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

Are you a messy? Do you want to move through indecision and fear and begin clearing your house of clutter? If so, you may want to attend this free teleclass from Messies Anonymous Headquarters.

Sandra Felton,The Organizer Lady® will be speaking about the ideas found in her 24 page booklet I’ve Got to Get Rid of This Stuff.

WHEN? Wednesday, March 18, 2009

TIME? 9 PM Eastern Time, 8 Central, 7 Mountain, 6 Pacific

HOW LONG? One hour has been set aside for your burning questions.

COST? FREE There is no charge for the teleclass.  Of course, regular telephone charges will apply just like when you call Aunt Sally in Wyoming.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE? Just dial the telephone number and use the access code given below when asked. For those of you who have never participated in a teleclass, it is just like listening to the radio, only over the phone.

TELEPHONE NUMBER to call is 712-432-1699

ACCESS CODE is 466504#

Come prepared with pen and paper to write your strategies and goals.

ALSO - If you miss the live teleclass it will be available on messies.com for you to listen to at your convenience!

If you attend, please let us know how it goes.  If everything goes well tonight, I may drop in on the call.

Image: Karen Weideman

We redid our kitchen 4 years ago and have had the cabinets from our old kitchen sitting in our garage ever since.  I finally got tired of them sitting there and put them on Craig’s List yesterday.  I got 10 emails in less than an hour and I now have a check in my hand!  I even got what I was asking for them.  They didn’t even haggle the price.  I posted the listing exactly 24 hours ago.  I am SO HAPPY! Now we can use the money to fix up our next project to sell.

I am still unpacking from our trip and I hate it.  Why does it seem to take an hour or so throw everything in a suitcase but an entire day to unpack it.  And I came home with all CLEAN clothes.  Now I just have to find a place to put all these new toys.

Also, I now have another broken suitcase.  So much for my great deal on a new set of luggage!

If you have school aged children, then papers are probably a major issue in your home.  Here’s a video from Real Simple with some simple tips to help get those papers organized.

Today’s Thursday Cleaning Challenge is a repeat but not … I want you to take a quick look into your hall closet.  You know the one with all the jackets and shoes and catch all junk that you stuff out of the way when company comes over.  So now it’s time to clean it out.  Go through and throw out at least 10 things.  Just bring a trash bag with you and throw out the things you didn’t even realize were in there.  Freshen up the coats for the upcoming winter and then fix yourself a tall glass of tea to drink.

Today’s Thursday Cleaning Challenge is a painful one.  I am totally willing to admit it.  Get out all those mismatched socks and match them up.  Do this while watching your fave show or listening to a great CD.  This shouldn’t take 10 minutes but we all know we put this off way too much.  You will feel better for it.

I have had an albatros for years … my garage. I have wanted to get it cleaned out and actually park in it for a while. This week, I tackled cleaning it out with the help of some teenagers from our church. I was not even going to imagine that we could get it clean enough to get my van in it but we did. So here are some before and afters. It was a lot of work but I am so happy. Read more

The following is a guest post. 

Showers. Wedding or baby, these gatherings of friends and family are bevies of grub, games, and gifts. For the guest(s) of honor, they are a moment to celebrate a milestone; for the hosts, such get-togethers can be well-organized and well-executed or chaotic and stressful. I think I have found a way to make any shower fun and easy to organize whether you have two hosts or twenty.

The solution lies in three steps: 1) determining what the guest(s) of honor want; 2) discussing specifics with all hosts involved; and 3) converting plans to tasks via a spreadsheet. These three steps are great because they are flexible; you can do all of this whenever works best for you and usually will have help in doing any of it.

The first step gives all who are involved a chance to talk about basics, like time, date, and location, and specifics, like themes, colors, and menus. Though some honorees might be reluctant to spell out what they want lest they look demanding, a get-together of some sort, be it dinner or quick conversations over email, can let you know what the honorees would like to see. Read more

As I shared earlier this week, we made $2953 at our yard sale last weekend.  Prior to that, the most we had ever made was $580.  I can’t guarantee that you’ll do as well as we have, but here are some tips to help you get started. 

1)  Go through closets, dressers, toys, cupboards, cabinets, bookcases, etc before the yard sale.  Take out items that you no longer want and add them to your yard sale pile.  It’s good to do this at least once a year.  You may want to wait until spring when you’re doing your spring cleaning.

2)  Find a decluttering buddy.  I don’t know about you, but it is easier for me to get rid of things when I have some moral support.  It helps to have someone that can honestly say, “That doesn’t look good on you.  That’s out of style.  You haven’t used that in years.”  Sometimes a little nudge is all we need.  Unfortunately, I don’t have a decluttering buddy.   

3)  Price as you go.  As you find things in your home that you want to add to your yard sale, go ahead and take the few seconds to put a price on it.  This will save a lot of time and aggravation on yard sale day. 

3)  Spread the word.  I’m having a moving sale soon and I’ve already begun telling friends, people from church, and others about the sale.  I have people saying, “email me and let me know when it will be”. 

4)  If possible, post signs.  We like to use the fluorescent poster board and thick black permanent markers for our signs.  We have found that we do better with signs than with advertising.  People stop by and say that they saw our signs.

5)  Put your signs up the day before the sale so that people see them on their way home from work. Then they’ll think, “I’m going there tomorrow.” Otherwise, they might not be out and about the day of the sale.

6)  Let friends and neighbors be a part.  You can advertise the yard sale as a multi-family yard sale.  This will let customers know that there will be more things and a bigger selection to choose from.  Participants can also share in the advertising expenses.

7)  Put a price on everything.  Some people will walk away rather than asking the prices for things.  Even if the item is 25 cents, you need a price on it.  All those 25 cent items add up.

8)  To save time, buy the premade price stickers.  You can purchase these in the office supply departments at most stores.  Recently, I even saw these in Dollar Tree.

Read more