Introducing the COUPON BOX!

So we started out with the pouch- that worked well until we started getting the awesome mainland inserts with ALL the coupons and multiples of the inserts (now up to 6 copies a week sometimes).

Then I converted to the binder- tabs, baseball card holders- the works.  Except I didn't like carrying it in stores with me because it's so OBVIOUS and hard to work with in the cart.  The rings also came open more than once while I was in a store.  Then there's the whole sorting THEN filing part- making sure there is enough pockets to keep everything together.  I just didn't like it.  I finally finished the sorting and never got to the filing into pockets- it just didn't work for me.

So after trying out a few others, we can now show you the COUPON BOX!

 (Thanks for the pic, Jenny)

It's actually a plastic shoe box that snaps shut ($3.49 from Target- hers is pink, I got green, they also had blue and black) and index cards ($2.50) to tab the main categories and then even divide it out into more sub-categories using envelopes (80 for $1.42); i.e. under FOOD: baking, breakfast, canned items, condiments etc.  This just means going to the right envelope to find the coupon and keeping all the multiples stapled together.  It's even been kid tested- fallen off the couch twice and didn't even open!

Total before tax: $7.41 (Hawaii prices, used my saved up gift cards!)

I admit it has been a while since I've been excited to go find deals because of the mess it used to be, but it'll be fun to give the box it's first trial run and have them all at my fingertips again like when we did the pouch and could do deals we didn't know about- those unadvertised ones are sad to miss. 

I start with categories like Baby, Beauty, Food, Health, Household then also do Restaurant and Store coupons.

It truly is a matter of preference when it comes to organizing- but I think we finally found something to fit the volume and ease we need in our couponing.  But no matter what you use, make sure you put your name and phone number on it in case it ever gets lost!

Expiring coupons- get travel size!

As long as the coupon doesn't say Except Trial Size, the travel section is a great way to use up those good coupons before they expire.  I had 4 $1 off ANY Tide, so I got those travel ones- it's a $.07-.09 pre-measured load I can use anytime.  Walmart and Target have travel sections, Safeway even had one I was impressed with.

All
Arm&Hammer toothpaste
Axe
Banana Boat
Cereal- single serve size
Degree
Dove- facial wipes, deodorant
Edge shave gel
Herbal Essence
Head&Shoulders
Johnson's baby products (Buddies soap)
Listerine
Olay body wash
ReNu contact solution
Scope
St Ives
Suave
Tide


Any others?

Also, don't forget to print these before Wednesday (they won't be available after that) and price check:
$2 Lea&Perrins
$2 Heinz 57 sauce
It's hard to compare with mainland reports, but they are finding the Lea&Perrins for under $3, which would be awesome-   please share if you can get there before we do!
--
*Linds

Tip Tuesday- B1G1

I didn't know I would ever have a favorite kind of coupon, but I do- they are B1G1 or Buy 1 Get 1 Free.  You can take this to any store and get 2 items for the price of 1 which is a 50% savings, or you can take it to certain stores (not Safeway or Foodland- Walgreens is best) and with 2 coupons, get 2 free items for 100% savings! 

When a store is having a B1G1 sale, you can take those and get 4 free items!  Because the manufacturers pay the stores back for the coupon items, they should have no problem with it.  I did this at Foodland a while back using a Purex coupon- the ad had a B1G1 free sale and I had a coupon for B1G1 free (up to $7).  They only had the larger size in stock, but I was still able to just pay the difference on the 1 big bottle!

This is why it's always good to buy newspapers in groups of 2.  The weeks with P&G inserts are usually the best- Oral B, Old Spice detergent have had B1G1 in it and having 2 of each coupon will get you more mileage for your money.  P&G is usually the first Sunday of the month unless it's a holiday (like this month)- next one is May 2nd.

You can try it out for yourself- go to smartsource.com and print 2 of the B1G1 free Velveeta  Shells and Cheese cup (might need two computers- limited to 1 per computer).  Then take it  to Walgreen's or another store that accepts this, get the two items priced up to $1.30- help me find a good sale- and use the two coupons- pay nothing.  Other stores that should do it: Target (print and take coupon policy), Walmart, Times. 


*If you want more than two- get 4 at Safeway (buy 2 for $3, get 2 free) and you'll also get $1.50 back for your next purchase- which is like 4 for the price of 1.  They won't do the 2 free items.

Tip- is Target worth it?

The store I go to least is Target, mostly because it is not near many of the stores I already go to- but when I saw $.55 a can for canned veggies, I thought I'd give them a second glance while we were out.  Since it was the last day of the sale, there were NONE left and I should have known better but we were looking for other things as well and I'm still learning like everyone else.

One great thing Target does that I haven't seen much in Hawaii is RAINCHECKS!  They even have slips of paper ready on the shelf where the item should be so you can take it to the register, tell them how many you want (limit was 9) and have it paid now so you can get the sale price you want.  It didn't seem like all the cashiers knew that, so I wanted you to be aware before you left with the slip and not the actual raincheck.