Organizing coupons....?

[nathaliabrown]

How do you organize yours? I do most of my couponing at Walgreens/CVS. So I have a binder full of my coupons of bath/body/tolietry/basically anything non food. Then I have envelopes of food that I might use (I dont use alot of food coupons). ButI have my envelopes in frozen, meat/produce/dairy, isle, store coupons, and refrigerated.


So how do you do yours?

 

[Ress76]

I have an index card box with a pack and a half of dividers, labeled to things that help me go through the stores I shop at. Everyone is different, but I can't stand the pre-fab coupon holders, not nearly enough tabs, and not separated how I like them. I used to have a "TODAY" section, where I could drop my planned coupons, but I just started using different "TODAY" sections for each store I go to (BJ's, Walmart and Wegmans) and find it has been a huge help.

When I have been forced to have my husband shop (which I try to avoid), I pull the coupons for the items listed and put them in an envelope and write the list no the outside of the envelope. Having the coupon box with him would mean either, A) it never even leaves the car or B) he doesn't maximize the coupons usage because he's a huge impulse shopper.

I tried using a binder but found it to be too cluncky for me. The index card box I just toss in the top of one of the bags on my way out of the store, it comes into the house with me with the groceries, and I have it right where I need t for the next shopping trip or to add coupons.

Ress

 

[DawnM]

I tried the binder thing.....way too much work and cumbersome.

So, I have a file folder box at home and I file them by date.

I print out my list, which has the date of the paper on the side of each item and pull that insert out and clip.

Then I carry plastic zip locks to the store with my list.

Dawn

 

[bartleby1]

I did the binder thing for a while too, but it was too much work for me to keep it updated so.....

I went back to my pampers wipes container. I used large sized index cards and cut them a little to make tabs on them and make them fit the wipes box. I have lots of categories... bread, butter/cheese, candy, canned goods, cereal, etc...

Nothing fancy, but it works for me.

 

[java]

Binder works for me. I spend about a half hour a week- putting in new ones and weeding out expired ones.
It's a zipper binder and it has a file folder in the front. It's Pink. So yes it's obvious.

I am thinking of breaking out the huge health and beauty section into it's own system- There are just so many of those Toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, makeup.
But the binder has been the most effective for me in the store. Flipping to a section helps me save $$ on all those unadvertised sales in store.

 

[CouponAngie]

I do the binder. I use the baseball card collector sheets which are clear and have pockets. I find that this help me keep all of my coupons visible, so that I don't overlook a coupon and miss out on a good deal. I have dividers with tabs between each section with the appropriate category marked. I also have 2 of the clear zipper pockets inside my binder. In one of them, I keep my CVS ECBs and my WAGS RRs for easy access. I use the other zipper pocket for coupons that I plan to use. For example, when I pull an item off of the shelf in the store and place it in the basket, I then go ahead and pull the corresponding coupon(s) out of the baseball card collector sheet and move it to the zipper pocket in the front of my binder. That way when I get to the register, I'm not fumbling thru the pages to find the needed coupon to give to the cashier.

A really good place to go where you can print pre-made category pages is thekrazycouponlady.com. There are also some great tutorial videos on the site.

 

[deezeealum]

Another vote for an index card box. Have blank tabs bought at Staples (usually have letters on them) and have them divided by categories.; IE beauty, health, dairy, pasta, condiments, etc. Then purge them every month for expiration dates. All my coupons for specific ctores Costco, CVs get placed in the front. I don't bring the entire box to the store but pull everything before I leave so I don't go over budget. I also have the tabs in the box in the same order that the grocery store is set up. Never tried the binder thing, but feel it would be too bulky for me.

 

[tiferetsix]

I do the big old zip up binder with baseball card sheets and coupons sorted alphabetically (2 complete sets of A-Z, one for food, one non-food but all in the one binder.). Oh and a zippered pouch to put the coupons I am going to use as I find the items.

And the binder stays in the car (just in case I decide to go spur of the moment shopping)

And then I drag the whole thing into the grocery store with me (otherwise I never seemed to have the right coupon with me)

Also have a database of coupons (with expiry dates) so I can easily pull out the expired ones. (is it just me or are the expiry dates REALLY difficult to read sometimes?)

Probably not the best system in the world (and its a little labour intensive)
but its working for me at the mo

 

[PudgetteD]

Binder works for me. I spend about a half hour a week- putting in new ones and weeding out expired ones.
It's a zipper binder and it has a file folder in the front. It's Pink. So yes it's obvious.

I am thinking of breaking out the huge health and beauty section into it's own system- There are just so many of those Toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, makeup.
But the binder has been the most effective for me in the store. Flipping to a section helps me save $$ on all those unadvertised sales in store.

I use a system much like this. I love my binder! I have broken up health and beauty into separate sections for hair care, oral care,shaving products, soap/body wash, skin care, deodorant, cosmetics, and a personal care section for feminine needs. I also have a separate section for pharmacy goods and will probably break that down soon because it's getting too big. DH got a good laugh out of the "rasta" section (rice and pasta) because it really wasn't big enough for 2 sections so I just combined them.

My binder makes it really easy to search for coupons when I come across an unadvertised sale, like all the 10 for 10 products at Kroger, I usually end up getting most if not all of those for free.