Thursday, September 18, 2008

Organizing Coupons

Well I think I am going to make the leap and purchase a binder with baseball card holders to reorganize my coupons. I have so many of them and multiples that it is getting overwhelming for my little expandable coupon file. Not to mention taking them all out and sifting through them to try and find a coupon is annoying especially while you are in the store trying to do it, coupons going everywhere, just a mess!

The only thing that's been holding me back is the initial cost. Since becoming so frugal and taking my $200/month budget and stretching it to purchase not only groceries but my gas, diapers, formula and all other necessities for the home it has been soooo hard for me to buy something that isn't on sale! Is anyone else this bad or have I just become cheap! lol.

Who has gone the whole binder route? Do you like it, is it easier for you?

2 comments:

MoneySavinDiva said...

I just switched to the binder route a month ago and I LOVE IT! It has saved me so much time and money already!
I have three main sections...food, beauty/health and cleaning supplies.
I also have a section for clothing stores (ex. at WAGS I had a 20% any purchase at Payless shoes spit out one day, so that went in the clothing section).
I have a WAGS section for all of my RR and any catalinas that spit out.
And I have a section for etc. coupons (for example I don't have a dishwasher, so I put dishwasher detergent coupons back there, so if I run across a deal where I can get it free then I know my dad will use it)
And lastly I have a section for Rebates. This way when I'm shopping I can glance through and know what items I need to buy for rebates.
I put a zip up pencil pouch in front with a calculator, pair of scissors, hiliter and pen. Those have ALL come in handy while shopping, so I STRONGLY suggest keeping those handy!

Good Luck!!

The MoneysavinDiva

www.moneysavindiva.blogspot.com

Mommy Managing said...

My first method was a check file, but once I started getting serious with my coupons, it didn't work.

Then I started using an extra scrapbook I already had. It was 12x12 and just too darn bulky.

I just bought some photo album pages from Wal-mart. They are for 5x7 size pix. There were ten sheets for $1.96, and each sheet has two pockets. I LOVE THEM! I didn't want to use the trading card pages because the slots were so tiny, there's too much folding and overlapping for me. They also had 4x6 size, but some coupons are just larger than that. I am using a plain three ring binder I already had, not a zippered one. I also have plain 8.5X11 sheet protectors in the front to hold my current ads and rebate books, etc.

It has been so user-friendly--with three kids 4 and under, I need user-freindly! LOL!