Buying the Stuff for My Coupon Binder

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:

Binder	$ 8.00
Tab dividers	$ 4.49
(2) Baseball/Trading Card Page Packets	$ 6.98
TOTAL w/ Tax	$20.89

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!