Frugal Friday: COUPONING Week 1 *LONG*

UPDATE: See Week 2 and 3!!

This might only be a 2 week series, because I'm not sure how much I can teach you about couponing. I am not one of those extreme couponers, or one of those "crazy coupon ladies", but I do like to save money. Today I'm going to show you how I keep my coupons organized.

I am the type that always says "I'm not going to clip coupons to save 25 cents on a name brand when I can get the generic for less". This is so true. Do not waste your time clipping coupons if you are going to the store only to realize the generic is cheaper. I'm not a brand snob, I'll buy the generic of just about anything. However, when you see an ad for toothpaste for $1 and you have a $1 off coupon, you just got toothpaste for free. This is what makes couponing worth while.

Now I'm not going to tell you to buy 87 Sunday papers and stock up on that many boxes of toothpaste. I live in an 800 square foot apartment. We have room for one toothpaste at a time. Again, I'm not an extreme couponer. I only buy things we need. I do not buy things because they are cheap or because they will be free after a rebate. That's just not me.

Anyway... to get started, you need a coupon binder. You could use one of those accordion coupon holders, but they just aren't the same. If you don't want to carry a huge binder to the store with you, try to find a mini. Heck, use a travel photo album. I don't care - just get those suckers organized!

Today we are just going to focus on how to make your coupon binder. One step at a time, right? :) It seems like common sense but sometimes it's just easier if someone breaks it down for you. So here we go!

You will need:

*A Sunday paper (or another newspaper/magazine with coupons in it)

*scissors (unless you want to tear them all..err..not recommended)

*3 ring binder

*baseball card sleeves (I got a pack of 35 at Wal-Mart for $4.88)

*A Marker

*A few pieces of white/scrap cardstock

First, you want to sit down with your newspaper(s). Take out all of the sale ads from the grocery stores, and set them aside (we will talk about this part next week). Then, grab all of the coupons and get to clipping. This should only take about 10 minutes, assuming you don't have any kids interruptions. Now you should have a nice pile of coupons.

You can organize as you are cutting, by putting them into piles. I only shop at one store, so I usually have mine organized by aisles. However, for this tutorial, I made labels by category: dairy, frozen, produce, boxed, canned, snacks, beverages, breads, cleaning supplies, paper goods, misc food, and non-food. Just take the sleeves out and put the coupons on top for now.

Then you need to put the coupons in the sleeves.... obviously... :)

Little dividers were like $5 at Wal-Mart, so I just made my own. Take a piece of card stock and write the different categories down. Use tape to secure to the coupon sleeves.

You can label these by aisle, by section, etc and you can place them in the order you will pass them in the store or you can place them in alphabetical order.

I make my menu for the week (breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks), make my grocery list, and then take the coupons out that I'm going to use during my trip and I put them in an empty sleeve at the beginning of my binder. Most couponers will suggest planning your menus around store ads and coupons, but I am just not that talented yet. :)

Remember how I told you to set aside the store sale ads? We will talk about those next Friday! :)

Here are a few ton of coupon sites that were recommended by friends. I haven't had a chance to start printing coupons out yet, or visiting these sites, but I know they can help you save a LOT of money... so if you have time, visit a few of them. :) Add your own in the comments.

Penny Pinchin' Mom Frugal Fun & Fortune

Smart Source Money Saving Mom

Hip 2 Save Passion For Saving

Coupon Mom The Krazy Coupon Lady

A Full Cup Refund Cents

Pinching Your Pennies Coupons.com

Deal Seeking Mom Clippin' With Carie

Pocket Your Dollars Free Snatcher

Totally Target Couponing 101

Hot Coupon World Maven of Savin'

My Litter Bargains to Bounty

Don't get overwhelmed. This is a really simple process, and believe it or not it can actually be relaxing! Take a few minutes, grab your drink of choice, and clip some coupons. The entire process (menu planning, coupon clipping, etc) won't take more than an hour each week. If you have any questions or need help with getting started, please let me know! I will try to help in any way I can. Next week I will be doing a giveaway and it has to do with COUPONING so be sure to check out my post on Friday. :) Thanks for stopping by -- leave your blog link in the comments and I will try to visit!

UPDATE: Check out Week 2 and 3!!