Coupon Copycat

After reading about Young House Love's fabulous looking coupon organizer, if a coupon holder can be fabulous, I drove straight to Target and grabbed one. It was one of those great personal triumphs where I hastily parked, ran in, headed straight to the office supply section, frantically searched the aisles and nearly jumped for joy upon finding said coupon organizer. It's the little things in life, I tell you.

Now, down to business. The organizer costs around $6. This is not something I necessarily "need" by my father's definition. But, his definition is way too stringent for me, at least at this point in my life and I technically needed it to organize my coupons to save money. It's a win-win for me and my dad. Just saying.

What I love about this organizer compared to others is that it has only five tabbed sections. 
 

The one I had before was plastic and ugly. It was a jelly sandal version of a coupon organizer. And, despite it's pink color, I was not digging it. As a matter of fact, it was sorta embarrassing to pull it out at the checkout line. I felt like grandma.

So, I'm happy to report that I've already saved over $10 dollars on beauty products, no less. It's already paid for itself.

Here are some of my couponing/saving habits, in case you're interested in saving some dough. And by no means am I encouraging extreme couponing. Just a few simple things you can do to avoid leaving money on the table. 

1. Sign up for rewards programs. I love the CVS card. Yes, items do tend to cost more at the drugstore, but this week, I bought a $10 moisturizer and $9 lipstick for a total of $10 with a combination of manufacturer and store coupons. The key to these rewards programs is to actually USE the coupons before they expire! And, wait until the products are on sale or until you have a manufacturer's coupon to combine them with.
2. Clip coupons from the Wednesday sale papers (it automatically comes to your mailbox)
3. Clip coupons from the Sunday paper, of course. 
4. Clip coupons from online - coupons.com
5. Use social media to your advantage. I've discovered many retail sales via Twitter. Follow the stores/brands you frequently shop.
6. Read the sale papers. No, you don't have to read all of them. For example, I only read CVS, Walmart and Publix - places I frequent.
7. Organize your coupons in a way that works for you so they're easy to access and easy to use. You certainly don't want to the frumpy mcfrump at the checkout with coupons spilling everywhere.\
8. Refuse to pay full price at the stores that have coupons every week - Bed, Bath and Beyond, Michaels, Hobby Lobby, Jo Ann Fabrics - these stores ALWAYS have coupons. Please don't ever pay  full price at any of these stores. Sacrilege. 
9. Accept dings, dents and scratches. You'd be surprised at the number of retail stores that will give an extra 10% for gently damaged items. Just ask.
10. Try to shop the grocery store at a quieter time. Paying attention to coupons can be difficult if the grocery store is crowded. I generally try to shop during my lunch break for quick trips and at night for longer, more extensive shopping trips. It helps if I don't feel rushed while comparing prices and coupons.

Happy coupon-ing.