The Peelie Dilemma

[Flicker]

I was out buying my .69 cent ground chuck tonight and I saw Cole's frozen pizza products clearanced to $1.09. The problem? I have an empty wetwipes box filled with peelies and I am sure that I have a coupon for Coles somewhere, the question is, Where???

Does anyone have a better method than this? If I include them with my full-sized loose coupons organized by category, it just seems to make sorting through them more difficult so I tend to keep them separate.

Any suggestions?

Thanks! flicker :wavehi:

[zoeys_mom]

Alpha order in the wipes box

[gooseandmama]

:wavehi: Hi! I keep all the coupons together by category...all the IPs, inserts, mailers, peelies, blinkies, store & cats ...I try to keep like coupons together in the categories to be able to stack easier. The problem I am running into is the means of transporting conveniently, the whole stash...which is now in 3 small accordian filers:shopping11:. I've been doing small trips & pulling out those that I intend to use...but I have the same problem that you did, I'll see something dirt cheap & I KNOW I have a coupon for it, but it's in the car or left at home. :sad:I haven't invested the time in the binder that I've read that folks use & I have seen a girl with one at Target. It had plastic pages that my ex used to use for his baseball card binders...I probably have 10 or 15 of those binders, with pages in the storage room full of sports cards.
I'm only just now getting to set up my lists which I think will make trading quicker. :list1: This is a time-consuming task but sooooo worth it...it's almost not fair to call what we do a hobby...I feel like it's more of a sport! :football1:

I hope you get some good ideas from folks...we may all learn something.

:smile:

[jaws1]

I tried doing envelopes, accordian files -- kept wondering, "where's that darned Q I KNOW I have?" ... my binder works best ... like goose said, baseball card sleeve (Walmart has, seems like they're usually up on cig register aisle on endcap shelf. Think the last ones I got were somethign like $4 for 36? pages, with 9 card places on each page. Can also sometimes pick up at 99¢ Only Store. Hobby Lobby has, but fewer to pack and more expensive ... but, they are heavier, however, my cheaper ones have lasted just as well.)
I've got a 3" binder ... I just stick it in one of my Kroger reusuable bags and throw it in the "kid seat". When I get in store, I shimmy down the bag and leave it below the binder ... when I get ready to leave, just shimmy the bag back up!! Makes it easier for me to handle! and I don't end up getting mad at myself for not having Q with me.
(Not sure how you would handle the binder with a child in the kid-seat ... maybe a mom could tell ya!)

I've got mine by sections: store Qs, Misc Qs & MIRs, Pet food/treats, Candy, cereal/canned/drygood, cold food, makeup/razors, shampoo, lotion, tampons, toothpaste, etc., paper goods (trash bags, paper towels, tp, foil, etc) and storage containers, medicine stuff (aspirins, cold remedies, etc.), cleaning/laundry, and glade/renuzits/febreze candle-type stuff.

Some people have theirs all alphabetical ... I ain't that organized anymore.

In your "file box" or even accordian file (besides alpha), you might do by section, maybe add envelope of "pizza," another for "lunchmeat", etc. in cold section ... something like that. -- Those peelies can be soooo small sometimes -- have a love/hate relationship with them!

It may take some trying this, trying that to figure out what works for you!

[megatans]

I have tried the binders setup like alot of ppl here. I didn't like it because I just didn't have enough room for all my cpns. I don't cut all the q's out of the inserts at 1 time to file.
I keep my inserts in order by date and cut out as I need them.
I organize my different accordian files by store. They are categorized based on the aisles in that store. I go through each stores ad as soon as they are posted and go ahead n pull my q's that match up to that stores sales.

I keep 1 special small accordian file for HOT cpns, peelies, etc (I have these separated by category also).

[Cynthiabutterfly]

I use the binder with baseball card holders. The front page gets freebies (its only been full once) and the rest is sorted by aisle - dairy, canned goods, paper, makeup, cleaners, etc.

I use an accordian file in my purse that is sorted by store. I make my lists and put coupons with the list in each section. Coupons that aren't used or I find at the store go in the front to be refiled later.

Then I use an empty wipes container for coupons that have been clipped but not sorted, and a second one for non-inserts that I won't use (for trades)

[couponerd]

I use the binder with baseball card holders. The front page gets freebies (its only been full once) and the rest is sorted by aisle - dairy, canned goods, paper, makeup, cleaners, etc.

I use an accordian file in my purse that is sorted by store. I make my lists and put coupons with the list in each section. Coupons that aren't used or I find at the store go in the front to be refiled later.

Then I use an empty wipes container for coupons that have been clipped but not sorted, and a second one for non-inserts that I won't use (for trades)

I use a floppy hot pink binder w/ baseball cards and have it sorted by aisle for my favorite Kroger. I go to 2 or 3 other Krogers and Target pretty regularly, but I added tabs (you can get divider tabs that you can just stick to the coupon pages instead of bulking up w/ a full on divider) for major categories (canned, cleaning, health/beauty, etc). I use a hot pink floppy binder that's flexible so it can fit into a large-ish purse. At first I was really self-conscious about pulling "the book" out in public, but I got over really quickly when I started averaging 80% savings on most trips.

I tried the method of keeping the inserts in tact and using a spreadsheet, but I figured out that if I couldn't flip through the Qs, I spent about twice as long getting ready for shopping trips and rarely took advantage of spur-of-the-moment bargains.

I had not thought of the front page for freebies... that's great! Thanks for the idea! I'm adding one RIGHT NOW. I used to make my shopping list on the outside of an envelope and then put all the coupons for that trip inside with an index card to act as a divider so I could move them from "want to use" to "hand to cashier" as I put things in the cart. But with the ongoing sales trips like the Mega Sale, I think I really need to get one of those small accordion files.

I've only been couponing seriously for about 2 months, but I'm averaging spending about $20/week for about $150+ in products, thanks to the glade deal at Target, Mega Sales at Kroger and all the great info I get on this site!