Switching organization
Ok,
So....when I first started this blog I talked about coupon organization. I had those lovely check files from Target to put my coupons in. They worked great. For a while. Now with the large amount of coupons I have amassed, I was spending WAY too much time flipping through my coupons in each category. I must have had at least 70 coupons in "personal care" and "cleaners" It was too hard to find the coupon I was looking for, especially when I was getting multiples of each coupon. (and you really really need to do this to develop a stockpile)
I dont like change however so I tried having a couple of coupon files. One for groceries and one for personal care and cleaners that was more categorized...ie makeup, shampoo, razors ect... So then I had 3 files to take with me (2 for shopping and 1 for activities/retail coupons) Nope, too many things to keep track of.
I tried paperclipping my multiple coupons....nope, just got everything stuck tog.
I gave up and went to the binder method. I am thinking I like it. Now, I just got it all together over the weekend, but it was oh so much easier as I was doing my coupon matchups. I do have to say if you are even thinking about going to a binder, make sure you cut your coupons close to the lines now. I had a TON of trimming to do. 
All you do is buy a binder, some baseball card holders (which by the way are only located in the baseball card area near the registers...I looked ALL over!) and some dividers for your categories. I bought 2 packs of baseball card holders 'cause I have a lot of coupons, but you could get by with just one to start. I also bought 2 sets of dividers because I am anal retentive like that....
I sorted my coupons into categories and filed them into the individual slots for the baseball cards. Now I can see 9 coupons at a time and all my duplicates are together.
So the Pros are:
-I can see all my coupons quickly and easily
-Sammy can't dump them all out easily (like he did on Friday)
-It is easier for me to have something that is all inclusive (at least for my grocery/drugstore shopping)
The Cons:
-I cant fit it in my purse, but it does fit well into the reusable bags that I have so maybe that is a plus to get me to remember to bring them
-It was a pain in the bottom to switch methods, but not any harder to use now
-It is bulky and a bit more obvious than a check file.
I am really thinkin that this is going to be the easiest way for me to be organized, but I am gonna need a bigger binder soon :-)
I also have all my coupon matches done and even managed to make it to CVS already.
I spent 13.64 after ECB's and coupons...on 64.64 worth of items
I got 2 thermacare wraps
1 quattro razor
1 soft soap body wash
4 campbells chicken noodle soup
2 packs of CVS trashbags (no MFG, just out of trash bags :-(
1 Loreal eyeliner
1 Loreal eyeshadow set
Not great, but Tay was out of Eyeliner and the trashbags were necessary... I have tons of deals for Walgreens and Target this week! Ill post those soon
Happy clipping!
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1 comments:
I love my grocery box. I used a small shoe box. I have large index cards, dividing every area. For example, breakfast has cards labeled breakfast-bars, breakfast-cereal/oatmeal, breakfast-frozen, breakfast-pancakes and syrup. Cleaning has aerosols, liquid, spray, toilet, wipes. Soap is broke down into bar/hand/face and bodywash. Frozen is appetizers, desserts, hot pockets, lunches/dinners, meat/fish, pizza/garlic bread, potpies and fruits/vegetables. These are just some of the areas. I actually have 74 tabs! Many years ago, I just kept breaking down tabs that had too many coupons in one area. It saves time, that is for sure.
I have a small box at the back of this box to use to hold up my index cards and I throw coupons in it until I file them.
I now have long envelopes for each store, as I prepare my list (Kroger, Meijer, Target, CVS, Walgreens)
Tell your peeps about the discount bread store. I spent $10 today on 5 loaves of bread, 2 lg pkg dinner rolls, hamb buns, cranberry bread, 3 fruit pies, 2 pkg english muffins. Stick in the freezer and we are set for 4/5 weeks!
Also, Meijer doesn't ad match discount stores, such as Big Lots. Target does though. To ad match at Target, go to service counter (they can't do it at the regular registers)...learned the hard way:)
You have to start going to Meijer, girl. I spent $60 and on $100 of stuff. I used the http://www.macombmoneysavers.com/, like my other friend told me about. Meijer doubles up to .50. Meijer also has Mealbox, which is like store coupons. You can find on meijer.com or the macomb thing links you to them, so you can stack!! It is between home and Aldi's and Target too:)
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