If you missed yesterday’s post, click here to catch up. Thanks again to Dian at Grocery Shop for Free for this great series!
How Do I Organize Them Now That I Have Them?
8 Ways To Organize Your Coupons
Ok, you have now gathered a good beginner “stash” of coupons, so now you need to organize them so you can use them effectively. There are many ways people organize and store them, and there is no perfect way for everyone. You have to decide what works best for you. And over time that might change, too.
1. Whole – Some people will take the entire insert and write the date on the front and file it away whole. You will find the name and date of the insert written on the outside fold, just like a book, in very small letters. There are primarily 3 inserts: Proctor & Gamble or P&G, Red Plum or RP, and Smart Source or SS, occassionally you may see a General Mills, Unilever, or some other very small insert.
2. Sorted – You can take your inserts, say you have 5, and open one of them and spread it on a table one sheet at a time (I demonstrate this much better in my video series at www.groceryshopforfree.com) and then come along one insert at a time and stack matching page upon matching page until you have them all sorted by page. Then you can paper clip them or staple them together and file them like that. Make sure you take care if you staple them to not staple the date, bar code, or the small letters on the bottom which tell the store where to send them to get reimbursed.
3. Cut – Some people will take the above sorted and stapled coupons and cut each coupon out. You will then, in our 5 insert scenario, have all the coupons in the entire insert cut out with 5 matching coupons in each cut stack.
4. Notebook – Some people will use a notebook to put their coupons in so they can take them all to the store when they go, not just the ones they plan on using. Sometimes when I am at the store I might find an unadvertised sale or clearance item and I have a coupon for, so it is handy to have the notebook with you.
5. Photo Pages – You can use photo pages in your notebook to hold them, the kind that peel back and you lay over a photo. You can do the same with coupons, but if you have a large stack of coupons the paper sometimes doesn’t hold well.
6. Baseball Card Holders – You can use baseball card pages that you slide baseball cards into. You can slide your cut coupons in them, but, coupons are not always the same size as baseball cards, so you end up having to fold them or have them hang out the top of the page. When they are folded sometimes you can’t see important info, such as the date or amount. If they are sticking out of the top they can fall out without your knowing.
7. Coupon Organizer – You can purchase a coupon organizer from a dollar store or an expandable small file, and it will work in the beginning, but once you have a large amount of coupons you will need to move to something else.
8. Boxes – Some people use shoe boxes. I have a friend who has 30 plastic shoe type boxes that she lays out in the grocery cart and then she gets another cart to shop with! It’s fun watching her shop!
Again there are many ways to organize your coupons, no way is wrong, just make it work for you! If you find a better way not listed here, come back and tell us so we can try it, too!
Again, to see this more in depth in my video series just go to my site and click on Dian’s Videos in the menu bar on the top of the page.
Leave a Reply