One of the major ways I stretch our budget is coupons. So far this year, I've saved over $700 with coupons. (Yes, I've got a spreadsheet for that too.) We use coupons on everything from groceries and eating out to tree trimming services and clothing. I'm constantly saying, "Oh, I think I've got a coupon" or "Let's eat at ___, I've got a coupon." If we're heading out for a day of errands, we pack up our two kids and my third child, my coupon binder.
Goose, who is 3, recognizes coupons, and asks to hold them and use them. I couldn't be prouder.
Goose, who is 3, recognizes coupons, and asks to hold them and use them. I couldn't be prouder.
I've seen some beautifully organized coupon binders on the internet. This is not one of those posts.
No extra efforts to pretty it up for the blog. It's tattered well-loved and needs some better organization (pretty tabs), but I know it and put the coupons in it every week so I know where the coupons are.
But my husband sometimes gets sent to the store and doesn't know where the coupons are. So I thought I'd use supplies that I already had around the house and make some dividers for the different sections.
I had a stack of scrap paper that Goose uses for her artwork. I found 10 pieces of somewhat coordinated colored paper, and pulled out some page protectors. Using Microsoft Word, I whipped up 10 section labels: Pantry Goods, Paper Products, Misc (things like cat food/treats, light bulbs, candy), Frozen/Dairy, Personal (feminine hygiene, dental, shampoo, makeup), Cleaning, Baby, Target, Drug Stores, and Whole Foods. I could sub-divide several of the sections even more but I decided not to take up any more space in the binder with non-coupon pages.
Not beautiful, but better organized, easier for everyone to use, and I was able to use supplies we already owned.
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How do you organize coupons?
But my husband sometimes gets sent to the store and doesn't know where the coupons are. So I thought I'd use supplies that I already had around the house and make some dividers for the different sections.
Not beautiful, but better organized, easier for everyone to use, and I was able to use supplies we already owned.
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How do you organize coupons?
I have one of those expandable mini-files that I have divided into "grocery" (which includes Target), "stores" (for specific store-only coupons like 20% off at Bed Bath & Beyond, kids' clothing stores, etc), "restaurants," "services" (dry cleaner, etc). I usually have to sit in the parking lot of the store going through a section before I go shop to see what I want/need to use (and set aside any expired ones to discard when I get home). It isn't the best system, but it is easier to tote around/keep in my car than a binder that I would never be able to keep up with.
ReplyDeleteI can also just tuck coupons in the front of the cover and spend time sorting them whenever Hubbs drives the car and I'm just riding along.
Nice binder, though! My predicament, whether I keep doing what I'm doing or change systems, is remembering to cart the thing in and out to and from the car to the house to refresh/reload it and then taking it back out to go use it without forgetting it at home. I tend to shove coupons in a pocket of my purse and then purge them into the sorter whenever that pocket gets too stuffed for my liking.