it worked out good cause I got them to school well before the 1st bell. We did not, however, get good news. My son has to have braces. In addition to that, he has 2 teeth in the roof of his mouth that will need to be pulled down via oral surgery. I knew he would need to have braces and he would have had them by now, but we were waiting on these 2 teeth to come down. That ain't gonna happen! So, on with the braces tomorrow, oral surgery in about 6-8 months. What I didn't think was going to happen is the length of time the braces will be on. I thought his would be the easiest of all 4 kids, but nope, he comes in 2nd in difficulty. He will have them on anywhere from 2 1/2 - 3 years! Poor thing - he goes to high school next year and isn't at all happy about the braces thing. But, he sucked it up and asked for the soonest appointment, which is 8:15 tomorrow morning. Good for him for having a good attitude about it. I told him it would only make him better looking His twin sister just had hers removed last week, so that just adds to the amount of frustration he has! I'm quite sure his 3 sisters will give him hell. He has dished out enough, time to take it now!

I'm steadily moving towards my coupon quest and I'm downloading and clipping tons of them. I've gotten a system in order to collect and organize them (which I'll expand on in another post), have my subscription to the newspaper that starts this weekend, and by next week, I plan to go on my first coupon adventure. Guess we shall see how this goes. As I've been collecting and organizing, I realized this is a very tedious task. For those people that know me, you know I'm not into "tedious". Tedious includes such things as knitting, cross stitch, scrap booking, sewing of any kind, and anything that might be included in the monotonous category. I have the attention span of a flea (not that I know about their attention span, but people say that all the time!). I need to have my mind challenged or I'll go insane. I have to say, this is definitely going to challenge me, I'm just not sure its in the way I would like. But, I'm going to do it and I plan to do it well! That's the plan anyway.

As I stated before, I've been reading a ton about saving money and one of the best resources I've come across is The Coupon Mom.  She has loads of information on her site for free.  As with most of these sites, it is a little busy and hard to maneuver, but once you get to the meat of it, it is the most helpful site I've come across.  So many of these sites want you to spend money to get the information, which makes no sense to me.  I'm there to save money - why would I want to give you my money??  I understand ads on your website - we all gotta make a buck where we can.  But there is absolutely no way I'm paying anyone to give me information that you can find for free elsewhere.  I did come across a pretty neat application for the organization of your coupons vs the stores in your area.  It is a little pricey, but I've emailed the owner to see if they would be willing to let me test it out for free and post a review on my site.  If they are smart, they will let me.  Its free advertising, right??   If it works the way they say, it could save you tons of time and could quite possibly be worth the price.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Now that my basement is clean, I can actually get to all the miscellaneous paint cans I have down there.  I plan to see what I can mix together and paint my bathroom.  We have so much paint that it seems stupid to go buy any for the bathroom.  I would prefer to go pick a color, but I'm not gonna.  The bathroom needs a good coat of paint and any color will do at the moment!   Now to get the rest of the wallpaper off said bathroom walls so I can actually paint!  ARGH - I hate this part - but the most of it is done and has been sitting there like that for 3 months.  You think it might be time to finish it up?!

Guess that's it for now.  I'm going to try and give you a quote every day.  I came across this one and thought it was so true!

“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.”

Happy Monday!

6 Cocos Restaurant Coupons 50 5 off exp 11-1-10    US $.99

100 RESTAURANTCOM GIFT CERTIFICATE COUPON CARD    US $8.95

100 RestaurantCom Gift Certificate Coupon Card    US $9.77

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