You've probably now found you love getting that final number on your grocery receipt. You enjoy coming home and sharing (bragging) about how well you did at the store. But when you've had a busy week and not been able to clip or organize those coupons from Sunday and it's Saturday night and tomorrow you're going to get your Sunday papers and now you've got two weeks or more piled up, it can be overwhelming. Sometimes you can call in help and sometimes you can't. Here are some tips to help you whether you've been in that spot or you're just starting out.
Every person is different and not everyone uses their coupons or shops in the same way. If you need to cut down on the amount of time you spend couponing or you're just starting and you don't want to make this be your full-time job, you can go with the filing method.
Because of the matchup websites, you really don't need to clip any coupons unless you're going to use them. All you need to do is set up a filing system. The number of papers you receive will determine the container you need. If you only get 2 papers a week, you can probably fit them in an expandable folder with divisions in it ($4-$25). If you get 6 or more papers per week, you're probably better off with a file storage box/tote or a desk drawer with hanging folders, either way, use hanging folders. To keep the amount of space needed as small as you can, thumb through the inserts, if you have the time, and remove the store fliers and pages without coupons you don't need. Write the date of the newspaper really big on the front page of the insert (VERY IMPORTANT). Do the same with store coupon booklets. Then file them by date in your system. The matchup site will tell you the date and insert in which you'll find the coupons you need. Then you just clip them when you need them. If you need to find a coupon, use the coupon database on the matchup site, most of them have one. For other coupons like blinkies and internet coupons, you can use a small accordion file like a normal coupon sorter and file them by product. Just keep that container inside your larger one up front somewhere.
I like having a binder with the coupons organized in it. So, I clip 2 paper's worth of inserts each week and file any other inserts in a filing system by date. When I'm clipping, to make things more expedient, I put two inserts together at a time, sorting the pages and matching them up to create 1 SmartSource or Red Plum with two of each page. Then I cut both pages out simultaneously. As I'm cutting, I sort them into folders (1 folder for each category (meat, personal care, cold, dry goods, etc). Because they're in envelopes by category, if I'm interrupted, I can put them down and not worry about pets and kids disturbing them and when I'm ready to put them in my binder, I can do one category at a time without having to flip back and forth all of the time. Also, by sorting them into envelopes as I'm cutting, if I don't have time to file them all immediately, I can still find the coupon if I need it and if I don't get to it before the next paper, I can just add more coupons to the envelope and put them all in my binder at the same time later.
If you don't have time to clip at all, but want to, just file the insert for now and clip them when you have time. Just make sure you put the date on the front of the insert. Then you'll have them and be able to find what you need when you need it and you won't have to go through an enormous stack of coupons to find the needle in the haystack. When you have to spend 30 minutes looking for a 30 cent coupon, it's really easy to get discouraged.
As far a categories goes, you'll find what works best for you. Some people sort them by expiration date, others by grocery aisle in their primary store. I have my sorted by type of product in a general category and then broken down further within that category by having pages devoted to specific products. For example, I have a "personal care" category, within that category, I have a page for body wash/bar soap, a page for deodorant, a couple pages for shaving products, several pages for dental care (I tried sorting mouthwash, toothpaste, and toothbrushes separately, but many coupons are for more than one of those things, so it wasn't possible), etc. My general categories are beverages, cleaners-dish, cleaners-laundry, cleaners-other, personal care, general merchandise-paper, general merchandise-pets, general merchandise-air fresheners, general merchandise-batteries, general merchandise-other, Food-dry goods, Food-cereal, Food-canned goods, Food-dairy, Food-cold, Food-meat, Store $X/$XX coupons, Non-grocery, and Restaurant.
Don't let time and clipping discourage you from a good thing, just find a system that works for your organizational and personal lifestyle.
No comments:
Post a Comment