One of the most important things about couponing is to get organized! I have spoken to several of my friends who have tried couponing and given up because it's "too overwhelming" and "too time consuming". You can nip both of these issues in the bud by staying on top of things. It will be overwhelming & time consuming if you let the inserts or cut coupons pile up all over your house; but so are dishes or clean clothes that need to be folded if you get behind.
Every Sunday morning right after church, while lunch is on the stove, I dig out all the inserts from the middle of the paper, and get out my scissors and my handy dandy notebook. It takes me 20 minutes MAX, and it is so fun to see all the new coupons and begin dreaming up deals in my head. Trust me, it is addicting!
My mom gave me the dividers as one of my shower gifts, along with some of the trading card sleeves. You can order these from the WRAL SmartShopper here or just make your own. You will have to go to a office supply store for the sleeves, as I first tried Target, Walmart, AC Moore, and Micheals and they had none. The notebook and several of the sleeves are from MJ's trading cards that he collected when he was younger, but happily cleaned out for me, so I could save him some $$.
I then file each coupon away in it's designated section immediately after I cut it out. I only cut out coupons I know I will use, or those that might be really good deals when Super Doubles roll around. Then I take what remains of each insert, date it, and file it away in this notebook.
This come in handy when I need a coupon that I did not file away originally. As I mentioned briefly in my last post, I follow a blog called Southern Savers. She posts each weeks grocery specials, along with the coupon match-ups and what insert they came from (name & date). This is also what I listed in brackets on my last post about Super Doubles. Here is a little cheat sheet for the couponing lingo I will use in these [brackets] followed by the date they came in the paper.
SS=Smart Source
P&G=Proctor and Gamble
RP=Red Plum
GM=General Mills
This is why I date each insert and file them away by date, so they are easily retrievable when I find a good deal!
This is going to be very important for tomorrow, because there are supposed to be between 5 & 6 coupon inserts in tomorrows paper! I am getting excited just thinking about it. A normal Sunday paper averages 2 coupon inserts. So the moral to this story is...sit down, get organized...and then you won't be overwhelmed, but you must set aside the time to do it!
Would love to hear feedback on your strategy for organizing your coupons, or any other coupon advice you may have!
Brittany
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