Gettin' to be a Coupon Queen!

First, let me start by saying...shouting in fact, that I am absolutely NO coupon pro, but I do loooooovvvee to coupon. It is a huge blessing to my family and it is just one more way that I can be a good steward with what God has so graciously bestowed upon me. Since several people have asked how/why I coupon, here goes... Our family operates on the Dave Ramsey system, so I take out our grocery/food cash twice a month. Total per month, we operate on $450. This money includes all household food/toiletries/paper products, baby formula, food, and diapers, and out to eat. I typically set aside $125 a month just for Lis because her formula is about $25 (non-sale price) per container (usually about 3 a month although now she's slowing down), $15ish for diapers and wipes for the month, and the rest for baby food (jars, cereal, etc.) I'm also feeding a family of 5 (plus one more mouth to come). I DO NOT feed my family "junk food". Some people seem to think that at a budget like that I must feed them nothing but boxed meals and cereal and that is most certainly not the case. A typical meal(s) around here might be stuffed pork loin with green beans and mashed sweet potatoes or chinese stir fry with rice, chicken spaghetti with salad and rolls, etc. We never cook on Sundays (Mimi has Sunday lunch and then we grab something quick/leftover for supper) and Wednesday is always a super quick meal (i.e. crockpot or breakfast -eggs, bacon, toast, etc.) Benjamin has therapy on Wednesdays so we R.U.S.H. like mad people from school to therapy and back home with a total of about 35 minutes to eat, clean up, and change for church before we have to be back out the door! CRAZINESS PEOPLE! I "shop" the stores, although I much much much prefer Publix becuase of their coupon policy. In our area, that is one of the "pricier" grocery stores, but because of their great policy I can get things much cheaper there than other spots. For sorting my coupons, I use the binder method and I Love it! I've put pictures down below that have captions to explain how I sort them. It is easy to see each coupon, easy to load my coupons, and easy to organize them all. I do stockpile things but I designate a little bit of my bi-weekly budget to do this. For instance, my hubby loves blackberries and today they were on sale for $1 at Kroger plus I had a coupon for $4 off $20 worth of produce (no I wasn't buying $20 worth of blackerries! but I did have to stock up for the rest of the week...apples, bananas, carrots, etc.) So we bought 6 containers and I plan on freezing 5 of them in small packages. During the winter and fall, when they aren't in season, he can go grab a back out the freezer the night before, stick it in the fridge, and in the morning they will be all ready to go for his yogurt or oatmeal. I do the same thing with toiletries, pasta, baby items, etc. If my budget can allow, I will buy enough to have a 2 to 3 month supply. Don't buy something just becuase it is on sale....I've learned this the hard way! Just becuase honey buns are on sale for 50 cents for a jumbo box doesn't mean I should get them. Yes, maybe they are a great deal, but we won't and shouldn't eat them! Now, if something will be completely free, there is a good chance I'll buy it and then donate it to a friend or a food shelter, etc. Couponing is a game. Its rewarding and fun! And really, its addicting! I CAN"T STAND to buy things without a coupon now. Its almost sad really. Bea wanted new socks (note...wanted not needed) so no biggee, sure we'll get some. But not until today when I had my Target coupon for any Hanes product on me. Sorry hunny, it may have only been $3 but well, you know :) If you have questions you want to ask, just send me an email or post them below and I'll get you the best answer I know or can find out for ya! I am noooooooo super savvy shopper yet, but I strive to do the best I can for my family, to honor my husband who works hard to provide for us, and to be the best steward I can with the money God has provided. I hope this helps you to get started. One last thing, here are a few websites that I frequent and love to get deals, tips, etc.
1) http://www.moneysavingmom.com/
2) http://www.southernsavers.com/ers.com/
3) http://www.iheartpublix.com/
4) http://www.thecouponclippers.com/ (this is for "buying" coupons)

Whew, if you stayed with my through that super long post...GOD BLESS YOUR HEART!! :)

This is my fabulous binder :) Front pocket houses my envelopes for when I just cut out the coupons and am too lazy to file them :), a pen, and little pad. Then on the right is our weekly menu (if you're wondering why this week is bare, its because Ryan is about to leave for Argentina so Momma is off of major cooking duty for about 2 weeks!)

My binder is divided into 8 categories. I just do the basic layout of my store and it works for me. My categories are 1) Produce/Meat 2) Non-Perishables 3) Baking/Condiments 4) Cold/Dairy 5) Frozen 6) Home/Cleaning 7) Baby 8) Personal

Within each of these divided sections, I have baseball card holders. That is what I put the coupons in. Some sections cover a wide array of items (i.e. Non-Perishables). I guess I could just throw all the coupons in that category in there willy nilly but I don't want to dig through 10 baseball card sheets to find one coupon for Cheerios. So, within each big category, I have it divided into smaller ones. For example, in non-perishables, there is a sheet for breakfast, snacks, canned, breads, pastas/sauces, etc.

Behind all my coupon categories, I have another set of dividers that I use for the stores I typically shop at. For me, that includes CVS, Kroger, Publix, Rite Aid, Target, Wal-Mart, and Winn Dixie. Behind that stores divider are several things....

1) A plain ol' pencil pouch - this holds my coupons that I will be using at that store during that sale cycle.

2) Baseball card holders - coupons specific to that store

3) Page protectors - 1 to hold the sale flyer and another to hold receipts, rainchecks etc.

This is my back pocket. I just keep an enevelope for store coupons (Gymboree, Hallmark, etc.), rebate forms to fill out, restaurant coupons, and the handout from the church program I went to on how to coupon.