Coupon Organization- One

I absolutely hate it when I let a "really good" coupon expire. I recently found a $3.00 coupon for Nexus hair products (luckily not expired yet) buried in an envelope that I try to keep all my coupons and gift cards in. It made me realize that I probably never would use this coupon, and it, just like so many others, would just sit in my envelope serving no purpose but to exist. Because of this realization, I decide to come up with an efficiant way to share my coupons with the rest of my family.

My house seems to be more like a station for refueling and maintenance (sleep, showering, etc.). When we do get a change to talk, talking about coupons is the last topic on the agenda (ok, it's not even on the list). So I need an easily accesable way to share my discount gifts. Because the refrigerator is the main hub for refueling, I decided to make "pocket envelopes" to hang on the refrigerator; that way, while my 17 year old brother drinks milk straight from the gallon, he can look to see if there are any food coupons (surprisingly, he loves a good deal just as much as I do).

Okay, so here one idea  I came up with: pocket enevopes you can make with cardstock, construction paper, or whatever else you want to try.

Pocket Envelope Directions
Materials
Paper (patterns given are for 8.5x11" and 12x12")
Pencil
Ruler
Scissors
Glue
Decorative elements of you choice

8.5 x 11 Template

You can make these pockets on 8.5 x 11 printer paper, scrapbook paper, or card stock. Make sure your printer can take card stock, also make sure you put the correct side of the paper facing up in the printer. Or, you can draw your own pattern using these steps (see pictures below):

• Lay the paper in portrait orientation flat on a hard, even working station.
• Fold the paper in "half" with one side being 1/4 inch longer. Unfold the paper. 
1. On the shorter side of the fold, draw a line on either side of the paper from the center fold down to the end of the paper. The line should be about 1.5 inches from the edge of the paper.
2. Using the lines you just drew as a guide, cut off the paper inside the lines. You should now have one side with "flaps."
3. Fold in half and lay the paper back on your work station; the side with the flaps is flat on the table.
4. Fold the flaps back flat on to the top part of you paper.
5. Make sure this is the size of pocket you want. Cut to your preference
6. Glue the flaps down on to the back of the pocket. Tip: Do not pull the flaps tight when you glue them down. You want the front to have a small "pouch" so you can stick a lot of coupons in it!
7. Add embellishments

12 x 12 Template
Most standard home printers do not printers do not print on 12 x 12 papers. Follow the directions to draw your own template.

1. Draw a straight line from top of paper to bottom 3" from the edge. Repeat on the opposite side.
2. Using a ruler draw a straight line from the corner of the paper to line A. Repeat on all corners.
3. Cut out the triangular shaped area you have created at the corners.
4. Lay the paper flat and straight in front of you on a hard surface. This will help ensure even folding. Fold the bottom square all the way up so that the bottom of the paper is now even with the cut outs.
5. Fold in each flap
6. Grab the top point, fold down and to the side (away from the center). Repeat on opposite side.
7. Fold back the two bottom flaps so that they lay flat on the back side of the pocket.
8. Ensure you like the size and folds of your pocket. Glue down the flaps on the back and tuxedo flap at the top
9. Add embellishments to taste

Additional Ideas

• You can make the pockets with any size paper depending on the size of pocket you desire. You can also cut flaps and folds to adjust size and design. 
• Add magnets to the back of the pockets for easy hanging on your refrigerator or use ribbon to hang elsewhere
• Add "titles" to your pockets for easier organization. Click here for ideas
• Embellishment ideas: ribbon, beads, buttons, stickers, two colored paper, scrap paper, glitter
• If you have card pockets from wedding invitations (see Exclusively Weddings) you can take out the invitation card and just use the pocket. This is an easy way to get a decorative coupon pocket. Use your favorite refrigerator magnet to hang quickly.

If you have any tips or ideas about pocket coupon organizers, share in a comment.

Freebie of the Day- Target Beauty Samples

Answer about 5 questions about where you shop for your beauty products and receive some beauty samples from Target. While supplies last.

http://samples.target.com/beauty-bag/

Organizing Coupons: Grouping and Categorizing

Have you ever waited in line behind a family of four shopping with coupons? I picture a wife sifting through her Coach purse searching for the "25% off your total purchase" coupon while the rest of the family awkwardly waits.

I've done something similar to this several times, and although most people don't take too long to find their coupon, keeping your coupons organized will help you to save everyone's time. Keeping your coupons organized for the time-saving aspect isn't the biggest motivation for me however. I have a tendency to forget that I have a coupon for a specific product; and I tend to forgot to use all of the discounts I qualify for. I have listed a couple of suggestions to help us make the most of our coupons.

Ways to Categorize Coupons

•  Date of expiration. Coupons can be grouped together by the day, week, month or even year of expiration. To decide how to organize your coupons by date of expiration determine how often you shop  or are willing to make your purchase. If you are willing to purchase items daily, organize by day. However, if you do all your shopping on one or two days of the month, organize by month. Make sure to include an easily seen label so you don't allow the entire category of coupons to expire.
• Importance. If a coupon provides a discount for an item that you purchase often or if it is an item you consider a "need." Grouping coupons by importance will help you to get your important products at a discount.
• Item. Categorize your coupons like a department store. All clothing coupons together, all grocery coupons together, all entertainment coupons together and so on.
• Value. Many times the value of the coupon determines how likely I am to use it. Categorize large discount coupons together (i.e. all 50% off coupons). Also, you can categorize by a range of discount (i.e. all coupons between $1-3).
• Venue. Organize you coupons by store or website. All Macy's coupons together and all Amazon coupons/discounts together.

Remember, each one of these categories can be combined, simplified, or "complexified." As with most methods of organization, it is best to organize your coupons in a way that you will work best with. You may like the idea of categorzing your coupons by value, but it might be more practical for you to organize it by store.


If you have any idea's or ways you organize your coupons/discount-deals post a comment!

Free Subaru Tennis Ball

Limited supply


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Free Mini Photobook from My Publisher

...and free shipping! They seem to always get you at shipping, so it's nice to get free shipping also. You will need to download their free software if you don't already have it.

Click here to see the offer

If it asks for a code use: FREEMINI

I don't know which pictures to use for mine... hmmmm....

Free $10 California Pizza Gift Card from Plum District

How it works: Follow the link, sign up for Plum District's mailing list (they send approximately 1-2 emails per day) and "refer" two friends. If your two friends also sign up on the mailing list by midnight tonight (that's when the offer expires), you will get the gift card.

This is how I earned my Pinkberry gift card, and I got the gift card within a week in the mail!

Click here to go offer

About Plum District: They are a daily deal website. Everydy they post a few "daily specials" from various retailers. The deals are usually along the line of "Buy $30 worth of _____ for only $15." They also occasionally offer free gift cards for referring your friends. 

It's Friday! Topic: Online Surveys

Finally, it's F r i d a y! I don't know why I'm so ready for the weekend; I only worked four days week this week. . .

This week has been "gift card week" for me. Okay, so that sounds like I got 32 gift cards. Not quite. I got one $10 Pinkberry gift card, and I received my order from Macy's, which I purchased with a free $25 gift card. I ordered two hoddies on clearance plus an 15% extra off for Presidents Day-- I still have a little over $2 left on the card!

I received the Pinkberry card from a "daily deal" website called Plum District, but I was more excited about my $25 gift card from Macy's. I love Macy's. I earned the gift card via an online survey site called e-Rewards. I just did a Google search on e-Rewards and got a wide variety of opinions. A lot of sites called it a "scam," others called it a "waste," and others categorized it as "typical." I would have to agree with the "typical" category. It is not a scam; I redeemed my points for what I wanted, I promptly received my Macy's gift card in the mail, and I had no problem redeeming the gift card. Two drawbacks that were mentioned on other websites were that individuals were not accepted to complete entire surveys, and that there are not very many options to redeem your points for. 

I regularly do not qualify to complete entire surveys (you don't as many points for uncompleted surveys). I will answer the first 5 evaluation questions and then be told I do not match the criteria they are searching for (I still get a few points for at least trying though, which is better than other sites that host surveys). In my mind this standard to meet criteria in order to complete the survey made e-Rewards more valid. If I am really taking "research surveys," then they need to make sure the appropriate people are providing the information. The other most common complaint about e-Rewards was that there were few rewards to choose from. This is true. There are several magazines you can select for 1-year subscriptions, there are several frequent-flyer programs you can obtain points for, and there are a few gift cards you can select from. I had to earn $40 worth of e-Reward dollars in order to "buy" the $25 gift card, but this is typical from what I have experienced in online rewards earning. Last fact about e-Rewards: it is an "invite only" survey site. I originally was invited through Macy's credit card account. I later received another invitation to join through a different store credit card I had. 

There are only a few other survey sites that seem to be deemed "worth it." One highly recommended survey site is Pinecone Research. Of course this site is also "invitation only." I actually tried to join them a long time before I started with e-Rewards but I could not join. I am happy to say that this past week I was able to join them! I have only received one survey from them thus far and that was just a basic "profile" survey so they can know a little more about me and what kind of surveys I can qualify for. One of the most favorable things I've read about Pinecone Research is that you can actually have the points/money you earn sent to your PayPal account. Again, it will take a while to accumulate a notable amount of money; I read that the average payout for a completed survey is $3.00. I will let you know how it goes. :]

There are a few more sites I am looking into that claim to pay cash for surveys. I will discuss those in a later post. Last thing: Survey Police is a website that has rankings of survey sites. Remember this one thing: NEVER give out sensitive information (SS# or credit card #); any real survey site will not ask for this information.