Coupon Organization: Making it Work for YOU {part 5}

You’ve patiently waited to see what method of coupon organization I’m currently using… I intended to do this series in a period of 10 days. Of course, life is always busier than I expect, and it took me a little long {asking for forgiveness!}.

This method is a combination of the first two I tried {and featured}. Amber, one of our contributors, showed me this fabulous idea last summer, and I finally implemented it a few months ago. I must say – it is working for me!!

• It has the functionality and portability of the binder, with out spending hours clipping coupons you may or may not use.
• Incorporates the ease of the filing method, without the frustration of not being able to quickly see what coupons you have while roaming the isles of the store.

#3 – COMBO METHOD

So instead of using an expandable file folder that isn’t very portable, you can use your favorite binder! (I strongly suggest getting something that you can close shut thanks to velcro, snaps, or zippers!!).

Personally, I am using my super cute “Stylin Binder” bag. I love it because:

1 – ITS FABULOUSLY STYLIN!
2 – It’s fabulously portable!
3 – It velcros shut, so I don’t have to worry about dropping it and having all the contents fly all over the place!

{You can see all their super cute new fabrics and bags right here!}

NEXT – Purchase some sheet protectors. I remember seeing them advertised super cheap during the back to school sales (like less than $.20 for a pack of 12). Since I missed those sales, I purchased a huge box of 225 at Costco for around $13.00 (If I’m remembering correctly!?). Obviously you won’t need that many, so you could split it with several friends, or just buy a smaller pack on sale somewhere. (I bought a big one so I’d have extras to giveaway at our classes!). You’ll want enough to get you through about 13 weeks (one sheet protector per set of inserts – 30, give or take a few, should cover it!).

Here is the cool part, not only are you going to put your group of 4, 5, or 6 inserts inside the sheet protector, you are going to give each set a “Cover Page” that lists all the coupons (and their expiration dates) on the front.

It looks a little something like this:

I bold the coupons that I am excited about (you could also use a highlighter). This makes for quick and easy viewing! Now when I’m in the store roaming the isles, and I see something on a great sale, I can quickly scan my cover pages to see if there is a coupon to use! Each page has the coupons listed in alphabetical order and I put the newest ones in the front of my binder. Of course, you’ll have to get over the “I’ll look stupid standing in the isle clipping coupons” feeling.C’mon girl (or guy)! You’re walking out of the store paying 50%-90% less than the dude that’s lookin at you funny! Who cares if you’re clippin in the isle!

NOW – I know what you’re thinking. Who in the world has time to go through each insert, type the details of every coupon, AND alphabetize!?!?! Our fab reader Sophie, a spreadsheet freak, has kindly shared her lists with us! Here are the CURRENT Idaho Coupons Lists by Insert Date or you can always click up on the menu bar.  Just mouse over “Learn to be a fruGAL”, then mouse over ”Get Organized” and find the link to the Idaho Insert Lists.    Simply print it and stick it inside the sheet protector with that corresponding group of coupons!

PLUS – you can always quickly find a coupon by searching our Idaho Insert Database!  All the current coupons are found here in alphabetical order.  Want to print an entire list for your binder?  You’ll find a current download available as well!

ps – Not in Idaho? You could always go to sites like Sunday Coupon Preview and copy and paste from there. Remember that those coupons do vary a little bit too, so you may want to double check!

And yes, I still have one more installment in this series! Email me your current coupon organization system! I’ll post the pictures and what you’re loving/hating about it! I also took some pictures of Cathy B’s homemade coupon holders for you to see her great method!

Every week we’re talking about how to save loads of money at

Live in the Northwest? Be sure to see all the hot deals at our favorite grocery stores!

4 Steps to Becoming the Master of Your Stockpile

So you can SHOP FROM YOUR PANTRY! You know, your pantry, that place chock full of food you’ve been purchasing? Hopefully you’ve been stocking up (aka: NOT hoarding) when you find an item at a rock bottom price!

Extra Albertsons Doublers

Looking for doubles to use the last two days of the fab Albertsons sale? We’ve got extras from our source! (Thank you Melanie!)

Monica was a gem and went and picked up a stack from Melanie, who has some available for you in the Chinden/Veterans Parkway area {you can email her direct for this area: howard.mk at hotmail dot com}.

So that means we also have some in the SW Boise area! Just email us at fabulesslyfrugal at gmail dot com and we’ll give you the exact location in whichever area you’d like! Woot! Have fun!

Catch up on the Albertsons Double Deals, More Albertsons Buys, and Albertsons Scenarios! Remember that the last day of this sale is TUESDAY the 12th!

Disclosure: We. Make. Money.

Yep – we sure do. Do you think we’d be spending hours and hours on this blog for the past year just for fun!? Do you think we’re crazy?

Sure, we love it (IT being, working on this blog!). If we didn’t, we’d stop! We’ll be the first to admit it is certainly more fun to bring in a little extra cash doing something you enjoy!

Why in sam hill are we telling you this? The FTC came out with new regulations for bloggers effective 12/1/09. If we make money on a post. We’re supposed to let our readers know. We could give you the boring shmoring disclosure you’ve been reading everywhere else. But that just isn’t who we are!

Yes, dearest readers, because of you, we’re ROLLING in the DOUGH! HA! When you consider the amount of man hours we put into this blog, and the actual cold hard cash we bring in, we average less than minimum wage per hour (you still want to be a deal blogger?).

When I started this site, it was merely to share info with friends and family. Nothing more. About 4 months into it, we tossed around the idea of putting up a few “ads”. We weren’t in it for the $, but we did think if we could pull in a few extra dollars to justify to our husbands all the time we were putting into it, we wouldn’t object (nor would our hubbys). So we went for it.


Here are a few things you should know:

• We are very particular about the “ads” we put up.
• 98% of the time, we try the offer out ourselves to see if it’s really worth it
• We only put up about 1% of the slew of “offers” out there.

We do this because we want you, our fab readers, to know that what we are posting is worthwhile. Our time is precious. We refuse to post every single thing out there (goodness, there is a lot of it!)… and frankly, we don’t think you’d read us if we did. What’s the point of me telling you this? If we post it, we believe in it. If we are a little unsure of the offer, but we post it anyway (because it sounds pretty darn good, but we didn’t have time to try it out ourselves), we’ll let you know!

AND if you like us and appreciate the hours we spend sitting on our fannys getting bloggers butt, then simply click through our site when heading to coupons.com, or restaurant.com, or amazon.com (to name a few). See the banners over there on the sidebar? They aren’t there for decoration (well, OK – some of them are). Feel free to click on them! You just may send a few pennies our way!

So now on to the nitty gritty. Here is a list of companies we are affiliated with:

Logical Media,
My Savings Media,
Brandcaster (coupons.com)
Amazon.com (we are apart of the Amazon Associates program. We get 4-8% of the purchase you make after clicking through our site!)
Idaho Statesman (yep, if you get the newspaper deal and tell them that Fabulessly Frugal sent you, we get a kickback! Thanks for dropping our name when you subscribe!!)
Idaho Press Tribune (same here – make sure you tell them that you want the Fabulessly Frugal newspaper deal!)
LinkShare

As always…
We ♥ our readers!!

Now you know if you see Disclosure at the bottom of a post, we may receive some compensation.

Today’s Coupons

Have you even cracked opened one of your 5-6 papers today? 

Mine is still sitting in the entry. We have been BUSY!
If you have opened yours, no you didn’t get ripped off!There really are no coupons in the paper today or next week.
If you shop at Albertsons, be sure to look for the doubles we told you about.They are there!
Plus check the Parade Page 29- Buy one 6-oz bag of Craisins, get a 6-count 100 calorie pack of Craisins for FREE, up to a $3 value! Thanks UtahDealdiva
The good thing about no coupons is that it will give me a chance to catch up on my clipping. I am 2 weeks behind.

You may want to consider putting next weeks paper on hold. ALTHOUGH, we can not confirm the presence (or non-presence) of doubles in the paper. So you’ll have to decide how much you’re willing to risk for the possibility of Albertsons double coupons.

If you are an Idaho Statesman subscriber, simply call 377-NEWS to request a vacation stop.

If you are an Idaho Press Tribune Subscriber you may have a harder time getting your paper put on hold. I’ve been told the minimum length of “vacation stop” is anywhere from 3 to 7 days.

This is Why I Coupon!

Tonight for dinner we had spaghetti and for Dessert we had pie and ice cream.

Our One Year Stats!

Just for fun we thought we would post our stats for our 1st year! It’s fun to see how we’ve grown!!

VISITS
October 2008: 177
April 2009: 31,358
September 2009: 54,986
TOTAL: 303,076

Blog Followers: 391
Facebook Group Members: 557
Facebook Fan Friends:449
Twitter Buddies: 160
RSS Feed Subscribers: 794
email Subscribers: 261

Comments:
OCTOBER 2008: 4
APRIL 2009: 462 (we ran our 2nd & 3rd contests this month!)
SEPTEMBER 2009: 395
TOTAL: 5888

Posts:
OCTOBER 2008: 13
APRIL 2009: 135
SEPTEMBER 2009: 128
FIRST YEAR TOTAL: 1244
Albertsons Posts: 246
Freebies Posted: 224

Our favorite run of comments: The Old Navy Weekly post one night in June. A bunch of us were talking via the comments while we (not so patiently) waited for the site to update! We got silly and had a blast!!!

We Love the Sunday Paper and Albertsons Doubles!!

If you recall, I told you how fun it was to open my front door Sunday mornings and see a load of newspapers out front.

Albertsons 8/12-8/18

Here are your Albertsons printable shopping lists – Thanks PYP!

IDAHO
NEVADA
UTAH
WASHINGTON
CALIFORNIA – SOUTHERN

If you have no idea what this PRINTABLE SHOPPING LIST IS, then you MUST go see our pictorial about using this FABULESS tool!

Time to cash in on the Kraft=FREE Groceries Promo! Buy $25 worth of the following items and get $5 catalina and a rebate form to submit for $20!

Check out Yesterday’s Preview for the HOT POST CEREAL SALE and your meat and produce deals (plus some scenarios and a hint about Sundays ad!).

California Pizza Kitchen For One $2.50
$1/1 CPK in 5/17 Smart Source

Digiorno For One & Flat Bread Melts $2.50
$.75/1 DiGiorno Flatbread Melts 5/17 Smart Source

California Pizza Kitchen (12″) $6.00
$1/1 CPK in 5/17 Smart Source
$1.00/1 CPK from Coupons.com
$1.00/1 bricks coupon
or find some CPK Coupons on eBay

DiGiorno Pizza (12″) $6.00
$1.50/1 DiGiorno Crispy Flatbread Frozen Pizza, any 5/17 Smart Source

Capri Sun Juice Drink $2.00
You can find various tearpad coupons that combine Nabisco/Chips Ahoy and Capri Sun Coupons on eBay

Chips Ahoy! Cookies $2.50
Chips Ahoy Coupons on eBay

Crackerfuls Crackers $2.50
$1/1 in 7/12 Smart Source

Crystal Light Drink Mix (any variety) $2.50-$3.99
$2 off WYB Crystal Light & Wheat Thins on eBay

Jell-O Gelatin snacks $3.00
$.60/1 SS 8/9
$1/2 SS 7/12
$.60/1

Kraft Easy mac or Velveeta Cups $1/1
$1/2 SS 8/9
BOGO FREE SS 8/9

Kraft Macaroni & Cheese Dinner $.49
$1/2 SS 8/9

Kraft Natural Cheese Slices (7-8oz) $3.00
$1/2 RP 8/9

Kraft Natural Shredded or Chunk Cheese (8oz) $1.67
$1 off 2 pounds Cheese (you’ll need to purchase 4 packs in order to use this coupon)

Kraft Singles $2.50
$1/2 RP 8/9

Kraft String Cheese (12oz) $3.00

Nabisco Toasted Chips $2.50
$.75/2 SS 7/26

Philadelphia Cream Cheese $1.67
$1/2 RP 8/9

Ritz Crackers (13-16oz) $2.50
B1 Ritz Crackers, G1 Wheat Thins FREE 5/17 SSOR Find Ritz/Wheat Thin coupons on eBay

Starbucks Coffee (12oz) $6.99
$1/1 SS 7/26

Wheat Thins or Triscuit Crackers $2.50
B1 Ritz Crackers, G1 Wheat Thins FREE 5/17 SS
OR Find Ritz/Wheat Thin coupons on eBay

Have fun getting your FREE groceries!

Albertsons Sneak Peak Aug 05 – Aug 11

Here is the PYP list for the sales starting tomorrow.

Look for the
General Mills/Unilever promo: Save $15 on your NEXT shopping trip when you spend $30 or more on these participating products.

P&G promo: Save $5 on your next purchase when you spend $20 or more on participating products.

Which we featured here!

And a new Kelloggs Promo!

Not sure if there are more doubles. Anyone heard?

WINCO Strawberries and Using Coupons that Are about to EXPIRE.

I was downtown for my doctors appointment today, so I stopped in at Winco. My friend Amanda told me they were having their annual Strawberry Truckload Sale.

While I was there I noticed many items on “sale” that I could get for WAY less at Albies right now – because a promo, coupled with coupons AND doulbers makes for a stink load of money saved! I found myself cringing when people put some of these items in their cart!

I DID however, use a few coupons that will be expiring next Wednesday that I wanted to use.

I picked up a pack of Yo Plus (reg price $2.04) and saved a dollar with my IP. I also grabbed 2 California Kitchen Pizza’s. These were the 12″ variety that are NOT part of the promotion at Albies this week. They ARE on sale at Albies for $6.99 (I don’t consider THAT a sale!), so I got two boxes at Winco for $4.78 each. And I used two $1/1 printables that I got from coupons.com a few weeks ago.

ANYWAY – my point is:

FABULESS Strawberries at Winco right now

also

IF you have coupons that are about to expire,

and

YOU NEED or COULD USE the item that you have a coupon for,

and

there isn’t an AMAZING deal going on,

then

I break down and head to Winco or Walmart to purchase the item.