My Organization Strategy

I am often asked how I keep up-to-date and organized with so many little pieces of paper to keep tabs on... here is my strategy!

The above picture is exactly how I am organizing every last detail of my saving strategy. Here's an in-depth look:

First of all, I need to mention that I don't clip every single coupon! I clip the coupons that I think I am likely to spend, and then I file the rest of the insert away... just in case a deal pops up using a coupon that I didn't clip! Watch this short video to learn how to clip quickly!

For my clipped coupons, I have three little boxes for organization. I have them labeled as FOOD, HOUSEHOLD & HYGIENE.

FOOD: This one's pretty self explanatory.

HOUSEHOLD: Cleaning supplies, paper products, storage containers and laundry.

HYGIENE: Baby care, medications, hair/body products and make up.

My personal style of spending coupons is that I prepare myself for what I want to purchase before I even step foot into the store. I read the sales flyer for the store, online, and I check the appropriate blog (whether I'm shopping a grocery store or a drug store) for the best deals of the week, and then I take only the coupons that I intend to spend!

Using the three mini box system allows me some flexibility in bringing my coupons with me if I choose to (which is very rare!). I can grab just the HYGIENE box if I'm heading to CVS and looking to roll some of my store rewards. Often, I find that the products that I want to purchase are sold out and having more coupons with me, I can easily switch up my purchase. Plus, my three mini boxes can fit together nicely in the shoe box size plastic box that I had previously been using if I plan to shop a spur of the moment shopping trip!

The mini boxes that I purchased also happened to come with tabbed dividers (just flip them all over and use the blank back side!), which would make an easy starter box for someone who is just beginning to spend coupons!

My box tabs are the following:

AIR FRESHENERS, BABY, BAKING, BEVERAGES-COLD, BEVERAGES-SHELF, BOXED FOODS, BODY WASH, BREAD, BREAKFAST FOODS, BREAKFAST CEREAL, CANDY, CANNED FOODS, CLEANING-BATHROOM, CLEANING-HOUSEHOLD, CLEANING-KITCHEN, CONDIMENTS, DAIRY, DEODORANT, FRESH FOODS, FRIDGE FOODS, FROZEN FOODS, FROZEN TREATS, HAIR-SHAMPOO/CONDITIONER, HAIR PRODUCTS, HEALTH CARE-MEDICATION, HEALTH CARE-WOMEN, HOUSEHOLD, JAR FOODS, KIDS, LAUNDRY, MAKE-UP, MEAT, MISCELLANEOUS, PAPER PRODUCTS, SHAVING-HIS, SHAVING-HERS, SKIN-BODY, SKIN-FACE, SNACKS, SPICES, STORAGE CONTAINERS, TOOTH CARE, TREATS, YOGURT, REFILE.

I also like to save my receipts... I'm not too sure why, but sometimes I find out that I've qualified for a rebate without an intentional purchase, and so I've made money doing this. Also, keeping track of your receipts helps for easy returns, exchanges or damaged products.

I made these dividers by using 9 file folders. I cut them down to 6 inches tall and 10.5 inches wide, the perfect size to fit into a shoe box size container. I cut the divider tabs off of the tops and reattached them with double stick tape.

My tabs are as follows:

MEIJER, KROGER, GROCERY (for Costco and the other little/local grocery store I sometimes shop), CVS, WALGREENS, RITE AID, TARGET, REBATE & OTHER (for non-grocery spending).

I also keep this mini binder (13 pockets) in my purse.

Here is a list of what I keep in my mini binder:

Store rewards by store section
Rain checks (according to the store) with coupons paper clipped to the rain check
Store coupons (like Bed, Bath & Beyond)
Restaurant coupons (for drop in meals)
FREE item coupons
Store membership cards (like my Extra Care Card for CVS)

Lastly, after I make sure to carry a single gift card per store that I typically shop (Target, CVS...) and I file the rest of my gift cards (several of them are earned by transferring prescriptions, or are received as gifts) in a business card binder (thanks for this idea Jolyn!).

PS: If you'd like to watch all THIRTY-ONE short video tips, you may learn a new strategy for saving!

"Clean Me Up Spotty:" Clothes Closet Edition

Since it feels like Spring is actually upon us (I will CRY if we have another major snow fall), its high time that I clean out and reorganize my clothing.

Dave, my husband, and I used to enjoy "his and hers" closets... ahem, before we were blessed with our son! Now we share a non-walk-in closet, and lets just say that we strive to have harmony in our closet, but its tough now that our clothes are "shacking up" together!!!

I think that the grey days of Winter bring out the worst in me... I allow colonies of dust bunnies to multiply and I become a closet "closet shover!" OK, its NOT that bad, but there is just something about the sunshine that makes me want to reorganize!

Yesterday I literally touched every single piece of clothing that I owned and I buckled down and made some tough decisions... Keep. Toss. Donate. Wow, that's way easier said than done! But, now that it IS done, it feels so good! I can't wait to donate a whole lot of nice, yet seldom worn clothing!

Dave even got in on the action last night, although I think it was because of a little bit of peer pressure... wink!

How often do YOU purge your closets?

"Clean Me Up Spotty:" Coupon Box Filing Edition

As promised, here is my personal coupon filing system! After nearly two years of clipping the coupons that I think that I'll spend and tossing (OK, recycling) the rest of the inserts, I have decided to significantly streamline my clipping, but still have the best of two coupon spending styles.

I'll elaborate:

Clipping Style, pictured above, is where the coupon spender takes time each week to clip the coupons that (s)he thinks that they will use. Each week more coupon are added to the filing box to create a 'nice stash' of coupons.

Filing Style, pictured below, is where the coupon spender creates one giant insert by stacking all identical pages together and recreates a single (very thick) insert. This type of coupon spender relies heavily on blog authors to share the week/insert that the coupon is found in, and then the coupon spender will track down the coupons that they are interested in spending that week, and clip only those coupons.

In mid January, I decided to mix up my current clipping strategy to see if I could lessen my clipping time without sacrificing some last minute deals that always seem to pop up after my recycling has gone curbside!

My box-only method limited my last minute deals for products that I would not normally have purchased- because once my coupons had been curbsided- I was out of luck!

I also feel that the filing only system takes much to much time to hunt down specific coupons when I'm ready to head out to the stores!

So my new plan of attack has been to clip the coupons that I think I will use, and to file away (writing the date of the insert in Sharpie) the remaining (sometimes pretty chopped up) inserts until later, if necessary!

After I have accumulated about 3 months worth of inserts, when I add new inserts to my 'file pile' I will take out the oldest week's inserts and do a quick flip through to see if there are any unexpired coupons worth clipping, otherwise I will just recycle the three month old inserts!


Keep in mind that if you are unsure of when your insert was published... the date is printed in fine print along the spine of the insert!

"Clean Me Up Spotty:" Coupon Binder Edition

Recently, my friend Lacey allowed me to video her 'walk through' tutorial on her alphabetized coupon binder system!

Getting organized and creating a system that works for YOU personally, is they key to spending your coupons and saving yourself quite a bit of money!

Next week I'll be sharing my advanced coupon box/filing system!

Thanks again Lacey!

"Clean Me Up Spotty:" Storage Container Edition

I have decided to forgo my meal plan Friday posts... it is way too much of a 'force' for my family! We enjoy making dinner choices on a whim, and deciding what to eat so far in advance and then trying to stick to it- well, that was just too stressful for me (such a sad, yet honest reality)!

So instead, which I think will me WAY more fun for both you and I, I have decided to post about something very near and dear (and significantly needed in our home) to my heart...

ORGANIZATION!!!

Nothing smells quite as fresh as a recently organized space! Twenty-Ten is MY year to declutter, streamline and get organized! Each Friday (hmmm, I've said that before... wink!) I will share a specific spot in my house that I have revolutionized- purely for my own sanity, but that I think could inspire you to do the same!

I'd cheesily like to call it "Clean Me Up Spotty" (shoot, I'm admitting that I've seen WAY too many episodes of Star Trek!)! What do YOU think?

If you've got a better (maybe classier) name- please, please, please let me know. Until then...

"Clean Me Up Spotty:" Storage Container Edition

I am a total sucker for storage containers! I love the cute sizes and the pretty colors- and when they are on sale and I happen to have matching coupons, well... I'm head over heels for my brimming cart o' plastic!

The problem is that I often like to expand my arsenal of containers to include a myriad of sizes... because what if I happen to need a 3/4 cup container for my leftover ______? Or what if my 2 cup containers are just too big?

And so I have become overwhelmed with too much plastic!

Last week I decided to undertake matching all of my tops and bottoms. Any container missing its lid... hasta luego!!! Any lid without a matching container... ta ta forever!!! (This step feels seriously GOOD!)

Then I decided to take a hard look at all of my options. It made a lot of sense for me to pare down my surplus to only specific sizes and shapes. Stacking is a beautiful thing!

I then grabbed an empty sweater sized storage box, and I sorted and organized all of the lids inside.

Now when I am tempted by a great sale and coupons (I always am!!!) to purchase more of my favorite kitchen work horses... I know exactly which brands and sizes I should stick to purchasing... thank goodness that new colors appear each new season!

Track Your Savings 2010

I am pretty excited that I tracked all of my savings for the ENTIRE 2009 year. (I'll be sharing it sometime over the next couple of days)!

Tracking my SPENDING helped me to challenge myself to spend less and less over the course of the year. Tracking my SAVINGS helped to keep me excited and motivated!

Angela, from The Coupon Project, is offering her Excel spreadsheet (in downloadable format) to help other coupon spenders to track their spending/saving as well!

If you'd like to read more, click HERE!

Purge, Merge & Splurge

This post in is lieu of a traditional Thought Provoking Thursday. TPT will resume next week!

Purge: Today is the final day to spend the reminder of your 2009 coupons. Hmm, a little bit bittersweet!

Merge: Yep, your coupon box will end up looking VERY sparse... BUT, viewing all of your coupons will at least remind you of what coupons you have available to spend!

Splurge: The first Sunday of January is notorious for being heavy on the coupon inserts! Yippee! Just in time for our dwindled supplies! This weekend you can expect FIVE coupon inserts per Sunday paper... so spend a few more bucks than usual this weekend- your coupon box (and wallet) will thank you!!!

Thought Provoking Thursday

Thought Provoking Thursday's goal it to offer a new-ish perspective to saving on necessary items aside from our grocery and household needs. Each week I will bring an idea to the table to share how I personally tackle areas of my own family's spending. I am hopeful that my faithful readers will feel the freedom to offer more advice through comments below each post.

I have a LOVE/HATE relationship with snail mail.

I LOVE getting magazines, *coupons,* birthday cards, invitations and even an occasional 'just because' card in the mail! I'd call this 'GOOD MAIL!'

But... I HATE getting thick envelopes/packet with seemingly useless information that needs to be kept for the sake of taxes! I'd call this 'BAD MAIL!'

I've been trying to reinvent my long lost organizational skills (I believe that I tucked it into my placenta just before I gave birth... oops!). I desire to be up to date, but actually getting paperwork filed away and bills into the mail on time... well, that's another story!

I recently found an organizational site, Discover Organization, and I have since overhauled my paper piles!!!

Discover Organization challenged me to file my necessary evil paperwork into a sectioned 3 ring binder--- get this--- instead of a traditional filing drawer.

So I tried it, and I'm HOOKED! I LOVE it! I have several sections for our most common paper trail contenders; bank info, health care, and school loans just to name a few.

Since most of our bills are paid automatically, we have very few bills to actually pay via snail mail! But for the few that we do, I have decided to paper clip the flap of payment envelopes around the right hand edge of the paperwork that it applies to, allowing me to have my envelope ready to pay the bill- avoiding late fee's if applicable!

Now, as we get ready to collect our 2009 tax info for our accountant, we can easily hand over a binder (no losing/spilling papers) of our paperwork. (He's going to love me!!!)

Next year, my plan is to section our paperwork into smaller 1 inch binders, so I will have a single category per binder!

I love this new paper trail organizing trick... I'm saving time, money and my sanity!