Coupon Binder

So today I have decided to change things up a little . . . I have decided to blog about my coupons.  I just love my coupons.  Coupons are an everyday part of my life.  It's so funny because people ask me how many hours a week I put into doing couponing and I really can't answer that question.  I enjoy doing this so much that I have never really sat down and counted down the hours.  Anyhow, instead of me trying to explain everything to you I figured it would be easier to show you with pictures.  So here we go!  :) 

This is my coupon binder.  I like the case-it binders.  They seem to hold up the best out of all of the binders.  They also have a zipper enclosure so that helps keep all of the coupons in the binder.  You can buy the Case-It binders on their website or at Walmart.

Inside of the Case-It it has a file area (on the left side) and I put all of my shopping lists along with my matching coupons in the files.  On the right side you can see my pencil pouch.  Below you will see everything that I carry inside of my pencil pouch.

There are a million and one ways to organize your coupons.  I happen to come across an amazing website called krazycouponlady.com.  She has come up with a way to organize coupons (the table of contents is pictured above) and it makes the most sense to me. 

I use baseball card holders to hold all of my coupons.  There again there are many, many ways for  people to organize their coupons.  This one works for me. 

I made my own tabs for my binder to make it easier for me to find coupons while I am shopping.

I carry my binder with me everywhere.  In the back of my binder I carry a copy each stores coupon policy.  These has been a few times where the cashier didn't know the stores coupon policy and I just so happened to have a copy of that stores coupon policy and it came it very handy.

Also in my binder I have an envelope called rewards.  These are the rewards that you get at the bottom of your receipt for your next visit I believe that rite aid calls them up rewards and so on.  I keep all of the stores in one envelope so it makes them easy to find.

These are the items that I keep in my pencil pouch.  I would be lost without my paper clips.  I paper clip EVERYTHING!  LOL

Every week I buy 5 news papers.  4 newspapers I cut up and 1 I keep uncut.  The uncut set of coupons I keep in a separate binder in my office.  Sometimes I can't find a specific coupon in my big binder so I look up the date on which the item was published and find the coupon in the uncut booklet and make sure that coupon as published in our region.  If it was published in our region then then I am able to go back and see what the coupon looks like and then go back into my big binder to find it.  For some reason this process really works for me.  ??

I just made this binder for my BFF for her Birthday.  She was the one who got me into couponing, but she never has time to make herself a binder so I made her a starter kit.  She's always wanted one and I can't wait until I can give it to her!

This is the inside of her binder!

I use a 3 inch binder for my coupons.  I have that thing filled to the max!  :)

YouTube

Hello Everyone!

So I have been trying to figure out this whole blog thing . . . For some reason it's just not working for me.  :(  Misty, I really don't want you to think that I am ignoring you.  I have tried over and over to write to you, but for some reason it won't let me write on your blog.  :(  I just have to say. . . I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE all of your work!!  You do such wonderful work!!  You did such a great job on your Christmas card!! 

Anyhow, I have decided to post a video on YouTube.  If you are interested in watching the video please feel free to check it out at TheDixiecupgal.  I am going to continue to try and figure out this whole blog thing, but I just didn't want to think that I was ignoring anyone!!  :)

I hope that everyone has a very happy Wednesday!!!

Craft Room Update

Ok, so here is the craft room update. . . I have been pretty busy in there to get things put away and unpacked (yes, unpacked after living here for 6 months) and it feels so much better in there already.  I am still not done, but it's a lot closer than it was this time Monday Morning that's for sure!  lol  So here is the photo update.  :)

I finally found the floor in this corner of the room!!  In those two boxes I have the kids arts and crafts supplies.  Then in the bookshelf you can't really see it but I have my purple cow cutting board and magazines along with my cuttlebug.

I have two of these ribbon holders.  They also are great for doubling as a punch holder for most of my punches.  :)

This is still my "messy corner", but I think it always will be.  It's the one that is next to my desk so I want everything right there next to me.  Anyhow, you can see my paper holders (which I need more of), my cricut bookshelves, in the pink container that holds all of my stickers (yes, I am a sticker FREAK).

On the shelves I have most of the items to make my jewelery.  It also holds my prima flowers and embossing goodies.  The black cups next to the window hold all of my tools for jewelry making and all of my pens and my i rock machine.

My poor little bookshelf . . . I love cookbooks . . . most of the books are cookbooks.  The bottom shelf is my scrapbooks that I have been working on FOREVER.  The green container to the right is FULL of chipboard albums!  :)

These are most of my rubber stamps.  I put them into CD cases and my hubby mounted this awesome CD holder on the wall for me!  I LOVE IT!!!  Now I am not looking for years for the one special stamp everything is right there for me!!

So there it is!  Let me know what you think!  If you have any ideas for me please let me know!!!  :)

i rock Tool for Paper Crafting

So tonight around dinner time (of course) the power goes out.  So running out of ideas to do while the kids played with their toys and my Husband played Angry Birds on his cell phone I got the idea to play with my new i rock crystal and stud heat-setting tool by Imaginisce.  I purchased this tool to be able to add some bling to my scrap booking pages or cards.  I purchased this as a package I got the i rock tool, crystal studs, stencil kit and an i rock apron.  Anyhow, tonight I decided to bling out some butterflies.  They turned out very cute.  The i rock will take a little time to figure out exactly how long to put the heat onto the stud so the glue won't melt outside of the stud/crystal.  If you hold it to long then the you will see the glue on the project, but if you hold it for the perfect amount of time (I found around 10 seconds) then you won't see any glue and your project looks great!  It's a fun little tool to play with.  It's most definitely something to keep away from the kids due to the heat that the tip of the setter lets off.  Here are some photos of me playing around with the i rock!

The i rock.

This is to show you the size of the i rock.  It's very lightweight and compact.  Perfect for taking to craft get togethers.  It's cordless.  It takes 3 AA Batteries.

This is a bottle at the crystals come in. 

The i rock setting the crystals onto the butterfly.

The finished butterfly with the crystals going down it's body.

My First Post

Hello Everyone!

So I figured since everyone else is doing this whole "blogging" thing I thought it was time for me to jump on the bandwagon.  This is my first ever blog so please take it easy on me everyone!  :)  I am really not even sure on what to talk about, so I am just going to say whatever comes to mind.  I am a stay at home Mommy of a 6 year old and a 4 year old.  So my life pretty much the same day in and day out.  I get up every morning get my son ready for school, pack his lunch, make his breakfast, get him on the bus . . . and so on.  Then of course do the same for my Husband.  Most mornings my daughter sleeps in so I have a few minutes of "mommy" time just to sit down to enjoy my portein shake (which I will explain at a later time) and clip that mornings coupons. 

Oh yeah, that's one way I keep my sanity . . . my coupons . . . My hubby calls me his "Coupon Queen".  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my coupons.  Almost everyday my kids and I hit up our local CVS, Rite Aid, Walgreens and Target for the latest and greatest deals.  Before you totally write me off as one of these crazy people who have 100,000 rolls of toilet paper stuffed under my bed let me tell you that is NOT me.  As I stated earlier I am a Navy Wife.  Therefore most of the items that we get from couponing goes to our troops overseas.  I try and save as much money as I can on items so I can send as much as I can to our troops.  There are so many troops overseas who don't have anyone stateside to send them carepackages and it just breaks my heart.  They are over there fighting for our freedom and . . . well you know the rest (ok, ok, I am getting off my soap box now). 

Anyhow, one of my favorite things to do while couponing is to look for new items that are just coming out to try.  I am always looking for items to make my life easier.  You will see (if you follow my blog that is) the items that I will try and if I like them or not.  I love telling people about my experiences about "new" items. 

Another thing that keeps me busy during the day is my paper crafting.  I LOVE paper of any kind!  When we moved to NJ 6 months ago my husband made me a craft room.  It's my dream come true!!!  I LOVE IT!!!  The only problem is that I haven't had the time to get in there and really put the time and energy I need to, to get the room where it needs to be.  Maybe that's something I can work on.  If I really put my mind to it I can get it done.  I think what I am going to do is take some photos of the room and post them on here so you can see to progression of the room over this week.  That's my goal for the week . . . get my craft room up and going!  :)

Ok, I think this blog is long enough for now.  I have taken some photos of my craft room so these will be the "before" photos.



So much stuff and not sure where to put it all!!



Where is the floor in this picture?

We have been here 6 months and I still have moving boxes in that room!  LOL

You can't even see the desk top!