Insert Spreadsheet

[amys]

I am really not sure if this should be in this forum, but I'm not sure where to put it.

I am looking to find out if anyone has the Insert list (like what Taylor Town posts) in a spreadsheet format? Especially the expired ones back through November 2008.

I am tediously copying the insert list into Word, adding tabs then copying into Excel, adding the dates of the inserts and saving.

I hope to put them all together and be able to sort for what I need.

It is a lot of work and I am really hoping someone has some of it done and is willing to share.

Thanks

[bijin05]

This is what I do on a weekly basis on excel. I would copy the inserts from thecouponclippers.com and paste it into excel. Once you got it pasted, highlight everything (entire document) and go to "fill color (yellow highlighter)" and click that. Once you do that, highlight the entire document and right click and click on "format cell" then "alignment" and uncheck merge cells and wrap text. Once you do that, just sort and copy what you want to another page and clean it up a little. You can filter out by date expired, amount, etc.....

If you want to see what mine looks like, leave me your e-mail address and I will e-mail it to you. I only have the current list (deleted all the old ones).

[billig]

I don't do it now, but I used to type them all into Excel! Bah Humbug!

Even if I find a website with the correct coupons to copy and paste, I did what the PP said, about aligning and all.
Then I figured out to open a new excel page (no 1), put the paste and copy on that, then open another excel page that I had ready with column labels and evrything. (no 2)
Then I copied and pasted each column from the no 1 page into the columns in my prepared page (no 2).
It turned out to be less work than aligning everything.
Then I 'save as' the page as that weeks coupons."2009 0614 SS and PG" etc.
Then I also had a master list of alllll coupons, and I copied the document I just made into the master list.
I delete "no 1".

But I'm not an expert at Excel, I just figure things out by trial and error and a lot of the 'undo' button!

Excel is nice because you can have columns for whatever you want...and I could color code the coupon rows, like red for target coupons, I used brown for all expired coupons that I can still use at Cub Foods for 3 months, etc.
I did a column for the brand name, and then a separate column for the item type...I don't like it when the whole thing is one big sentence.

I also added prices to the list of the things I purchase often (color coded by store, Target = red). But I did something different like in the expiration date column I put "price" or something because if I had a date there, when I sorted the columns by expiration date to get rid of old ones, I didn't want to delete the prices too, and I certainly didn't want to sort that.

It's so nice for sorting, mine was always alphabetical, but when Rainbow has double coupon day up to $1, I sort by expiration column, then I sort by dollar value. I can go down to the $1 and see all the $1 coupons I have.

I'm so stupid about it...I'm just anal and this is probably why I don't coupon anymore. It took up too much of my emotional brain power.

[Maura]

If you do the same clean-up actions every time, you can create a Macro in Excel that will do it automatically for you whenever you like. (It's actually pretty simple once you do it once or twice). But I have to ask - what is the advantage of this versus the Coupon Database? Knowing that your list has only the Q's and amounts you really have in-hand?

[hbaqueen]

Im liking this idea...now I need a how to for dummys on how to do it and how to put it on my iphone lol

Yes I think the advantage would be knowing what you really have. I LOVE the database here I use it all the time. But we get a small paper with different qs and values and it would be great to know while shopping what I had all at one glance. Especially since I recently switched from binder to the big box organizer they sell on evil bay. And dont cut every insert so I could put how many I had.
Id assume it would also be great for trading and knowing what you had.

[bijin05]

By doing the excel, it is easier for me to keep track of what I have on hand. I organized it by categories (toothpaste, toiletries, etc...), price, expiration date, which paper, and date of insert. I know that it is tedious but it keeps me organize until I can find something better and less time consuming.

Thanks Maura for mentioning about the macro.

[amys]

I want it so I know what I have - but also - to have what I don't know - lol

I have been very disorganized with my couponing lately and I can't stand it anymore. If I have an excel sheet with all the coupons from the inserts, then I can sort them how I want - grey out what has been used - and use it as a cross-reference just like the db, but portable. I like things on paper.

EX - I keep my inserts in my car always - if I see a clearance item and I KNOW there is a coupon - I can flip through the list in my binder to find the coupon - If it is grey, I have already used/traded it - If it has a line through it, I didn't get it - If it is white, go to the car, pull the insert, clip them out, and redeem. !! At least . . . that's the plan. :D

Also - for traveling - like I am about to do - Check out the stores where I am going and cross-reference the sales and coupons while we drive - I don't have "portable" internet, plus I like the hard copy.

I can't copy from the DB here - crashes Word in a major way! So I have been scouring for an easier-to-use list of the inserts. But I haven't found any that are easy to copy-drop into excel. They require "formatting" of some kind in Word, then copy-paste to excel.

[kval07]

Originally Posted by billig I'm so stupid about it...I'm just anal and this is probably why I don't coupon anymore. It took up too much of my emotional brain power.

[gators29]

Does anyone have a copy of the excel spreadsheet that they would share? I think this would be a great idea, because I never know what coupons I have until I sort through my coupon box. Any help would be great!

[amys]

I am working on it - When I get it ready, I'll share