Last Tuesday, I reviewed the CardStar app for your phone that keeps all your rewards cards. You can read that post here.

This week I would like to introduce you to the Couponizer. Clipping coupons is one thing, but keeping them organized so you will actually use them, is another.

The Couponizer has 3 main components:
- coupon organizer/holder
- coupon “map”
- small scissors

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For the next two Tuesdays, I am reviewing tools to use when going shopping. They make it a little easier and keep you organized!

I don’t know about you but gone are the days when you grab your keys and just hit the stores.  It’s gotten complicated. First, remember to bring your “green” bags so you lessen your environmental footprint. Then with the price of gas being so volatile these days, you really need to be strategic about which stores are on your errand route so that you don’t waste gas.  Everyone is also concerned with saving money now more than ever with the economy and the  job markets negatively impacting families. Like I said – it’s gotten complicated. READ MORE

Did I just say that?!! I love to shop and so do most of my friends.

But clutter is caused by uncontrolled shopping or, stated another way, by a person who shops without restraint- a shopaholic. According to some studies 1 in 20 people is a shopaholic and 9 out of 10 shopaholics are women. (Of course most shopaholics are women – don’t they also say that women make the majority of buying decisions in America?!)

There are many reasons why people say they over-shop. Great sales, late night TV and shopping channels, quantity discounts, having grown up in the depression or having been deprived. Whatever the reason, the underlying cause is emotional. Those who are compulsive shoppers use shopping as an escape from their emotions – whether caused by depression, anxiety, anger or just plain boredom. I write about this today not to point a finger but to say that READ MORE

Okay, so it doesn’t have to be a “closet”, it can be a drawer, shelf, or box.  In other words, do you have a stock of gifts that you have purchased in advance (or are going to re-gift)?  Having some gifts on hand is great for those last minute invites or the times when you forgot someone’s birthday.  Shopping for gifts this way can also save you money.  My sister-in-law, for example,  shops for Christmas all year long, and puts everything into the gift closet with a tag for the intended recipient.  She only shops sales and has plenty of time to wait for the perfect gift to be the perfect price.

Many of my friends have gifts that they have purchased in advance or plan to re-gift but the gifts never seem to leave.  Why?  Because they don’t remember what they have.  They purchase a gift, put it away in their gift closet and then add more and more and pretty soon, forget that they purchased the perfect gift for someone and it lays gathering dust in the back of the gift closet!

The solution: (you knew I had one)

As you purchase gifts, log them on a gift list.  This can be done on a handwritten page or on a spreadsheet in your computer.  Here’s an example:

Add things to the gift list as you add them to the gift closet.  If you purchase an item that does not have an intended recipient (yet) then just note what gender or age range it is for.  As you give these gifts be sure to cross them off the gift list.  Update your list annually after Christmas so you can start fresh.  If you begin to have things in the gift closet that never get given away, then consider using these items for hostess gifts or white elephant/secret santa gift exchanges.

And remember, shop in the gift closet before you leave home to shop!