Couponing Class - Week 4

Maximizing Your Savings - Part III

There are so many different ways to organize your coupons, and what fits for one person may not fit for you. I have tried about a half dozen different methods to organizing my coupons, and have yet to find a method that fits into my lifestyle. I'm in the process right now of trying to develop something new, that fits me. My biggest obstacle right now, is that I have an abnormal amount of coupons, and not enough time to cut them out. I am fortunate that I have some great family that will give me all their unused coupons. Don't get me wrong, I am absolutely greatful, but my coupon pile is down right scarey! One of our family rooms is now known as coupon central. (I think it's time we turn a room into an office!)

Okay, so how do you know what fits you? Well it's a lot of trial and error. I have tried the zip up folder / notebook thing, I have tried the coupon box, the photo album, the small accordion files, the Not-Cutting-Until-I-Need-Them, and lastly the envelope thing. Nothing yet has worked for me. I looked into the Couponizer, but again the problem there is I have too many coupons.

This topic probably ranks up there with one of the most important things you need to do to be able to save big at the stores. I could most likely be saving more money at the stores if I was a little more organized with my coupons.

♦ The first option you have is the small accordion type organizers. (I have 3 in my purse!) This is a pretty cheap and inexpensive way to start. They generally have 13 slots, and you can choose what to name each one. They run about $3-$6 at OfficeMax.


~Pros~
They are small enough to slip into your purse
They are inexpensive
~Cons~
They only have 13 slots for the different catagories you may have
The plastic tends to rip, when you use it on a daily basis


♦ The second option is the notebook option. I did try this, with baseball card sleeves, and page protectors for the large coupons. I liked the fact that all the coupons were in a single spot, and easy to see. I also liked that fact that there was enough room to store the coupons that are not yet clipped, and spots for scissors etc. The notebooks that I am referring to, are the notebooks that zip open and shut. The generally run about $10.00-$20.00. Sometimes you can find them at discount stores for as little as $5.00. The baseball card sleeves run about $4.00 for a pack of 10, ad can be found at Walmart in the baseball / collector card section.

~Pros~
You can fit a lot of coupons into this
It has many compartments to store everything you need

~Cons~
It is too big and bulky to carry to any and all stores
This requires a lot of organizational skills and time

♦ A third option is the coupon box. Again, depending upon the size of the box, you can fit many coupons into this. You can also buy index separaters for as many catagories as you need. These are pretty inexpensive as well.

~Pros~
They are inexpensive, and come in a variety of colors, and materials
You can fit as many coupons as you want, and choose the amount of catagories you need
~Cons~
It is another option that is too big and bulky to carry with you too all the stores
If you drop it, unless it has a latch on it, you could be spending a lot of time "cleaning" up a mess! (Trust me, this is why I gave up this one!)

♦ The photo ablum is another method. I did like this option, it was easy to use, and another cheap method, the one thing that I didn't like about this was that the coupons would easily fall out if it was carred the wrong way.

~Pros~
It's a cheap method, and they come in a variety of sizes
The clear plastic sleeves make everything easy to see.

~Cons~
If you have a lot of coupons the album will not be able to shut
The coupons have a tendency to fall out easily, and the plastic sleeves often rip very easily.

As you can see there are many options available to you, as far as organizing your coupons go. You just need to find out what fits into your lifestyle. As I said earlier, am still in the process of developing my own coupon organizer.

Before you go out and start buying different items to try, I suggest you sit down and write down the catagories that you will break your coupons into. I have 48. Yes that sounds like a lot, but trust me, if you have a lot of coupons, it is much easier to have mouth, eyes, hair care, shaving needs, etc, then to thumb through a large pile of "Health & Beauty" items. I also have several "store" catagories, such as CVS, Walgreen's, and Department stores, so I can get my ECB's & RR's at a moments notice!

Okay, I'll see you back here next week for Lesson 5.


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