OCTOBER challenge: Living Off Of Your Stockpile. WINNERS declared!

[loveebella]

I have tried the accordion filer method, the Ziploc method ( very messy/hard to find) lol and I just bought some baseball card holders. I think I am going to start filing by inserts though. I have tons of unclipped inserts laying around and 2 envelope's full of clipped inserts that I have not put away. It is a whole lot easier to clip what I need and go.
What do you do if a store does not have an ad? Do you go and scope it out and then go back with your coupons?

[cody82414]

Hyvee:
Banquet chicken nuggets
2 lbs. tasty tots
2 Liter Coke Zero
2 bananas
Saved $4.00, spent $3.65

McDonald’s:
2 ice cream cones for the kids
0.00 oop saved $1.91


(Belch)mmmmm Coke

[cjpsmom]

Maybe if I type in blue I'll feel better.
My perfer method is the binder for all clipped, swiped, gifted, traded, etc coupons. I took single page sheet protectors and sewed the dividers in and then slit them an exacto knife. I keep this with me at all times!!!!! For my inserts I keep them in a hanging file box. If needed, I can put this in the car (I try not to-it's really heavy) and get my "trip" planned at work with all my babies in one place. I do not clip my inserts as I get them because I usually get 15-20 a week. Don't get excited-ours are the sorry piece of inserts, not the nicer ones.
I do keep my binder in a reusable shopping bag and haul it in the store with me. Also in the binder is: scissors, pens, notes, rebates, tweezers (for those stubborn blinkie machines-you may have seen me in the store fixing the stuck ones.). Sound a bit out there but it works. As I go through the store, if I see coupons, they slip right in the front of the binder and I'm good to go. I also divide mine into catagories-personal hyg., household, frozen, meats, fruits &veggies, etc.
I'm a little anal.:shrug7:

[loveebella]

By the time I get thru this day I may be on here venting with you. Hopefully we can both find some calmer moments throughout the day.

Must be one of those days huh? I already spent 10 minutes crying my eyes out,but then I stopped because tears will not fix my problems.
Weeping may last for the night but JOY comes in the morning

[saving-n-va]

Have I ever told you that ? I could never stay focused enough to make that many things with apples in such a short time. Great Job!

Aww thanks. There used to be a time that I could have done all that in one day but not anymore too many physical issues right now.

cjpsmom - Sorry I must have missed your question regarding the Fruitfresh - what I did was peeled them them them put them in a big bowl of water w/ Fruitfresh for about 5 mins, then sat them out for a few minutes to dry off. Cored and wedged and tossed them in the crockpot w/ about 1/3 c of water. Let them cook on low until mushy. I did try to just sprinkle it on...didn't work, they turned a bit dark. The recipe I used said you didn't need to use it, but I didn't want to take the chance.

So I'm down to about 14 apples left - out of 84 or so.

I have spiced apples in the little crockpot (I didn't read my spices and used allspice instead of cinnamon...so put a bit of cinnamon in too I think they will be ok), 2 loafs of apple walnut bread in the oven, apples ready for a apple crisp for later tonight, a bag of apple wedges in the freezer.

Rainy cold days are good for no OOP.

[kandpsmom]

BREAKING NEWS!!!!!!!!!

my 2yo just went potty for the first time!

only a mom could be so excited about having to wipe up the pee that didn't quite make it in the hole

[jenrose]

On a positive note. My 6th wedding aniversary is this weekend. We have been together for over 11 years. My how time flies. And we will be spending this aniversary at the same place DH was on the morning of our wedding and where both of us were the next day (with just married written all over our truck)......at the Snowmobile Expo.

But I can't complain, at least he is there to sell stuff and make us some $$. Here's hoping people are in a buying mood.

[cdarrow26]

Speaking of coupon binders - can someone give me some ideas on how to do this? What do you use? How do you organize? I'm pretty new at the entire couponing thing and I use a ziplock baggie (ok, so it's more like 3) to keep my Qs in. I'm so disorganized and I'm sure I miss out on tons of deals. I'll see a deal and know I have the Q, but I can never find it on the spot. :shrug7:

Any help would be appreciated!

I have a binder with baseball card inserts. It is divided by category, probably 10 or so. I get a ton of extra inserts every week and it was becoming too overwhelming and time consuming to clip and file. Now, I will generally clip 2-3 inserts, and mainly Q's I'm pretty sure I will use. Then I just write the insert date on the front of each extra insert and file them, so, they are easy to find when I need them for a sale. I do feel like I "miss out" on a good Q from time to time, but it was just too time consuming to clip and file EVERYTHING. I go in spurts...sometimes I am all clipped and filed up to date, but more often than not, I still have piles of Q's everywhere.
I do keep my binder in the car with me so I have it for impromptu shopping trips or good clearance finds. Mainly though, I plan most shopping trips and pull the needed Q's ahead of time, but I like to have all of my Q's with me. I REALLY annoys me if I see a good sale and don't have my Q's, especially because I live about 15-20 miles from all of the stores.
I keep a small accordian binder in my purse that I will often keep "freebie" Q's and a couple others, especially one's for WAGS and CVS.

[jenrose]

BREAKING NEWS!!!!!!!!!

my 2yo just went potty for the first time!

only a mom could be so excited about having to wipe up the pee that didn't quite make it in the hole

I am sooo with you on this one. And Congrats. I am trying to get DS2 back on the right track with potty training. He was doing sooo good, then I went out of town without him for the first time.....back to square 2.

[loveebella]

BREAKING NEWS!!!!!!!!!

my 2yo just went potty for the first time!

only a mom could be so excited about having to wipe up the pee that didn't quite make it in the hole

Yeah Congratulations I so know that feeling.