Coupon Ninja Secrets Revealed

It's a touch warmer in the holler today than it's been recently, but giant Catawba leaves are blowing around the yard and we're starting to see hints of color in the trees. Winter will be here before you know it.

I've spent the morning surfing the internet, looking for potential Canadian distributors of our product. Technically I'm just a clerk and "cold calls" aren't supposed to be part of my job, but someone has to do something.

I can't keep working part time ya'll.

While I waited in vain for my new customer listing to print, because I have the slowest feckin' printer in the Western hemisphere, I told Lulu all about my shnazzy new coupon binder thingie. She made me swear to bring it back after lunch for show and tell.

As you can see, it's nothing fancy, just trading card sheets separated with el cheapo tabby things:

The little pocket holds my pen and calculator. I usually have to keep track of what I'm spending, so I keep a running tally as I go through the store. When it's two days until payday and you've got $60 in your checking account, it becomes sort of a necessity. (Please over look the Amazon's homage to the Backstreet Boys, written in white beside the pen. It's an old binder she had in high school.)
You can see how much easier it is to keep up with at a glance. No more shuffling through stacks of coupons as you stand with your cart, trying not to block traffic. I have mine filed by sections (frozen, canned, breakfast, etc.) Some people file them by brand names or by expiration date. Since we only have the one grocery store, I've found it easier to just file them by category, roughly based on their location in the store.
The back pocket makes a handy stash for fast food coupons. You could make your own section for those, but we don't have fast food chains here in the holler, so it makes more sense to just stash them in case we happen to be making a run to Big City. (You may also notice a nod to Def Leppard written on the inside back cover. Proof that the Amazon is the fruit of my womb.)

And my favorite part about the whole thing? That I was able to find a free, barely used binder, stuck in a hall cabinet, with a zipper closure (so you don't loose any coupons!) and Winnie the Pooh on the cover.
Total cost? The two packages of tabby insert things were like .89 each. The trading card sheets were around three bucks for a package of 35. I've seen others with pockets to hold sale papers, scissors and some people even keep running price comparisons between stores. I'm not that in to it.. and there's only the one store.. so it would be kinda pointless.

Anywho, that's my coupon ninja binder (Pooh bear optional.) I'm gonna go eat a pimento cheese sammich and get back to work.

Ya'll have a good one.

Later Taters!