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.