
I am a stay at home mom with three wonderful kids. I have been married for over 8 years to my best friend. I am head over heals in love with him. He always supports my crazy "thrifty adventures". We have a lot of fun together.
I was raised on a small dairy farm. Where I learned very young, the value of hard work and how to be thrifty in all areas of life. Growing up our meals were made from scratch. Only on special occasion would we get name brand cereal, chips, or any other fancy treats. Now that I am a Mom with my own budget, the basic foods always comes first. I too make most of our meals from scratch and take pride in feeding my family a well balanced healthy diet.
I enjoy seeing how far I can make our budget stretch, and when I take the time to match sales with coupons I am able to get all those "fun & fancy" items that would other wise be out of my budget. Being thrifty has always been a way of life for me, but it has also become a real joy.
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Coupons 101 PART 4- How to organize your coupons
Since I wrote this post I have upgraded to this binder….it works great the the extreme coupon shopper! (ME)
Once you starts to collect coupons you will notice very quickly they turn into a huge pile of clutter. The only way I will use coupons is if I can easily find them, and have them organized. Everyone has their own way, I have used several different methods but this is what works for me. This is a photo of my coupon binder, I found the binder at Walmart for $24 it seems to cover all my needs.

In the front on my binder I have clear sheet protectors , I have them labeled for my catalina coupons and one for rebates for the month. I also have one for each store I shop at example, Albertsons, Target, Walgreens…. In side of each pocket I can put that weeks ad, coupons I plan to use at that store etc. That way if I don’t want to haul my whole binder in with me, I can just take that stores packet. But most the time I take my whole binder in with me, because I never now what I might find on clearance, or sale….and I will need my coupons for that.

I have 20 sections in my binder, each of which have several categories. I use 3 ring photo sheets, some have a spot for 4 photos and others only hold 3. I know some people use card collection sheets to hold their coupons. But I found the sections were too small for my coupons. One thing I like about using the binder I can always add or take out a page as my needs change.

I love that I can zip it closed, when I used a box I was always spilling my coupons all over the place. The binder keeps every thing in place really well.

Before I up graded to getting 6 papers a week, I used these small photo albums you can find for $1 just about anywhere. I clipped holes in the side and put them in my day planner. This worked great when I only got one paper. ?But now that I get 6 Sunday papers, I quickly out grew my day planner.
These are the categories I have in my binder,
- Dairy -milk, Ice cream, yogurt, sour cream, cottage cheese, butter, cheese, other dairy
- Breakfast-Kellogg’s cereal, Post cereal. GM cereal, other cereal, granola bars, Quaker products, breakfast mix, frozen breakfast, other breakfast
- Beverages- soda, fruit juice, veggie juice, powdered, other
- Canned- fruit, veggies, soup Campbell’s, soup other, broth, chili, sauce, other
- Condiments- mayo, pickles, olives, salad toppings, salad dressings, ketchup, mustard, peanut butter, jelly, other
- Grains-Dry pasta, mac& cheese, Hamburger helper, rice, side dishes, potatoes, baking- Brownies, cake, muffin, frosting, sugar, oil, flour, other
- Snacks-fruit snacks, nuts, popcorn, gum, candy, chocolate, crackers, cookies, chips, other
- Frozen- bread, rolls, pizza, dessert, pasta, veggies, dinners, meat, Asian, other
- Food misc.-diet, health, Mexican, Asian, ?meat, other
- Baby- diapers, soap, food, other
- Medication- laxatives, aspirin, Tylenol, cough drops, muscle pain, cold meds, tums and pepto, first aide supplies, other
- Paper – tissue, t.p., napkins, paper plates, cups, Ziploc bags, glad bags, other
- Soap-hand soap, body wash, Dove product’s, Olay products, Shampoo with 2 full sheets,
- Personal care- deodorant, feminine, razors, shave gel,
- Toothpaste- Colgate, crest, kids, mouthwash, toothbrush,
- Make up- cover girl, olay, Revlon, maybelline, other, skin care, lotion, chap stick,
- Dish soap- liquid, powdered, laundry soap and products,
- Home- other cleaners, carpet, floor, window, Clorox, Lysol, bathroom, glade, air wick, oust, febreze,
- Pets-food, care, other
- Batteries
This is my system and it works great for me.
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ATM Newspaper Deals -For only $12 per month, couponers will receive 5 Sunday papers and a daily paper on Monday through Saturday. For $13.50, subscribers will receive 6 Sunday papers and a daily paper on Monday through Saturday. Read more here. Or to sign up call Greg Roesberry at 870-2784. Tell him you want the "A Thrifty Mom" special!
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The Idaho Statesman - $3 per week. One daily newspaper, plus 4 more Sunday newspapers. Total of 5 Sunday papers. Read more here or to sign up call 377-NEWS (6397) and ask for the "A Thrifty Mom" special. We suggest locking in the 52 week special, so it doesn't go up during your term.
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