Couponing Basics

I got an email from Christina a fellow Mamas Spot reader and I thought it would be a great subject for a post!

"Hello! First off, I love your website. It is amazing. Next question. How do you organize your coupons? I see sometimes that when items get paired up for a sale item the coupon may be quite old. Just curious how you keep track of your coupons and how you know you have that coupon?"

First off I pretty much have every coupon in circulation (not trying to sound boastful), so I don't really ever question if I have a coupon or not.

When I first started couponing (about 6 years ago) I did the traditional coupon binder. I would sit down every Sunday and organize, cut and place them in my binder. as time went on I kept getting more and more inserts and I found this method to be very time consuming and difficult. And I wasted my time cutting a lot of coupons I didn't end up using. Although I would still recommend this method if you have just started couponing or you get less than 5 inserts a week. 

I knew I had to find another method when my coupon binder was overflowing, unorganized and had coupons dropping out of it! Also as you coupon you will eventually get into a couponing rut, with anything you do on a regular basis you need a break once and a while. And if you don't have a good filling system you will always feel like you are in a couponing rut! You will be overrun by coupons and probably want to quit.

A few years back I was starting to get to this point, so the next system I tried was a file cabinet. I love it! This is a picture of my file cabinet (sorry about the picture quality) I found a small two drawer file cabinet that someone was giving away for free (check yard sales or classifieds for free or cheap ones). I made folders for each insert for the week and put them in chronological order. I also have folders for store coupons and formula checks. I plan out my shopping trips every week and then I go to my cabinet and clip the coupons I need for that trip. I don't worry about coupons I may or may not need, just the ones that I know for sure I need! This system works great for me and it has cut down the time I spend by hours!

This system won't be great for everyone though so here are some other methods:

Binder:

I would head to Walmart if you want to start a binder, they have tons of cheap binders like the one pictured, and for the inside of the binder the best thing to use is baseball playing card plastic sheets (these are found near the cash registers) A binder can be as elaborate or simple as you want. I would always make sure that you have these few things in it:

• Small pair of scissors
• Pad of paper and a pen
• Calculator

You will want to have different categories in it (dairy, Produce, hygiene ect.) I will be putting some tabs that I made up on the site soon.

Envelopes:

This is a great method if you only get around 1-2 inserts each week. Just write down your coupon categories on envelopes and cut and sort your coupons into the corresponding envelopes. Then you can just take the envelopes with you to the store. You can go here to Kelleigh to get a free template and tutorial on how to make your own envelopes.

Expanding File Or Wallet:

This is pretty much the same as envelopes just already put together. You can find these from $1-$5 at most stores.

All of these methods are great it really just depends on what works for you! Just like cleaning your house, couponing takes regular maintenance or it will become a disaster! 

But once you have found a method that works for you couponing becomes much easier!