Couponing in the UK

I have always liked to save money when I can but after the last couple of years struggling for money I have tried to be extra careful with my money and what I spend.

I then caught a show on TV called Extreme Couponing (for anyone who hasn't heard of this, it is a show from America)
I think it is amazing what some of them buy for such small amounts, but in my opinion some of them take it a bit too far.

After watching this show I researched couponing in the UK. I was amazed to find so many people interested in it.
I found some useful blogs and instagram people to follow.

I have since tried to find coupons as much as possible but still find it hard.
I don't have the patience (or time) to spend hours searching the Internet but try to use coupons as and when I find them.

Since I have tried to be thoughtful of money I have managed to save quite a bit, which is lucky as my dog has recently had a high vets bill and I was able to pay it without worrying about leaving myself short of money.

I have been thinking of doing a sort of coupon blog series to help people like myself who are trying to get into using coupons and saving money. These would include things like sites to visit, places to look for savings, things I have purchased with coupons, etc.

What do you think, is this something people would be interested in?

Reuse and Recycle

Hi everyone

Just a quick post today about how I recycled my old diary.

Last year I used a page per day diary. Yesterday I went through and took out any pages that I had written my thoughts and feelings on.
I was about to throw the rest into the recycle bin when I thought about all the paper that was left.
I decided to see if I could reuse them in some way and came up with the idea of making note paper from it.

First I took the pages from the hardcover.
Then I trimmed off the top which had the date on and done the same to the side which had the monthly calender on.
I ended up with quite a pile of small notepaper which I will now use in my planner this year.

Do you reuse your old diary/planner?

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Business binder

In a previous post I shared my management binder with you, today is all about my business binder. At the moment this is part of my management binder but will eventually be moved to it's own binder.

In my business binder I have the following;

Future things to do - this includes two lists. The 1st one is things I would like to accomplish this year. This is then broken down onto the 2nd list into monthly items. These are similar to my goals but are things that actually need to get done to grow and move the business forward as opposed to things I would like to accomplish for the business. I use this when I am planning out my monthly and weekly planners.

Supply inventory - this is a record of items I have purchased - where from, item, cost, amount (metres. etc) as I purchase fabric and need to know the cost per metre for costings of items I make.

An envelope for business cards and a sheet for business contacts.

Stats, etc - a stats page for each of my social media platforms which I update at the end of each month so I can keep track of how I am doing for followers, etc. This helps me to know if one platform is working better than others, etc.
A page to track my search engine rankings for various keywords.
A page to track my advertising - where advertised, date started, how long for, cost (if any) and did it work (any sales, etc)
A page to track my sales, where from (website,misi,etc), customer contact details, products they purchased, amount (£), paid, items sent and any notes.

Misi & Etsy each have their own top tabs which include the stats for each shop.

Blog - the 1st thing in this section is a laminated check list that I use for every blog post. This is just a list of things I need to do for each post like take photos edit photos, post links after post is written, etc.
Editorial calender so I can keep track of my posts. Each blog has it's own colour so I know which one I have posted on.
A running list of to do's that need to be done on each blog.
Blog ideas which is followed by a sheet for breaking down the ideas to form the basis of a post.
Inspiration from other blogs - this is so that I can include links back to the blog if relevant from my post.
Posts that have gone live on the blog with the date and the title of the post.
Posts that I have started with the title and whether photo's have been taken and what stage the post is at (draft, etc)
In this section I also keep a list of blogs that I follow and ones that I read occasionally or have a specific post I liked.

Youtube - this section holds the same sections as the blog only based on my Youtube channel.

At the back of the business section I keep a note of any favourite websites and people I follow on twitter, Pinterest and Youtube.
Most of the sheets I have used in this section I have made myself using Microsoft Word.

I used to have a few more items in this section but they are now housed in different locations.

Twitter # hours I participate in and other quick notes for my business are in my Filofax.

I have a spiral bound notebook which keeps track of all my listings for my website, misi and etsy plus any other info about them like renewal dates, layouts and colours used, etc.

I also keep copies of all my blog posts in a folder so that I have hard copies as you never know if something is going to happen to technology.

Some of the sheets in my business binder.

How to you keep organized in your business?

Stationery goodies

So I went food shopping to Asda today and ended up coming home with a few new stationery bits and pieces.

All my goodies

Set of Sharpie pens

Heart post-its and Bic pen

Metal ruler

Notebook

The sharpies were on offer £6 for the set.

Bic pen is the fashion colours (purple,pink,green and blue). Heart shaped sticky notes (also on offer)

The Metal ruler is something I have been after for a while to use with my craft knife (blade + plastic = damaged ruler)

The notebook is for me to keep track of my different business things (items for sale, blog posts, etc)
All this was on offer as part of the back to school section and cost me in total £14.

Do you purchase any of your items during back to school time?

Hairdresser clips to change quilt cover

Just a short post today with a tip I find so useful. I came across this by accident when I had been using my hairdressing clips and then needed something to hold my quilt.
I insert the quilt into the cover like normal, then once I have the corners etc into the correct position I place hairdressing clips all along the top ensuring to catch the cover and internal quilt. I then slowly work down the quilt pulling it straight inside the cover. As I go down the quilt I fold it over, the clips will hold it in place.

Here is a pic of the clips on the top of the quilt.

New Organiser

This is not the post I had planned but..... today I caved in and purchased an organiser.
I have been looking at stalking various Filofax Pinterest boards, Youtube videos and blogs but couldn't justify the price for my needs. I made myself a management binder for at home, as I talked about in this post but as it is A4 size it is too big to carry out and about with me.
I went to paperchase for the 1st time today and whilst there came across their version of the Filofax and for £22 for the A5 size I couldn't walk out without one. It is also purple which is not only my favourite colour but also my business colours plus I recently had a birthday and still had the money I received.
The planner inserts run for 18 months (from July 2014 to December 2015). Filofax inserts will fit this organiser but paperchase do their own brand of inserts.
So without further ado I present my paperchase organiser (there is nothing in it yet as I have not had time to set it up)

Here it is in the box

Just out of the box

Lovely purple colour with embossed floral design

Inside front with zip pocket and card slots

Inside back with 2 pockets, 1 top, 1 side opening

The dividers it came with

I will be changing a few things as well as adding a few - especially the tabs. Why do you need agenda, diary and planner tabs?
The organiser also came with a set of year at a glance for 2014 & 2015, timetable pages, year planner for both years, Wo2P for both years, address pages, notes pages plus some graph, plain and lined coloured paper.
I will see how I get on with this but it seems to be of a good quality for the price. I will do an update once I have everything to my liking and have been using it for a while.

Do you have one of these organisers? What do you think of it?