Organizing Your "Carry To Store" Coupons

[rvdbjd]

Congratulations on your little one. I know it must be hard to shop with two little ones. If you clip lots of coupons you need to have some kind of filing system according to category. You might use some kind of box about the size of a recipe box for this. They will be easier to find that way. You could use your accordian folder to file coupons according to the store where you will be shopping that day. Sometimes I just put the coupons I plan to use that day in an envelope and group the coupons together that I will use at each store. You might want to always carry coupons for diaper, wipes, etc. in your purse or diaper bag in case you see a good deal.

[Mama Stu]

I use binders-like photo albums. I have three of them. The three binders go into a big tote that goes everywhere with me. One has my grocery Qs, one has the P&G and health, the third one has everything else. I started out with just one but I get several inserts every week. The binders make it very easy to flip through and see what coupons you have. Even if you aren't very organized(which I am not), it makes it way easier IMHO to flip through and find the coupon I am looking for. I use the 4x6 photo pages with the white paper in between. For me this makes looking even easier. I know some people use boxes or briefcases with index cards. HTH

[lovemygirls]

I think when I first started couponing I went into it a little fast. I always either ordered to many coupons or got to many inserts and I felt like I was cutting forever. I used an accordion file at first but was spending way to much time trying to fill it. I went to Walmart and bought a day runner ( It was another brand but looked just like it and the day runner extra parts you can buy fit it) with a zipper. I then went to Staples and got a few of the plastic pocket type holders that will fit into the rings of the day runner. I labled each pocket folder with the stores that I go to. The day runner had the credit card holder and that was a great place to put my gift cards and store cards. I like the day runner because it is not to huge and things are easy to find. I still leave my uncut coupons in a pile and have not figured out exactly how to organize them. If anyone has any thoughts for me that would be great.

[XUfan]

I use a box for mine. It's plastic, and made by Sterilite. It's pretty much a 6 inch cube, and the top latches shut. I think I paid about $3 for it at Meijer. I made dividers, by cutting cereal boxes up to fit, so they didn't cost me a thing. It sits perfectly in the seat of the shopping cart...even when my granddaughter would go with me, it fit right next to her in the seat. And, since it's clear, you can see your divider tabs without even opening the box. It's what works for me!

[Mommymanda08]

I am a SAHM to a 7 month old baby girl so I also understand the need for something simple & easy. I've been couponing since January and what works for me is:

- 13 pocket check file that I got in the $1 bins at Target (in hot pink!) for carrying all of the cpns that I will definitely use. I have it labeled for each store that I use and then types of coupons.
- 3-ring binder w/ baseball card sleeves in it to hold all of the cpns that I save for trading or to use if there is a good sale and I can get something free to donate
- 3-ring binder to hold current sales ads

I keep all of these in a bag w/ my little scissors, a pad and a pen & I throw it in my backseat along w/ my diaper bag everytime I go somewhere just in case! I always grab the check file & bring it in w/ me if I run into anystore....b/c I'd hate to see something I need and have a cpn for & have to run all the way out to the car w/ my baby on my hipor even worse...have to pay full price! (actually I use the moby wrap to hold my daughter which helps too!)

Hope this helps!

[tmsmalley]

There's a whole big fat thread (with pics) on various ways people do this. http://www.hotcouponworld.com/forums...e-coupons.html

I'd personally go with a binder, not only because that's what I use but because you don't need a small child dumping out your coupons by accident in the store. Also, I'd shop early on Saturday or Sunday morning and leave the babies with dh at home. I leave my 5 and 3 year olds at home. You just can't think when you're constantly saying "put that back", "don't touch your sister", "no, you can't eat that, we haven't paid the lady yet..."

Good luck!
Tess

[nemraca]

Welcome to HCW and Gratz on your new baby! I am pretty busy here as well. I am a mother of 4 and I work from home as well. I find it easy to clip and file away in a 3 ring binder with baseball card holders. I have them in alphabetical order. When i plan my trips i use a small accordiian folder that i use to hold the coupons i know i will be using. But this will be error by trial until you find something that works well for you. Good luck.

[librarylady]

I am a mom of two (one grown, and the other now a teenager). I second the idea of leaving the little ones at home when you shop. Go early on the weekend mornings, or at 9pm after the kids are asleep (and your DH is at home, of course). I like shopping at night, when the store is not so busy. I have been known to grocery shop after 11pm.

[PeachySteph]

Most of our weekly deals start on Sunday (but it's different in other regions). This day is perfect for me.. a little more busy than weekdays but I don't like to wait and end up getting rain checks. Saturday evening I plan what advertised deals I'm after and paper clip the coupons together that I need and keep them in the front of my binder. That way I don't forget to go after those deals. For stores that I really have to plan carefully (like cvs) I write out my transactions and paperclip the coupons I need to that sheet. The best thing about shopping on sunday (after church), I can leave the kids home with DH!

I know some people prefer to bring only the coupons they need for the deals they're after. But there are always unadvertised deals out there. I want to be prepared for such deals so I don't have to come back again (and waste gas).

I bought a binder recently (to replace my other one that was starting to tear). It was $11 at walmart and I love it. It's by mead, the makers of five star. It has an accordion file, which I use to keep store fliers and uncut inserts. There's lots of pockets, and best of all it zips shut so nothing can fall out if you drop it. They come in loads of colors too. I use this binder along with baseball card sheet protector things, and a few photo sheets. I labeled each baseball card pocket using address labels. They easily come off and stick back on if rearranging needs to be done.

I posted a few pics below:





I wanted to show that the actual binder rings can be removed to switch to bigger rings, or replace worn rings.

[littlelilith]

I know this doesn't work for everybody, but it saves me TONS of time from clipping:

I have a binder with those clear, whole-sheet sleeves, and a few pages of the baseball card holders. Each week I flip through an insert, cut out the Qs that I reeeeeeeeally think I'm going to use and put them into the baseball card sleeves. Then I put the (mostly intact) inserts into the whole-sheet sleeve for that week (there's a piece of paper in the front of each sleeve and I write on it what's inside.. for instance: (2) 8/9/09 SS, (2) 8/9/09 RP, (2) 8/9/09 PG). Later when I'm going through the listed deals, I will take out the Qs I want to use from the baseball sleeves and/or grab the needed insert and clip it. When I'm ready to go to the store, I have a small checkbook style holder (actually it's fabric and homemade, but looks sort of like a pretty wallet). It doesn't have any organization in it, I just order coupons to the path I plan to take through the store (so I might do HBA items, then cleaning, paper, baby stuff, food, frozen, etc).

Before this, I was spending WAY too much time a) clipping coupons, b) trying to order the coupons and/or put them into the baseball card sleeves, and c) trying to FIND a coupon I needed as I was matching the listed deals to what I actually wanted to use. But it means that I'm not bringing all the coupons to the store every time.. it's a good thing and a bad thing at the same time, but I haven't really found anything I wished I'd brought a Q for that I left at home.