My Deal for the Day

Today I scored 12 Arizona Tea’s, Two packs of elastic head bands, one Gatorade, Gatorade Prime and one free Gatorade Recover for a grand total of $12! The tea on BOGO along with the head bands at CVS. The Gatorade when you buy one at Walgreen’s the magic coupon printer spits out a catalina for one Gatorade Prime and one free Gatorade Recover.

Couponlicous

I now refer to myself as the crazy coupon lady.  In the last few months I have started couponing. I used to occasionally used them if I happened to have them or found them on the products in the store.  At the end of May I made a conscious effort to buy the newspaper and started clipping the coupons.  I also started printing them from the internet.

I started out with a small expanding file that had 10 slots in it like this one

I then went to an expanding file that was just a little bigger.  It had 13 slots and was fabric instead of plastic.  I then started using the “old” one for coupons I didn’t use but I could share with friends and co-workers.  That lasted maybe a month.  It got to the point that it wouldn’t shut anymore unless we sat on the poor thing. I decided it was time to become “one of those couponers.”

When I started couponing I didn’t want to have to have a binder to store all of my coupons.  I didn’t understand why you would want to lug around a binder with coupons in it everywhere you went.  Now after only a week of having the binder I am glad that I have converted and was willing (with nagging from my daughter) to get the binder.  This is what my binder looks like now.

After a week of searching while I used one of Cera’s old binders I decided on this one.  It is a 3 inch Case It binder.  I have heard RAVE reviews on the Case It brand binders.  I figured if I was going to put this thing together I better do it right the first time.

After the binder you need sports card pages.  There are many different types of these pages.  I think the most popular with couponer are these two.

The Standard 8 slots

The three slots

After getting the pages and the binder we had learned at a coupon class that you can put paper into the slots so you can double the capacity of your binder.  It took us 5 hours to put the binder together, sort the coupons from the expanding file into the binder and clean up the mess in the living room.

I have gone shopping a few times with my new binder and I LOVE it.  No longer will I be standing in the isle of the store going “I know I have that coupon. Where did it go”  Today I put it threw the paces at two stores.  I think the trip to Target was not what I was thinking it would be but still great.  The trip to Wal-Mart was even better!  I came out with two bags of Skittles, three ice cream bars, 20 count box of Fudge Bars, a cake mix with frosting to go with it, some totinos snackers and some dish tabs.  My total for all of this after coupons was $12.37.

If you are interested in couponing I would recommend taking a class.  I can almost guarantee with the upsurge of couponing that you would be able to find a class near you.  There are many churches that are now offering these classes.  If a class isn’t in your future I have found two blogs that I LOVE.  The first is from a local Oklahoman that has been couponing for over 15 years.  Consumer Queen is a great resource for anyone who enjoys coupons.  Another site Raining Hot Coupons, though she does show some bad couponing practices at times, it is another great place to find coupons, free items and offers or I guess you could just ask me.  I am more than willing to share and help with my experience.