WFMW - Control Journal Part 1

I have mentioned in the past how I am working on a control journal for nothing more but to get my life under control. This journal is going to hold some great stuff that I will be able to use throughout my day to keep my world in order. Flylady is the source of inspiration for my control journal and deserves much of the credit for this process I am undertaking. My WFMW posts for the next few weeks will take you through my journal and the great stuff I have decided to include inside.


First off I had to purchase the perfect "journal". Seeing as how I am trying to remain frugal and not go overboard on my spending I hit up Wal-Mart and found the perfect binder. This is a 1.5" three-ring binder that cost just under $10. It has pockets throughout and zips up around the outside, all nice and secure to keep everything safe and sound. Most importantly it is a wonderfully, eye-catching red color. I chose red over the more subtle colors for a few reasons. First, it is less likely to be misplaced. Second, it will catch my attention as I attend to business throughout my home, it will not be as easy to ignore. And third, red tells me to have fun, I don't want the business of running my home to be just that, a business. I want to bring joy and excitement as I tend to my daily chores and duties such as grocery shopping.

As part of my control journal I decided to use this as a means to organize my coupon collection. I have had such issues with missing out on some great deals because I can't keep all of my coupons straight and organized in the accordian type files which many people choose to use. I have stumbled upon this coupon binder system a few times this year and decided to put it to the test and see if it will work for me. So far, I'm more than impressed, though it had been a process at getting it set up.

The basics of this system are that you use baseball card pocket pages to store and sort your coupons. I have dividers in place to separate by category as you would in an accordian coupon system. I have sorted in categories such as: canned goods, household items, beauty items, meat, cereal/grains, etc.





I still have a handful of coupons to sort and put in their place, but I'm enjoying being able to view each coupon and tell in an instant what I have. The pages I purchased were very inexpensive - 9 sheets for less than $1.50, I purchased 4 sets to get me started. I do believe that I will place a white sheet of paper between each individual sleeve so that I can get a better view of my coupons, if not each layer of coupon seems to blend with the next.

This binder has many pockets throughout and I am planning to include scissors, a calculator, and sticky notes to mark the coupons I'll be planning to use as I organize my shopping trip. There are pockets inside too that will be perfect for putting my weekly store advertisements and for storing my ECB's from CVS. Another item that fits this grocery shopping section of my Control Journal is that I will include my price comparison list in which I can keep track of the best prices for certain things I purchase frequently from store to store. That way I can ensure I'm getting the best deal or needing to buy elsewhere.

I almost giggle at the insanity of this new addiction in my life. I never would have guessed that I would find such pleasure in couponing that I would take such measures as this.

Now I have to ask how do you organize your coupons?

Check out more WFMW posts at Rocks in my Dryer.