i know a lot of us are trying to get organized and work with a system. i'm putting together my couponing notebook like corey's - i need another pack (or 2) of baseball card dividers (which i was able to find at staples, thanks corey!) and then i can finally file everything away. i separated the bbcard dividers with tabbed dividers labeled by section/aisle - ie, baking, produce, frozen, etc.
in the front, i have binder clips clipped to the binder. i keep all the coupons i need for each store clipped in each clip. that way, i can match them to my spreadsheet and have them handy when i walk in.
i don't have any incredible sales this week, but i'll still do pretty well. i need to make a milk run this week, so that will be cash oop outside of this spreadsheet, but i'm stocking up on some staples like pasta and chicken broth pretty cheap.
i thought i'd share a copy of the spreadsheet i'm using just to give people another idea of how to organize. this is set up with a formula to calculate total oop automatically by row.
not sure if this is much help, but corey's been SUCH a huge help to me, i thought i'd pass along what i've learned so far to anyone else who can use it.
eta: i have a column for shelf price (blank this week) for weeks when i need to calculate catalina spending. not really applicable this week b/c i'm not going to be doing the pillsbury cat deal. this week it looks like i will buy 62 items (not including milk) for $40, with $40 in coupons (not including sale savings).
-- Edited by apies on Sunday 15th of November 2009 08:38:13 PM
-- Edited by apies on Sunday 15th of November 2009 08:39:25 PM
This is great April! I think you set it up so it's simple to keep up, easy to view quickly and really useful. I'm def. going to have to copy this LOL.
Can you believe I actually inventoried everything in my pantry/freezer this weekend so I could make as many meals as possible out of what I have in house already?
I'm hoping from here I can really start figuring out how to buy only what we really use. I'm also stocking up with any great sales I see. Besides that, I'm only trying to buy the necessities for the next few weeks (milk, break, lunchmeat, etc.).
This is great April! I think you set it up so it's simple to keep up, easy to view quickly and really useful. I'm def. going to have to copy this LOL.
Can you believe I actually inventoried everything in my pantry/freezer this weekend so I could make as many meals as possible out of what I have in house already?
I'm hoping from here I can really start figuring out how to buy only what we really use. I'm also stocking up with any great sales I see. Besides that, I'm only trying to buy the necessities for the next few weeks (milk, break, lunchmeat, etc.).
thanks di.
yeah, it's totally simple b/c my excel skills are basic at most. i just need something i can take to the store with me and be able to inventory coupons, etc. i also like to have a total before i walk in so i'm prepared.
i'm also doing inventory in this house and making sure to cook what i have here before buying more. meal planning is really helping with that.
i'm hoping and praying for a deep freezer asap. i already qualified for 2 free turkeys. i have no idea where i'm going to put them. besides that, i bought 8 half gallons of breyers last week, and i'm buying 2 more (well, they're free) plus 2 sara lee pies! ahhhhH! running out of space!
This is great April! I think you set it up so it's simple to keep up, easy to view quickly and really useful. I'm def. going to have to copy this LOL.
Can you believe I actually inventoried everything in my pantry/freezer this weekend so I could make as many meals as possible out of what I have in house already?
I'm hoping from here I can really start figuring out how to buy only what we really use. I'm also stocking up with any great sales I see. Besides that, I'm only trying to buy the necessities for the next few weeks (milk, break, lunchmeat, etc.).
thanks di.
yeah, it's totally simple b/c my excel skills are basic at most. i just need something i can take to the store with me and be able to inventory coupons, etc. i also like to have a total before i walk in so i'm prepared.
i'm also doing inventory in this house and making sure to cook what i have here before buying more. meal planning is really helping with that.
i'm hoping and praying for a deep freezer asap. i already qualified for 2 free turkeys. i have no idea where i'm going to put them. besides that, i bought 8 half gallons of breyers last week, and i'm buying 2 more (well, they're free) plus 2 sara lee pies! ahhhhH! running out of space!
I know somewhere you can put that Breyers .
-- Edited by Dddiii on Sunday 15th of November 2009 09:05:40 PM
Love it, Apies!! Do you have a pic of your binder? I bought a divider thing, but no idea how to organize it so that it will be easy to find things. Also, I have not tried to use multiple coupons on multiples of the same items....but, I am assuming you can, right? do the cashiers blink an eye?
Love it, Apies!! Do you have a pic of your binder? I bought a divider thing, but no idea how to organize it so that it will be easy to find things. Also, I have not tried to use multiple coupons on multiples of the same items....but, I am assuming you can, right? do the cashiers blink an eye?
liz, i will take one tonight after i put the rest of the bbcard dividers in. it looks a lot like the one that corey posted the link to, only much much smaller, lol.
and the cashiers don't blink an eye at all. i will say that 4 or 5 years ago, i remember cashiers just scanning without even really looking at the coupons. now they tend to glance through them all before they swipe them. but nope, as long as they remember seeing the item (or multiples of the item), they seriously don't give a second thought to it (other than some of them acting like you're breaking their arms to have to do the extra work).
today, for example, i will hit up one of my grocery stores. i will do 2 transactions. the first one will get me $10 toward my second order. she will ring 7 items and i will give her 7 coupons. on my second transaction, she will ring 58 or so items and give her 36 coupons including the cats from the first transaction.
i had one girl say to me after she rang everything plus the coupons, "wow, you're a good saver!" but then there are always others that wish i had gotten in another line. lmao!
we're not doing anything wrong, so they need to calm down about it. other than when i have to try to hit a specific $ amount for a cat deal, i don't stress at all (the cat deals STRESS me out!!!) and idc at all about "putting them out" for having to ring the coupons. it's seriously nbd.
Also, just so you know, they have the bbcard dividers at walmart. In my walmart the baseball cards are up front by the registers. I had a hard time finding them at first. I couldn't find the dividers at staples at all. I'm sure they are there, I just couldn't find them!
Thanks for starting all the couponing corey. I found a board on SD for the commissary and a lady showed me a way to get over 200 dollars in free groceries. I dont think I can do it this week because I dont have enough time to get everything I need, but Im stoked and bought my binder last night.
Love it, Apies!! Do you have a pic of your binder? I bought a divider thing, but no idea how to organize it so that it will be easy to find things. Also, I have not tried to use multiple coupons on multiples of the same items....but, I am assuming you can, right? do the cashiers blink an eye?
liz, i will take one tonight after i put the rest of the bbcard dividers in. it looks a lot like the one that corey posted the link to, only much much smaller, lol.
and the cashiers don't blink an eye at all. i will say that 4 or 5 years ago, i remember cashiers just scanning without even really looking at the coupons. now they tend to glance through them all before they swipe them. but nope, as long as they remember seeing the item (or multiples of the item), they seriously don't give a second thought to it (other than some of them acting like you're breaking their arms to have to do the extra work).
today, for example, i will hit up one of my grocery stores. i will do 2 transactions. the first one will get me $10 toward my second order. she will ring 7 items and i will give her 7 coupons. on my second transaction, she will ring 58 or so items and give her 36 coupons including the cats from the first transaction.
i had one girl say to me after she rang everything plus the coupons, "wow, you're a good saver!" but then there are always others that wish i had gotten in another line. lmao!
we're not doing anything wrong, so they need to calm down about it. other than when i have to try to hit a specific $ amount for a cat deal, i don't stress at all (the cat deals STRESS me out!!!) and idc at all about "putting them out" for having to ring the coupons. it's seriously nbd.
wow! you are really getting some good deals....that is great!
wow! you are really getting some good deals....that is great!
thanks liz! right now my goal is to stay under $100 per week on groceries while i stockpile. i know that for some people that is A LOT of money for groceries, but i was spending close to $900 per month at the grocery store. :bag:
yesterday, i bought 9 boxes of crackers, 12 cans of tomatoes, and a bunch of other stockpile items. it seems ridiculous when i check out at the store, but i'm overflowing with food here. soon i should be able to back down on so many things (i mean, i have about 25 jars of pasta sauce right now. it will be a while before i have to buy more). in the past 2 weeks, i've spent $160 and saved $562.
and i FINALLY got an awesome cashier yesterday. she was about 20 and had another 20 year old helping her bag. she was pretty impressed when she saw my stack of coupons and then was blown away when she saw that my coupons saved me about $34. she made this shocked face at the girl bagging and i said, "yeah, i'm kind of crazy with the coupons." she said, "your total started in the $70s!" lol. i will try to find here when i go there from now on since she didn't give me any crap.
i'm going to be doing some ebaying this week to get the extra money for a deep freeze. i'd love to be able to get it before the free turkey promotion is over!!!!! i have no where to put 2 free turkeys right now!!!!!!!!!
wow! you are really getting some good deals....that is great!
thanks liz! right now my goal is to stay under $100 per week on groceries while i stockpile. i know that for some people that is A LOT of money for groceries, but i was spending close to $900 per month at the grocery store. :bag:
yesterday, i bought 9 boxes of crackers, 12 cans of tomatoes, and a bunch of other stockpile items. it seems ridiculous when i check out at the store, but i'm overflowing with food here. soon i should be able to back down on so many things (i mean, i have about 25 jars of pasta sauce right now. it will be a while before i have to buy more). in the past 2 weeks, i've spent $160 and saved $562.
and i FINALLY got an awesome cashier yesterday. she was about 20 and had another 20 year old helping her bag. she was pretty impressed when she saw my stack of coupons and then was blown away when she saw that my coupons saved me about $34. she made this shocked face at the girl bagging and i said, "yeah, i'm kind of crazy with the coupons." she said, "your total started in the $70s!" lol. i will try to find here when i go there from now on since she didn't give me any crap.
i'm going to be doing some ebaying this week to get the extra money for a deep freeze. i'd love to be able to get it before the free turkey promotion is over!!!!! i have no where to put 2 free turkeys right now!!!!!!!!!
We have a freezer and last week, I was able to stock it with frozen chicken breasts on sale for $5.00 and whole hams on sale for $5.00 (I also had coupons for $1.00 off and that is the store that gives $10.00 of $50.00) so it is really coming in handy! I would check Craigslist too....we got ours used.
spreadsheets! 
.
