Getting myself organized?

[amyece]

Can anyone help? LOL. I am a full time student. I work full time and I live with my long time bf. On the weekends his two kids are here. I am having a hard time figuring out how to organize myself with making list, organizing coupons, and getting to the different stores.

How do you all do it? :)

[Josiology]

I'm new at this too, so I'm still figuring out a system that works best for me.

When I started I was only getting one newspaper a week, and only clipped the coupons that I knew I would definitely use... so one of the expandable coupon holders worked fine for the amount of coupons I had.

Then I stumbled upon this site and everything changed! :giggle2:

I graduated to one of those little plastic index card boxes and sorted all my coupons in there in alphabetical order. This was very time consuming for me, because I had started getting 3 newspapers so that was A LOT of cutting/sorting. I had also started keeping coupons that I knew I wouldn't use for trading, etc. so I quickly realized I need something bigger.

This week Staples has their brand 3 ring binders on sale for $2.50. It has the expandable folders in the front, 3 rings, a zippered pouch for scissors and stuff, a pocket for calculator, etc. I bought some baseball card sleeves and 4x6 photo sleeves and started sorting my coupons in that by category instead of alpha order. It was very time consuming to start, because I had so many accumulated that needed sorted, but hopefully now that I have a system somewhat in place it will take less time.

Also, I'm no longer cutting EVERY coupon, even ones I don't want. If there's something I know I won't use, I enter it in my "Have list" here on HCW and will hopefully be able to trade or give it as a RAOK. I have a box where I'm keeping all my inserts full of coupons I WON'T use (uncut) sorted by date of insert. This way I only need to cut them if I sell/trade/give them away, therefore not wasting my time.


I'm still not completely comfortable going shopping with my big ole binder, so until I can get over whatever is stopping me, this is what I've been doing....LOL...
I bought a plastic report cover that has 4 dividers w/ pockets. I do most of my shopping at 4 different stores (walmart, winn dixie, cvs, and walgreens) so I labeled each divider with a different store. In the front pocket I place my shopping list. (The weekly ad threads here at HCW have been very helpful to me in creating my lists...!) Then I go through my binder and take out any/all coupons I will need for that store and place in an envelope which then goes into that store's pocket. In the back pocket I place the store's flyer/weekly ad which I've collated and stapled together for ease of use.

So that's what I take into the actual stores with me until I can work up the nerve to take my binder. :poke: I leave the binder in my car while I shop so if I do happen across some good unadvertised sales or clearance items I can just run out and grab whatever coupons I need.

So far, this has been working for me, but keep in mind I've only been doing this since about March.

Welcome to HCW, this site has been a tremendous resource to me! :wavehi:

[cpnmaniac44]

Can anyone help? LOL. I am a full time student. I work full time and I live with my long time bf. On the weekends his two kids are here. I am having a hard time figuring out how to organize myself with making list, organizing coupons, and getting to the different stores.

How do you all do it? :)

How old are the kids?
How many inserts do you expect to get each week?
What are your major food store chains where you will shop? (you can leave Walmart off the list)

with a reply to the above I can tell you my experiences and things other people told me.

[amyece]

Well we do have Super Walmart LOL. The kids are 9 and 11. I was hoping to buy 2 papers a week. We live in an apt so not tons of space for stockpiling too much.
Major stores are Winn Dixie and Publix.
Also maybe join a coupon train.. or a clipping service to get specifics. :)

[cpnmaniac44]

Well we do have Super Walmart LOL. The kids are 9 and 11. I was hoping to buy 2 papers a week. We live in an apt so not tons of space for stockpiling too much.
Major stores are Winn Dixie and Publix.
Also maybe join a coupon train.. or a clipping service to get specifics. :)
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Well your stores reduce what I can tell you about the stores, since I do not shop for food at Walmart, and all our Winn dixies closed but they did not double and we have no Publix.

On the kids, they are old enough to be able to help you. 2 inserts a week is very manageable, I used to get 10-15-20-25.

Ask the kids to clip all the coupons for you being very careful to not ruin the upc code, keep the 2 General Mills coupons together, etc.
As their reward, you use the coupons to get them some cheap or free goodies. Like Breyers ice cream. It is always B1G1 free around here at one store or the other, so when there is a coupon out, you can get Breyers cheap and I've gotten some as low as 85 cents a carton. Let the kids know they will be rewarded with goodies, as you use the coupons they clipped for you.
This gets them involved, they have incentive, and it saves you the clipping chore. They can just put all coupons in an envelope and you can look thru them later. I'll post more later.....................

[crazybmb]

Organized ??? What's that? :hysterical:

[cpnmaniac44]

Can anyone help? LOL. I am a full time student. I work full time and I live with my long time bf. On the weekends his two kids are here. I am having a hard time figuring out how to organize myself with making list, organizing coupons, and getting to the different stores.

How do you all do it? :)

Really with 2 inserts a week and 1/2 to 2/3 of the coupons you won't use, and you can not trade 2 of each, people want many for their stamp, there is little organizing needed. I'll tell you more later. I'm at work.

[jillynoodle]

my stuff is a mess so im enjoying this thread!

[cpnmaniac44]

Can anyone help? LOL. I am a full time student. I work full time and I live with my long time bf. On the weekends his two kids are here. I am having a hard time figuring out how to organize myself with making list, organizing coupons, and getting to the different stores.

How do you all do it? :)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

With only 2 inserts it should be simple. BRIBE (ice cream, etc.) your kids, his kids, into do the clipping, neatly stack them with all matching coupons beside each other. Ex: 2 Pillsbury, 2 Doles, etc.

Then look through this stack of coupons one by one. THINK if the item listed on the coupon is anything you ever buy or you ever remember seeing on sale, if not, trash them. If the coupon value is no good for you throw it out. ex: I live in the land of triples and doubles. I can not use a $1/2 coupon. .50/1 is just as good or better. $1/1 is not always that good. I think people in Pa. can some tims double $1. I throw away coupon values I can not use like $1/2. I rarely use non food coupons except toothpaste, toothbrush, razors, etc.
Slowly, as you see the weekly ads and continue to accumulate coupons in the coming weeks, and experience the store sales, you'll slowly remember which items are on sale alot, which items have coupons alot, like Pillsbury puts theirs out almost every month, and which coupons are not put out much and very rare. Ex: .75/1 Eggo. You may get different coupons than other regions of the country. Come on HCW and trade for what you need to match your sales, etc.
Just write on the first envelope the date those inserts came out. As some expire, discard them. There are other ways to keep coupons straight but with two of each, I think a simple envelope system should work.
If you want to further organize your envelope, sort them into categories. Put all the breakfast items in one stack and hold them together with a paper clip. Same for pet. Baby items, frozen foods, etc.

[skw6559]

Organized ??? What's that? :hysterical:


Perfect for me as well.

[njsmomma]

Ok, I am just getting started too, but I have a few tips.

DH and I clip coupons together as we watch tv. I get about 10-15 inserts a week and clip most of them. If I can't use the item, I put it in an envie I have labeled extras, except pets which go into their own envie. The ones I do use or might use, get put into a binder. I started with an expandable file, graduated to a 1.5 inch, and now am in a 3 inch binder. I sort them by category using dividers and baseball card holders. We spend about 2-3 hours a week clipping and organizing.

[hellokittygirl]

I get several inserts a week, depending on how many I can scrounge up from neighbors/friends/recycling, and I just bought an expandable file folder today at Family Dollar for $3, which is the best price I could find. (They were $6.99 at Walgreens for the cheapest, and the same at Giant Eagle.) The dividers have labels so I put dates on them (like 5-3, 5-10, 5-17, etc.) and I can look up the whole inserts that way. The coupons I will use I cut out and put in an envelope and stick it in the file with the whole inserts. If I trade with somebody I can just get out the insert and clip the coupon they want. I use other pockets for collected tearpads and booklets that I find and want to trade.


http://www.gotoforms.com/images_products/esselte_color-coded_mobile_hanging_files_ess52889_13881big.jpg

For the coupons I carry to the store, I have a mini expandable file folder that fits in my purse and is organized according to category (like cereal and breakfast foods, frozen, household, personal, etc.) and that works well.

EDIT: And if anybody thinks they see me in a store, you'll know it is me because my coupon wallet filer is decorated with Hello Kitty stickers! :BigHand:

HTH!

[tmsmalley]

Any system that works for you is the "right" one. Here's my system. I also have a more than full time job, 2 kids, a dog and a hubby, and I'm fond of occassionally sleeping.

I only shop 1 store. I just don't have time to run around town over something, so I shop at the one store I like. If there's something terrific (read free or nearly so) at Wags, I'll go there too (maybe once every 6-8 weeks). Otherwise, I do one run a week to the Safeway.

I get my coupons on Saturday when the Sunday papers are delivered. I buy 4 sets and then spend about an hour cutting and filing out the ones that I might actually use. The rest you can save to trade or (horrors) just toss if you're not ready for that. I use a 3 ring binder with 3x9 photo pages in it that I've organized by store aisle. I go through the weekly ad for Safeway and cut out the ads of things that I want to get and tape them on the page that corresponds to that aisle. I use a post-it to note things that are not in the ad that I want to be sure to get as well (again, stuck to the page for that aisle).

I shop early morning on Sunday and go up and down each aisle. This allows me to knock off my "must haves" but also to see things that weren't in the ad that I have coupons for and really want. As I go, I pull the corresponding coupons. At the register, everything is good to go.

I wouldn't have time to try and figure things out any other way. It takes me about an hour to shop (kids stay home) and I don't miss any great deals and don't have to spend a ton of time sorting and figuring best deals.

Good luck!
Tess

[tmsmalley]

PS- I noticed from your later post that the kids are 9 and 11, so definitely big enough to help cut coupons and even big enough to go to the store with you without getting you insane. Make use of that time with them as well. When I cut and file, I do it while watching TV after mine are in bed (3 and 5), but you could all sit around the kitchen table after dinner and you'd be done cutting and filing in no time.

[cpnmaniac44]

Can anyone help? LOL. I am a full time student. I work full time and I live with my long time bf. On the weekends his two kids are here. I am having a hard time figuring out how to organize myself with making list, organizing coupons, and getting to the different stores.

How do you all do it? :)



The binders are good, you can go to a baseball card shop and get plastic pages that hold 9 different coupons, maybe all your breakfast items on one page.
Very few people will trade for your 2 coupons, so you need to really get up to a good number of inserts for trading, since people want as many coupons as they can get for their stamp. I wanted a coupons and it was a .35/1 and the trader had 2. Even if they traded them to me for 1 cent each + postage = .48 = .24 each, no way I need 2 coupons. I needed 10 or more to make it worth my stamp.

When you progress to more than 2 inserts then you can think of more elaborate ways to organize. You WILL find coupons in each insert that you will never use. Discard them, they get in the way of the ones you will need. Remove the EVER growing number of pages in the inserts that do not have any coupons at all.

As you get ways to get more inserts from neighbors, relatives, paper carrier with extras, etc, THEN you can consider better ways to organize.
In fact, I doubt I, personally, would even clip anything with 2 inserts, just write a date at the top of each. Having to look thru each one more than once, like Sunday when you get it, just to see what's there, then again when the sale paper comes out, look again, this helps you begin to remember what you have. Next week, when the sale paper comes out, you'll remember from the previous week if you got a coupon off Hunt's ketchup, etc. The key to organization and easy shopping is remembering what coupons you have, what items are on sale regularly, and what coupons are rare and which ones are released every few weeks. Looking at the entire sales paper each week and looking over your coupon piles from time to time is the only way to slowly memorize it all.

[cpnmaniac44]

I see someone say they shop early Sunday morning. There are advantages to shopping late Tuesday, which in my area, is the last day of the weekly sales. HOPE they are out of your item and get a raincheck, this if your freezer space is running out. Rainchecks are very helpful in getting the sale price weeks after the sale but before the coupons expire. This has kept me from having to decide on one sale item or the other, where the one I do not select does not get bought before the sale is over. I hope they are out of one of them and get a raincheck and buy the other. And while you are waiting to use the raincheck, suddenly a triples at some store could come up, and you will get an additional 33% off.

[TBEventer2002]

First of all, don't go all out. You'll quickly overwhelm youself and get discouraged! For a family of two (occassionally four), you can certainly get by with two inserts for now, and trade for what you need more of.

There are many different ways to organize your coupons. I have personally done three different ways:

1. I started out cutting EVERY COUPON because I didn't know what I would use and what I wouldn't. I organized by category into a recipe box. I quickly outgrew that!

2. Binder with baseball card inserts. This was nice because it was plenty of space, easy to carry with me (though very bulky), and I had enough room to expand my categories. I liked being able to quickly see all my coupons (careful to fold creatively so I could see expiration dates to purge weekly). However, I quickly got tired of carrying it around (very awkward in the cart), and I hated having to trim many coupons just to make them fit.

3. Organizer. This was similar to the recipe box method, but I bought for a few dollars a small plastic accordion recipe holder that is AMAZING. I love it! I also now only cut what I absolutely know I might use (lol), and they get filed by category. I leave the rest of the coupons in the inserts, and then I file the inserts by date (I also note the oldest expiring coupon so I know when to purge them) into a much larger accordion file to be available if I happen to need a coupon from that insert after all.

In regards to the children, make sure first that your BF is on board with you. They will feed off their father whether to get excited about this new activity. If you can, think of them all like husbands -- they will need an occassional reward or treat to keep interest, lol. Encourage the children to go with you, give them a few items to retrieve, and add on a treat for them with the savings. They are at an age where they can start learning about saving money. By giving them a treat for their hard work, they may be more likely to help.

If you prefer to shop alone, I like to go on Sunday mornings. That would be a great time for your BF to spend a little quality time with his children while you go shopping. :)

Good luck, and there is so much here to learn that I hope you'll stick with it! Just between my DH and I from July 2008-December 2008 we saved almost $2000 (nearly half)!

[4a'smom]

I'm also new to couponing but after seeing the options (accordian/binder, etc) I found a method that works perfectly for me. I am an anal organizer, so I had to find something that would be neat, easy to use over and over and compact (it can fit in the grocery cart with my purse!!!) It's a mini powersort box from creative memories. I'm a consultant and I have tons of them for my pictures but never thought about using them for couponing---a seasoned couponer showed me hers and it CLICKED, the perfect method. I alphabetize, and have the top stores I shop at, as well as a section that says "TODAY", I move the coupons I know I will use to that tab and they are quickly at my fingertips if I need to reference them while shopping and also to hand to the cashier. I hope this is helpful----let me know if you need more info, maybe I could send you a picture so you could see what I mean. Happy couponing!

[funnyface12345]

I also only get two papers a week. For me the clipping and organizing got very time consuming and I was having a hard time keeping up some weeks. So I cut as I go along. I match up pages for each of the two inserts and staple them together so that I can do just one cut when the time comes through both pages. I store the inserts in page protectors in a binder. Each insert gets it's own page...so 6/7 PG, 6/7 SS...then I tape a sticky note on the page protector with the coupons that I want to use listed on there. As I cut and use a coupon I cross it off. I also have some baseball sleeves for the coupons I cut but might not use, purchase, or receive in a trade. I also keep a sleeve for short term coupons or booklets that I don't want to break apart. This process only takes a few minutes. Then I make my list based on what I need and the forums here. I carry two envelopes with me...one with coupons to use and one to put the coupons in as I grab the item..this keeps from accidently trying to use a coupon for something I decided not to get.

Also, as for trading with only two inserts, it is harder to do. People don't want to just trade for 2 coupons, however I have started just listing them with a super cheap handling fee...I find that people are willing to shop my list and make it worth their time and stamp.

[CouponFairy]

I also only get two papers a week. For me the clipping and organizing got very time consuming and I was having a hard time keeping up some weeks. So I cut as I go along. I match up pages for each of the two inserts and staple them together so that I can do just one cut when the time comes through both pages. I store the inserts in page protectors in a binder. Each insert gets it's own page...so 6/7 PG, 6/7 SS...then I tape a sticky note on the page protector with the coupons that I want to use listed on there. As I cut and use a coupon I cross it off. I also have some baseball sleeves for the coupons I cut but might not use, purchase, or receive in a trade. I also keep a sleeve for short term coupons or booklets that I don't want to break apart. This process only takes a few minutes. Then I make my list based on what I need and the forums here. I carry two envelopes with me...one with coupons to use and one to put the coupons in as I grab the item..this keeps from accidently trying to use a coupon for something I decided not to get.

Also, as for trading with only two inserts, it is harder to do. People don't want to just trade for 2 coupons, however I have started just listing them with a super cheap handling fee...I find that people are willing to shop my list and make it worth their time and stamp.

Great post. You've given some great ideas there.