My New Coupon System

Posted on | January 29, 2009 | 3 Comments

Some of you may remember my excitement months ago when I started my new coupon book. I got myself a nice new binder, a bunch of business card holder sheets and lots of labels. I labeled all the card slots on the sheets and set to work clipping. Once they were clipped I spent lots and lots of time sorting and folding said coupons into the right slots.

Well, needless to say, this got old fast. When the holidays came I was so busy I started to fall behind with my clipping. So I decided to try another method and started to label the date on the inserts. This way I could keep them in a pile and clip coupons as I needed them. Well that’s great and all, but then I was missing out on spur of the moment deals. It was too much to carry the pile of inserts and scissors to all the stores. In addition it was way too time consuming looking for coupons with only the date when I was in the store.

So I think I figured out a solution that works for me. I’ve only been doing it for a few weeks, so time will be the true test. I’ve taken it on a few test runs and it worked really well.

I usually get 3 of every insert each Sunday. We buy a paper and my parents get 2 and give me the inserts (if it’s a really good insert day I will buy more). I started with the Smart Source insert and wrote down the coupon amount followed by what the coupon was for. After that was done I started clipping the coupons. I stack the pages together and cut the 3 same coupons at the same time. Then I piled them up in the order they were clipped (which also happens to be the order that I wrote them down in). I then put the coupons, in order, in an envelope that I had labeled (Smart Source followed by the date).

I’ve been putting the envelopes into page protectors that I already had in the binder. The list is easy for me to go through and see the available coupons. Then I can easily find the envelope and look for the coupon. Since the coupons are already in order it is that much easier to find the one I am looking for. Then I mark the coupon so I know how many I have left and cross it out when I’ve used them all.

This may seem like a lot, but it takes much less time then when I was cutting and sorting all those coupons. It’s not as easy as just labeling the inserts, but I wasn’t able to use my coupons the right way and was missing out on a lot of deals. I’m hoping this is a happy medium that will work in long run as well.

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3 Responses to “My New Coupon System”

Grace
February 3rd, 2009 @ 1:44 am

I am so interested to read about your new coupon system. I’m always eager to learn about new coupon organizing ideas. I wouldn’t have the patience to write it all down though. I admire your efforts.

I seem to fall back on some sort of system that uses envelopes too. I hate using envelopes because they shred my cuticles, but I haven’t ever come up with a better system.

For the last six months I’ve been using a large zippered pencil pouch with titled index cards to separate the categories, along with separate envelopes to hold expiring coupons and coupons I want to use for a specific shopping trip.

It’s an ok system – it all fits in my purse, coupons don’t fly everywhere, and I can find the coupons I want usually on the first try. On good days I might give myself a 7 out of 10. (The hunt for the perfect couponing system continues however.)
Liz
February 3rd, 2009 @ 8:52 am

Grace,
I’m with you about the envelopes, I just can’t seem to get away from them either. I’m really liking this new system for me. It’s been really easy to locate coupons, especially ones I wasn’t expecting to use. It really isn’t that hard or time consuming to write it down, I do it while I’m watching TV or when the kids are doing homework. I also started to write the expiration dates next to the coupons when I make the list. I’m hoping that will make it easier to get rid of the envelopes as the coupons are no longer valid. Thanks for sharing your system, I’ll keep it in mind if what I’m doing now starts to go downhill:)
Thanks for reading and commenting!
Liz
Allison
February 8th, 2009 @ 10:20 am

Help me Liz, I have this little coupon organizer and it is not working for me. I would love to get together and swap ideas.