Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Coupon Organizer

Since we're in the "poor college student" phase of our life, I've been trying to collect coupons and, more importantly, use them in an effort to save money. The problem is that I get all these coupons but I lose track of them or forget to take them to the store with me.
Solution:
A handy coupon organizer. It's small (about 5x7) and can easily fit into a purse or diaper bag. It's expandable and has 12 compartments and a zipper pocket. I got mine at Target for $4 and I saw a similar one at Roberts.

I'm still trying to figure out the best way to organize things. Should I organize coupons according to categories, like food, diapers, baby supplies, cleaning products? Should I break "food" down into more categories like canned goods, cereal, frozen food, dairy, meat? Will it be confusing to have too many categories? How do I keep track of when coupons expire? Maybe I should organize according to the expiration date to make sure I get to use them. As you can see, I'm still far away from being organized, but I'm on my way. Do you guys have any ideas that would help me organize and use my coupons? How do you keep track of your coupons? Any money saving tips would be appreciated!

5 comments:

Lydia said...

I use a notebook and baseball card holder sheets. It is a bit bulky, but it makes finding the coupon I want very quick and simple. Best of luck with your coupon-ing endeavors!

-Lydia

Lydia said...

P.S. If you want any more tips on using coupons, you can email me at lovelikefireworks(at)gmail(dot)com. I've been working on it for a few months and love it!

Karen C. said...

I think your coupon holder looks really cool. It's definitely important to have something that fits in your purse so you have the coupons with you all the time. That way you don't stop at the store on the spur of the moment and realize you forgot your coupons.

You need to have some way of knowing the expiration dates. I get so mad when I go to use a coupon and discover it has already expired. Sorry, I have no ideas how to accomodate that problem...

Katie said...

Hmmm, that is a tough one. I've been really into using coupons lately too. In the past I've just had all of them in one pocket in my purse and I've had to go through all of them every time we're at the store so I remember which ones are in there. I would organize by category and then go through all the coupons occasionally to make sure one that you wanted to use isn't about to expire. See how that works and then as your collection grows you can change depending on what works for you.

Amy Meyer said...

There are a lot of blogs out there where moms who are really coupon savy will post manufactures coupons that go with a specific store's coupons and the result is basically free food. I can't remember off the top of my head but type in like money saving moms in google and it will pull them up. Also I make out a grocery list of things I need and then go online and search for coupons. It helps you because you know you have a coupon for it and you don't end up buying things that you didn't need just because you had a coupon for it. I clipped coupons and ended up saving myself like $30. If I come across anything useful I will let you know. Good luck!