It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year...

Apologies for my being so scarce lately.  Toothless had a birthday last week, and Husband was on vacation, which meant no time for computering.  School starts next week for Toothless, and I start my externship, so I might not be around too much then.  There has been couponing, and the back to school sales have been great.  If you're a Walgreen's shopper, they have the 24ct boxes of Crayola crayons for $1, and you get a $1 Register Reward back!  A Register Reward (RR from here on out) is basically a coupon for X amount on your next shopping trip.  One tip:  if you get a RR from buying crayons, do not use it to buy another box of crayons because the RR for the box you are purchasing will not print!  The same goes for store coupons from other places as well.  The next time I'm here, I will show you our school supply list & what I spent!

I've also been knitting a little.  I picked up Vampire Knits: Projects to Keep You Knitting from Twilight to Dawn at Borders, and I'm knitting Lore Hoodie for Dangergirl.  It's an adult pattern knit with bulky yarn, so I'm using the smallest size numbers with Patons Classic in Chestnut Brown, which is a worsted weight.  So far it's coming out at a 2-3T size, and I love it.  It's not too interesting to look at now since it's just 2 sleeves and a jumbled mess of brown wool, but I'll be sure to get some pictures up when it actually looks like something. 

Until next time, here's a picture of (newly) Toothless!

Get (And Stay!) Organized

There are generally 2 camps when it comes to coupon organizing: the filers and the binders.  Filers will keep an insert intact, put it in a filing container of some kind, and sort by date, clipping only what they plan to take to the store with them that day.  Binders carry all of their coupons, all the time.  I started out as a binder, did a brief (and very disorganized) stint as a filer, and I'm back on Team Binder.  You'll want to invest in one or the other before your dining room table is covered in stacks of coupons.  Ask me how I know.  I have a binder much like the one pictured, but mine is without the handle.  I found it on clearance for $2.99.  Back to school sales are starting this week, so you'll be able to find something fairly inexpensively.  I do see myself upgrading here in the near future, mostly because carrying a binder, my wallet, and managing 2 kids is ridiculous.  Also a necessity: TOP-LOADING pages.  The ones that hold postcards and come 4 to a page, 6 to a page, and 9 to a page are common coupon sizes.  Why top-loading?  Take a binder, load it to the brim with side-loading pages, jam 9000 coupons in there, and hand it to your 5 year old.  I promise you, every last coupon is going to slide right out, and into a nice pile on the floor.  Your almost-2 year old will dance in it.  I promise.  There may have been tears.  You should also find a stapler, and a nice pair of scissors.  I've got a mini-stapler that fits in the front pocket of my binder, and the Fiskars Blunt Scissors.  Even though these are designed for preschool kids, I've still been known to cut myself.  Once you have your organizational tools of choice, you'll want to print out every store's coupon policy.  To make it easier for you, I've linked all of the stores in my area.  These policies are effective as of 07/08/11.  If your store isn't listed, and you can't find it online, you should be able to visit the customer service counter for a printout. 

• Meijer
• Giant Eagle
• Rite Aid
• Walgreens
• Target
• Walmart
• Walmart's Ad Match Guarantee
• Kroger doesn't have a coupon policy on their site, but Toledo stores will double 3 like coupons up to .50, and the Perrysburg store will go up to .99