My Coupon Organization

You guys....I just did my first attempt at coupons at the grocery store this past weekend....let's jut say I am no pro when it comes to grocery couponing!  We did save $37 bringing our bill down to $100 - but we also shopped a lot of the sales, bought the Meijer brand of somethings, and used about 4 coupons!  Meijer does have an mPerks app where you can clip manufacturer coupons & use in the store as well.  So we pretty much just saved on butter and sweet tea, the important things for a southern girl right?

The point of this story is that I have a long way to go when it comes to grocery shopping but I like to keep to these tips in mind when it comes to couponing in general!  But this post is about how I recently changed the way I store my coupons....since I'm trying to branch out in to saving on actual important stuff like food!

I was keeping my coupons & my little coupon/sale list in a pencil case from Target clearance.  I separated the coupons out by memory, folding them, & using my notebook as a divider for receipts.  That was working out when I was just working from CVS & printed coupons.  But now that I'm trying to branch out from CVS to include Meijer & Walgreens, I needed a way to separate the coupons by store & type.  I also wanted to keep my receipts for this month as well in a separate space so I don't lose them.

I picked up a small lime green pocket divider from the Dollar Tree & made smaller inserts for it from scrapbook paper.  The green pocket divider only came with 5 slots and I knew I'd need to separate more.  Now each slot has 3 sections in it.

The five main dividers are personal, food, home, clean, & receipts.  The front of the personal divider holds the coupons I plan on using for whatever trip I'm making.  It also holds the coupons I haven't clipped out yet - like register coupons or a whole page of the Walgreens coupon book.  The rest of the personal tab is divided between make up for one section & other (like soap, shampoo, etc).

Food has coupons divided by store - so sometimes I'll get Walmart only coupons if I'm not paying attention or think it might be good to stop in there.  The other coupons are coupons for regular, grocery food and I put some restaurant coupons in there too.

Home is for stuff like Frebreeze coupons, toilet paper, hand soap, sponges, batteries etc.  Things that wouldn't fall under Food or Clean.  While Clean is mainly for Clorox, Swiffer, laundry detergent, dish soap, etc.  

That's how I have my coupons divided so far.....and so far it's working.  I really need to try to step up my food coupon game.  I want to try to set a goal for at least 20% savings on my grocery bill but I'm not sure how to exactly do that - should I also factor in picking the store brand over the name brand?  I'm pretty sure that doesn't show up on your receipt!

Do you save money on your grocery bill? How do you do it?

xoxo, Moe

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How to Write A Helpful Product Review

Lately I've be loving writing reviews on products I've been using on websites such as Influenster, Birchbox, Ipsy, & this blog.  While I'm by no means a professional critic I've found there are something that make a review more successful than others.  For example, when I'm looking to know if I should buy a certain product I like reviews that give me the most information about the product & information about the user in the briefest way possible.  The nine word this product is so great, I just love it! reviews are not helpful.  So since I've been reviewing my butt off on these sites - did you know you get points for reviewing the items in your Birchbox?  And that those points can give you credit to purchase things!?! - I thought I'd share with you how to give helpful reviews if you're looking to get into that sort of thing.

Title with Key Words - Just like with writing a blog post, you're review title should be descriptive & give an indication whether you liked the product or not.  You can touch on the performance, the price, the quality, the way it affected you, etc.  For example below is a screen shot of the review I was writing on my current favorite shampoo - Suave Professionals Moroccan Infusion Shampoo (I also love the conditioner, the mask, & the styling oil!).  You can see in the title I've used key words to sum up the gist of the review - it's affordable, feels luxurious, & does give shine.  This is the review in itself & will have people reading your review since it's very descriptive.  You can also use this technique if you're writing a review on your blog.  Having a descriptive title gives readers a reason to click & also appeals to search engines when others are searching for products.

Informational yet Brief Review - The body of your review should give a lot of information but doesn't (necessarily) need to be five paragraphs.  In the example above, I used two short paragraphs to describe the product.  First, I started off with information about myself - I have oily hair & this product isn't targeted towards oily hair, but it works on this hair type as well.  This is helpful for others who might shy away from the product since it's not necessarily targeted towards them.  Then I elaborated on the product & it's affect on my hair type.  I once learned in an english class that the best way to write an essay is to create the previous sentence into a question & then answer it in the next sentence.  This is sort of hard to describe but has really helped me take writing seriously.

It might be small to read, but the first sentence is: Even though this shampoo is targeted towards normal to dry hair, it works great for oily hair as well. If we turn that into a question Why does this shampoo work great for oily hair as well? then you'll see that next sentence answers the question: This shampoo (and the whole Moroccan Infusion line) works wonders for adding shine while not adding greasy-ness.  Shine with out turning your hair into a greasy mess is a challenge for those with oily hair.  Keep turning your sentences to questions to elaborate.

Continue to answer these questions, briefly, and expand on the title.  You might find it helpful to write the review first then pick the most relevant words to create your title.

Consider the Cons (or the Pros) - If you're in love with a product you might want to consider the cons, just in case.  (Or vice versa).  In this particular review I noted that the moroccan oil scent is strong so if you're sensitive to smells, you might not like this product.  Influenster has a section to list the pros & cons of a product.  These pros & cons go at the top of the review to help readers get the overview of your review.

I think that product reviews are very helpful - if your writing on your blog or as a part of a subscribtion service or you just plain like a product - others get to know what might be right for them.  A helpful review gets more credit than an OMG this is great! review, if you know what I mean!

xoxo, Moe

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Storenvy eCommerce Site // The Simple Run Down

Recently I decided to convert my handmade shop from Etsy to Storenvy.  So far I've enjoyed every part of converting to Storevny....though sometimes it was difficult to get used to.  I am very thankful for this ecommerce site & love that listing is free!  This means I can keep products up longer, with out renewing & not be too sad if things don't sell.  My favorite part (that out shines all the problems I had with figuring out what the heck a shipping class was) is the near full customization of your store.  This customization isn't for the faint of heart....it was a huge HTML/CSS project.  But beyond my incredible need to understand every bit & piece of everything, Storenvy is a great e-commerce site that is simple to use.  Nearly every page of your site set up dashboard has a side bar with instructions, explanations  or definitions if you're not quite sure what that page is for.

Below is a little run down of using the Storenvy site:

Listing
Listing is a no brainer!  No problems here!  Add a new item, assign it's name & price.  Give it a description, upload photos, choose categories, add shipping, hit save.  Pretty simple, no big deal.

Shipping Groups & Shipping Classes
This one was a biggie for me.  It's a no brainer but I couldn't figure it out.  Instead of shipping fees for individual listings, Storenvy has you create shipping groups & shipping classes so you can easily assign shipping to your product.  Much like the Shipping Profile option through Etsy, shipping groups let you select an assigned shipping rate.

Here are some terms: a Shipping Class let's you assign rates based on location & a Shipping Group let's you assign shipping rates based on product group.  The preset Shipping Classes are standard (domestic) & everywhere else (international).  You can add different classes for different locations.  If you know you'll most likely be shipping to Canada, you can create that shipping class.  Use Shipping Groups to set shipping prices for your products - T-shirts cost x to ship, Jewelry costs y, Books cost z, etc.  In the Shipping Group set the shipping prices for each Shipping Class.  It will look something like this:

Products Can Exist in Multiple Categories
Unlike Esty, your products can exist in multiple categories.  You can take advantage of this by creating a New Arrivals section, a Sale section, a Popular Products section, or even a Favorites section along with your regular sections to showcase a specific subset of your product..  Don't go over board though.  You don't really need to have a zillion sections (unless you really sell that many things).  Personally I'd strive for fewer sections with a broader reach to create a single line navigation bar at the top.  Depending on the length of the section title, you can usually fit around seven or eight sections at the top of your shop.  Combine things - Jewelry & Accessories, Bags & Wallets - if you have a lot of products.  Also make the section title descriptive so that visitors know exactly where they will go when they click.

Adding Variants
If you make or sell things in different sizes or colors, adding variants is a way to make the different sizes or colors available.  Once you add a variant, you'll see on your product page the style's availability.  That way you don't have to add a listing for every. single. style.  Also, if you've got more than one add that number to the stock bar.

Use the Custom Banner & Avatar Option
The easiest way to customize your shop is to create a banner & avatar that represents your brand.  Your store banner should be 980px wide but can be as tall as you'd like.  Don't make it really tall though, you want your products to still fall above the fold.  You don't want your visitors to have to scroll, scroll, scroll to get to the good stuff.  Your avatar shows up on both your custom store and your store profile.  A big decision is if you want to use that space for a real picture of yourself or as an extension of your brand.  Your store avatar is 205px x 205px.  Your personal profile also has an avatar...here you can use a photo of yourself if you opt to go the brand route.

Complete Customization is Available
If you're up for a challenge you can customize nearly every part of your storenvy storefront.  You have access to the CSS & the HTML to have a hay day....but I don't suggest jumping in unless you know what you're doing.

Easiest - Editing Styles from the design tab.  Uploading your banner & avatar then color coordinating your storefront is easy with the editor provided by Storenvy.  Choose fonts, colors, backgrounds, etc.

A Bit Harder - CSS editing.  This is a bit harder but you can click over to CSS mode & add your own styles.  You'll still need a bit more experience but you'll be able to find some fun tips in the forums.

Hardest - HTML editing.  There's a lot more going on here than you think & it's nothing like editing the HTML in your blog template.  You'll need a lot of patience & a lot more understanding...it's not really just copy & paste.

Storenvy has a list of HTML variables but when I was looking to understand my store I checked out the forums...but you're going to have to do some searching there & through google.  I couldn't find an exact custom store design forum.  The forums have great tips & there are tutorials you can find off the site.  My suggestion: If  you want to tackle the fully custom task create two stores (you'll need two different email addresses).  One store to be your playground & one store to be your actual storefront.  That way you can play around with out fear of messing up the shop you've already got going. or go with the style editor storenvy provides or hire someone.  There are quite a few people with premade themes (my faves: one & two) & that can design one for you.

So there you have it!
That's the simple rundown of Storevny.  Personally I think it's a great site especially for making your own custom store.  Listing is free, opening a store is free, & there's even a social aspect to it.  Plus, the recent market place upgrade has made a great big impact on the overall look of the entire site.  Love it!

So, what do you think?  Do you have any experience with Storevny? How'd you like it? Link me to your store!

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