Getting started - the coupon binder

So my god-send in couponing has been my binder. Yes, I might look like a total dork wandering the aisles with a big green binder, but after trial and error this has been my absolute best tool.

I start here, before even telling you where the physical coupons are, because this is for sure the thing that makes my couponing easy. I love using the line "oh, I have a coupon for that!", and knowing exactly where to go to get it. No more digging in the abyss of a purse or searching through an accordion mass of coupons while standing at the cashier. 

My binder is a holdover from school and from my Pokemon card collecting days. It's an inch thick, with as many pages as I could scrounge up of those 9-pocket hockey card plastic pages. Garage sales are great for these card sheets, but I've seen them on sale at places like Staples and Walmart too. Binders are cheap at a dollar store or again during school start up time in stores. 

I did buy and try an accordion binder, but found that I would need to file through every coupon in a section to find the one I wanted. I tried the envelope organizational method too, but it was the same idea. Try a couple yourself, but I personally love seeing all my coupons at a glance. 

Then, organize. I use a page (or 2) per section of the grocery store: food, snacks, dairy, cleaning, scents, pet etc. If you shop at one store the most, organize the coupons based on the aisles then. What this does is allow you to not plan as much, and if a great sale is on the shelf, you can quickly flip in your book to see if you have a coupon for it too (essentially doubling the deal). This makes it so my quick trip for milk ends up being an hour long "start the carrrrr!" success story because of a few great deals I found, haha!

Another thing to note with this binder.. Take it with you! Always. Leave it in the trunk of your car, as I'm always out and about and realizing I have a coupon for something somewhere I didn't plan on going to. It's heartbreaking to know there's a stack of fast food coupons sitting on your dining room table when you have that McDonalds craving at lunch! I understand if you don't have a car this might be a little impractical, but they do make mini binders with these same sheets too!  :P

I guess if you want to be technical, other tools you need are a pair of scissors, a smartphone or tablet (I have iPhone and iPad), and a computer with printer. This is the arsenal I have (along with a couple other bonuses I'll talk about) to save money easily. 

About Me

Hello all!  I've been asked how I get the deals I get and save the money I have, so I thought I'd start an easy blog about it.

I'm in my mid twenties, with a house, a car and 2 wonderful dogs. I don't make a lot of money, so I try to stretch it out as much as possible. I have multiple savings accounts (everyone who can do it should go get a high interest account), take advantage of work perks, and I coupon! I joke that I won't pay full price for anything, and if the coupons are there to use by the manufacturers, why not use them?

Everyone has seen the American couponing shows.. If only it was that easy here in Canada! To any newbie couponer, please note that our coupons and stores don't allow for stacking like in the states (using multiple coupons per product) which makes it nearly impossible to get the same impressive hauls here. And all of these people have entire rooms dedicated to their stockpile.. Which might not be practical if you are in an apartment or tiny house like mine. 

Stockpiling is a brilliant way to do things when you get them for a great price, but I have the smallest house ever and the only thing I actually stockpile is paper cleaning products (they fit in a small corner of my pantry). 

Plus if I were to buy 20 cans of soup, I would never be able to use them all before the expiry, right? I wanted to save money on my everyday purchases, what I needed to buy one or two of, but was a little overwhelmed in the beginning thinking about how much work couponing seemed.. After all, those people on tv spend a week planning their grocery trips, after spending hours on cutting and organizing their coupons!

Friends, you can make your own sale every grocery trip, without that drama! I spend maybe an hour a week actually doing any research or cutting or organizing for a trip, and on average I will end up with a couple totally free products and nearly every item on sale in each trip. I don't find it hard or tedious, and if a bit of planning means I save more than $20 on every trip of $60, I'm good with that!

Couponing for the everyday person is easy and possible, and I'm hoping my quick posts can show that to anyone hoping to save a bit of money. Consider me the beginners guide to easy couponing haha!