Manifesto Part Two....

Ok, so I'm confessing...I got a wave of butterflies when I brought this up to pen a new post...I had 58 views on my little ole blog yesterday and picked up one new follower.  Totally a humbling experience.  I have several blogs that I follow and they talk about how they love their readers, and comments totally make their day, blah, blah, blah...I rolled my eyes until today.  Ahem, so thank you all so much for coming by, even if you just read it once, it means a lot to me and is so humbling...in a weird and very showing up for your final in your underwear kind of way.

So a couple of clarifications...

• I want to reiterate that I don't personally go and pull all the ads for grocery stores etc...I rely upon my hero from Southern Savers to do that. 
• I DO subscribe to the Sunday paper. 
• You are generally limited to two prints per coupon online.  Don't let that stop you from clicking on every link to see if you can print more.  All they can do is say no.
• The rule above applies to per IP address...basically meaning per computer.  If there is something that is a really good sale or I really want a lot of, I may or may not print my limit on my computer and my husbands...just sayin'...
• Obviously storage is VERY important.  My pantry is laughably tiny.  Thankfully we have this little space under our stairs in the garage where this shelving fits perfectly and we house the family grocery store. 

Now on to the logistics...I'm ALWAYS very interested in finding out EXACTLY how someone does something successful...EXACTLY.  So I don't want to overwhelm you but you're about to get a lot of information.

How do you keep track of coupons?

1. Coupon Binder was my first foray into coupon organization.  A large three ring binder, baseball card holders, and dividers.  Here is a link to an example that links you to this example so you can see both women's inputs.  I liked it because I could see everything, but I HATED folding my coupons, running out of space, and if it got turned over they fell out everywhere.
2. You can also use the Coupon Binder method above, but NOT clip your coupons out of the coupon booklets until you need them.  You can just date the front of the flier and file it for use when you need it.  I did this method for a while, but found that it got messy, I got lazy, and it ended up not being very organized for me.
3. I have recently started with My Coupon Keeper and I have to say I love it.  So you can do this method with anything you want...I've seen it done with shoe boxes, accordion files, and index card holders...I chose to pay for this one because, as you can see, I've been through many iterations of organization.  I liked that this one has very durable materials, it is wide enough to accommodate larger coupons (like the ones from online) without folding them, you can reorganize your filing system on the fly, it already employed the folder system for shopping so I kinda felt on the same wave length with the creator (and the folder is little too).

How do you decide what coupons to clip and what not to?

• From the Sunday paper, I clip pretty much everything, with my new system.  With the exception of animal food and refrigerated coffee creamer (though I'm kicking myself because it's on sale and would be just a few cents...but I DON'T NEED IT and don't have anyone to give it to...see how this gets out of control?) I clip it all.  There is the possibility that I might buy it if the price is right and the coupons are there and it's on sale.  There is no wasted effort with a snip or two more of the scissors and to file it away. . .and I KNOW I have it if I see the opportunity.
• Web Coupons...I usually only print the ones that are matched up in the ads.  I often will run across things that I buy with frequency and print those too so I already have them.

Where all do you shop?

•  I really only shop at Publix.  Mainly because I don't have time to go to the other places.  They carry out my groceries, smile, I understand their sales, and weirdly, they are brightly lit (I know, who puts that in their requirements for a grocery store...)
• Jasen totally prefers Kroger and has done well on his couponing adventures...don't tell him I just posted that for the world to see, please!  :)
• I REALLY want to take the next step and start going to Rite Aid or Walgreens because I've seen some bloggers post some amazing deals they have gotten there and have spent little or nothing or even MADE money.
• I tried to start taking advantage of Target deals, but I very much had an epic FAIL at my first attempt.  I spent way more money than I'd anticipated, ended up returning most of my stuff (I know, it WAS kind of embarrassing) and didn't get as much money back as I'd expected.  I have more studying to do. . .and don't be put off by my experience.  I'm a bit slow on the uptake sometimes with these things just because of how I think about them...and I'm sure my expectations are WAY off too :)

Ok, that is a lot of information for this post...what questions do you have?