Helpful Hints

First off, let me begin by saying, I am no expert.  I am just a single mother of two teenage boys, who had to make a change with my finances.  After alot of research and prayer, I found coupons.  So, the information I am going to share, is things that I have found, and figured out through my own trial and error.  There may be better ways to do things, and if you ever have a suggestion, or find a great deal, please let me know!

In the beginning, you won't have many coupons, it took me about a month of getting papers every week, and printing coupons, to get a good variety.  Don't be discouraged!!!  If you see a deal that I have posted, and you don't have that particular coupon, chances are you will be able to find that coupon on ebay or at a clipping service!!!  What you will need to decide, is how will you store your coupons?  There are two main ways that you can store your coupons.  You can use a box, or you can use a binder.  I have done both.  I started with a box, I used a box I found at Wal-Mart that had a lid with a handle, so it was easy for me to carry around with me.  I used index cards as dividers, and had each category of coupons separated.  This worked well for me, it was easy for me to store my coupons, and I could carry it easily because of the handle.  However; while at the grocery or whatever shopping I was doing, it was hard for me to quickly look to see if I had a coupon for an item that might be on sale.  Just recently, I transferred all my coupons into a zipper binder, with baseball card  holders as my pockets to keep my coupons in.  I have to say, this is my storage of choice.  Not only is it easy to carry with me, but, I can see what coupons I have quickly.  I still have my coupons divided by categories, but, I have actually used more coupons since I have transferred them to my binder.

I know your thinking, what will people think when they see me carrying my box/binder into the store with me?  At first, I was hesitant, I felt like people were looking at me funny - well - guess what?  They were!  But not because of my box/binder - but because they wanted to know what I had in that box/binder that made my grocery bill $60.00 and they got the same things and paid $400.00!!!  I can't tell you how many times I've been stopped by people asking me questions.  I even had one lady give me a hug and tell me way to go when she saw my total go from over $500.00 to just a little above $100.00.  So...if you are a little embarrassed about packing a box/binder with you, don't be!!!  You just smile at when the cashier says...um, that's gonna be $5.00!!!