For quite a while now I’ve been using the same coupon organization system. I was using The Grocery Game to help me find deals on groceries. The Grocery Game tells you which week of the paper to pull the coupons from so that you don’t need to clip the coupons until you need them.

The filing system shown above a great system to use if you’re only using The Grocery Game.  I definitely like the convenience of the system.  The big problem is, I’m missing out on saving money on unadvertised specials, close-outs, and triple coupon sales.  I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been in a store and seen an advertised special or close-out item.  I know I have a coupon for the item, but since the coupons are not clipped, I have to search through all the inserts and hope to find what I need.

Finally I have switched to a new coupon organizing system!

I am now using the coupon organizer inserts from Smart Spending Resources.  The coupon organizer inserts fit into a regular 3-ring binder which sits on your grocery cart allowing you to flip through the binder and find the coupons you need.  A few things I like about this system from Smart Spending Resources:

1)  The coupons can be easily viewed.
2) The tabs are neat and professionally printed.
3) You can easily find coupons you need for unadvertised specials, close-outs, and triple coupon deals.
4) The system is neat and keeps loose coupons under control.
5) The system is expandable. More pages can easily be added to each section as needed.

A few tips for those who are interested in this system:
1) Be sure to buy an oversized 3-ring binder. I bought a regular binder and I mine is slipping around on the cart. I plan to pick up a larger binder the next time I go to the store. It will make couponing so much easier.
2) I would recommend purchases extra insert pages.
3) You might want to consider buying a zipper pencil pouch for your binder. I purchased one and will use it to put coupons I know that I will be using or to store my pen and calculator.

As always, I try to provide an honest product review, so I will tell you that this system is a lot more time consuming than my previous method.  I feel that the savings will be worth my time though.  As I’ve told you all before . . . Time is Money but Money is Time.

Have you tried the binder organizing system?

top image (c) Karen Weideman, bottom image (c) Smart Spending Resources

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Enjoy!

The following is a guest post. 

As a stay-at-home mom of three boys ages three and under, it is VITAL that I get some time to myself. It helps me establish my identity outside of being a wife and mom and it makes me a better spouse and parent.

In the early months of my new stay-at-home mom status, my “Me-time” was spent bargain hunting and garage sale shopping in town by myself. (In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a nerd who enjoys getting good deals!)

But now going to town is an $8 expenditure. My days of “bumming around town” are now much more limited. I am combining trips more than ever, and that often means I have to do my bargain hunting with my entire family in tow.

The situation has forced me to redefine how I spend “Me-time.”

My Me-time is more often spent around my neighborhood now.

Sometimes my hubby lets me carve out a moment for me to scrapbook or do some card making while he watches the kids. I take walks by myself to clear my head. I spend time reading out on my deck. I write on my blog. I visit my parents or sometimes we go to town together (they’re good people that way!). I spend time doing yard work. I work on projects around the house (like organizing things or cleaning). I plan future bargain hunting trips and hunt for deals online.

In a way, I’m kind of glad that gas prices are up because it is challenging me to be more creative in all areas of my life. I’m rediscovering old hobbies and enjoying being at home more than I ever have before.

Most importantly, I’ve learned that “Me-time” doesn’t have to mean I’m in a store.

Christina is a stay-at-home of 3 boys, ages 3 and under.  You can find her at Northern Cheapskate writing about living on less and making it work with one income.

Hi. My name is Jenn, and I’m a scrapaholic. Yes, I have a room full of funky scissors, expensive paper, ribbons, leetle flowers and WAAAAY too many stickers. And I NEVER use them. But I scrap every day! Yes, I’ve gone digital.

I imagine over the years I’ve spend hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars on all that stuff gathering dust in my craft room - but I avoided using it because it was too much work to get it all out; I didn’t want to just have to clean it all up again in order to eat dinner, the kids would get into it and make ‘art’ with $1 sheets of paper… too many excuses. I was working at a scrapbook store, when I realized I hadn’t done any personal scrapping for TWO YEARS!!

Then I went digital! I have always used Photoshop as a retoucher, and had moved into laying out my kids’ school yearbooks - when I had that D’OH! moment… laying out a yearbook is… yes… SCRAPBOOKING!! I started looking around online, and realized lots of other people had already figured out how to scrap digitally, and were doing a WAY better job than I was!

I started learning and scrapping, and was able to tell my story again! (CLICK HERE to see a slideshow of some of my favorites.)

Digiscrapping fits into my new thrifty lifestyle because:

• Once I purchase a page kit (papers and elements), I can use it over and over!
• I can make my own backgrounds (papers) and titles and elements - it’s fun!
• I can stop and start whenever I want - no cleanup! Just hit ‘Save’!
• I can wait for sales or free coupons to print things (just got a free 20 page book from Shutterfly!)
• I don’t HAVE to print - lately I’ve been making slide shows from my layouts and sending them to the grandparents on DVD. Easy for them to view - everyone can see at once, no crowding around the book!
• I actually DO it now!

You can’t put a price on preserving your memories.

One day I was telling my son that we were going to host a couple of high school kids from a choir that was visiting our church. I asked him if he remembered when we did that the year before.

“No, I don’t remember.”

“Sure you do, remember they slept in your room and you bunked with your sister?”

“Nope.”

“Of course you do, remember we took them to Baskin-Robbins for ice cream?”

“Did you take pictures? Can I see them?”

“No honey, I don’t think we took any photos.”

“MOM, if you took PICTURES, I’d REMEMBER!!!”

Out of the mouths of babes.

So, if you’re not crafty, can’t stand the idea of little stickers and glue sticks - try digiscrapping. If you paper-scrap but can’t seem to find the time or space - digiscrap! If you’ve got a story (and we all do) - tell it!

Jennifer White is the owner of ScrappersWorkshop.com, a learning site for digiscrappers. She also designs scrapbooking supplies, catch her blog at http://www.scrapkittydesign.com/blog. If you’re new to digiscrapping, (or even if you’re not!) free samples and tutorials are available at http://www.scrapkittydesign.com/ScrapKittyDesignNewbiePage.html

Whenever I have spent a considerable amount of effort and time on something, I have frequently heard the phrases, “Time equals money”, “Your time is valuable”, or something along those lines.  I always perceived that the person was saying that what I was doing was not worth the effort.  Otherwise, why would they have said that?

Yes, my time is valuable . . . BUT it takes time to make and SAVE money.  Here’s a recent example . . .

My cabinets are so stuffed that I haven’t used The Grocery Game (TGG) in about a month.  I’ve just been picking up a few things here and there that were on sale or things we absolutely needed. 

Yesterday I decided it was time to sort through the coupons.  I know that when I haven’t done TGG in a while I will end up spending a good amount of time sorting coupons, clipping, and tossing out old stuff.  In between taking care of my son, I spent 3 hours doing those things.  Of course, it wasn’t a solid 3 hours, since I was caring for my son, but 3 hours is a long time to spend on coupons.  Then I also spent about 1 1/2 hours at the grocery store.  Again, it wouldn’t have taken so long if I wouldn’t have had a 2 year old with me.  lol

Now some people would think that I’m crazy.  They would never dream of spending a few hours on clipping coupons to save money.  I work at home and make a little bit of money each month.  These frugal tips that I share aren’t just for you.  They’re for me too.  I get to save money and have the joy of sharing tips with you.  These tips enable me to stay at home.

Do you want to know how much money I saved at the grocery store yesterday?????

Click below the “Read More” to find out.

Read more

I was shocked when I got an email today about “springing ahead”.  It really is that time already.  So, don’t forget to set your clocks ahead an hour on Saturday night before you go to bed.

Here’s a little information about daylight savings time.