Tips Organizing / Storing Your At Home Coupons / Inserts, Etc. - Page 21

argrandma · 09-23-2009, 08:47:59 PM

I post my coupons in the coupon database here on HCW. Then you can sort by catagory..copy and paste into Window's notepad(you could use Excel I think). It is easier to read than the database and printer friendly. Also I can have that window open when I am looking at the online weekly circulars. Makes it easy to match the sales and I can mark the coupons at the same time. Hopes this makes sense.

ATLmom · 09-23-2009, 09:49:31 PM

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.

Whoa! This is great! I haven't thought about printing the list from TT and using it to categorize them. So I assume you mark them off your list when you've used them. That's something I haven't done and I'm always looking for coupons that I didn't remember that I already used all of. Very frustrating. Thanks for sharing this!

everprincess · 09-23-2009, 09:56:09 PM

I'm going to start over. I have a big stockpile of just about everything. So I'm going to take a break from shopping and get reorganized. I'm going to start cleaning up q's a little at a time until I get reorganized.

mamai · 09-29-2009, 05:45:36 PM

I purchased the coupon organizer on www.couponizer.com and it worked great for me for about 1.5 years (I now need a new one). It's small enough to fit into my purse and pull out at the grocery store. I cut all of my coupons and separate them by category (bread, bev, cond. etc) so I don't have to memorize what insert they're in. When I purchase more than 2 newspapers I'm planning on filing the excess coupons in a box that stays at home and just cutting out the ones that I know I'll use.

Trying to decide whether to buy another or use the CD organizer suggestion..

argrandma · 09-30-2009, 02:30:29 PM

I'm starting to get this couponing thing down to a fine science. I used to run around like a chicken with my head cut off. Now I have devised a shopping stragedy. I shop at four stores..I went to each and made a list of what is on each aisle in the order that I walk when I shop(I just used the signs that hang in the middle). I shop on Saturdays because Fred's doubles coupons up to .70 on Sat. So that is where I start. I clip the coupons onto my Fred's page in walking order. I clip the ones that I know are on sale and can get the best price to that store. If I can't use a coupon at Fred's I move it to the next store's page and so on. I usually sit in the car and put them in order again for that store. This has made my couponing a lot less of a headache. Oh...And I've started taking an icechest with me to keep cold stuff in so I don't have to rush. I use the ice from my frig's icemaker. A penny saved is a...

mindya10 · 10-01-2009, 10:36:54 AM

I started using the filing system and it takes NO time at all to organzie it and then to find the coupons. we have a local paper that has some different coupons than the larger inserts but I still file them by SS/Pplum etc and the date.

I have such a huge stockpile of things that I need only to shop the sales and it takes me maybe 15 minutes to get the list online of things and then to find my coupons.

I was spending hours each week cutting ones I never used, sorting though expired and then finding I never needed them. SAVE Time and you family life! I used to be stressed out when we got the papers and now....nada!!

House_Of_Six · 10-26-2009, 08:49:43 AM

Could all the coupon filing people who file their inserts please tell me what your first start date of coupons. I have inserts from 9- 7-2008 SS ! Lol!

I need more room in my boxes and have no time right now to look through every insert to see when the last date of coupons expires. Please help!!!

Will rep you and a give you a big cyber hug too to boot!

isis · 10-26-2009, 11:19:52 AM

Originally Posted by House_Of_Six

Could all the coupon filing people who file their inserts please tell me what your first start date of coupons. I have inserts from 9- 7-2008 SS ! Lol!

I need more room in my boxes and have no time right now to look through every insert to see when the last date of coupons expires. Please help!!!

Will rep you and a give you a big cyber hug too to boot!

I don't file by insert date, but I do keep mine stacked for trading. I find the easiest way to check for current coupons is by using the database. In the search box, type in the insert date (09-07-08 SS). If there are any non-expired coupons, they will be listed. If nothing comes up, I just toss the insert.

AmyinDM · 11-01-2009, 07:43:09 AM

After having a little accordion file jammed with coupons (divided by food category) I changed my system. I really had to once I began clipping multiple coupons for each item from several paper inserts (along with so many printables available now).

I got the binder with the baseball card sleeve inserts. I organize mine by date of expiration. It's not a perfect system--I still have to page through quite a bit to find what I need. But if I tried to organize by date AND category I think I'd be reshuffling a lot. I also find that scanning over them helps me remember what I have.

There are usually big days for coupon expiration--like 10/31. So now I'm purging a whole bunch and then recycling those sleeves for the new coupons coming.

I really, really like this. I can see everything. I do have to trim them more carefully to allow them to fit--though I get creative folding them to slip into the sleeves. I would like to find some sort of trapper keeper (I want to harness my junior high years too haha) to prevent them from falling out all over the grocery store floor should I drop the thing.

When I get ready to go on my shopping trips I pull whatever coupons I need. Because I do the bulk of my trips on the same day I divide the coupons among the envelopes for each store: Target, Walgreens, HyVee, etc. Then I stick those envelopes back into my binder and go. If I happen to see some crazy deal that I didn't anticipate, I do have my binder. But the envelopes make it simple.

Lately I haven't been hauling the big binder in with me. I just leave it in the car. Sometimes I'm too tempted to keep shopping deals and not stick to my list/budget when I have it on me. I get funny looks occasionally when I bring it in but the cashiers often are curious and want to know how I organize them!