I don't. But I should? I wish I knew how. To me, this is the most frustrating part about couponing- how do you keep track of all those little strips of paper and always know what you have and when to use them so they don't expire? If I ever find out, I will be sure to let you know. In the meantime, I have heard of a few different ways to do this, they all have their pros and their cons:
If I cut the ALL the coupons out and put them in one of those accordion coupon file thingies (like I used to do), I will surely forget what coupons I have and they won't get used. I really hate having to look through those at the store, it takes me FOREVER to shop that way and I feel so unorganized and I am dropping coupons all over the place. Also, when looking online at the coupon matchups from the sale ads and I see something I want to get it will be harder to locate the coupon.
I have heard that alot of couponers use "coupon binders." Those are basically a zippered 3 ring binder with baseball card holders in them. Then they cut all their coupons out and sort them by category. I think. But I could not imagine taking something so big and bulky as that into a store and trying to look through it while trying to decide what shampoo to buy while Jake is trying to squirm out of the cart as he is trying to grab the binder and eat all the coupons. That sounds like a lot of work on my part and a disaster waiting to happen. And lots of frustration. And lots of coupons flying everywhere.
I think for now, I am going to keep the inserts/magazines intact and use the matchups posted online. This way, when doing looking over the matchups, I can easily and quickly located the coupons I want to use and can put them in an envelope/wallet/diaper bag to take with me to the store.. I will do this until I can think of a better way of organizing coupons.
Any one else have any ideas?
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Hey Gene,
ReplyDeleteHere's what I do. I take the Sunday copun inserts out and leave them intact. I write the date on the front of the packet and slip it into a plastic page protector. Each insert gets it's own date and page protector. Then, I put the page protector into a hanging file in a filebox that is devoted just to couponing. All the May inserts go into the May file, June intot he June file. By keeping them intact, I can find the individual coupons I need much more quickly and not have to rely on my memory. Also in my coupon filebox are: an evelope with my groceries (for rebates), files with intact magazines (Like All You and Woman's Day, which are GREAT for coupons)
I also started keeping my printed grocery lists in a file in this box to remind me when particular itmes when on sale last, so I can anticipate when they will cycle around again.
Loved reading your blog! Am so proud of hte wife and mom you have become. You inspire me!!!! Love you. Aunt Lou