Coupons keeping it all together

Using coupons is helping our family stretch the budget during this rough financial patch that we are all going through at this time. One of the most frugal, money-saving things that I can do is utilize as many of the coupons that are at my disposal as possible for the products that we use.

In order for me to utilize these coupons to the best of my ability I had to come up with a way to organize them so that I would be able to use as many as possible. The more I use the more I am able to save.

The first thing that I did was to organize the coupons into simple categories.

• Dairy

• Canned

• Frozen

• Baking

• Cereal/Crackers

• Boxed Meals/Sides

• Seasoning

• Snacks

• Cleaning

• Paper Products

• Beauty

The second thing I did was decide on if I wanted to put them into a binder or index box with dividers. I chose the binder, that way it fit nicely on my office shelf and was also easy for me to carry in the cart.

I used binder 5 tab dividers to divide all of the sections with. In each section I placed zipper pocket and baseball card holders to hold all the coupons in.

I like the zipper bags the best because it is easier to place the coupons inside. The draw back is that you can not see your coupons at a glance. So I have both in each section of my binder.

How to Make a Zip Pocket Holder for Binder

I cut down a gallon zip lock bag from the bottom end so that it will fit in the binder, next I cut a sheet of card stock so that it will slide into the zip lock bag leaving a little hanging out the end that you cut. Once that is done I use clear packing tape and tape the cut end closed. After the bag has been reinforced with the packing tape I punch holes in the zip bag with a three hole punch.

Using the coupons at the Grocery Story or other Stores

When I make out our shopping list for each store, I put the coupons I’ll be using in each store envelope. I then write my list for that store on the outside of each envelop and place a circled C next to the items that has a coupon. This way I make sure that I am getting the right item while at the store and it also insure that I will use all of them at check out.

 

Here is another cute coupon organizer from Glowgirl.

Glowgirl

Coupon Organizer

Household Tips and Tricks

Keeping it clean one house at a time

Tip #5


With a busy life style it is hard to take a whole day for cleaning the house from top to bottom. I have found that it is easer and less stressful if I break down all the household chores into a regular weekly and monthly rotation schedule. When I do it this way it insures that nothing goes undone for more than one week or one month depending on the chore.


Make two list of your cleaning chores that you do weekly and monthly. Once you have your list break it into days that each chore will get done.


Weekly List of Chores


• Showers and Tubs
• Toilets and sinks
• Mop
• Mirrors and Glass doors
• Dust
• Vacuum and Sweep (I do this twice a week)
• Microwave


Monthly List of Chores


• Ceiling Fans
• Refrigerator
• Baseboards
• Cobwebs
• High Selves and High Tops of Furniture
• Oven


My kitchen gets cleaned daily. (After every meal)


I do not do household chores on Saturday or Sunday. Saturdays are for yard work and Sundays are for Church and family gatherings.


Here is what my week looks like at a glance


Monday Sweep/Mop/Vacuum


Tuesday Shower/Tubs/Bathroom Sinks/Toilets


Wednesday Mirrors and Glass doors


Thursday Dust and Microwave


Friday Sweep and Vacuum


Monthly chores I combine my monthly chores on the days that I have the fewest chores for the week or the ones that take me the shortest amount of time.


1st Wednesday of every month Ceiling Fans


1st Thursday of every month Baseboards


2nd Wednesday of every month Cobwebs


2nd Thursday of every month High Shelves and Tops Furniture


3rd Wednesday of every month Oven


4th Wednesday of every month Clean out refrigerator (drawers and wipe down shelves) I do this right before my first of the month grocery shopping which is my biggest shopping trip of the month.

Dresser Drawer Organization

The New Year is here and with that always comes trying to get organized.  I have been trying to organize through out our home since we moved in 1 ½ years ago.  I’m getting there and one of the last things that need to be concurred is everyone’s dressers.  Come on we all have those drawers that we just toss the items in after the wash, here is a picture of mine before.  Yes I am embarrassed to say that this is my drawer and not one of my children’s.

I found the same size boxes that fit perfect in the drawers.  I lined each box with a dryer sheet to keep things fresh.  I should of contact paper them or something to make them look more Martha Stewart style and all but did not have any and thought who is going to be looking in my drawer besides me (and then I posted it and now all of you L).

Now I won’t go to work with miss match socks. I have my tights, knee highs, socks and scarves in each box. 

I also put the same size boxes in my shirt drawer.

My husband came and look at them and said “hey nice job, but how long to do think that is going to last?” I will have to prove him wrong and keep it this way. (I can do it)

Bathroom Caddy

Tip #3

Free up some of your time by having your entire bathroom cleaning supplies in a handy caddy. I like to have everything right there and handy when it comes to the household chores, and the bathroom is no different. When you don’t have to find all the different items to clean the bathroom with, you are able to stay on task and finish faster. When you have different caddies for different jobs around the house, it allows the children to help out with out asking where things are because they are all right there for them. Also by having different caddies for different chores allows the children to do their chore with out bothering one another, chores with out fighting that has a nice ring to it.

Here is what inside…

• Windex

• Bleach and Water solution for shower mildew

• Comet bathroom cleaner

• Ajax

• Old tooth brushes

• Two sponges one for sinks and one for toilet (each in its own separate cup)

• Old Rags

• Roll of Paper Towels

• Rubber Gloves

 

Closet Organization

There comes a time when you just need to organize your things to help stop the stress that can happen in your life.  One part of my day that can start the day off wrong is getting dressed in the morning, not being able to find the pair of pants or shoes that I want to wear for that day can send me into a whirl wind.  So it has occurred to me that it is time to fix that in my life and that requires me to organize and purge the closet.  You have to understand that a year ago I had a huge walk in closet and now that we have downed sized we have to share a 10 foot closet.  Yes that means that I only have 5 feet what is a girl to do with only five feet of closet space.  

Before pictures: Observe the pile of shoes in the corner and I wonder why I can’t find a matching pair in the morning. Also observe the pile of pants, Capri’s and skirts tossed on the top shelf, I mean I can’t even reach them. I have to have a step stole to get what I want.



The first thing I learned about have to share a closet with husband is that I have to store all the seasonal clothing and rotate as the season changes. I found that the large rubber maid tubs work the best for this. Once I have rotated items I then store the tubs in the corner of the garage.

After Picture:  I used closet maid products from target to organize my side of the closet.  I used two stacking shelves and placed them in the corner of the closer where there was a lot of wasted space.  I used those shelves to store all my pants or other items that could be folded.  I also purchased a longer shelf for the bottom of the closer to hold my shoes and placed my dirt clothes basket on top of it.

I also used a storage cube that fight in the stacking shelves for all of my tank tops so that I would not have to use valuable hanger space for all the under shirts.

The total cost for my closet make over from Target was under $45.00, and it has saved me valuable time in the morning and a lot less stress.

Household Tips and Tricks

Tip #2

One of the things that keep’s me on track when it comes to cleaning is having a dusting caddy. My caddy has all my dusting items in it. This allows me to move from room to room with out having to go back and find anything. It also makes it easier for someone to help me with the dusting like the kids.

 Here is what inside…



• Old socks great for the children
• Swiffer with extending handle
• Dusting polish of choice
• Scratch cover markers for hiding those scratches the children make


Here is how the kids can help, have them wear a sock on each hand. Then have them go around and dust any surface they wish to dust, reminding them to be careful of items sitting on surfaces. Or you can have the dust the dreaded base boards, children love to help it makes them feel helpful and grown up.


Keeping it clean one house at a time

Chalk Board Jars

I have been collecting jars over the last few months so that I could store all of my dried goods in the pantry.  They worked great but sometimes you would go into the pantry to get something and something would look the same.  (Not a good idea)  So to eliminate the problem I used chalk board paint on the jars to label them with.  It looks nice and clean and no more mistakes. 

You will need chalk board paint, sponge brush, container for paint and blue painters tape.

First tape on a square or rectangle shapes onto the jar using the painters tape.  This will give you nice clean lines.

Next brush on the paint, using the sponge brush.  Put the paint on real thick so that it will not streak.

Allow the jars to dry.

Peel off tape and write what is inside of the jar with white chalk.

Home Office Make Over

School has started and now it’s time for us moms to organize our desk and get a fresh start on the new school year. Make your perssonel space at home as inviting as possible. My home office is important to me since I spend a lot of my time there, I wanted things to be accessible, but neat.

Before

After

The first thing I did was remove the doors from the cabinet. I found matching baskets to place items in that I want at hand. (Baskets from ROSS) I labeled each basket with scrap booking paper.

Next I Mod Podged empty cereal boxes to place in my desk compartments to help keep order to items that I keep in there. Example: receipts and note cards. The cereal box idea came from Get Your Crap Together

I made the wine cork board to place above my desk and when I was at Target all the school supply items were on sale 30% off so I picked up two more wall boards to go with it. (Originally $5.00 on sale for $3.50) The wall display over my desk finished my project of organizing my home office. Let’s just hope I can keep everything in it neat nice place.