Decorating Cash

Do you love to decorate but lack the cash?

I have a great way to make cash from your own home.

Can you guess what it is?

The answer is Coupons.

I've been doing it for years...

In the early years of our marriage and

while my husband was in seminary it was a necessity.

I saved every coupon and with a group of friends we did once a month coupon swaps. For young moms this is a fun way to get together with friends, share coupon and have a play date for the children all at the same time. It was an outing I looked forward to each month.

I also purchased a magazine that gave a lot of tips, where to find coupons and rebates etc. Today, if you have a computer and Internet, there are great sources to use. You can even print your own coupons from sources like these....

coupons.com

redplum.com

SmartSource.com

Last fall, I stepped up my coupon saving efforts beginning with a new organization notebook system for my coupons. This idea wasn't an original idea developed by me, but rather from a friend online (Wanting What You Have). It's been the best system I've ever used, however; and I want to share it with you.

Here's what I did...

I started with a binder purchased at a garage sale adding some pretty scrapbook paper and a heading "Savings Notebook" along with a quote from Benjamen Franklin,

"A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned".

An index page was formed by inserting a white sheet of paper into a sheet protector with a list of categories.

Page tabs were add next ....making it easy to find items.

Trading Card Pages

Using trading card pages for coupon storage works great!

You can see the coupon and expiration dates.

Each week, when I add my new coupons, I pull out the expired coupons. This keeps the book up to date.

In the back of the notebook, I've added a page with 3 columns...

Coupon savings (month)

(here I write the store name and what I purchaced...ie..food, clothing, gas etc.)

Dollars

(the dollar amount saved)

Date

Each month I make a new page.

I also save all receipts and file them alphabetically under the store name.

This has been very handy when you have to return an item.

Another tip that I do regularly, in addition to using my coupons, is to buy items on sale.

My total savings since I started this system in the middle of October 2009, is...

$ 1862.36

Happy Savings!

Joy