Coupon Organization 101:

Disclaimer: I should not be giving advice on this subject. I didn’t think any of this up on my own. But amazing how it is working for me, hopefully it will work for you too!

I started off by clipping all the coupons I thought I could possibly use, then passing on my stack of slashed up papers to a friend who would pick through and pass them on again. Then I realized I was missing deals left and right!

Solution: Quit clipping. KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) Save the inserts and file them.

Using the coupon database seemed confusing. And if you are going into it blindly, then it is. If you know what you need then you search for that item. It tells you were the coupon is: Description, Value, Expires, Source (where to find it – Smart Source, PG, Red Plum) and then a few other irrelevant things.

Or you can cheat. Iheartpublix.com, Ipreferpublix.blogspot.com, Amyinorlando.blogspot.com, CouponingtoDisney.blogspot.com or of course BEADANDELION.BLOGSPOT.COM all of us post the weekly deals. And all except the iheartpublix will post other stores as well so you don’t even have to do your own coupon matching!

Mid-week and you realize you need some stuff that is not listed as a sale or B1G1 but you need to get some things to bake cookies (my example for today… baby is making me crave chocolate like mad!) I can’t remember the brands of chocolate chips, but I typed that in the description at the coupon database and a few things showed up, I found the Smart Source (SS) insert it listed for Nestle toll house chips. Then found cheaper chips once I got there. Oh well.

One more thing…. So you aren’t shuffling through 8-20 sets of SSs, when you collect them, separate them and make a jumbo SS, THEN file it away. That way you can clip 8 of them at a time. I stick to 8, an even number at least! You want to make sure to cover every item in the B1G1 sales, 1 coupon per item = 2 for each B1G1.

Here are a few other ways of doing coupons:

http://couponingtodisney.blogspot.com/search/label/Couponing%20Basics

http://becentsable.blogspot.com/2007/12/our-coupon-filing-and-reference-system_01.html

http://personalbudgeting.suite101.com/article.cfm/how_to_organize_coupons

But what about those already clipped, printed or the peelies I have or coupons that came in the mail? Ohhhhh I still have a coupon file. It was the Bible I carried into each grocery store. It helped if I thought of something at the spur of the moment or saw a good deal on something I could use. However I am struggling to learn to live off a list… hopefully that huge file box will start to dwindle. It’s heavy!

Also, if you want to fine this post quickly next time, look under my "Coupon Tips" in the side-bar!

Thanks Hailey and Liz for the questions. If anyone has questions email me! BeaDandelion@gmail.com or post a comment!

Here is the process of my re-organization:

This was the entertainment center in the living room... file of clipped coupons, bag of baby stuff, bag or reusable bags. The other side has envelopes of receipts for each month, loose coupons that NEED to be put up and then coupon inserts and publix coupon books.

The start of taking OLDOLD files and combining them into 1 file box. The black bag is burn/personal stuff like old bank statements from 1995... I know I know. The white bag is straight up trash that I somehow managed to file.... !?!?

Woohoo!!! I actually managed to get alllll of that sorted and in the file box!

 

With lots of room to spare! Only those first 7 or 8 folders have inserts, behind that there are coupon books and then some random crap that was on the coffee table :-) But see, I still have a TON of coupons in my organizer.