Works for Me Wednesday: Coupon Binders
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This, my first WFMW, is an addendum to my coupon binder post. I failed to mention my “price book” that I keep in the back of my coupon binder. I downloaded the shopping list freeware found here(scroll down to “shopping list”) and populated it based on the never-ending pile of grocery receipts I have in my desk drawers.
I use the shopping list both as a shopping list and as a price book. For the shopping list, you just go into the program and double-click on what you need to buy at the store that week. The program prints off a handy list, sorted by item or by category, and a total. So, you know, before you ever head to the store, about how much you’ll be spending. What a great budgeting tool!
Then, to use it as a price book, I just double-clicked everything in the database once and printed it sorted by category. I put it into page protectors and stuck it into the back of my coupon binder. Now, when I’m in a store other than my normal grocery store and I’m standing in front of a given item wondering if it’s a good deal, I can just pull out my coupon binder, flip to my price book and see what I normally pay for the item. This has really been a money- and sanity-saver for me.
Oh, and I’ve been asked how much it cost to set up my coupon binder. Here’s a breakdown of the cost (and, um, no, I wasn’t particularly frugal in setting it up. *blushing*):
Binder…(um, yeah, I’ve mailed that receipt for a rebate, but I think it was around $2)
Baseball card inserts…30 for $3 and change
Index dividers…$5-ish
If I had it to do over again, I probably would have paid a bit extra for at least one pack of dividers with pockets, so that I’d have a very visible place to put my rebate forms.
Kris Bales is a newly-retired homeschool mom and the quirky, Christ-following, painfully honest founder (and former owner) of Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers. She has a pretty serious addiction to sweet tea and Words with Friends. Kris and her husband of over 30 years are parents to three amazing homeschool grads. They share their home with three dogs, two cats, a ball python, a bearded dragon, and seven birds.