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Before becoming a work-at-home mom, the word “coupon” rang a different meaning to me than it does now. Coupons seemed like a drain of time when all you were getting was 35cents off an item. I would avoid getting behind people if I saw handfuls of coupons in their hands because I didn’t understand why they wasted their time.

Now, fast forward to now and I don’t leave the house without my coupons. I admit it took some tome for me to get used to using coupons, but with trial and error, grew a self proclaimed “Coupon Diva”. I am now the person they avoid getting behind, the nightmare customer for store employees who don’t want to scan through the mound of coupons that I have, and the person armed with the coupon policy in hand.

Good organization of your coupons and knowledge of how to maximize the savings is a necessity if you want to get the biggest bang for your buck. There are many ways to organize them, a great method is to use The Couponizer. It is a coupon organization system that comes with a shopping list pair of scissors, sleeves for your store loyalty cards, CoupTracker, CoupStacker, and a clear carrying bag.

Currently, The Couponizer is running a Back-To-School Promotion that offers a FREE calculator pencil box with every purchase of The Couponizer.

Related Post:
Back To School Shopping Tips
Couponizer Review

Back to School Shopping Tips

With the end of July approaching, school preperation becomes critical around our house. The first day of school here is August 9th, which will be here very soon. Below is an article written by Amy Bergin, mother of three children, creator of THE COUPONIZER®. The #1 best selling coupon organizing and shopping system in the US and Canada.

When the grocery store starts selling lunch boxes and school supplies, you know that the summer break days are numbered…

I can remember from my own school days the feeling of confidence and anticipation that came from going off to meet my new teacher and classmates with a new backpack, lunch box, clothes and shoes. And now that I am a parent, I want to pass on these same feelings to my kids but without breaking the bank. Costs associated with back to school expenses can be crippling for families if you spend before doing a little studying of your own!
So, as the lazy summer routines give way to more structure every August, this is when spending skills are tested for most families. Any change in routine can cause stress on the family spender and if left unprepared you may find spending can get out of control and leave you with the same old feeling of frustration. So, below are some tips to help make the shift go smoothly and with as little impact to the checkbook as possible:

1)A little planning goes a long way. Before shopping for anything related to getting ready for school, spend some time with your kids discussing what is needed and when it is needed. This will give you an idea of the overall cost involved so you can plan accordingly. In about 3 weeks, revisit the list of things you classify as “Need Later” to see if you really need them. Get a sturdy clipboard and use the worksheet located on my website as a guide for each child.

2)Each child will have different needs since each grade has different supplies, clothing trends and lunch considerations. Check the school website for more information such as a grade appropriate supply list before shopping. Most kids can get by in the first few days with the basics, and then fill in the rest of the supplies after your student has met the teacher and knows what is expected.

3)Shop for categories of items separately to enable tracking your spending. If you lump all the shopping into one big trip for all your kids, it is much easier to loose track of your spending goals. For example, shop for all the lunch supplies on one trip and the next trip shop for the clothes, etc.

4)If you have more than one child to outfit for school, take advantage of sales for multiple purchases. For example, buy one get one free shoes, snacks and drinks. For the most savings, combine a store coupon with an offer like this.

5)Delay some of your purchases until after school starts. While there are lots of great back to school sales before school starts, try to hold off since often you will see even deeper discounts when overstocked inventory must go in a few weeks. Also, your child may change their mind about what they need based on seeing what the trends are at school.

6)Use the internet to find store coupons and online coupon codes that are not available anywhere else. For example, http://www.alexscoupons.com/ lists a huge variety of coupons and by spending a few minutes surfing before shopping you can yield big savings.

Remember there will be other expenses incurred as you get into the school year, such as after school activities, school events, and gifts so if you plan ahead, you will be in a better position to manage the financial impact. To find out more CLICK HERE to visit her website.

(Disclosure: I'm an affiliate for The Couponizer. I will receive compensation for any sales made from the above links. The article was supplied to me by The Couponizer.)

Couponizer Review & Giveaway

If you follow my blog, you know how important saving money is to me. Using coupons with our purchases is a way for all of us to save at the register. To maximize the use of coupons, you will need an effective coupon organizational plan. I am lucky enough that Amy Bergin, with The Couponizer, has sent me one to review for all of you and allowing me to offer one lucky reader a chance to win one.


First a little background on my shopping habits so that you will see what direction my thoughts are coming from. I generally make a major grocery run at the beginning of the month. I have found I spend less monthly by doing so and I have the storage room for the items when I get home (wouldn't recommend it unless you have ample storage). Each week I will go and get bread, milk, and any can’t miss out on deals. Using this method of shopping I cut my grocery bill in half. Now that you know that, here is what I think of The Couponizer.


What is The Couponizer? It is a coupon organizational system that is put together in a way to maximize your savings. The system comes with: The Couponizer, shopping list, CoupTracker, a pair of scissors, sleeves for your store loyalty cards, CoupStacker, and a clear carrying bag that zips. The Couponizer is set up in three sections of organization for ease, they are labeled My Coupon Supply, My Other Savings, and My Results. It currently retails for $19.95.



The Couponizer size is small enough that you can throw it in your bag when you go shopping. I personally have been carrying my binder organizational system in a tote bag when I go grocery shopping and love the idea of something more compact.  


 
The shopping list that come with The Couponizer is a great idea. They give you lines to list your items and a box at the end of each line to check off if you have a coupon to use for the item. I have a spreadsheet that I do my shopping list on that is broken down in categories including a spot to mark if I have a coupon and the final cost of the item. I personally think for my home, the shopping list that come with The Couponizer, will be great for my weekly short shopping trips.
 
 
One feature that I immediately feel in love with is the CoupStacker. It is a strip that you lay out on your table and then you can stack your coupons in each category to make placing your coupons easier. I will use this with my binder system as well as The Couponizer.
 
 
 At the front of The Couponizer you will see where they have a place for you to put your store loyalty cards, which I think is great, and a place where you can put your coupons that you know you are going to use as well as a place to put all of the coupons that you are actually going to hand to the cashier. These are wonderful to have, you will definitely love these features after you start using it.
 
 
The “My Coupon Supply” section is broken down into the same categories that the CoupStacker is. Each category has a pocket to place your coupons in. I used The Couponizer this weekend for a short shopping trip and found using these pockets made my shopping easy.


In the “My Other Savings” section, you can place any coupons that you have for fast food and restaurants, entertainment and travel, household services, rewards, gift certificates and shopping passes, and rebates and refunds. I will definitely continue using this section. It seems like we have been getting a lot of these type of savings lately and this will keep me from losing them.

As someone who has been trying to save money, I save my receipts for about a month so that I can compare savings. In the “Results” section they have a place to keep receipts and the CoupTracker. It is a list that gives you the place to list the date of the transaction, store you went to, amount you paid, and the savings that you had. For me it is fun to see the difference I am making in my shopping bills so I will be wearing out the CoupTracker. Once you get The Couponizer you also will have access to downloadable coupons located through their website and a place to order refills for The Couponizer.




My overall feeling about The Couponizer is that it is a wonderful tool for coupon’ers. For someone like me I will personally use it on my short shopping trips only because I always have a lot of coupons for my major shopping trip. I usually average on my large shopping trip around 40 to 50 coupons or more being used. I also would personally recommend for those of you who are just starting out couponing to get this organizational system. I remember when I first started out how fustrating it was to go shopping and look through my bundle of coupons for the ones that I needed.

Giveaway

*This giveaway is courtesy of The Couponizer.

Rules

This Giveaway Will End on 10/26/09 @ Noon and there will be 1 winner that is chosen at random by random.org. This giveaway is open to U.S. Residents and to all ages. Each entry should be in a separate comment. Winner will be announced on 10/27/09 by email to winner and post on site.

PLEASE LEAVE AN EMAIL ADDRESS IN EVERY POST OR MAKE SURE THERE IS ONE IN YOUR BLOGGER PROFILE SO THAT YOU CAN BE NOTIFIED YOU ARE A WINNER

1. Check out The Couponizer site and tell me what other products interest you and why. THIS IS A MANDATORY ENTRY.

2.Subscribe to my blog (Look for link in left sidebar)

3. Follow my blog (Look for link in left sidebar)

4. Grab My Button and post on your blog or website (Look for link in left sidebar)

5. Follow me on Twitter and leave me your Twitter ID (Look for link in left sidebar)

6. Tweet about the giveaway and leave me a status link on the tweet. You can tweet this up to 4 times a day and post a separate comment with the link. Here is an example of a possible tweet, feel free to use it:
Win a Couponizer from Mommys Money Cents Ends 10/27/09  http://tinyurl.com/ylqv7nb


7. Follow me on Facebook (Look for link in left sidebar)

8. Blog about this and leave me a direct link to your post


Good Luck to All!


Disclosure: I received The Couponizer free to review. This did not sway my opinion or affect the review. This review is made of honest views and thoughts from me about the product. For more details on my disclosure click here.

Work-At-Home Tip: Become an Affiliate for The Couponizer

Affiliate marketing is a great way to bring extra cash into your pockets. I have a great affiliate opportunity to share with you, that if you promote it on your site, can earn you a little extra income.

Why would someone buy The Couponizer?
In our current economic state everyone is scrambling to find ways to save money and the craze to use coupons has been upped. A lot of people are trying to find ways to become your next “Coupon Diva” and save hundreds at the register. Everyone has heard stories on the internet and T.V. of women who have went and bought $300 worth of groceries and only had to pay around $40 at the register because they had coupons that knocked so much off their bill. This up and coming coupon generation realizes that organization of their coupons is key to their success. A tool like the Couponizer will be a welcome resource to help get a newbie on the path to organizational coupon bliss.

The Couponizer consists of a booklet that has coupon pockets and sleeves to put gift cards or store loyalty cards that you may have, a carrying bag, a tear off shopping list pad, a CoupStacker mat for organizing your coupons, CoupTracker, and a copy of "Your Guide to Smart Savings" that offer tips on spending and couponing.

What are the benefits of becoming an affiliate of The Couponizer?
The affiliate program is free to join and it offers compensation of 15% of the order. When you join you will have access to banners and text links to use to on your blog or website. All you have to do is to post a banner in your sidebar and occasionally mention it on your site in conversations about coupons. This company is reliable and moms around the world sing its praises. If you get the word out to all of your site viewers, you may be surprised at the response you will get. You can drive traffic directly to the post or page for The Couponizer by the same methods that you drive traffic for your site. The Couponizer has a site that allows you to keep track of page views and purchases that were made with your affiliate link. You can’t loose anything by joining only gaining an extra avenue for income. So click the banner above to sign up today.