The Friday Declutter Challenge

This week, I declutted my daughter's hair stuff that's been bothering me for a couple of months now.  She's only 6 months old, but she has a whole head of hair.  I can put her hair up in pigtails with no trouble.  We actually had to cut her hair earlier this week - it was getting to the point where it was continually getting in her eyes and she couldn't see, so mommy took some manicure scissors and gave the little princess some stylish bangs.  It's not the best job in the world, and I'm going to admit that it's completely crooked, but hey...no one's going to care about that on an adorable 6 month old.

Anyway, I declutted her hair accessories this week.  Her stuff is mainly made up of a mega pack of hair-ties that I bought at CVS a while back for a $1 as a filler item.  It's perfect because they came in every color of the rainbow, and since they're so cheap it's not a big deal if I lose some or if they snap.  Before, I just threw them all in a recycled mushroom container.  It was basically a grab-box of stuff, so it took a while to find a matching hair tie for her pigtails.

I went to Walmart and bought one of those beading boxes for less than $2, then I spent about 5 minutes sorting her hair-ties by color.  I am more than pleased with the result!  Not only can I find what I'm looking for in a fraction of a second, the box itself also looks so pretty with all the bright colors.  I was surprised to find that she actually has a lot of "special" hair ties and hair clips with various patterns and trinkets on them.  Some of them she's never worn because we just simply threw them into the box and they got lost at the bottom.  Now, I've got 3 separate sections dedicated to these clippies and bows and headbands. 

Daddy also loves the new solution.  He will actually do her hair (I know, isn't it great?), but the problem is that the man is color-challenged.  He grabbed the first color that he saw, because frankly he didn't have the patience to go shifting through the box.  Well, now he can see at a glance what matches and what doesn't, so the days of having orange pigtails with a purple outfit is now over!

I am so happy that I took the time to declutter her hair accessories this week.  It took me less than 5 minutes, but it has saved us a lot of hassle.  My total cost for this project was $2.  It does not take a lot of time or money to get organized...so pick something in your home and start TODAY!

Coupon Counselor: Prep work

Last week we covered a few coupon systems that you can use to organize your coupons.  This week, we will be covering how to prepare for a money-saving shopping trip.  Honestly, I think that the preparation stage takes more work than anything else.  The preparation stage is the most important one, and it ensures your success (and sanity) when you finally get out to the store.  I will be touching on some topics that readers suggested in the Coupon Counselor giveaway 2 weeks ago - if you have any other questions regarding the preparation stage, please feel free to email me.  If you choose to leave a comment, be sure to leave your email address so I can answer your question!

Next week, we will be covering common couponing techniques to use while you're out and about at the store, so make sure you don't miss out!

Today, we will discuss how to make that all important shopping trip plan!

Where do you start from?!  I'm so overwhelmed with everything!
How do you decide which coupons to use at which stores and when?
How often do you shop?
Is it better to price match at one store or to go to different stores?
How do you tell whether or not a coupon will work?
What's an efficient way to organize everything for the shopping trip?

Where do you start from?!  I'm so overwhelmed with everything!
Start with a "goal" list of everything that you need that week.  It's a place to start from and a place to go back to if you get overwhelmed.  Your goal list should consist of everything that you need to survive for the week.  Just for the record, I never stick to my goal list because of the many steals and deals out there, but it's a place to start from. 

How do you decide which coupons to use at which stores and when?
There is no secret process to this.  Coupons will come again.  Sales and deals will come around again.  So I basically use a coupon when I need to.  My guidelines for using a coupon is very simple:

1. I need the item this week (it's on my goal list)
   
2. It's a great deal, free, or a moneymaker when combined with the current sale.
   

I will admit that there are times when I've used a coupon, and a better deal came around the next week.  But that's not a biggie, because the deal will come around again.  Besides, if I followed my own guidelines (I needed it or it was a great deal) on using coupons, I really didn't lose out.

How often do you shop?
I like to shop just once a week, and maybe twice a week if there's time-sensitive CVS or Walgreens deals involved (i.e. expiring coupons, 2 day sales...etc.).  I only go to one grocery store (the commissary) and I go to CVS on a weekly basis.  I only go to Walgreens if the deals are good enough to warrant a trip.

That being said, please don't be under the assumption that I leave my house twice a week and that's it.  I make a lot of trips out, but I try to make only one shopping-orientated trip a week. We might stop by Target or Walmart after Gymboree, but since we had to go to Gymboree anyway I do not consider those "shopping trips".

It's important to minimize your trips - gas has been going down, but it's still a hassle to go out and shop, especially if you have a young child or the weather is bad.  It really helps to save money if you're not just out strolling the mall.

Is it better to price match at one store or to go to different stores?
My personal stance on this is that I would rather go to different stores than to gather up my huge load of ads and price match at a single store.  I very rarely take advantage of price match offers, and only if we're talking about a big ticket item like a camera or a TV.  The reason for this is because every employee knows how to ring you up, BUT not every single employee will know how to do price matching.  I just don't want to have to deal with waiting for a manager and going through all that trouble.  It's just not worth it to price match on simple everyday grocery items. 

How do you tell whether or not a coupon will work?
There is no concrete way of telling whether or not your coupon will go through.  I've had crisp freshly clipped coupons refuse to scan, and once I had a crumpled coupon that I found at the bottom of my purse go through with no problems.  Some stores have really specific systems, while other stores will actually let a coupon go through for an item that you didn't purchase.  The important thing is to read the fine print on the coupon.  Take a note of any specific brand line that you have to purchase, or any minimum size requirements.  If at any point you do not understand the fine print, feel free to ask the issuing company. 

I once received a coupon for Kotex products, and on the coupon it said "available at Walgreens".  I didn't know if this was an advertising thing that just means "Kotex is available at Walgreens", or if it's meant to be taken as "only redeemable at Walgreens".  So I did a google search for the coupon issuing company and sent them an email.  They said that it was just an advertising thing - and the response took all of a day to get back to me.

What's an efficient way to organize everything for the shopping trip?
Make your shopping list, and separate the coupons that you're going to use.  I use a accordion folder, and I put my "to use" coupons behind an index card.  When I put the item into my cart, I move the coupon in front of the index card.  When I go to check-out, I just grab the entire stack of coupons in front of the index card.

For stores like Walgreens or CVS where I'll only purchase "steals and deals" items, the price of each item is readily available in the ad so I'll work up an entire transaction plan.  Then I paper-clip all of my coupons behind my shopping list in the order that I'm going to hand them to the cashier. 

I do not take ANY of my other coupons with me.  If it's not on my shopping list, I don't buy it. Part of it is just to get into the mindset to stick with your shopping list.  Make it your goal to get in and out of a store as quick as possible - don't give yourself a chance to browse and pick up random items. 

If you have any other questions regarding the preparation stage, please feel free to email me.  If you choose to leave a comment, be sure to leave your email address so I can answer your question!  Later this week, I will be sharing my list of my "steals and deals" items - basically things that I refuse to pay for, things I won't pay more than $1 for, and stuff that I won't even buy unless they're moneymakers.  Make sure you're subscribed to My Precious Pennies (you can subscribe in the upper left sidebar) or keep checking back to catch that awesome list!

Coupon Counselor: Coupon System

Thank you to everyone who left suggestions for future Coupon Counselor topics!  They were some great ideas, and I plan to address each and every one of your questions/concerns in a future installment of the Coupon Counselor.  Before I get to how I'm going to do that, I would like to announce the winner of the $600 in coupons.  By random.org, the winner out of the eligible entries is site4teachers!  Site4teachers, you have 48 hours to claim your prize by replying to my email.  If you didn't win, don't worry, because I'm having ANOTHER giveaway this week. Stay tuned for all the details.

I read each and every single one of your topic proposals, and I have separated them into roughly 8 categories.  They are listed in the order that I will get to them, and I have it planned so we move from the broader topics (such as how to get your coupons and handle them) to how to work individual store programs. 

• The Basics: This was the first installment of the Coupon Counselor.  You can read all the questions here.
  
• Couponing Dictionary: You will need to refer back to this for definitions and abbreviations that I tend to use.  You can find the dictionary here.
  
• Coupon Systems: an overview of the coupon systems out there, and how to find the one that works for you.
  
• Prepping for coupons: how to efficiently plan (and carry out) your shopping trip to multiple stores
• Couponing Techniques: we will go over the finer details of couponing, such as how to stack coupons, when to use them, when to buy certain items, and how to hand them over at check-out.
  
• Troubleshooting Coupons: what to do when stores refuse coupons.
  
• The CVS Handbook: how to work the ECB system
  
• The WAGs Handbook: we'll cover the ESR rebates and register rewards
• Miscellaneous: there were a few questions that just didn't really fit into a category, so every couple of lessons we'll take a break and just do a good old Q & A session.  I'll try to answer these miscellaneous questions then, as well as any that you may have.
  

Today, we will cover the many coupon systems out there.  The Basics post should give you a good idea on the many different methods of obtaining coupons, so if you missed it please catch up by reading it here.  Now that you have a respectable pile of coupons on hand, we are going to find out about the many different ways of organizing that pile so it becomes a full-fledged coupon system.

Before I start, please note that every person is different.  There is no "holy grail" of coupon systems - it's whatever works best for you.  I'm only one person and I have a rather limited experience with all of the coupon systems out there, so I would love to hear from people who are currently using different systems.  For this week's coupon giveaway, leave a comment with the coupon system that you currently use, and the system that you would like to try out and why.  Up for grabs is $125 in coupons.  Yes, it's considerably lower than last week's $600 jackpot prize, but I want this to be a learning experience for everyone involved, instead of a blind "gimme coupons now!" rush.  If you choose to enter, be sure to familiarize yourself with the giveaway rules.  The giveaway will end Monday 11/17. 

Now, let's get to the fun part and look at some coupon systems!

Coupon Box
Startup costs: $                            Personalization: High
Expansion possibilities: High           Portability: Low

This is the system that I use right now.  I use small personal sized envelopes as containers, and then an index card cut into quarters length-wise as the dividers. Each "category" is color-coded, and each envelope contains brands or item types.  For example, purple is my toiletries/beauty category, and in that category there will be envelopes labeled "Crest", "Shampoo/Conditioner" or "L'Oreal".

The startup cost for the coupon box is negligible.  I used a shoebox, and I had the envelops and index cards lying around.  Even if you had to buy a box of envelops and a stack of index cards, you can easily get those for under a dollar each.  However, the coupon box is not the most portable system out there.  There is no lid to my box, so spillage is always a major concern.  Obviously, you can use something other than a shoebox that comes with a lid, but the idea of hauling a huge box into the store is not an appealing idea to most people.

The picture above is what my coupon box amounted to back in September when I started using this new system.  It has since expanded to double its original size.  Instead of reorganizing the whole thing, all that I've had to do was add in another envelope, write up a new tab, and find the corresponding highlighter color.  Took me all of a minute, if even that.  When I first started my coupon box, I didn't have that many "makeup" coupons, so I had one generic "makeup" envelope.  But as time passed, I had a lot more coupons for makeup and it was necessary to organize them by brand instead.  And if one day the makeup coupons just disappear off the face of the planet, I can simply remove those extra envelops and go back to my one generic "makeup" envelope.  I love that the coupon box is so flexible.

The coupon box is the best system for me right now in my current stage of coupon usage.  I am not looking for portability because with an infant in tow, making an instant sale/coupon match-up in the store is not high on my priority list.  Getting everything done before the inevitable meltdown is.  I plan all of my trips before I leave the house anyway. 

Accordion Folder
Startup costs: $ - $$                      Personalization: Medium
Expansion possibilities: Low           Portability: High
I currently use a small accordion folder to organize my store coupons.  Like I mentioned above, I plan out all of my trips with a list, and I pull the corresponding coupons from my coupon box.  I have a tab for each store that I frequent, and my shopping list and coupons go into there.  I also keep any giftcards or store cards in there.  When I go to CVS or Walgreens, I don't even bother taking my wallet anymore.  In each section, I keep an index card labeled "register coupons".  The idea is the coupons for things in my cart go BEFORE the register coupons, so I'm transferring coupons as I shop.  When I get up to the register, I simply pull out my stack of "register coupons" instead of fumbling around trying to figure out what coupons I used and what I didn't use. 

I bought the accordion folder at Target for $1, so my startup cost was relatively low.  And since it's so small, it is highly portable.  It fits into my purse (if I choose to bring one), and if not, my baby's fine with me sticking it in her carseat.  She thinks it's fun to chew on.  She wouldn't be happy if I tried to put my coupon box in there with her though.  However, the expansion possibilities for an accordion folder is rather low.  You can't create more sections than there are.  You can, however, personalize those individual sections to a degree with index cards and separate dividers. 

There are MANY different sizes of accordion folders out there - I've seen ones that will hold up to 100 legal-sized documents.  Obviously the price and functionality of these bigger accordion files will be different.

Coupon binder/album
Startup costs: $ - $$$$                  Personalization: High
Expansion possibilities: High          Portability: Medium

The coupon binder/album is often the coupon system of choice, simply because it's highly flexible.  Ultimately, it boils down to how much you're willing to spend.  You can use a cheap 4x6 photo album or go all out and buy baseball card inserts, 4x6 picture inserts, business card inserts, and whatever-else inserts for your different sized coupons.  Then you can buy either cheap dividers (or make your own with post-it notes), or you can go all out and get different sets of alphabetized dividers.  You can even get a set of numbered dividers to organize your coupons by expiration date.  Obviously your cost would depend on what you decide to do.

When I first started couponing, I used a simple 4x6 photo album that I bought from the Dollar Tree.  I used post-it notes to define categories, but there was really no rhyme or reason to where the categories were placed.  It worked for the first couple of months when I didn't have a lot of coupons, but then it got harder and harder to find what I was looking for.  It was simply find an empty page, and throw the coupon in there.  I then tried to revamp the album by alphabetizing it, but the problem was every-time I wanted to reorganize it, I had to literally take everything out and start from scratch.  It just wasn't working for me, which is when I decided to go to the coupon box.

Then there are those who use the coupon binder in a clipless system.  They generally file the insert away under the newspaper date, and only clip the coupons that they need.  You can also file weekly ads and rebates in your binder, so it becomes the "go-to" spot for all of your shopping needs.

As far as portability, it really depends on what you're willing to put up with.  As the mother of a small infant, there is no possible way that I can take the carseat and a binder.  She wouldn't be happy if I tried to put the binder in the car seat with her.  However, if you do your shopping alone, then a binder is more than reasonable to carry with you.

Expansion possibilities also depend on what type of coupon binder/album system you end up going with.  If you get a 4x6 album like I did, then your expansion possibilities are non-existent.  You have x amount of pages to work with, and that's it.  You can't reshuffle the pages, or add in more.  BUT, if you get an binder-like album, or just use a binder, you can reshuffle as you like, and when you want to expand all you have to do is add in more inserts.  But don't forget that inserts take money, so keep that in mind.

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There are other coupon systems out there, and then there are even specialized coupon organizers that you can buy.  I have chosen to just highlight the three most frequently used coupon systems that are out there.  I'm interested to hear back from you on which coupon system you currently use, and the system that you would like to try out and why.

Come back next week for another installment of the Coupon Counselor, where we'll cover how to prepare to shop with your now-organized coupons!

The Friday Declutter Challenge: baby records

Besides decluttering my blog this week with a new design and layout, I also tackled my baby's record file. Since our royal mess of a doctor's appointment on Wednesday, I went back and cleaned it up considering we'll be referring to it on a regular basis now.

I'm just naturally an organized person, so it was never a mess or anything, but basically I kept throwing papers in there thinking I needed all of it. I sat down and got rid of a lot of duplicate paperwork (i.e. the packet they hand you every-time you get shots). Since she was born, I've always kept track of her weights and stuff, but they were on various random pieces of paper. We need a simple go-to point to see her progress (or lack thereof) over the past few months.

The "meat" of her folder is the stuff in the little 3-ring insert thingy. I made a table of her measurements at various ages, along with where they fall percentile wise. It will be a lot easier to keep track of the numbers now, instead of writing it on the first piece of paper on hand and tossing it in the folder. I mean to get to it, but let's face it...I never do. Behind my table are some growth charts, and then I kept one copy of the packet they always hand out when you go in for shots. It covers stuff like reactions and what each vaccine actually is. I never remember that stuff so it's nice to have it on hand, but I certainly didn't need 4 copies of it.

Besides just having all of her weights in one location, I also wanted them on the baby growth chart. After a bit of digging, I came across two very useful websites. Birthcare offers customized baby growth charts - simply register for a free account, enter in your baby's weight and height, and they will not only plot the data for you but also save it. It's not an exact replica of the CDC growth chart that the doctors use, but it's the same idea and the layout is just different. Personally I like this one better, since I won't go blind trying to read it.

The second tool that I found is a children's growth chart percentiles calculator from About.com. This does not produce the actual growth chart, but rather the percentiles. For me, it was important to have both on hand, because I guarantee you I will not be able to determine her percentiles from looking at the chart.

Her records file is basically just a folder. In the front flap, I keep important current information, such as upcoming appointments and her shot records. Since there's about 10 different names for shots and the combinations in which they come, I have her official shot records, and then I have an unofficial checklist that I go by.

In the back pocket, I keep old information like discharge information, test results, and the like. I also keep her Child Safe Kit in the back pocket. I am so proud of us as a family that we managed to make one, because let me tell you...trying to get the fingerprints of a 6 month old is near impossible. Most of them are smudged and pretty much useless, but the fact that we still did it was really important to us. It's all about habit. Besides, it'll be a cute keepsake =).

It's always a good idea to have a copy of your child's medical records, but it's just that much more important when you're a military family and you bounce around constantly like an aimless pinball. She wasn't born here, and the last place we were at used a different system. As a result, they had absolutely NO information whatsoever on her before we came here. They didn't even have her name - she was listed as "baby girl". But even if you're not a military family, it's really not a good idea to have just one copy of medical records, especially shot records. I have her actual shot card, and then the computer system at the doctor's has a record, and every time she gets new shots I scan the card into my computer.

Decluttering is important, but just as important is making sure that important documents cannot be lost forever. Even if all you have is a copy of something, it's better than nothing at all.

The Friday Declutter Challenge: the digital version

I didn't declutter much of anything this week since I was so focused on developing (and decluttering) My Precious Pennies.  I can see the light at the end of the tunnel though, so hopefully sometime this weekend I will be able to upload the new design, complete with a couple of NEW features that I hope everyone will enjoy and be able to benefit from.

My other piece of decluttering is also digital - I finally got to work on my mess of a start menu.  I took a screenshot before I started, but for some reason it refused to save, so I only have the "after" shot for you.  When I started I had 2 columns of programs though, and right now my one column is even shorter than the entire start menu bar.

I didn't actually uninstall anything, I just reorganized all the little shortcuts and buttons.  I have never read a help file in my entire life, so I seriously don't need a shortcut to that.  I also took a lot of shortcut icons out of their folders, and placed them in more general-category folders. 

Every once in a while I have to go through and declutter my start menu, just because programs like to create their own little folder in there and it's just TOO MUCH.  I only need the shortcut to the program, not all the other crap that comes with it. 

I do a LOT of stuff on my computer, but I am a complete minimalist when it comes to icons and stuff.  I have NO icons on my desktop whatsoever, and I must say that I love the way my desktop looks:

The adorable pea in a pod has absolutely nothing to do with my love obsession with my desktop, honestly.  But seriously now, I just love how clean and brisk my desktop is.  It's relaxing, useful, and completely not cluttered.  I can't stand desktop icons. 

I rank my shortcuts by importance and usage level, and their ranking determines where they go.  Frequently used shortcuts go in my disappearing taskbar.  "Often" shortcuts go in my start menu, and "sometimes" shortcuts go at the top of the start menu list.  The stuff in the actual start menu I don't really use, or I have a different way of getting to.  The only reason they're in the start menu is 1) The computer won't let me remove it, and 2) I want a quick list of all the programs I have on my computer.

So I didn't exactly declutter something physical this week, but in the current digital age it's important to keep the computer free of clutter as well! 

The Friday Declutter Challenge: Baby Clothes

This week I decluttered my daughter's massive amounts of clothing. I've been saying since June that she's got too much clothing, but no one ever listens to me. I'm very grateful that we have so many relatives that love us and our baby enough to send gifts, but honestly...enough is enough. The child has more clothing than my husband and I combined.

And the worst part of it is that they are mostly gifts. Brand-new gifts from a loving doting relative. Who expects pictures of her in the various outfits. As a result, I can't give them away or sell them - I must keep them and hound my child like the paparazzi. But seriously, the next person who sends any article of clothing, socks, shoes, accessories, or anything else that can be worn, will be responsible for purchasing a brand new wardrobe, because mine is now stuffed to the breaking point.

I know I sound like an ungrateful little witch for complaining that my daughter has too much clothing when some kids have nothing, but seriously now...what 5 month old has a full TUB of house onesies? Not just onesies...but "house" onesies. These are onesies that aren't pretty enough to be worn outside. But that's okay, because we've got more than enough dressy onesies - a full basket of short-sleeves, and a full basket of long-sleeves. And don't even get me started on her one-piece footed PJs. She has a full tub of flannel/terry-cloth PJs, and then an overflowing basket of "normal" PJs. She can wear a new set of PJs for every day of the month and still have enough to spare.

The good news to my major clothing overload is that I can not do laundry for a good month and still be okay. And I'll make a small fortune at the consignment store in a year or so. The bad news is that I am seriously running out of space, and it's just downright unfair that a mother can't even buy her first child cute clothing because everyone beat her to the punch.

I seriously have nightmares about this upcoming Christmas. I'm trying to nip the demon in the behind by sending out the above slideshow to demonstrate my clothing overload, and I've already started working on a Christmas wishlist on Wishpot that I'll distribute with our Thanksgiving cards. But you KNOW there will always be those people who don't look at your wishlist or gets you a whole collection of clothing just because "it was too cute to pass up".

Can I please take a raincheck on Christmas? Please?

Evolution of the Coupon System

Since I started couponing 7 months ago, my coupon system has gone through some changes.  When I first started, there was no system - there was only the "toss" box.  All my coupons went int there, and needless to say it was not a very effective system, if it can even be called that.  But back then I worked with printables only and had no coupon stash - I printed them as they came up and as I needed them.

Then I moved onto a 4x6 photo album. First, it was just find a slot and shove the coupon in.  But that got crazy, fast.  So I ended up giving each page a label.  But as I got better at my job couponing, I found that I was taking too long sorting flipping through it.  So I took it a step further and alphabetized the whole thing, with categories following the alphabetization.  That got me over another week or two, but before long it was clear that I could make no more modifications to the photo album system and just needed a whole new system.

I toyed with the idea of making a coupon binder, but the startup costs involved with buying the binder and the inserts were just too high.  That, and I wasn't a big fan of having to lug around this huge thing with me to the store.  My eureka moment came when I realized that although my entire coupon wealth was stored in the 4x6 album and I was able to take that with me, I rarely actually flipped through it while I was in the store. 

And thus, my coupon shoebox was born.  It's been working like a charm, but this past weekend it evolved...again.  But unlike the 4x6 album where an evolution was pretty much starting from scratch but just using the same thing, it was so easy to add to the coupon shoebox.  All I did was put in extra envelopes and write out the tab for the new categories.  I also loved the fact that I could easily rearrange the tabs. 

And since it's a shoebox, I'm not hurting for space anytime soon, so I felt okay with doing a separate category for just about everything.  Just compare this current picture with this picture.  For example, I used to have just one envelope for "makeup", but when I was making my coupon/deal match-ups, it took too long to go through ALL of my makeup coupons, so in this last expansion I decided to make an envelope for each brand of makeup.  Each category has a specific color, and each tab represents either a specific brand, or a type of product.  It's been working like a charm. 

When I go into the store, I take an accordion file with me that has my shopping list and coupons.  However, I still miss being able to have all of my coupons with me in the store.  It's almost like a security thing.  I would put the coupon box in the car with me, but the one downside to this system is that there is no lid and spillage is a major risk.  I think I even had a nightmare about spillage one night. 

I'm always looking for ways to improve though, and it is my hope that eventually I'll be able to find a system that will be small enough for me to take my entire coupon stash into the store, but still have the at-a-glance organization that I love so much.  Maybe for Christmas!

The Friday Declutter Challenge: Supply closet

I decluttered my supply closet back on day 12 of the August Declutter Challenge, so it's been a while since I've paid attention to it. Lately, I've been getting more stuff than I have room for. A lot of these excess products end up going to the USO, but there are a lot of products that I would like to keep too. I was also having difficulty finding stuff, which is never a good sign. Time to declutter!

Before






After

I know it doesn't look like much, so you'll just have to take my word for it =P. Basically I can now fit probably double of what I could before. And everything's also a lot easier to find and get to - thanks to some recycled USPS boxes. They fit perfectly width AND height-wise in this closet, so I've been able to use them as containers for most of our stuff.

Since this is the supply closet, I wasn't too worried about accessibility, so I stacked a couple of boxes on top of each other. The "baby" box is on top of the "toothpaste" box, and then "air fresheners" box is on top of the "candles" box. Just this simple stacking created a whole bunch of room in the closet, and I managed to create better categories for everything. Instead of lumping all things mommy into one "mommy box", mommy now has a deodorant box, a hair products box, and a beauty box (perfumes and makeup). Baby also gets a box too, because her things used to be spread out over the "lotions" box, the "shampoo" box, and the "body-wash" box. I don't know about you, but diaper rash doesn't exactly fit my lotioning needs.

I just want to stress that decluttering the supply closet was not about fitting more junk in it, but rather being able to find things easier. I am always getting shampoo and toothpaste for "free", and it is completely unreasonable for me to even attempt to hold onto everything that I buy. I know we don't need any, but I get them anyway because I know there are people who could use them. The "selfish" thing that I do is weed out the products that we're not a major fan of, or have no preference towards, and donate those instead. For example, I love Garnier, so I kept all of that but donated all the Pert Plus.

I'm sorry. I'm a bad person. At least I decluttered this week. Surely that means I won't be heading straight to hell for hoarding shampoo, right?

Works for Me Wednesday: The Kitchen Organization Edition

My kitchen is honestly the one place that I could not care less about. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I'm a terrible cook and really don't enjoy cooking at all, but mainly it's because there is not much I can do about kitchen organization. With every new house comes a new kitchen. There's only so much I can do in terms of an organizational system - after all, it's not like I can replace our kitchen cabinets, and then take those cabinets with us when we move to a new house. I've just resigned myself to making things fit however they will.

What I try to do though is to keep like items together if at all possible. That means the plates, pots and pans, and cooking utensils go by the stove for easy access. Cups go directly above where the coffee maker is on the countertop, and our drink mixes ideally go somewhere near the cups. Get the idea? I try to go by this method whenever I can, but that depends heavily on what I have to work with in the first place.

And since pictures are worth a thousand words, here's my kitchen for your viewing pleasure:

It's a rather small kitchen, but thankfully there's just enough storage room for our stuff. I wasn't able to completely stick with my like-items strategy, but for the most part it works for us. All of the shelving is adjustable, but we're only going to be here for a couple of months and it just wasn't worth the trouble to adjust everything.

This is by no means my ideal kitchen, but like I said I really try not to stress the whole "kitchen" thing since I have so little control over it. In most of the other rooms I can take my organizational ways with me because every closet is more or less the same - the size might change, but for the most part it's an empty space for me to work with. The kitchen is the one abnormality where my organization is dictated by the different type of drawers and cabinets that I have to work with. So I've decided that as long as everything fits and I don't spend more than 10 seconds looking for it, I'm happy.

The Friday Declutter challenge

This week was one of my more productive weeks. I finally got around to vacuuming and doing general cleaning around the house. I'm not a fan of cleaning, but this house makes it all that much more difficult due to the fact that it's two stories. I have a torn ligament from my competitive figure skating days, and it just never really healed right. I can function well enough on a day-to-day basis, but certain things just plain old hurts - like going up stairs, or cold weather, both of which we've got plenty of in this new place.

I'm also in major injury-preventative mode.  It is not possible to carry a baby on crutches, or go up the stairs on crutches.  Or go up the stairs with the baby in your arms on crutches.  And it's not like my husband can just take 3 weeks off work to help me out.  Nor is staying put on the couch during his entire 15-hour workday an option either. 

Anyway, I created a new couponing system this week. It was long overdue, and I'm very happy with the results. I've been using it all week to put together my CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart deals, and so far it's working like magic. With my old album system, it was literally a chore to add new coupons. This new system makes adding coupons a lot easier, because I can just stick them in the corresponding envelope immediately after clipping them, instead of having to flip through the pages and find a open slot.

And now that I have a new couponing system, I must have a new couponing station! I'm still using our sofa table as the main couponing area, but since the coupon box won't fit in any of the drawers, I've decided to give it a spot at my desk. It really makes sense though, considering I put together all of my shopping lists at my desk next to the computer. The sofa table faces the TV, while my desk faces the wall, so the sofa table is still going to be where I clip my coupons.

It was just a mere reorganization of the top two shelves of my desk. The only things that moved were my scrap paper pile, which is now on the top shelf, and my pile of binder paper, which now sits under the wicker basket on the top shelf. The white shoe box that I used for my couponing system used to be on the top shelf, but it was just an empty box that I had no better place for. I rarely use binder paper, so I don't really have a problem with it being on the top shelf. I can still reach my scrap paper while sitting, so it's not really a big deal.

My desk is so much more efficient now, because I can just slide the coupon box out to find what I'm looking for - I don't even need to remove it completely from the shelf. It's also right next to my drop boxes - the pink box in the back holds my accordion file and EasySaver booklets, and the metal "love" tin in the front is my drop-box for coupons to be filed. I should be able to get rid of that tin now though, because it's so easy to file coupons away that my drop-box will be the actual coupon box itself!

I also reorganized my blog this week to celebrate my 200th post.  I'm getting back into shape with my coding and HTML-ing, but I'm still very rusty.  I did manage to tidy things up a bit though, so it's less distracting and scroll-hectic now.  I sure hope everyone likes it...!

Musical...sidebars?

If you've seen a couple of things out of place lately, don't worry.  It's not you, it's me.  I've been playing around with the widgets on my sidebars and there will be plenty more moving around to be done before I'm satisfied.  I've been taking in your feedback here, and I've made a couple of changes accordingly:

• The huge list of "Incoming Freebies" is now in a scroll-box.  Thanks for the suggestion, Suz!  I just kept adding to it and didn't realize how big it got...! 
  
• "Blogs that I Love" is also a scroll-box.  All of the buttons are so cute and colorful, but it was getting to be overwhelming to have a seemingly endless list of them.
  
• I'm keeping the live traffic feed, but that's also in a scroll-box now.  I think it's interesting to see where everyone's from =)
• I added a label cloud, and combined that with my search box, so things are a bit more condensed.

What I would really like to do is to replace the "post archive" with either a drop down menu that also shows the titles, or change it to show just the most recent posts.  I'm sure there's a way to do it...I just haven't figured it out yet and I'm probably not going to today.  I am SO rusty on all of my HTML that I pretty much held my breath the entire time I was making changes.  I made a back-up of my template before I started, but I was still terrified of my blog going bye-bye. 

For now, I've decided to keep the blog layout, just because I cannot possibly afford to pay someone to design one for me, and I'm much too rusty and out-of-shape with my own skills to do it myself right now.  I'm glad to hear that some of you like the birdie though.  His name is "Lucky Bob". 

Thank you so much for all of your feedback, and please feel free to leave me more feedback here or by emailing me!  I love hearing from my readers and picking your heads for what you think about my blog...!

Our weekend in review

I've had better weekends. We had nonstop pouring rain for pretty much the entire weekend, and it must be the different weather system here because I had a nonstop mind-splitting migraine for...you guessed it...pretty much the entire weekend. I really hate it when it just rains nonstop for days on end, because it just makes your whole life that much more harder. First off, the dogs had to go out, and these are spoiled mutts that do NOT want to go out in the rain. The entire weekend my husband had to pick Chloe up and put her down outside after I closed the door. She just didn't want to go out - she would dig her paws into the carpet and just REFUSE to be moved. And of course, after they went out we had to dry them because they were soaked through...I should have just given my husband some shampoo and told him to give them a bath while they were all out there.

We also had to go to the commissary this weekend. The down-side of menu planning is since I only buy for a week out, we HAVE to go to the commissary or else have no food. We had planned to go on Saturday, except that it was closed due ALL DAY due to a power outage, and we ended up going on Sunday afternoon. Sunday afternoon is a bad day to be at the commissary, because you seriously risk being run over by the sheer amount of carts and people. Of course, it didn't help my head that the baby wanted to scream the entire time we were in there. It wasn't one of my best weeks, but we stayed under budget nonetheless.

Just to get out of the house to do something, we went to a local mall, and quickly regretted it. It was so crowded and definately did not help my headache. On our way home though, we stopped by Walmart and Office Max to get supplies for my coupon binder, and since I ended up doing something completely different, I'll have to go back this week to make returns.

Although we were completely rained in this weekend and I spent most of it hiding under the covers, in review it turned out to be a pretty productive weekend. I really wasn't up to doing anything but sitting under a mountain of blankets, but the perfect thing is that you can clip coupons and organize them under a mountain of blankets! It gave me something to do instead of staring at the wall, and I also got a big thorn out of my side now that I have a new system.

Budget-wise, it wasn't one of our best weeks. We had McDonald's Thursday for lunch because I just couldn't help myself, and I really wasn't feeling up to cooking dinner on Friday, so we had Taco Bell instead. We managed to stay under our grocery budget, but then again the mall brought on a bit of unnecessary spending. However, I'm not stressing it. I've come to terms with the fact that we're not perfect and we'll slip up every once in a while...not to mention that sometimes we just need a break from counting every single penny and "splurge". And since we're normally so careful with our money, realistically we can afford to splurge on fast food or ice cream now and then. It's definately not a good habit to get into, but it's also important to remember to take a break so we don't get burned out!

My new coupon system!

I've been slacking on my coupon clipping lately, partly because I was so tired of my old coupon system and I just didn't want to deal with it.  My old system was a 4x6 album that was organized alphabetically.  Each pocket either contained "loose" coupons, or was marked with a category (ex: Huggies, Pampers, cleaning supplies...etc.).  However, I have completely outgrown the poor thing and it was completely unorganized due to overcrowding.  Needless to say, it has really affected my savings lately to have a coupon system that I couldn't bear to touch. 

Believe it or not, I had 2 weeks of coupons saved up, in addition to a huge batch that I got from a fellow freecycler.  This was my to-do pile when I started last night:

I was toying with the idea of a clipless system, but I quickly dismissed that idea since it was SO hard to find coupons during the two weeks that I didn't clip.  Flipping through an insert 20 times a week is not my idea of efficiency.  The little pink box is actually a recycled cereal box.  I used instructables.com to make the gift box, but unfortunately my lid was too small and so I just folded it in all-together.  I use it to keep my "overflow" coupons - basically my coupons for giveaways, or my expired coupons for Coupons for Troops.

Anyway, my final system is the coupon filing box.  I used a sturdy old shoebox, and #6-size envelopes.  The tabs are just 4x6 index cards cut in half.  Each envelope has a specific brand ("Huggies", "Olay", "Neosporin"...etc.) or a type of product ("cleaning supplies", "dishwasher", "makeup").  For the envelopes labeled with product types, I have a full 4x6 index card in it that keeps the coupons separated by brand.  For example, in the makeup envelope, an index card separates the Rimmel coupons from the Covergirl coupons. 

All the different colors you see represent different categories: Health/Medicine, Toiletries/Beauty, Household Supplies, Baby, and Grocery/Food.  I have a generic envelope at the start of each category for stray coupons that don't fit into any of the envelopes.  My guide-line for whether or not to create an envelope is that I need to have at least 3 of that coupon.  This way, I won't have a ton of empty envelopes floating around.

Although I won't be able to take this box with me to the store, I ended up picking the coupon box system for its simplicity and low-cost.  The coupon binder would have cost over $20 to create, what with the sheer amount of baseball card/business card holders that I would need.  I have a LOT of coupons.  Yes, I would be able to see all my coupons at a glance, but then again how often am I going to sit flipping through my coupon book?

Another deciding factor was that I realized I'm never going to actually use it in the store.  I plan out all of my trips with shopping lists and coupons...they all go in my little accordion file.  Besides, let's be realistic here...I'm never going to stand in an aisle flipping through my coupon book.  I always have the baby with me when I go out, and it's getting harder and harder to entertain her while I shop.  She's a ticking time bomb - I only have so much time before we hit full-on meltdown zone.  I can't waste precious time shopping for stuff not on my list! 

If I see a high-value coupon, I will set it aside in my accordion file and make a note on my shopping list to look for it at the store.  And I've decided that if I see an especially low price that might be a steal with a good coupon match-up...I'll write down the price and look it up when I get home.  If it's really that great of a deal...I'll just go back out to the store since they're all within 10 miles of my house. 

I'm so happy with this system.  The final cost was NOTHING because we have an abundance of index cards and envelopes.  I love that I can clip & sort at the same time since every category is easily assessable.  This system also has unlimited potential - if my coupon "collection" gets even bigger, all I need are just more envelopes or a bigger box.  I definately won't need to create a system from scratch to accommodate the new arrivals!  I hope to be getting some pretty paper this week and decorating the box so it'll look pretty too...!

The Friday Declutter challenge: kitchen!

Like the new button for the declutter challenge?  Yours truly designed it.  I'm by no means a professional - I just took a year of digital art back in the day in high school, and it's always just kind of stuck with me and became a hobby of mine.  I love designing, but unfortunately I have no muse so I can't just sit down at my computer and whip something up just because - I need a purpose and a goal to complete.  So I jumped on the fact that Marcia needed a button for the new Friday Declutter challenge...besides, it was the least I could do for her after she was the driving force behind getting my house looking more like a house and less like a storage unit.

Anyway, this week I decluttered my kitchen.  Our stuff got here on July 14th, and we unpacked the kitchen the very next day on July 15th.  Back then my daughter was only 2 months old and I hadn't started pumping milk or anything, so we had absolutely no baby paraphernalia to speak of as far as the kitchen was concerned.  Well, she's now 4 months old and starting baby cereal.  I've also started pumping, and we keep some formula on hand as a "just in case". 

All this new baby stuff have been taking a tour of the kitchen cabinets for the past couple of weeks.  They would start off on the counter, and then when I couldn't stand the clutter anymore, I would open a random cabinet and shove them in.  Well, needless to say, they would get in the way a couple days later, and then I would open another random cabinet and shove them in there.  Rinse and repeat until the formula ended up on a top shelf that I can't reach, the bottles are next to the Tupperware, the breast pump is next to the plates, and the cereal is stored with my pots and pans. 

Obviously this is ridiculous.  As my daughter grows older, we are just going to get more baby eating stuff, and we can't just keep throwing it random places.  She needs her own shelf in the kitchen cabinets.  I ended up giving her the middle shelf in our "cup" cabinet.  All of our cups fit onto one shelf, and our water bottles fit into another...so it really left the middle shelf wide open.  I was storing my glass bake-ware in there for the moment, but I decided that a better storage place would be the broiler.  So I'll have clutter on my counter-top on the rare occasion that I use the broiler - I think I can live with it. 

What I -really- need is a high chair that comes with a storage cabinet on the bottom, but somehow I don't think it'll happen.  When I was pregnant I had this vision where things would be completely separated in each part of my house.  We'll just have baby stations and baby corners in every room, but for the most part my house was not going to look like a daycare center.  Well, I've since given up hope of that, unless I win the lottery next week and can buy a 12 bedroom house.  It really drives me nuts to see baby stuff everywhere, but maybe the next house we get will be bigger, or just better laid-out, and I can at least dedicate a small section in each room for all that endless baby stuff. 

Minimizing Monday: scratch paper overload!

I like to recycle, but sometimes this backfires I'm talking about my scratch paper pile, which expands at an exponential rate to my usage. Every piece of good size paper that has a writable surface ends up in the pile, and although I use scratch paper to scribble down my grocery list, to-dos, notes to my husband, or reminders to myself, somehow I still end up with a good size pile.

Printable coupons are mainly to blame for this since the actual coupon only occupies a fraction of the page. If I know where the coupon is going to print on the page, I reload the page in the opposite direction and have it print the coupon on the other end. But most of the time, the coupon is flat dab in the middle, or there are advertisements under the coupon. Either way, I end up with an unhealthy amount of scrap paper.

I really hate throwing things out, not because I'm a pack rat, but because I like to recycle and I feel stupid spending money on things that I'm throwing out. But I've decided that I need to be a lot stricter about what actually qualifies as scrap paper. My new requirements are that the piece must be mostly blank on BOTH sides. This might sound needlessly strict, but it's a very easily met requirement for printable coupons.

The pile on the left is my throw-out pile, and I'm keeping everything on the right. Full sheets of paper are going to be put into a separate pile, because I can use those again to print directions or other one-time use documents. I would print coupons on them, but some stores to refuse to accept coupons with other stuff on the back, stating that they won't get reimbursed to it. Sounds like a lousy excuse to me, but I just don't have the time to fight that battle.

The four pink piles you see were rescued from the scrap pile. A while back I cleared out my desk calendar, and cut up the big sheets into workable sizes. What I failed to realize in my haste was that there were labeled boxes on the calendar for "To-Do", "Important Notes", "Appointments" and "Notes". I went through my scrap pile and cut them down to just those boxes, and now not only do I have scrap paper to use, but it's pretty scrap paper too!

The last pile are pieces of scrap paper that fit my new criteria of being empty on both sides. Surprisingly, I ended up with less than I expected, but then again, I did use a fair amount this weekend for my grocery list and notes. If I find that I'm running out of scrap paper, I can always relax the requirements, but for now, I'm happy with what I have.

Declutter Challenge LAST day 31: Laundry closet

Eek! Today's the LAST "official" day of the declutter challenge. A HUGE thanks go out to Marcia for continuing this declutter thing with a weekly round-up. My poor tiny little house needs it!

I really wish I did something grandiose to celebrate the last official day, but alas all I did was declutter my laundry closet. And I don't even have a picture to show for it. Not that I didn't try mind you, but it was just impossible, unless I could be like that girl from Xmen and walk through walls, and had a camera that took pictures through walls. The hallway was just too narrow, but too long to allow me to take an angled picture from the end of it. So no picture today...but it wasn't my fault!!

Anyway, what I did was made my own laundry cart. Except that it's not so much of a cart because it doesn't move. We have a lot of those wire cubby shelf things, and they actually fit PERFECTLY between my washer and dryer. A set of these cost like $15 at Target and we have PLENTY of them, so I am definately not going to pay $150+ for those laundry tower cart thingys. They may look nicer, but I have a lot better use for $150. Besides, we have a closet door to the laundry closet, so most of the time you can't even see inside it. Definitely not paying $150 for something I can't see.

I ended up building a small tower that's 3 cubbys high. All of our laundry detergent fit into just one cubby, so I decided to use a second one for our stain-removal stuff, laundry samples, and laundry bags. I reused an old post office box to keep the bags from going everywhere. The bottom cubby just holds a trashcan since I didn't want to put anything else there in case of water damage. On top of this whole "tower", I reused a small laundry basket that was broken in the move for our plastic grocery bags. The grocery bags aren't exactly a laundry item, but they needed a home and it doesn't look too out of place because of the laundry basket.

Well, since today is the last official day, I'm going to share what I've learned. And besides the fact that I have a LOT of crap, I've come to appreciate how easy and cheap it is to declutter. I've always been under the impression that in order to seriously organize my house, I need to go and blow about $100 on organizational things like rubbermaid drawers and containers. Well, when this declutter challenge started and I decided to dedicate myself to it, we didn't have $100 OR the time to spend buying things, so I've found out just how much I can do by reusing containers.

The next recap is kind of a mute point in my case because when I started my house was full of moving boxes, but the biggest impact that I can see in my home is well...my entire home. I know it sounds like I'm dodging the question, but it's true. We were living out of boxes at the beginning of the month for the most part, or living off the floor because we emptied out of the boxes just to get rid of boxes and didn't bother putting things where they really belonged. But an "upgrade" as a result of my declutter from the old house is that I now actually have an office/desk area, where all of my electronics have a home. In the old house, the printer was in the scrapbooking closet, the laptop was on the coffee table, the camera was on the side table, the camcorder was in the bedroom, and the bluetooth was in the kitchen. None of that craziness anymore!

From now on, I think I'll just do one post every Friday for the weekly roundup instead of daily posts, but I am still going to declutter something everyday. They may not have pictures attached, and they may be a bit abnormal like "I decluttered my dog (read: I gave him a haircut)", but I will still do something everyday! I've done so good for 31 days...I can surely keep going!

Monthly Organizing Round-Up: Our entryway

I'm an Organizing Junkie's monthly organizing round-up is the entryway, and although I decluttered our entryway back on day 5 of the August declutter challenge, it was high time to reorganize it!

And as an added bonus, I found an old picture of our entryway from the old house. Actually, it wasn't technically an entryway, but rather the kitchen/dining room that led to the carport through a side door. It makes no sense for us to park the car in the carport and then walk around to the front to enter the house, so naturally our dining area became the entryway and it wasn't pretty.

Old House Entryway


New House Entryway as of 8/5

Back then, the entryway wasn't exactly complete. It was "done" in the sense that it was no longer an empty space, but it wasn't properly organized since we were just in the unpacking and putting things where they belong mode, not the organizing mode. Well, I went back this afternoon and did a bit of tidying up. I couldn't really get good pictures due to lack of room to back up enough to capture the whole thing, but I managed to get it in parts.

Current Entryway

This is the very top of the closet...the house came with pre-installed shelves, so on the very top are overflow shoes, gift bags, and packing materials (bubble wrap/packing peanuts). On the bottom shelf are my frequently used purses, winter house shoes, and more packing/gift materials.



Like how I lazily pieced together the two images? The bottom half of our entryway closet stores all of our shoes. The cup tree is still used for keys, and my current purse hangs off the side, but when I took the picture it was on my desk because I was balancing my checkbook. On the other side of the closet I hang my coupon tote. The red hanging basket you see is for hubby to dump his wallet, phone, keys, and whatever else he has in his pockets. The two bags you see hanging on the left side of the picture are items that I have to return to the store. And the Chloe dog thought she was getting walked since I was loitering in the entryway...poor Chloe.


This is the other half of our entryway. We've got a calendar for quick reference, a cork board for outgoing papers, and a place for the dog leashes.

The entryway is tiny, but I am very grateful for it. It sure beats being in the dining room! Since it's a small area before the carpeting begins, it's a very good reminder to take off your shoes. It also super easy for me to just go through on a weekly basis with a broom and sweep up the dirt, whereas in the old house I pretty much had to clean the kitchen too.

And well, that's all folks! Now all I have to do is convince the Chloe dog that we're not going for a walk, and that it's not illegal for me to loiter in my own entryway...

Declutter Challenge Day 29: Bookcase & coupon stuff...again

Is it against the rules to declutter the same thing twice? Well, it doesn't matter, because I decluttered TWO things today. Yesterday I talked about how we keep all of our books that are in a series in a separate bookcase. This was never the original plan, but everything just would not fit under the sofa table, so this is plan B. And I'm starting to like plan B, because books that are in a series are actually quite nice of a decor item.

Sorry for the poor quality of the picture, but the one thing I've noticed about this house is that we have some REALLY weird angles going on. It all looks a lot better in person...it's just really hard to photograph.

It's actually the perfect place for a bookcase because we have a lamp right behind it. The lamp was a Target brand and normally sells for $50+, but I found it at the Salvation Army in its unopened box for $6. But anyway, it's the perfect reading spot, and having series of books out makes for a lot neater look than random books. It's a bit taller than I would have liked, but it doesn't look too bad. And besides, the extra height gives Mickey a clear view of everything. He's one of those original rotary dial phones. I love Mickey, and my husband thinks I'm nuts for getting a huge kick out of dialing with him.

Now, the second thing that I decluttered (again) is my coupon organizing system. A while back I told you about how I have a store envelope system, which is basically an envelope for each store with all the coupons and deals inside it. I had an index card inside that separated my register coupons, and in the CVS envelope I had a ECB card too.

Well, all those envelopes got tiring fast. The envelopes are so weak, and although I reused envelopes from junk mail, it just got tiring to have to replace them all the time. So I bought a $1 accordion folder from Target. It's red like my coupon album, and fits perfectly in my little tote.

Today I am going out to Walgreens and the Commissary, so I will report back on how I like this new system. But I'm positive that I'm going to fall completely in love with it. It was already so easy putting together all my coupons and lists, and I didn't have to worry about grabbing the wrong envelope or something falling out.

Here's my week in recap:
Declutter Challenge Day 28: The sofa table/my couponing area
Declutter Challenge Day 27: My desk!
Declutter Challenge Day 26: Baby stockpile
Declutter Challenge Day 23 - 25: Living Room continued

Yes I know I know, I never showed off pictures of the living room, but bear with me! I'm a perfectionist, and I want EVERYTHING in its correct place before I make the big reveal. Right now I'm just down to deciding where to hang pictures, for an OCD perfectionist, that takes a LOT longer than you would think!

Eeek...it's already day 29...there's only 2 days left! Can I just continue my own declutter challenge afterwards? Can I be weird and a loner like that, or would someone actually join me? It's really not my fault that I have so much crap that needs to be decluttered...really!

Declutter Challenge Day 28: The sofa table/my couponing area

Unfortunately I do not have an adequate picture to share today, because I was so surprised by my husband offering to help me clip my coupons that I forgot to take one. I was running behind on a lot of things, and he ended up clipping and sorting all of my coupons. And we're not talking about one or two coupons, people. We're talking about the entire Sunday paper AND all of the coupons that I received from the giveaways. I'd be willing to bet that there were over 500 coupons in there. Just to give you an idea of exactly how many coupons we're talking about...here's a picture of the coupon drawer BEFORE he sorted them:

When he was done the ENTIRE sofa table top was full of piles of coupons. All I had to do then was to go through and put them into my coupon album, which is something he drew the line at since my categories confused him...he didn't understand the importance of having a "Colgate" and "Crest" category instead of just a "Toothpaste" category. And I tried explaining to him that it wouldn't work out too well if I handed the store a "Crest" coupon for a "Colgate" item, but I think he'd tuned me out by then.

Anyway, here is what our table looks like:

This is the sofa table that I ordered online from Target for 25% off and free shipping. Target.com had a promotion of 15% off and free shipping on select furniture, and my Borders Perks 10% off stacked, so I got 25% off. It is so pretty and stylish that no one can guess that I got it for under $100. The blue boxes you see underneath hides our miscellaneous books, while another bookcase in the living room holds our series books.

The top three drawers have officially be designated as the couping area. In the left drawer I keep current ads and such. The middle drawer is reserved for coupons (which you saw), and the right hand drawer has all of my tools in it (scissors, pen, envelopes for sorting). It's also where I keep my giveaway coupons, my special surprises, and my coupons for troops.

And in case you didn't notice, it is right behind the couch with a perfect view of our wonderful 42" HD TV that I named Phil. Yes I know, I'm weird. But the positioning of my coupon table means that when we finally get TV service, I can pull up a chair and clip my coupons while watching TV (or watching hubby get blown up by grenades that he repeatedly fails to see in Call of Duty).

I am so pleased with this furniture purchase. It was an economically smart decision, because it serves 3 different purposes. It's a sofa table, a bookcase, and coupon central for me!