Organizing Your "Carry To Store" Coupons

[luvin'it]

BzyBee!
Cooolio! It's nice to see someone that carries something as big as I do! At the moment I have a clear scrapbook box with a handle that's about the size of your brief case minus the top part with all your extra storage. I started with the tackle box but it got too small and I couldn't imagine carrying two boxes so I had to go bigger. I'm trying to scale down though with a method someone on DAGG was using by cutting some and filing the rest in whole insert form. We'll see! Thanks for the pic!

[BzyBee]

Originally Posted by luvin'it

I know what you mean but maybe I won't need to after seeing the post by Couponmaster. That kind of organizer is exactly what I've been looking for! Right now I also sort my coupons by brand in alpha. order. I find it's faster but takes awhile to get all the new brands in every week in the beginning.
Any tips on that part of the organization? TIA

Yup...I cut them into two piles...food and non food....then I get DH to put them all into alpha order for me...:) I suggest you get a helper to do the really tedious parts....LOL

Couponmaster...your boxes look so neat...I don't even see any coupons sticking up out of there!! Good job!

[texgirl]

Oh, I'm so excited! I finally made the switch today and found coupon holders that I can live with. I found these huge "expanding files with handle" at target. At first I thought "OMG! That thing is way too big," but after looking at it I started to get excited. I bought 1 to try it out and I LOVE it! I finally have room to ad more coupons, and more importantly get them out easily since they've been so crammed inside my RC boxes. Now I need to go get file #2 for the food items. They weigh more than the RC box, but they will fit easily into the seat. Isn't it funny how excited we get about stuff other people would find stupid?

[jonjaktez]

I was using the binder method but tonight i switched to the breifcase method. Mine isn't a breifcase, it's actually a painball hard cover case. I used cardboard to make the dividers but need to tape them or something to make them more sturdy (sp). I by no mean have enough coupons to fill it up. I think I have around 400-500 coupons. I fine it easier to pull out the coupons that I need for a sale and if I see something in the store that I'd like I make a note of it and go back another day. I'm to afraid to carry it becasue I need to make adjustment so everythings stays in place. Hopefully this will work for me. I liked the binder method but it was always a chore to file the coupons.

[phoenix]

I have some in a binder

[MoJo]

I have been toying with the idea of moving from two recipe boxes full of coupons to a binder.

The other day, I was looking at zippered binders at CVS (since I had some ECB's to burn), and came across a very unusual one for $17.99. It was with the backpacks, not the binders/folders. Here are the features that appealed to me.

First, it is a 3 inch zippered binder!

Second, it has an inside zippered mesh pocket (perfect for holding unfiled coupons).

Third, it has a divided accordian file on one side that is accessible from both the inside AND the outside! I'll use it to put my pre-pulled coupons for each store's weekly sales.

Forth, it has a detachable shoulder strap, so you can carry it like a big purse/satchel. It also has a small handle like a briefcase.

Anybody else seen them? If so, wadda ya think?

[Kristen.C]

I use a binder too and I love it! I am an organizational freak so it is perfect for me. And much easier for DH too when he ventures into the world of the unknown and needs to try and find a coupon for the store.

I use a combination of the baseball card 9 pocket pages and the 4 by 6 photo pages. There is a website somewhere where you can order different sized insert packets also but from what I remember they were kindof expensive. I fold mine over in the same way as you're talking about. The ones that are really large or are made of cardboard or just won't fold well (like I can't see what it's for or when it expires) I place into the photo pages. I have 2-3 photo pages per section in my binder.

[Nimbus254]

Originally Posted by risker

Ugh. You guys are so good with using binders. I just can't bring myself to use them. (I embarrass easily.) I hate having my overstuffed accordion organizer out of my purse let alone bringing a binder in the store.
As for the inserts at home, I put each week in a file folder and label it. I then put all file folders in a big file folder holder. Did that make sense??? I forgot what they're called. I actually just got finished going through and throwing out exp. so I can fit them all in. Lately I've had quite a few for each week. Well more than usual for me!

This is what I do as well. Before filing them, I enter all the coupons that I think I'll use on a spreadsheet, including the insert date, quantity, etc. It's easy to sort the spreadsheet alphabetically or by insert date, so I can instantly see which insert the coupon I want is in. (If a good deal comes up for an item I didn't think I'd buy and I didn't enter the coupon on my spreadsheet, then I just use the virtual coupon organizer on the Coupon Mom website to see which insert the coupon was in.)

I make my list up for each store beforehand, highlight the coupons on the spreadsheet that I'm taking with me, pull that week's insert out and cut out the coupons I need. I have a little envelope labeled for each store that I put the coupons in.

When I come home from the store, I go to my spreadsheet and adjust the quantities to reflect which coupons I have used. They are easy to find because I already highlighted them before I left.

The spreadsheet is also helpful because I can just copy and paste it to my Have List. And I can sort it by expiration date also and just delete the expired ones from the list.

I love this method! It may seem like a lot of work, but it requires much less time than cutting and organizing all those coupons! And I'd hate lugging around a big binder. I do have a little accordion-type organizer that holds coupons from back before I started this method, and I just stick my store envelopes with that, wrap a rubberband around them and toss them into my purse.

Edited to add: In addition to the weekly inserts folders, I also have a "Trades" folder and a "Rebates" folder. It's very convenient to have them all in one place.

[MrsPinecone]

I actually like taking my binder in for a couple reasons:

1. I have all of my coupons with me in case of an unadvertised sale or clearance.

2. I can keep it closed until I am at the item I want to pull a coupon for. Not as obvious as the boxes, and it can't flip upside down and spill coupons everywhere.

3. If people DO see it, they tend to think I work for the store and I am doing price checks or merchandising- especially if I whip out a list and calculator. LOL!

[nozymom]

I have been outgrowing my "tackle box" method. But not sure I would like the binder. After seeing these pictures, I think I would like this binder. Running to cvs later I will have to look for this! Thanks for sharing!!