Friday, January 13, 2012

Creating Space

Finding space to store your coupon goodies can be difficult. I’m lucky to have added shelving, and bins for over 5 years to my home. Here are some ideas.
  1. Add more shelves to your existing cabinets. If you have more than 5 inches headspace, you can add a shelf. Look at all your cabinets in the home. Store extra goods in bathrooms and closets. Keep shelves overhead stocked with light weight goods. I’d rather pull a package of TP off the top shelf on my head than a bottle of cooking oil. 
  2. Divide shelves with baskets. Simple containers can become baskets inside a cabinet. Uniform heights make the most out of your space. Yet for spices and seasonings, bottles and even granola bars, you can get more in a smaller space with a basket. 
  3. Unbox! It took some time to get my family conditioned to unpack the boxes, but we can not get twice as much in our cabinets as we did before we started unboxing. I use sterilite boxes with lids to hold granola bars, fruit roll ups, and microwave popcorn. Compare what you have on the shelves now. I found that I can fit 4 boxes of goods in the space of 3 boxes when unpackaged. The lids, keep out the cat! 
  4. Build some extra shelves in a basement or attic space. Be sure you can easily get to your storage. The shelves do not have to be fancy. I did measure all goods before starting my own rebuild. 9” to 11” covers all my food needs. If I had just made all shelves 12”, I would not be able to store as much. 
  5. Look under the stairs! Lots of space in there. You may need a few shelves, but this is good storage space for your stockpile. 
  6. Under the bed. I know a gal who put her bed on risers ($8) and bought the under the bed storage units. She just pulls out one of 6 containers or her extra boxed goods. 
  7. I do own a Big, BIG freezer. It cost me $700 new, and runs $31 per year for energy. The first big meat sale, I managed to rebate and save over $400. I had paid for the freezer with savings in 4 months. Now I do not hesitate to stock frozen foods. Get the freezer with lots of baskets, or add your own. I keep my freezer stocked like this: 5 top sections, 5 bottom sections. 5 Bottom are filled with 1. Whole Chicken, 2. Cut Chicken or boneless, 3. Pork, 4. Beef, 5. Shrimp and Cheese, Bread dough. Then on top the easy things kids can fetch, 1. Pizza and breadsticks, 2. Snack meats: hot dogs, lunchmeat, chicken strips 3. Ice cream, Popsicles 4. Veggies 5. Fruits and desserts. It’s simple, yet effective. One glance and I know what I’m low on, and where I’m fully stocked.
  8. Can Rack! I built a can rack with plans off the Internet. 3 sheets of plywood, glue, screws and lots of patience. It holds over 650 cans that roll. I use the first in first out rotation for goods. The location of the plans is at: http://www.wikihow.com/Build-a-Rotating-Canned-Food-Shelf

Some great links to ways to build storage solutions:
Full Can Rack (Holds 600+ cans)
In pantry can rack (holds 6-8)


Print N Save Section of this Blog
County Market
CouponNetwork.com
Coupons.com
Coupon Clipping Services:
Lynn’s Coupons and Refunding Service Put COUNTY MARKET FREE SHIPPING in check out for free shipping on your first order. This offer must be for a purchase greater than $5, and can not be combined with any other offer. She provides newspaper, non newspaper, coupons and rebate forms.
Kuntry Klippers This service specializes in newspaper coupons. Their fees vary but are between 10% and 15% of face value. They also run specials on products. They ship a bit slower, allow for 3-4 days in Illinois. All coupons are sold in sets of 20 like coupons. County Market shoppers also get Free Shipping with “First Time County Market” in check out box.

Coupons by Dede This site sells full inserts, and clipped coupons. All of these coupons are newspaper coupons. The price is generally 15% of the face value of the coupon. You can buy 1 coupon, or 100 coupons. Shipping from this site is fairly fast. Very reliable service. She will run “Specials” on coupons when they get within 10 days of expiration.

The Coupon Clippers is the largest clipping service in the country. They provide newspaper, non newspaper, coupons and rebate forms. They have good service, and a large selection. Being the largest, the hottest coupons disappear fast. However, they do get LOTS of coupons.


The Coupon Master has a mix of newspaper and non newspaper coupons. They ship quickly. Their handling fees are 10%-12% of face value. Shipping is quick, usually arrives in 3 days. They do carry rebate forms on the site.

All internet coupon print limits are subjective. At the time of this email coupons were available for print. If the daily or weekly print limit has been reached, the coupon will be automatically pulled from the websites. You can try to print again tomorrow. All coupons listed are not available in our stores. We list them so you can order or find them to save you money. Check with clipping services, trade boards, or ebay to find coupons not in your store. It is our intent to help you find as many savings opportunities as possible. Enjoy!