Coupon crazed – The Military Family

I recently had the pleasure of attending Army Wife Network‘s “Coupon Boot Camp Webinar”, supported in part by the Commissary Shopper.

I have to admit while I was sitting through it, two days for a couple hours each day, I began to question what I was being taught compared to what I already knew. Pretty basic stuff. But it was an opportunity to educate myself and I took it all in, reaffirming mostly and taking in a few bits and pieces as well. (As an example, I had no idea you could use a manufacturer coupon and a BJ’s coupon on the same item … two coupons for one item; TOO cool!)

But then yesterday a package came in the mail. I love mail (well not the bill kind of mail). But I most certainly love an unexpected package. What was in the package though made my heart skip a beat. I love being organized. But it takes time. The more I fall out of organization, with the excuse of a lack of time, the worse things get and the more time I spend trying to find what I need NOW. It’s an awful cycle. Coupons clearly fall into this area.

I don’t have time to keep coupons organized. I don’t didn’t have a system. I had a drawer. A messy drawer that was not conducive to grabbing coupons on the way out the door to the grocery store.

Enter this beautiful bag and coupon holder from The Couponizer. This was a beautiful gift for registering and attending for the seminar on both days. It made every moment of it worth it.

Coupon holder, bag and a few coupons from the Commissary Shopper (plus a stuffed puppy, Shep, that my 19 month already claimed as his and therefore did not make the photo-shoot.)

The contents of my coupon drawer dumped on the kitchen counter. (Yep, that is a mess!)

Coupons organized using the very handy coupon stacker. I put each coupon on the labeled rectangle and secured with a paperclip.
After the coupons are sorted by category I put each group of coupons in their appropriate page’s pocket. I sorted them by expiration date within each pocket so that I could easily remove the ones I don’t use after they are expired. We’ll see if that sticks, because I could see sorting them by product as being efficient as well.
Here is my couponizer filled and itching to go on my next shopping trip.
Being organized is such a blessing! Having a system makes it possible. Thanks to all the folks that made this webinar possible. This army-wife is empowered.