Coupon clippers! I need suggestions on organizing my growing pile

[riderinthestorm]

I'm going to try clipping coupons. The savings on some of this stuff is pretty amazing. But after two weeks of clipping, I have a fair stack of them but can't seem to figure out a good way to organize them.

I see people at the grocery store who manage to whip through far more coupons than I have accumulated so far but if I took this handful to the store right now, it would be pretty chaotic.

Do you use an organizer of some sort, or just an envelope? Do you organize by expiration date or into categories like cereal, produce, dairy etc.? Do you shop at different stores and organize them by "store coupon discounts"?

I know there are some pretty thrifty DUers and any suggestions on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[david13]

1. I just keep mine on a shelf by the door. Remember the rule on

coupons. Only use coupons on products you usually buy.
You could use an envelope, or a little folder/wallet. Keep it with your money wallet, or your supermarket club card. And you save money.
dc

[rug]

2. Try these people.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=353

[HopeHoops]

3. Organize them by month of expiration. Before going to the store, go through them sequentially.

That's the time to throw out the ones from the current month that have expired and select the ones you plan to use for that shopping trip. If you've got multiple coupons for the same item, you'll get to the one that expires earliest first.

Keep in mind that even WITH double coupons, the store brand is often still far less expensive. Obviously there are some things for which there is no substitute - like Tabasco.

[CTyankee]

4. Hubby does the clipping. I just put them in what was a checkbook holder.

I go thru my stack with the supermarket's weekly specials flyer. I pull out those corresponding coupons (if I can use the item), plus ones I always use (toilet paper, detergent, frozen veggies, etc) and put them in the front of the stack. I try to also use the coupons that would expire if I don't use them but only for the product I am going to buy anyway. If the store's own brand is cheaper and I'm OK with it, I don't use the coupon.

I also get points for money off of their gas, depending on how much I have spent. Spend $200 and you get 20 cents a gallon off gas, plus 5 cents more per gallon just for using your store card. I really save on gas.

Since I seem to put more and more of my food dollars toward fresh produce, fresh fish and good cuts of meat, the coupon savings are a real blessing.

[blueamy66]

5. I have a soft cover binder

with clear baseball card inserts in it....also dividers. I have the coupons divided by aisle or area...such as paper, meat, dairy, cleaning, laundry, etc.

The coupons slip right into the card slots and you can see them easily.

It works great for me!

[Paper Roses]

6. I used to be a great clipper but now that I shop only for one,

I find it difficult to use most of the coupons I would otherwise cut. My late husband liked things that I do not so those coupons are out. I find no real value in some of the coupons that now offer 10 cents off 5 cans of tomato soup. Everything is "off" 2 or 3 units of -whatever.
If the product is new to me, there is no way I will buy more than 1 unit of whatever it is.

The on-line coupon sites have offered a few good coups but they install software that I don't want.

[GoCubsGo]

11. I hate that, too, but...

If I used an item where the coupon requires purchase of 2 or 3 units, I save those for "buy one get one" sales. However, if it's something like a buck off for three boxes of cereal, forget it. Two is another story. The coupon that Weight Watchers has out at the moment is especially annoying. You have to buy TEN meals to get the discount. I don't have that kind of room in my freezer!

[WinkyDink]

7. By type of product, just as the stores do. Paper-clip'em, or get all fancy with a notebook.

P.S. I've also bought coupons from e-Bay. Highly recommend.

[SeattleGirl]

8. You can actually buy coupon organizers.

They're fairly inexpensive.

[GoCubsGo]

10. I get mine from the dollar store

They're cardboard, and they last about as long as the plastic ones. But, you can recycle them, unlike the plastic version. I have two. One for food items, and on for household/toiletries/drug store. I like them because they fit into the side pockets of my purse.

The only downside with these things is that I wish they were a little bit bigger, and I wish they had more compartments. However, I will cannibalize the dividers from an old, damaged one. That way I can further divide some of the compartments, like the dairy.

[wickerwoman]

9. First I would throw away all the coupons for products you don't actually use.

Then throw away all the coupons for products that have generic brands (since the generic items are almost always cheaper even after double coupons.)

So I'm usually just left with coupons for paper products, cleaning products, batteries, etc.

Then I organize by month of expiration. Then by product category.

But honestly I barely use coupons anymore. You get much better deals with store-brands, bulk and ethnic markets.

[GoCubsGo]

12. That has not been my experience

If the store doubles coupons, and the item is on sale, they are usually much less expensive than the store brand. Even better if you are allowed to load electronic coupons onto the store's loyalty card. You can use that on top of the paper coupon. I have had several instances where the store paid me to take the name brand. I almost always clip the name brand coupons, even if I'm more likely to buy the store brand. Every once in a while, I run into a good sale, but if the coupon doesn't get used, it's not a big deal.

[LeftyMom]

13. I just stick them in a pocket of my purse, but I'm fairly picky about them and don't have a lot.

Since I'm vegan and try not to eat much processed stuff I don't use very many food coupons, and none for shampoo or anything like that, but I make sure go grab coupons for things like TP and razors and such.

When the new weekly ads and drug store ads come out I go through those and circle anything that's a really good deal I plan on getting. Anything I've got a coupon for I write a little c next to it to remind me to use the coupon as well. I try not to hold onto any I won't use in a month or so.

[Kali]

14. I don't use many but...

I keep all the "maybes" and "for sures" on a clippy thing by the dry-erase board where the list gets compiled. When I'm getting ready to go to the store (about every two weeks) I go through the coupons, toss the expired ones (inevitably mostly "for sures", of course) and see what matches up to the list/budget. I don't buy much of anything that coupons are created for - garbage type "convenience" food and overly-full-of-stench "cleaning" products, so I am usually down to less than a dozen by the time I have my list finished. I just stick them in my wallet and have notes on the list for the "for sure" items and the "need to check what is the better deal" items.

Now ask how many times I walk out of the store without using them!:eyes: :rofl:

[flvegan]

15. Baseball card display sleeves and a three ring binder.

By product or brand, rotate your stock so the soonest expiration date is on top.

I don't use this, but I recommended the idea to my mom and she loves it. BIG time coupon clipper.

[riderinthestorm]

16. These are great suggestions!!

I was already shopping hard for generic store brand items but some things are just better if they are name brand. Dannon yogurts, certain types of coffee and tea, specials on produce, Orville Redenbacher's Old Fashioned popcorn, Lee and Perrins Worcestershire sauce (and Tabasco! I love the poster upthread - you understand!) etc. etc. You get the drift but the prices on some of this stuff is just getting to be too much.

So I went coupon hunting in the Sunday paper just these past two Sundays and already I have a handful of coupons on brands we love. I'm sold on the possibilities!

Thanks again, everyone - now I shop....

[david13]

17. The other thing to do generic or name brand (some are better, some

are not, is, look for the one on sale, then use the coupon also. Then you have the cheapest for what you want.
dc

[GoCubsGo]

19. Check the web sites of the various products.

Some of them offer their own coupons there. The organic dairies (Stonyfield Farms, Organic Valley, Horizon Dairy) are a good example. You often have to sign up with them, but if you have a separate gmail/yahoo/hotmail account for that sort of thing, it's not so bad. Some of the companies offer free samples, too. Kashi is one of the best. I signed up with them, and have gotten coupons for free frozen dinners, boxes of cereal, and boxes of snacks bars along with the samples. On top of that, they sent me additional coupons for the respective products.

Here is a web site of coupon web sites, where you can print your own coupons:
http://www.wow-coupons.com/grocery.php

BTW, if you do any shopping at Target, they have their own grocery coupons. The link is at the bottom of page at target.com.

[femmocrat]

18. This works for me:

I have about 8 old checkbook boxes (they are the perfect size). I have them labeled: Pets, Cleaning, HBA, Paper& Plastic, Food, etc. I stack those in a small plastic "milk crate" from the dollar store.

I can easily find only the ones I need on shopping day. The older ones are on the bottom and the newer ones on top (as I clip them). I go through every box at the end of the month and pitch the expired coupons. It only takes me about 10 minutes.

I put the ones I am using in a long envelope and paperclip it to my shopping list. I write a "C" next to the items for which I have a coupon.

I have used this system for about 25 years! :hi: