Sizzlin’ Summer Sweeps #giveaway Day 10: The Couponizer (ends 7/17)

This post is part of the Sizzlin’ Summer Sweeps – 31 Days of Giveaways for July 2010, brought to you by Crazy Coupon Mommy and Sisterly Savings! Make sure you check out all the other awesome giveaways you can enter!

“Extreme” couponing isn’t easy and it isn’t for the faint of heart.  The majority of the work is in finding the deals and freebies.  Then clipping and organizing your coupons – now this is the part that turns most people off.  They say, “I don’t have time for that.  I’d rather pay for the item!”

Well this is why I started blogging.  I wanted to do as much of the “hard work” for you and present you with as many of the deals out there as I could, in the simplest manner.  Then YOU could chose which ones you wanted to take advantage of – hopefully with very little effort :)

I have to say the thing I dread most is organizing my coupons.  I try to make it as simple as possible, with the least amount of work!  Now I’ve seen some real doozies – you know HUGE 3 ring binders, accordion folders, boxes – you name it.  They all looked like WAYYYY too much work for this girl.  I do the bare minimum possible.  I am not a coupon clipper.  I repeat – I do not clip coupons.  I prefer to just pull the inserts out of the paper and take them directly over to my pile in the corner (which really should be a filing crate) and stack them neatly in date order.  The only thing I do is write the date on the front with a big blue Sharpie. (I’m veering off on a tangent that really should be it’s own post…coming soon!)

Anyway, my point is – I’ve seen the Couponizer before but hadn’t gotten around to trying it because I just thought it was “too much” for me.  A lot of organizing systems require you to put a lot of effort into them from the get go.  I have a small clutch type organizer that I keep my “stuff I use” coupons in or sometimes I just use a plain white envelope.  Bare minimum.

But when Amy sent me her ingenious system and I flipped through it, I quickly realized that I was wrong!  It’s much simpler than I thought it would be and has some very nice features that make it really easy to use!

First of all, I love it’s size.  (think Day Planner)  It’s just big enough to hold all different sizes of paper/coupons, but small enough to not look like that Crazy Coupon Lady with the huge coupon binder.

The pages are made of pockets – each with a specific task.  Going thru the book, right in the very front is a shopping list pocket with a note pad to plan your trip.  The next page (left side) is for coupons you want to use on your shopping trip.  And this is where it gets handy in my eyes – the right side is a pocket for the coupons you plan to give the cashier (meaning stuff you are actually going to buy).  Because, we don’t always get everything on our list, do we?  Maybe the item is sold out or we changed our minds.  Previously, I had been using my fingers to do this separating – thumb and forefinger were to hold the coupons I wanted to use, the middle finger held the coupons I was going to use and my pinky held the coupons that I wasn’t going to use…and inevitably I always dropped then on the floor.  At least twice.  Ok, maybe three times.  Or four.

Only 3 pages in and already I LOVE this book!

The next page is for coupons that are going to expire this month that you want to keep fresh in your mind to use – great idea!  Then there is a clear pocket holder to store your Rewards or Shopping cards.  Then this brings us into the Tab coupon section where you organize your stash.  I really like that there are just enough categories to be organized, but not so many to be micromanaging.  Remember – I like it simple, but efficient.  20 categories from Baby to Vegetarian :)

The next tab is for “Other Savings”.  This is also one of the features that I really love because I can’t tell you how many times I’ve “left that coupon at home” because it wasn’t a “grocery” Q that was in my envelope.  Ugh!  The pockets here are for your other ways to save money like “Entertainment and Travel“, “Fast Food and Restaurant”, “Services”, “Shops & Retail”, “Sweepstakes, Refunds and Rebates” (keep those rebate forms handy!), and “Rewards” (from shopper programs like CVS and Walgreens).

Finally, the last tab is for “My Results”.  There are pockets here to store your receipts and also track your savings from purchases so you can see your success!

It comes with a cool coupon organizing mat, a handy plastic zippered pouch and scissors too!

After having used The Couponizer for the past couple weeks, I’m a huge fan and would definitely recommend it.  At only $19.95 it’s a great value!!

Amy Berger is generously offering one reader their very own Couponizer Systsem ($19.95 value)! Plus, we want to help you fill up your Couponizer right away so we are also including a few more goodies: a $25 Genuardi’s Gift Card along with several Free Product Coupons to shop with!

Wanna win it? Just click on the button below to go to the giveaway entry page!

Contest will end 7/17/2010 at 11:59pm PST. The winner will be chosen randomly via computer using “And the Winner is…” WordPress Plugin. Winner will be notified by e-mail and a blog post (so be sure to subscribe to my newsletter so that you don’t miss the winner announcement!). Winner must respond within 48 hours or another random winner will be chosen.

Many thanks to Couponizer who provided me with a sample for the purpose of this review, as well as one to giveaway on the Sisterly Savings site to a randomly selected winner. No other type of compensation was received. This has no bearing on my completely honest review and the opinions expressed are 100% my own.

If I could please ask for 2 clicks of your time…if you like these awesome giveaways, please take one second to click the button below

(when the page opens, just make sure you click on the BIG words that say CLICK TO VOTE) and that’s it! See, that was easy!

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