Organizing your coupons

Organizing your coupons

Ok, you’ve gotten some coupons sitting in a pile; Now what? You gotta get them organized. Not to sound cliché’ but organization is the key to success…..ok, maybe not total success in this case but it sure makes a big difference when it comes time to shop. You can go to any store and pick up a pre-designed coupon folder type organizer, however; in keeping with saving as much money as possible I took an old 2” binder I had left over from my days of 9-5 and turned it into my coupon organizer book.
I went to the store and bought two packs of 3 x 5 photo refill sheets and a pack of 8x10’s. I then used a list I had previously acquired and labeled each pocket with a item category. (I am hoping to post a photo of this soon). Each Sunday after church I sit down with the Sunday newspaper and enjoy a little me time. It is during this time that I separate out the coupons, cut them ALL, then separate them into two piles. Pile one is to keep ( these are the ones I feel that I will use before they expire). Pile two is to trade, I put those coupons that I know I won’t or can’t use into a lidded box that I take with me to let others go through. It is at this time that I put aside special coupons for my friends with small babies and dogs (I am totally a cat person!!!). When I go to my “events” I bring along my box and sit it somewhere everyone can see, giving them access to my extra coupons. This is my form of trading, but you can also get on a coupon train.
Once I have my coupons separated, I go trough my binder and put the coupons in their categorized pocket. This whole process (from cutting to filing) takes me about 30 mins. HOWEVER; It DID and WILL take longer until you get your system down. This is where MOST people FAIL at coupon clipping. They feel over whelmed by cutting and separating all those little pieces of paper. Only to find that NOW, they need to file them in a way that prevents them from having to go through a hundred little squares to find that one $0.35 off soap coupon that they need. Most people feel that the time it takes to do all this is not worth the savings…… My entire point of this blog is to help change your mind about this one singular thought! YES, it is!!! Yes, I will admit, that at first it will take some time. And Yes, is you divide your time up by how much you save you would be working for 3rd world labor wages. HOWEVER: and this is the most important part….. Give it time and sooner than you think, you will be saving enough money that you can retire 10 years earlier if you were to put all your coupon savings into a savings account. OR you will save enough that you will be able to convince your spouse that only one of you needs to work full-time, while the other get’s the privilege of being a stay-at-home parent. I know this sounds outrageous but I have seen it time and time again. After sticking to it for as little as 3 weeks people start to see huge savings. It can also lead to a new way of thinking about money.
Quick story; my mother-in-law a.k.a Mini who is a devout Christian and a firm believer in being a good steward with Gods money did not use coupons. She gave me all the same stories I hear from everyone else. "I don’t have time, I’m too tired from working full-time, It’s just $0.50 what good will that do" ….. finally after years of hearing me tell my stories about couponing and after hearing me ask my favorite question… “How much do you think I paid for this?” about a million times, she is starting to cave. Just the other day she said out of the blue. “If I buy it while it is on sale, I can save it until I really need it”. Like wow, I’ve never heard that before….Let me clarify this, she has heard me preach that for YEARS!!!! But it has just started to sink in… and tonight she called to tell me that she saved over $20 buying stuff she was going to buy anyway! Yeah!!! My M.I.L. is a Coupon believer!!!! P.S. Can you guess what I’ll be giving her for Christmas?
I personally do my grocery shopping on Wenesdays, which is the start of the new weekly sales for grocery stores. I sit down with my circulars (sales papers) and coupon binder, make a list of the things on sale, pull any coupons I need and make a list. I put my coupons in a small accordion file that fits into my purse making it easier to carry them into the grocery store. You can even use a envelope, which is what I used until my dear husband bought me the small file as a gift.
My next post I am going to talk about when NOT to use a coupon, what is really a good deal and tips on how to know what is really a sale…………………..………until then, keep on clipping!


Here are a few statistics that may interest the nay-sayer……..
-Almost 70% of America's primary shoppers frequently clip coupons
-$331 billion dollars in potential consumer savings were distributed through coupons in 2006 with over 2.6 billion redeemed.
-82.9 percent of people in the $25,000 - $50,000 income range used coupons, the highest usage of any income group.

Getting Started

Where do I start? This is the second most asked question I encounter. So here is the answer….Start cutting those coupons! The most common and easiest way to get them is with the Sunday paper. With the exception of about two Sundays a year the Sunday paper will have coupon inserts that will get every clipper started. I get the weekend edition that comes Fri-Sun and Mondays during football season (Carolina Panthers are a staple here in Charlotte) and still pay $0.26 LESS then if I went to the grocery store and bought just the Sunday paper. The Sunday newspaper is the best way to get those coupons….and I would suggest it to everyone. However; there are many other route to stocking up on your coupon stash that you might want to start exploring once you get your own storage system down (Checkout my post on Coupon Organization). Here are a few of the ways….

1. 
   Ask your NON-clipping friends and family members to save the coupon inserts from their Sunday paper for you. - Most of them are more than happy to do this…until they see how much you save and start clipping for them selves
2. 
   Swap/trade with another clipper - I separate my coupons into 1. To be filed (my personal use) and 2. To trade (these go into a box that I take with me anytime I will be gathering with a group of friends)
3. 
   Pay for them -There are websites that will clip them for you. You pay for the “clipping service” but it is only pennies compared to the face value of the coupon. (You’ll find my suggested websites on my blog page) This service is especially good when you come across coupons that will make an item free - but you gotta be quick because they go fast!
4. 
   Magazines - they will generally have a coupon or two too encourage a new product. There is one magazine that is sold exclusively at WM called “allyou” for less than $2.00 or you can subscribe to it for even less. (please know that this is NOT an endorsement for WM - I personally HATE that place and NEVER shop there - but that is another blog all in it self.. I doubt that you’ll ever hear me talk about them with the exception of this magazine) This is the BEST magazine I have ever come across for coupons. It has at least one coupon for something “free” in each issue and hundreds of $’s worth of other coupons. Plus each issue has great recipes with great pictures (that’s the only way I can cook- I need to know what it should look like.)
5. 
   Printable coupons - however you may find that your grocery will not accept these. Since it isn’t hard to “copy” a printed coupon there are a few places who no longer take them. The best thing to do is give it a try and make a note if they do or don’t accept your printed coupon. I find that if I use a heavier weight paper and quality printing most cashiers don’t really notice. Once you start finding legitimate coupon websites you will come across printable….I get most of mine from www.afullcup.com
6. 
   Sign-up at the manufactures website….you will most likely get a sample and some coupons in the mail within a few weeks. This is even MORE likely if you write a note to the company asking for their latest coupons. This can be done via the internet or check the info on your favorite food packaging.
7. 
   Dumpster-diving - yes, go to your neighbors trash and fish out their Sunday paper to retrieve the coupon inserts. I personally haven’t done this (being a germ phobia and all) However; I have never laughed at someone who has….remember I KNOW how much those little pieces of paper saves!!!
8. 
   Coupon Trains - These are when groups of people send the coupons that they don’t use to a person through the mail, that person then takes out the ones they want and add their coupons to the pile and mail it to the next person on the list. Sometimes these trains are within a group from the same area and sometimes the trains are “cross country” . There are also specific trains - pet food, baby products etc. (I will be starting a train from this blog the first of the year. If you want to join then send me an email with your mailing address.)
9. 
   Catalina’s - coupons that print out at the registers. Another great reason to sign-up for the prefect buyer card at your local store.
10. 
    Tear pads - just that, little pads with tear off coupons that are usually located near the product to encourage the customer to give it a try.
11. 
    Peelies - a coupon that is stuck on a product, usually the cashier will have to remove these BUT it’s up to you to make sure they do!
12. 
    Store Coupons - most of these are found in the weekly ad paper issued each Wednesdays or near the front of the store. They are almost always store specific and are used in conjunction with your customer card. But you can “stack” these with a manufactures coupon for even more savings.
13. 
    SmartSource Coupon Machine - that little machine that will spit out a coupon once you pull one off. Yes, I have been known to just stand around waiting for them to pop out so that I can have multiple ones. My 5yr old loves these things so she is a huge help with this.

Don’t let this over whelm you. Before you know it, you will be spotting coupons every where you look. It may seem like a lot to do to save a “few bucks” but once you get the hang of it you’ll realize how easy it is to do and those “few buck” will quickly become “lots of bucks” . Then you will see the hundreds of $$$$’s you have saved

What are you waiting for? ………. Go cut those coupons!

How did she do that?

As I walked away from the very friendly cashier at Borders, I heard the women in line behind me ask him…How did she do that!? With both amazement and jealousy in her voice. I left the store with one of my self satisfied grins knowing I just got $20.98 worth of stuff for $1.60!!! Including a new day planner that I have been wanting for the coming year. How DID I do that you ask?

First thing is to sign up with Borders for their free borders bucks award program. You get one of those customer loyalty cards that you put on your key chain. Traditionally you need to spend $150 to earn a $5 Border Bucks awards ….NOT ME!!! Here’s my little trick! I joined e-rewards, it is a survey web-site that will “pay you” to answer their surveys….Wait….I know what you are thinking…..and most of those types of sites ARE spam but I have found this site to be one of the better ones. I don’t get but a few surveys a week and most of them are centered around my interest. Plus I have found that it takes very little time and the rewards are pretty good. (Since the summer I have redeemed my e-reward$ for a years subscription to both Home and Gardens & T.V. Guide magazines plus my $15 Borders Bucks)
Since I am signed up with Borders I get emails (in my “junk account” for coupons all the time) I printed off my 30% coupon and off I went. Using both my coupon AND the Borders Bucks from e-rewards that was on my account “waiting to be redeemed” I went to the store. Perusing my favorite sections including the discount area I found the puzzle for my princess (a Christmas present I have already stuffed in my hiding place) orig. $14.99 discounted to $5.99 and the date book that I have been eyeing for awhile. At the counter I told the clerk I wanted to cash in my Border Bucks….He was as excited as I was when he saw how much I saved! He was glad to tell the story to the lady behind me as he tallied up her books (not one coupon in site as she handed over her credit card).

I love books and get most of them from the library, but every now and again I just have to “have it" for my collection. So I wait until I get a coupon and only then will I buy myself a book…..Coupon tip #3 NEVER EVER PAY RETAIL!!! There is always a coupon / discount to be had. Plus if/when you start stockpiling (we will talk about that later) you will never HAVE to pay retail again.

How do you do that?!? I hear this often from my friends. Most have started using coupons them selves and are sharing their own savings stories with me :-)

Coupon Queen Speaks

I am a coupon clipper.....(I say this as if I am standing in front of a group of other 12-steppers) In fact it has almost become an obsession with me!!! I look at it this way....coupons look like colorful pieces of paper, right? but it is actually the color of MONEY! It is the manufactures way of saying...Here, person who is going to buy my product. Take this pieces of paper and let's turn it into some money.This friendly agreement between me and the "coupon people" has allowed me to save $thousands of dollars since I first started clipping (about 3 years ago).

I use to be a microbiologist, I always thought I would work. Then a combinations of things happened. I changed positions and was miserable. I mean the type of misery that made me break out in hives at the thought of having to go to work. One day I went to pick up my 18 month old from daycare and she screamed for the daycare worker. She didn't want to come home with me, she wanted her "Baba" (at least it sounded like Baba, but it probably was mama and my heart just couldn't process that). I had already left my "dream job" and taken a huge pay cut when we moved back to the east coast less than a year prior. I just couldn't take the fact that someone else was getting the opportunity to raise my only child while I went to misery everyday. Along came a thunder storm of budget cuts at work and my new position was "eliminated"....I went home relieved. I didn't have to quite and they didn't have to fire me. I had 6 months of unemployment to rethink my whole money wise way of thinking.
It was during this time that 1) I got a rude awaking to how much a stay-at-home mother actually does! 2) I was not good with money and 3) Coupons were GOLD!

In the years since I have developed some great techniques for saving money. Getting lots of FREE stuff and cutting my grocery bill in more than HALF! Before coupons we averaged $600 a month in groceries (mostly at Harris Teeter or as my BFF calls it Taj maTeeter) That is NOT counting the $ we spent going out to eat, which we did about 4 times a week which was easily another $150 a week ($600 on eating out!!!).That was a total of about $1200 a month on FOOD!!!!!. NOW...After coupons I spend about $300 on groceries and paper products. and we only eat out twice a month spending no more than $40.

This blog was the brain child of my closes christian friends who are constantly amazed at my "Savings Stories" each week. I hope that it can and will help others who are looking for a way to be good stewards of their money.

Thanks you all who have inspired me to share my talents :-)



..my first piece of advice: Get a separate email account just for your "coupon, saving, signing up stuff".