How to cut coupons quickly....

[JCole200]

I remember when I was a kid my mom had a little plastic piece with a blade at the end that could cut coupons quickly and effectively.

I don't know what they are called to even look them up to find out how much they are!

Are these things worth it? What are they called? Any other better ways out there?

The scissors just isn't cutting it (ha ha!)

[gettinrevvin2007]

I remember those! I have no idea what they were called, but my mom had one. I didn't like it. But I think now they have better versions of it out. I don't know what they're called. Sorry.

[sbp]

I personally prefer scissors, although my hand does go numb when I get behind on clipping and then have a marathon cutting session. There's only 2 pairs of scissors in this house that are even comfortable enough for me to use for more than a snip or two at a time, so even trying out different scissors might yield better results for you.

Depending on how many inserts you get, there's lot of different options.

For one insert at a time - you could use an exacto knife (be careful those things are sharp!) or a rotary cutter (designed for quilting) or there's probably other kinds of cutters available in the scrapbooking section at the stores. There's also a little blady in the Plastic Canvas needlework section that might work - it's used to cut precisely on the plastic sheets.

I have a little photo cropper thing - looks like a mini paper cutter but instead of the blade being in the handle that comes down, it's a little razor blade that slides along a straight edge. I don't think you'd be able to cut more than one page at a time with that one.

Somewhere in my holiday wrapping paper, I have a battery powered cutting, but again, that only will cut one page at a time, and the silly thing vibrates so much from the cutting that my hand goes numb from that too.

It's a personal preference to find what works best for you.

ETA: I hopefully will soon have an additional cutting tool at my house. I've been letting my 5 year old practice his scissor skills on the junky coupons and he's getting pretty good, so it's just a matter of time before he graduates to the good ones!!

[billig]

Things that help to keep your hands from going numb:

Sharp scissor so you're not straining to cut and not straining to avoid a dull part of the blade
shaking out your hand, elbow, shoulder occasionally
making sure your sitting correctly - don't have your elbows in the air, relax yourself.
light weight scissors
scissors with a spring to make them open so you're only making a motion to cut, not to reopen them
It might be waste-ful, but I just keep buying $1 scissors and throwing them out when they're dull. I always have about 10 in the house at any given time.

[meems]

For individual coupons I prefer a utility knife...I swear I have 20 around in various places, even a little one on my keychain! For bulk cutting, I have a paper cutter that is wonderful! You know..the kind that you line the whole thing up & drop down the blade..?? Do they have another name besides paper cutter?

[pwetypweas]

I use a paper cutter for bulk cutting and my Cutco brand scissors - they are expensive as hell but STAY sharp forever - and if they go dull the company will replace them (I used to be a rep) - I don't know what they are currently running but I think they were around $50-$60 when I was selling -- if you can find a rep you know well they can buy whatever they want for 50% off

[wabashriver1]

I use a rotary cutter. They look a lot like a pizza cutter. You can usually find them at fabric stores. If you have a JoAnn Fabrics chain near you and get on their email list, they will send out regular emails with 40% and 50% off coupons! If you do end up getting a rotary cutter, remember to get a mat to go under it because those things are SHARP!

[willow78]

Not sure what those little cutters were called, but I know exactly what you are talking about. I saw a small hanging display of them at the supermarket just the other day. I hadn't seen them in a long time, so the display stuck out to me. They were $2.50.

[luvcoupies]

i use one of those"little plastic piece with a blade at the end" things to cut out my coupies. My sister is a pampered chef rep and she gave it to me. I just love it. Just a warning, I always put a cutting board underneath because the blade is very sharp and could damage your table.

[derketchup]

I'm a redneck. I use a cutting board and a box cutter.