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5.10.2010

Cutting the Chaos, Week 5!!

Well here we are on the 5th week, and I'm still going strong :) I usually have a lot of great ideas and even better intentions, but always tend to get busy and have a hard time sticking to things. I am glad 5 weeks into this crazy thing I am still finding some ways to cut the chaos. The project for this week was not original, crafty or very cute, but oh so needed in my life!!

A few posts back I mentioned my love of couponing. It takes a little while to get into it, but once I did I went a little crazy! It was just so exciting to feel like even though I don't bring any income into our home, I can have a huge effeect on how much of that income leaves the home :) Although recently as we have tried to eat a little bit healther I haven't been using the food coupons AS much, I still love all the toiletries I get for amazing deals. Anyways, with all these coupons floating around I had to have a way to keep them organized, right?
You would think so :) This is a pic of my previous, ahem, system (if you could call it that!)



I would cut out all my coupons, group them into categories, and then paper clip them and throw them in the pile. Hmmm, see that huge pile of coupon inserts on the right? Those are all the ones I was behind on that still needed to be clipped. I loved the idea of clipping coupons, and for months was able to keep up with it, but NO MORE!! Not only did it take me hours to clip the coupons and organize them, but then to dig through the pile of paper-clipped categories and try and find the ones I needed, it was just too much!

My sister-in-law Crista introduced me to this brilliant method of organizing your coupons. If you visit different coupon sites like I do, you will notice that they always tell you where the coupon you need comes from (i.e., Red Plum 5/2). So now instead of spending hours clipping every Sunday I simply stick that weeks inserts in a plastic sheet and put in a binder I got on clearance at Walmart.

This way as I am making my grocery lists I can check the coupon blogs and ONLY cut the coupons I will actually be using that day at the store. Isn't it beautiful?! :)

I can't tell you how wonderful it feels to have these organized! Just one more way I am trying to Cut the chaos so I can enjoy all the fun things in my life!!

Do you coupon? If so, how do you organize your stash?? :)

2 comments:

Kim Milius

This system is how I was taught to do it by someone in our ward. I started out doing it this way, but then switched to my own version . . . I cut out the coupons that are ones I would use (example: we don't have a dog, so I don't bother cutting out dog food coupons) and put them in an envelope that is labeled according to the date & the insert type (smart source, redplum, etc). I like having my stack of envelopes & really don't mind spending the time cutting coupons out, so it works for me.

scrapwordsmom

Found you on Tip Junkie and now I'm a follower!! Love it!!

Leslie