Common Sense with Money, Deal Seeking Mom and Money Saving Mom
I'm not a huge couponer; but, I do clip coupons and try to lay my hands on extra copies of ones I know I'll use. A few weeks ago, after I read this post by Mercedes and followed every link in it to check out how everyone did their various systems, I decided that I needed a better system for organizing my coupons. I liked the system I was using (the 2nd one I'd tried). I just wanted to tweak it a bit by adding a few categories that I'd not put in initially plus add a little more space. I was using a 4x6 index file box. It worked much better for me than the three-ring binder system that many couponers use. What I really needed, I decided, was something similar to the Rubbermaid photo storage boxes my girls use to store their Littlest Pet Shop/Polly Pocket dolls. (Rubbermaid doesn't make them any more, at least not like what the girls have...however, I think something like this would work very well, too - especially with the "bookend" in the box). As I searched the stores, I couldn't find anything like the previously mentioned or linked boxes. One of the boxes from the girls' room had been sitting empty for months. If they don't use it, they won't miss it. It's mine! :) Now...for the inside of the box...
A little over a year ago, Brad's office was getting rid of a ton of office supplies people had ordered and never used, where they were shipped the wrong thing or where technology had made the item(s) obsolete. Since they knew we homeschooled, the person in charge of the supply area offered Brad as much of it as we could haul away...errrr....ummmm...use. I ended up with over 10,000 (seriously, I am NOT exaggerating) plain white 4x6 index cards (they meant to order the ones with lines...whooops!) and file folder labels out the wazoo - among other things. I put both of these things to use for my organization. Coupon organization on the cheap?! Yippee!!!!
I looked over my current categories and decided what other categories I needed to add. Then I looked at each category to determine what sub-categories would be most useful to me. I also reviewed the category lists on several blogs to see if there was something glaringly obvious that I'd missed (like, oh...baking...yes, seriously, I forgot to include a tab for BAKING! Me! The baker-kind-of chick! Duh.)
I used the plastic dividers from my old file system for the main categories and then made sub-category dividers out of the 4x6 cards. Now, because I'm massively OCD, I actually cut my 4x6 cards to create tabs on them...had to have that. I cut several at a time and did it over the course of a couple of days while the kids were working on math worksheets. I covered the alpha tabs on my plastic dividers with part of a file folder label, added my sub-category dividers and went to town filing my coupons.
Have to say, I love, love, L.O.V.E. the new system! The box lid latches on and has a handle, so I can pop the lid on and toss it in the cart when I go into the store. The box stays in the van unless I'm bringing it in to file coupons - if it's in the van, I won't forget it on my mad dash out the door to the store!
And here's a peek at it:
Here's a closer look at the "baking" category (a case where the sub-categories aren't completely alphabetized because I added chips/nuts at the end...funny, I have a "chips/nuts" sub-category in the SNACKS, too...different kind of chips and nuts, though) Anyway, a closer look:
And there ya have it. My coupon organizing system. And, if you ever have coupons you're not going to use, toss them my way and I'll gladly go through them!
1 comment:
Thank you Gina! I've been "couponing" just since August and I'm still trying to find "my" systme. The notebook is not working for me. I think I could adapt to this more easily. Thanks for posting your categories, too!
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