Tips: Organizing / Storing Your At Home Coupons / Inserts, Etc.

[MelissaRaeCake]

I apologize for not reading this entire thread...but I have a question about keeping the entire insert: How do you know when it is safe to recycle the entire insert...in other words...how do you know when all the coupons in the insert have expired?

I know P&G insert coupons all expire at the same time, so that's no problem. Three months would probably be a safe bet, but I know some coupons expire much later than that. I just can't see keeping months and months of whole inserts! (I usually get one from my paper, and 3 people at my church bring them to me...so 4 inserts
total)

Any advice? Or if this has been answered already, please direct me to the post! Thanks!

Edit: I guess I could look at Taylortown's website for expiration dates!

[PennyLyons]

I usually end up with 10+ inserts from dumpster diving. After 3 or 4 months I start at the bottom of the pile and go thru page by page and cut the ones that have not expired.

Is there a way I can pull a particular insert and see if there are any still active without going thru page by page?

[RosieG]

Originally Posted by PennyLyons I usually end up with 10+ inserts from dumpster diving. After 3 or 4 months I start at the bottom of the pile and go thru page by page and cut the ones that have not expired. Is there a way I can pull a particular insert and see if there are any still active without going thru page by page?

I just Heidi the same thing and she told me to put the date of the insert in the database (mm-dd-yy) and it would pull up coupons still active. No coupons, toss the insert. FYI: the oldest insert I kept was 03-15-09.

[ATLmom]

I get 4-6 papers a week. At first I tried using a binder and baseball card holders but I just couldn't keep up with it. So then I tried just filing the whole insert,but that got out of hand and I didn't like having to take the time to cut the coupons when i was getting my shopping list ready. So I've settled on the stack, staple and cut method using plain old scissors. I sit in the middle of the floor and watch tv while I'm cutting. Then I stick the stapled coupons from each insert into a labeled envelope. The envelopes I file in an accordion file in the file drawer. Here is my file:


Then I use the coupon database to find which insert a coupon was in and pull it before I go shopping. I tried carrying my binder with me to the stores but I found it was just too cumbersome. This way I just carry the coupons in an envelope marked for the store I'm going to use them at.

[shelleyf]

Thanks to everyone for all the great ideas:)

[secretangel]

Originally Posted by MelissaRaeCake I know P&G insert coupons all expire at the same time, so that's no problem.

Actually, not all of the P & G coupons expire at the same time. Occasionally you will find that some are longer dated than the majority of them. I use to think the same thing until I noticed a longer expiration date on one of them one day when I was cleaning out my expireds. Guess they're just trying to keep us on our toes!

[everprincess]

I need a better way too. They are taking over my bedroom. My binder is a mess. The center ring is not closing properly and the pages are coming out. DH went and bought me two more binders. Guess I better get to transferring pages.

[ATLmom]

Originally Posted by secretangel Actually, not all of the P & G coupons expire at the same time. Occasionally you will find that some are longer dated than the majority of them. I use to think the same thing until I noticed a longer expiration date on one of them one day when I was cleaning out my expireds. Guess they're just trying to keep us on our toes!

I didn't know that either. I've been just tossing the old P&G envie at the same time. I'll have to start looking through them. Thanks!

Now, if I could just find a good system for the misc. ones, like from mail, tear-pads, magazines, cats etc. I just keep them in a separate envie now but it's hard to keep up with them.

[argrandma]

I was beginning to feel overwhelmed , drowning in coupons, my head spinning..I had to come up with a plan. Here is what I do now..I feel like I have some kind of control. This is what I do with my inserts. When I first get them..put a paper clip on and write the date on it(I don't even look at the coupons). Second, I go to Taylortown and print out the list. Third..go over the list and decide which I want to put on keep, have, wish list..mark each with k or h. Fourth..go to the database and start entering then clip the list onto the insert and put it in my desk drawer. Now I go to my keep list and sort by catagory. Here is the neat part..copy and paste all the coupons in one catagory into notepad and save as that catagory name. I make a new notepad file for each catagory. Then delete keep list and start again next week. As a general rule, an item will go on sale 4 weeks after the coupon comes out. I can always open up notepad to see what I have and still don't have to handle the coupons until I am ready to use them. This is what has worked best for me now. I am always looking for an easier way.

[blessedmom]

This sounds like something I might try but could you explain a little bit more? What do you mean by go to the database? I don't understand this part...
-----
Third..go over the list and decide which I want to put on keep, have, wish list..mark each with k or h. Fourth..go to the database and start entering then clip the list onto the insert and put it in my desk drawer. Now I go to my keep list and sort by catagory. Here is the neat part..copy and paste all the coupons in one catagory into notepad and save as that catagory name. I make a new notepad file for each catagory. Then delete keep list and start again next week. As a general rule, an item will go on sale 4 weeks after the coupon comes out. I can always open up notepad to see what I have and still don't have to handle the coupons until I am ready to use them.

------Do you make your own database using Excel? When you go over the insert list of cpns, why do you have keep, have, wish list?
THank you.

Originally Posted by argrandma I was beginning to feel overwhelmed , drowning in coupons, my head spinning..I had to come up with a plan. Here is what I do now..I feel like I have some kind of control. This is what I do with my inserts. When I first get them..put a paper clip on and write the date on it(I don't even look at the coupons). Second, I go to Taylortown and print out the list. Third..go over the list and decide which I want to put on keep, have, wish list..mark each with k or h. Fourth..go to the database and start entering then clip the list onto the insert and put it in my desk drawer. Now I go to my keep list and sort by catagory. Here is the neat part..copy and paste all the coupons in one catagory into notepad and save as that catagory name. I make a new notepad file for each catagory. Then delete keep list and start again next week. As a general rule, an item will go on sale 4 weeks after the coupon comes out. I can always open up notepad to see what I have and still don't have to handle the coupons until I am ready to use them. This is what has worked best for me now. I am always looking for an easier way.