Thursday, November 13, 2008

THRIFTY THURSDAY


It's time for "Thrifty Thursday" over at Thrifty Jinxy. Jinxy, btw, is a lovely kitty-cat. Here's the link: http://thriftyjinxy.blogspot.com/
The above photo is my donation. It ain't pretty stuff, but hey, it works!
The red jar used to hold coffee. I painted it with some extra "Fusion" plastic spray paint (great stuff, btw) that I had, then I cut a slit in the side. What's inside? Quarters! Quarters I've been pushing in there for more than a month now. It's almost getting too heavy for me to pick up.
How do I avoid the temptation of dipping in there for spending money? I glued the top on! I'll have to cut the jar open to get the money. I plan to do that in December, and put whatever I have saved towards our family Christmas gift (a DVD recorder)! I threw in a twenty dollar bill just for fun. I have no idea how much is in there--for all I know, it's barely fifty bucks. But that would be fifty bucks I wouldn't have otherwise.

Quarters, I decided, are better to save than smaller coins. They add up faster. Mike gave me almost 2 dollars' worth yesterday, and I found another 2 dollars in quarters on my son's floor. (I consider it a tip for the maid--that's what he gets for having a messy bedroom floor.)
Okay, on to the funny paper. That is how I list my coupons. I don't cut coupons. I keep my circulars in a binder, each in a plastic sleeve. Each week, I make lists of what I have in each circular, with the date at the top. It doesn't take me long--I only list what I will use. (If I think one of our clients' at Dr. A's office can use something, I bring those coupons in to work).

I have 3 columns: Under $1, $1 and VHV (Very High Value). I list the coupons not by type but by worth. Nobody here doubles dollar coupons, but there is one store here that sometimes triples up to 99 cents!

You'll see there are colors. I use Pink highlighter for Health & Beauty, Green for Food and Blue for Household. It makes it easier to see what I have. When I use a coupon, I simply cross it off the list.
I keep the highlighters, a pencil and scissors in a zipper pouch right in the binder, so they are always on hand. I keep 'loose' coupons, like ones cut from magazines, in another zipper pouch in the back, and always remember to check it.

So that is my Thrifty Thursday post--I hope you join Jinxy, too!



5 comments:

Jinxy and Me said...

Great post. I like the coupon list idea. I don't cut out coupons from the inserts any more either. When there is a coupon I need for a good deal and I don't know where it is, I look it up in the database at hotcouponworld.com. It tells you exactly what date and what insert the coupon is in.

Nanci said...

My husband uses a similar idea to save. A local water cooler distributor gave him a slightly damaged 5-gallon water jug at no cost. Bill never spends the change in his pocket. He always uses bills. At the end of the day he empties his pocketchange into the water jug. One year it took our family of five to Ocean City, MD for a week's vacation there. It was a wonderful vacation because there was no worry about the cost of the trip.

You may be very surprised with how much money you have saved in "that little red jar"!

Nanci @ Brambleberry Cottage

Storm, The Psychotic Housewife said...

That's a really good idea with the coffee jar!

Lori Lynn said...

Awesome idea with the jar!!! As soon as my Jif P.Butter jar is empty, I'm doin' it!!
BTW, thanks for the comment about my mismatched socks! LOL!!

Mrs. Money said...

You glued the top on? lol That is a great way to fix your problem! ;)e