Every now and again I like to save a few bucks so I bust out my scissors and my pile of mailers I've been collecting (usually over several months) and I cut coupons. By the time I get around to doing this, the majority of the coupons have expired and I only cut the coupons on products that I would normally purchase so the amount of coupons I end up with is minimal. Usually, most of the coupons I do use are in-store coupons I receive from my wholesale membership club. Recently I decided to be more consistent on cutting coupons (before they expire) so I can save more money. I decided that in order to be more successful, I needed to get organized. I purchased a three ring binder and bought coupon inserts pages and organized my coupons by category. This made the process of cutting and storing coupons so much easier. Last Friday with my shopping list and coupons in hand I went shopping for groceries. Between my whole sale club coupons, manufacturer coupons and the grocery store sale items, I saved $75 bucks. I would call that a success! I do realize that the savings will not be this drastic everytime but if i could save an average of $15 dollars every two weeks, thats over $300 saving in a year. The question is... can I keep this up? So one of my goals for 2013 is to take 15 minutes each week and cut my coupons before they expire and stay organized so I can save save save!!! I am by no means an extreme couponer or plan on becoming one for a few reasons.... time and storage space.

I ordered just a basic 1" three ring binder and coupon inserts from Amazon for about $8. I used tabs that I already had on hand to organize coupons by category. I will attach a link to a PDF file that lists the categories I use once I figure out how to do that. Happy couponing!

Update 2/18/12: I have been saving approximately 15 dollars a week using coupons and sale papers.

I made this keepsake onesie with the Superman logo that I found on the web. I cut the template out and traced it on the red and yellow felt. I cut the felt out and then hand-stitched it onto the onesie using embroidery floss. I provided both red and blue permanent markers so everyone could sign it. After the baby shower it was put into a frame and given to the the expecting mommy.

I live in a coastal region where Hurricanes and flooding are not uncommon and we even get occasional tornadoes. In my household we've always had a few emergency items on hand and would get extra water in preparation for a big storm. However, we don't have anything prepared in case we need to evacuate quickly. This is very important to me especially now that I have a child. I have decided that this is a priority and I need to assemble 72-hour emergency kits for my family. I realize this is going to be an expensive task so I am going to add items weekly until my kits are assembled. I am currently in the research phase and I am reading different blogs that are informative on emergency preparedness. Here are two different blogs that I find very informative and helpful:

http://www.yourownhomestore.com/survival-kit-ideas-week-by-week/

preparednotscared.blogspot.com/

I have already started to assemble my vital records binder. This is a binder that has well basically all our family information stored in it. Will this save our lives? Well no but just in case we have a natural disaster or God forbid we lose our house or family member, we have all our important documents in one place.

Week 1: Assemble two backpacks - one for myself and one for my husband. For obvious reasons we will have to include our one year old daughter's items in our packs. I am using backpacks because if we have to evacuate on foot, they can easily be carried and it keeps our hands free so we can hold or deal with our toddler.