First, I'd like to share what works best for me (Jamie).
This is a picture of me at Bi-Lo, with my coupon binder and my little store divider. This happens to be the system that works for me:
- Health & Beauty
- Produce/Meat/Packaged Foods
- Frozen/Dairy
2) After I research the weekly ads & matchups, I pull out the coupons I’d like to use for each store and put them in my little purse-sized divider. I then throw it into my purse so that whenever I have time to stop at a store, I have my favorite coupon-matchups ready to go! My little store divider is categorized like this:
- Publix,
- Bi-Lo
- Food Lion
- CVS
- Walgreens
- Rite-Aid
- Target
- and “Other”(which is where I keep high-value coupons that will work well just about anywhere)
3) And now, I will humbly admit to you that I do not always find the time to actually clip my inserts or printables (GASP!!). That is why I actually have a THIRD system for keeping printables and newspaper inserts organized until I get to them! I have a cheap expanding file that I drop the inserts into, according to the week they came out. (TIP: If you aren’t sure what week they’re from, you can find the date on the spine in tiny print.)
Despite all the pains I take to keep my coupons “ready for action”- there are some, in reality, that are still hanging out in my minivan, on top the breadbox, and under stacks of mail. I’m an unorganized procrastinator at heart, and yet, I still manage to save 50%-90% per shopping trip. I hope this not only gives you a couple storage ideas for starting out, but also encourages you to “soldier on” in your efforts to save money for your family with couponing (Even IF you are organizationally-challenged like I am!)
Okay, enough about me! What organization system do YOU use to help corral all those valuable coupons? Post a link to your own blog post touting your method below!
Well Jamie, I am a blog procrastinator. So I will try to explain my coupon organization here. First - I order 25 of each insert EVERY week (not the local insert, they are terrible) - that is ALOT of Qs to organize, and that doesn't include the IP, blinkie, hangtag, peelie, and ones that I pick up here, there and everywhere (or the ones that are waiting in the mailbox on the Q trains that I ride). Now, I cut ONLY 10 of my inserts every week - that way I have plenty to share on the coupon train (and at a coupon swap should I ever get the chance to attend one) - but I keep them on hand for those high dollar Q's that I may use for gifts, donations, etc. Those uncut Qs are waiting in a divided folder by date (I mark the date on the outside with a sharpie each week).
ReplyDeleteI used a zipper binder after attending a workshop - but it was very HEAVY, and hard for me to wrestle with at the grocery store. So, I brought my retired Creative Memories tote out of the basement and put it back to work - and it has the added bonus of a LARGE pocket on the outside for my "little divider". It is the "Foxfunds Bank" - as my kids put it. It has all of the benefits of a zipper binder with a HUGE exception, it has a handle for carrying inside and a shoulder strap for leaving the store with full bags of free/cheap groceries - woohoo, an answer to my prayers. Inside my binder I have baseball card insertss, 3x5 photo inserts and 4x6 photo inserts - and I have full size sheet protectors - all to fit whatever kinds of coupons come my way.
I have it divided with dividers that have pockets on each side - for those LARGE Qs that are hard to place, or those high dollar Qs like blood glucose monitors. My sections are beverages/breads/product, frozen, refrigerated, breakfast/baking, canned/boxed, snacks/sauces, HBA, cleaning, paper products, pet supplies, and store coupons. Each of those sections is sorted even further by subcategory of each one - my nine year old can find Qs without a problem when I give directions to pull them.
Once a month I clear out old coupons and send them on their way to a military family (I have a list of families that I send my expired Qs to).
Remember those full size sheet protectors? I use them for rebates that I am currently working on, so I keep all my "ducks" in a row - or receipts with it's rebate info - as the case may be.
And the little divider? Yep, just like Jamie - I have it sectioned by store - mine has 13 dividers and a larger pocket in the front for my calculator. Every day I sit down with a new store - pick and choose my items, Qs and deals - and off I go. I am a big one for rainchecks - and I keep paper clips on hand to clip those Qs to the rainchecks so if I am running into a store and see that they have what I am missing from weeks before - I am ready.
It seems like a lot - but I shop for several families - we all have to help each other during times like this. I consider it my job to save the family money - and couponing has saved us more money than I ever made working full time with kids in daycare. Not to mention - I am teaching my kids to live within their means and still live good - 'cause life is good!!
Many thanks to you ladies - between the valuable info on the sales, the deals and how to work them, the encouragement to conquer the clutter, organize the great deals I come home with, and the sense of accomplishment that I have after 8 months of couponing - I couldn't have done it without those classes full of valuable information and this site that continues that every time I visit.
I don't blog about couponing either, so I'll let ya in on all my secrets here.:0
ReplyDeleteI use a binder. When starting out, I used the small organizer which quickly became too small. I tried not clipping, filing, and clipping when I needed them. That was disastrous for me! I get 6 insert copies, staple like coupons together and cut once. My binder is divided to mimic how I would walk through my most visited store: produce, beverages, snacks, etc. It is also subdivided: snack bars, crackers, candy, etc.
In my binder, I have three pencil pouches. I shop at grocery stores on Mondays. Sometime between Thursday and Sunday, I will get my trips together. Decide what I want to buy and put the list and the coupons in a pouch. I do drugstores on Thursday or Friday, I rotate out the pouches accordingly.
The first day of every month is my day to clean out my binder and reorganize!
I am looking for the binder organizer that I saw at the Time2Save workshop that I attended. Kelly was using it and it had a shoulder strap. The rings were much bigger so it would hold more pages. Does anyone know if this is in the online store? Please help! Thanks!
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