Save some cash...

in a way that fits you.

First thing you need to do is decide what kind of time you want to put into saving money. Take it from me, you'll start out all gung-ho, armed with fists full of coupons and a closet full of free samples. Eventually, you'll even out and find out what kind of saver you are.

First and foremost, once you decide you want to be a saver, make an alternate email account. You do not want to sort through Aunt Beckie's recipe for oatmeal cookies PLUS all of the email you'll be getting with money saving deals in them, it's just not practical.

Second, you'll need to find a way to organize your coupons. There are several different ways to do this. You'll need to find the one that works for you. Putting them in a pile doesn't work, I've tried that.

My organizational skills suck. No, really, they do. I found myself wandering isles of grocery stores cutting out coupons as I shopped because I was too incredibly lazy to sort them. I started out gung-ho (told ya),  had a binder with baseball card holders (PRIMO way to organize coupons by the way), separated by department and then alphabetized by brand name in each department (I was a coupon badass). That lasted about 2 months, tops.

I'm heading back that direction, but I've enlisted the help of my kids. They think it's cool to don pairs of scissors and cut on the dotted line.

Another option is to use an accordion file and sort that way. You can Google coupon organization for other ideas.

Once you're organized (or at least have your organization system set up) the one must do is make SURE you get the Sunday paper. You can buy it from the store (you'll pay for it in a couple of coupons), but even better is having the subscription sent to your home. You can usually get a better price AND you don't have to get out of your flannel pjs and bunny slippers!

So that's the beginning. Stay tuned for more today to get you rolling onto saving!

~Kim