Cutting Couponing Costs

Quote from xanthophyll : I will comment on Samsung. I had one for a few years and it was OK. B/W laser. Got a second unit, same model. After 2 months of very light duty, it died and was not repairable. So I have questions about the quality of their products. While Samsung did agree to replace it, the process actually took over 6 months. The CS people seemed nice (and were not overseas), but every thing they said they would do, they didn't. Every time they said they'd call back or contact me, they didn't. The red tape during the whole process was just confounding. Totally inexcusable, and not isolated to just one phone call. And the replacement they gave me is actually a downgrade from the unit I had. So the customer service was horrible. I will not deal with Samsung products anymore.

Two years and 50,000+ pages ours is still doing great.

I've used both inkjet and color laser printers.

Non chipped refillable ink carts will always beat lasers in terms of cost (but not speed). You simply can't get cheaper then refilled carts.

Taken from wikipedia: [wikipedia.org]

Another option is for the consumer to purchase "bulk ink" (in pints, quarts, or gallons) and refill the cartridges themselves. This can be extremely cost-effective if the consumer is a heavy user of cartridges. 1 US pint (0.47 l; 0.83 imp pt) is sufficient to fill about 15 to 17 large-capacity cartridges.

A quick search on ebay shows:

16oz (1 pint) ink starts at $11.65 = 15-17 large capacity cartridges
32oz ink starts at $25.68 = 30-34 large capacity cartridges
64oz ink starts at $39.95 = 60-68 large capacity cartridges
128oz (1 gallon) starts at $64.67 = 120-136 large capacity cartridges

My inkjet printers factory large capacity carts can print 600 pages.

600 * 15 = 9000 printed pages
600 * 30 = 18K printed pages
600 * 60 = 36K printed pages
600 * 120 = 72K printed pages

9000 printed pages / $11.65 = 0.0012944 cost per printed page
18,000 printed pages / $25.68 = 0.0014266 cost per printed page
36,000 printed pages / $39.95 = 0.0011097 cost per printed page
72,000 printed pages / $64.67 = 0.0008981 cost per printed page

Compare the above to a laser toner generic brand cart that costs $20:

5000 printed pages / $20 = 0.004 cost per printed page (4 times the cost of ink)


Being able to print 9 sheets for less then a penny on a refilled inkjet is nice. But if you were a big time printer, you could do double that, and get about 20 prints for a penny. Were talking continuous ink (CIS). I dont think I'll ever see the need to go CIS myself. I only use special 100ml refill carts, and only refill mine once every 6 months, so its not really an ordeal for me to fill them. Now if I was filling them all the time, once every two weeks or something, then I might go CIS.

Inkjet will always beat laser in terms of cost (but not speed, not yet).

Not to change the topic, but I am interested in how everyone organizes their coupons. I know of the baseball card holders, etc., but I am looking to see if anyone does anything different. Also, do you cut out all of the coupons or just keep the inserts. I am divided on this because there are usually good clearance deals that I don't have coupons for since I don't cut out all coupons. Any and all opinions are greatly appreciated.

Quote from bea8480 : Not to change the topic, but I am interested in how everyone organizes their coupons. I know of the baseball card holders, etc., but I am looking to see if anyone does anything different. Also, do you cut out all of the coupons or just keep the inserts. I am divided on this because there are usually good clearance deals that I don't have coupons for since I don't cut out all coupons. Any and all opinions are greatly appreciated.

Would love to hear from the Coupon Masters on this too.

I keep all my coupon inserts separated by dates in magazine holders/ organisers (pic below) . If I happen to have too many of one week, then I separate by Rp/SS/PG, the dates of each insert are on the front of the magazine holder. I usually use white masking tape, write the date, and tear off and use another piece of tape for the next inserts. My organisers are lined up in my spare room in order by date.
i have never cut out all coupons and placed into baseball card holders. Usually when I am out shopping, it is for something specific and I will have all those particular mq's in an accordion style (small) folder, which I can keep in my handbag or throw into my car.

I too have missed out on some awesome deals as I don't have the necessary coupon with me , but then I don't tend to fret about it too much. Other than that, would love to hear others ideas too.

Quote from CountryFan : Two years and 50,000+ pages ours is still doing great.

i had the same problem with my washing machine. After 3 months I finally contacted the store I bought it from and they replaced it

I still sort my Qs the way my very first cardboard expando file organizer (30+ years ago) had them, with two tweaks. I'm not a visual type person. If I cut it, I know it's there (unlike my SIL who has to SEE the Q, so she has the baseball card sleeves and a binder).
I now hold them in a pencil carrier (Wags Clearance), like you would find in a 3 ring binder, clipped together with metal O rings. I also sort by product/ by value/ by expiration (ie, highest value Q will be first if I have multiple valued Qs for the same product). I don't cut insert Qs unless I know of a sale, so most of what's in the Qs are printables (I work in the SD printable thread).

Snacks and Sweets
Meats and Dairy
Baking and Breakfast
Wraps and Cleansers
Feminine, Pet and Baby
Fruits and Vegetables
Juices and Drinks
Health & Beauty
Soups and Spreads
Rice, Pasta and Potatoes
Household and Misc
I added store specific category
I added Others (stuff I don't want, but friends, SIL, etc use)

PGF has the binder that's 7+ inches in thickness, so she'd be good to ask about organization of a binder. Found the post.

My organization is lackluster at best: I keep outgrowing storage 'methods' and can't perfect one before I wind up needing another. But the general concept below remains consistent.

Inserts - Kept whole filed by date in hanging folders. When I get a lot of papers or there are many inserts, they're separated by insert into manilla folders within the hanging folder. This is working well for me so far, I just need a bigger file box than what I have now. I see a new-to-me filing cabinet in my future...

Printables - Sorted uncut in a document holder into three categories: food, household, and HBA. I print them out grouped together to make this easier. If I printed it for a specific upcoming deal I'll note which store and date in the margin next to the Q.

Store Qs, blinkies/tearpads/peelies/in product Qs - Kept in a binder in a variety of holders: baseball card sheets for blinkies, zipper pouches for store specific Qs, full page doc holders for full page store Qs (a la the YAB and GAB from Publix), etc.

When I'm getting ready for an ad I'll go through all of the above and cut out Qs for deals. Cut Qs get paper clipped to the list for that store. Sometimes I can't do the deal (usually stock) and I'm left with...

Cut Qs - These currently live in a big ol' pile in my purse It's actually not that bad, they're still separated by my three general categories (food, household, HBA) and live in my shopping notebook so they're easy to flip through on the fly in the store. And since I cut them out for previous deals I usually have a good sense of what's in there already. Also, I make a point to keep high-value/frequently clearanced item Qs in there as well, so that if I find a deal on the fly odds are good I'll be able to take advantage of it. For example, Irish Spring is going on clearance in a lot of places, so I'll keep my IS Qs in there in case I find some while I'm out.

Quote from corporateclaw : Have any of you had much luck with buying full inserts from das bay? I have thought about doing that but with the way things go over there I always imagined that if I bought 20 x an insert it would all go fine unless there was a hot coupon in the insert and then it would just happen that those would be left out. Something like that, at least.

I always buy my inserts from F&H Coupons out of MI. I order on the weekend and always have them buy Wed.

My organization method --- well, usually a bit of a disaster...

I did the no-clip method for a while --- filing whole inserts in a small, handled file tote & used a insert coupon listing /database I printed off the internet. That worked except for the fact that I get inserts from 3 different newspapers & the database was only about 95% accurate. & then there was the problem that I get some 45% of my MQs from tearpads, blinkies, store coupon booklets, direct mailers & in package MQs. Now the tote carries what is left of the inserts AFTER I clipped the MQs I know I will likely use, trade or RAOK & any uncut IPs ( I just hit print all at COUPONS.COM & SMARTSOURCE.COM)

Which leads to a 4 inch zipper close binder. The Qs are organized ALPHABETICALLY ( not by category). I have 5 different types of plastic sheets --- photo sized, baseball card size, business card & currency collector sheets. But I am behind in filing MQs...

The best of the best --- MQs that will be used that week or were mentioned as BOLO for clearance stay in the purse & UPs, RRs, ECBs & various store Qs. So of course I have about half a pound of Qs in various envelopes in my purse. One envelope for each local store --- so...
#1 CVS
#2 WAGs
# 3 Ralphs (Kroger)
#4 Target
#5 Kmart
#6 Office Depot & Staples
#7 Petco & soon PetsMart (grand opening this saturday -- hurrah!)
#8 misc stores nearby that I don't have time to shop at much-- Vons(Safeway), RiteAid, Whole Foods etc..& restaurant Qs

Walmart is not on the list because the nearest Walmart is at least 4 miles away.

So there is my organization method:
Tote --- the unclipped leftovers
Binder --- the possibly useful Qs. clipped & organized by alphabet brandname
Envelopes -- organized by store, the Qs most likely to be used

Quote from Rose247 : Walmart is not on the list because the nearest Walmart is at least 4 miles away.

The nearest anything is almost 8 miles for us!

For a long (long, long) time I used the baseball card sleeves to organize my coupons. On a big week (3 or 4 inserts), it would take me 2-3 hours to sort, cut, file and purge my coupons. I quit about 6 months ago and haven't looked back.

I now sort my coupons and slip them into page protectors. I file them in my binder by date. I update a database I keep every week and print a new list. This goes in the front of my binder. This way, I have *all* of my coupons with me and don't miss deals. Each week takes 20 minutes tops. Once a month or so, I will go through and pull any pages that have expired completely. These go to the recycle bin. When there are 2 or 3 pages left for a week, I cut them, put them in the baseball card holders, and put them in my binder where I keep my other coupons (tearpads, blinkies, etc).

I've saved myself tons of time cutting and purging my binder and the whole process is a lot easier. I do cut the ones I know I will use (i.e. free stuff at Walmart, CVS/Walgreens sales, and my grocery sales every week.) These go into an expandable check file that stays in my purse with my RR, ECB, Store cards, etc.

Quote from CVS_Lifer : Non chipped refillable ink carts will always beat lasers in terms of cost (but not speed). You simply can't get cheaper then refilled carts. *snip*

Yeah, I agree. BUT I've had way too many refilled carts that quit working on me before they were empty. I'm done with those.

.........

I use a laser printer (HP wireless) and want to let those of you with iPads and maybe iPods/phones know that coupons.com has an app. Extra prints for those of you with AirPrint-compatible printers.

I have an arrangement with a gas station and a smoke shop - I get their leftovers every Sunday night/Monday morning. It works out great, unless EC has been in the news a lot, and then the inserts are completely gone by the time I get there at closing time Sunday night. I HATE THAT SHOW!!!

I buy Qs, but only rarely.. ... my dad and brother-in-law send me their Qs from their papers (good papers with great Qs) once a month.

Binder -- I have TWO 3-inch binders, one just for drugstore stuff, one for groceries.
Labels are:
GROCERY - organized pretty closely to the aisles:
Baking
Batteries
Bread
Canned
Cat/dog
Cereal
Cheese
Chips
Cleaning
Coffee/tea
Condiments
Dairy (butter and eggs only)
Dish/laundry detergent
Frozen
Meat
Milk
Plastic ware
Produce
Rice/pasta
Snacks
Sodas/drinks

DRUGSTORE BINDER:
Baby
Batteries (I split the Qs evenly with the grocery binder)
Candy
Cosmetics
Deodorants
Facial
First aid
Lotions (not for the face)
Paper goods
Pharmacy (subcategories of vitamins and painkillers; the rest is just alphabetized by product name)
Razors etc
Scented crap
Shampoo
Soap
Tampons, etc
Toothpaste

Quote from monkeybug77 : For a long (long, long) time I used the baseball card sleeves to organize my coupons. On a big week (3 or 4 inserts), it would take me 2-3 hours to sort, cut, file and purge my coupons. I quit about 6 months ago and haven't looked back. I now sort my coupons and slip them into page protectors. I file them in my binder by date. I update a database I keep every week and print a new list. This goes in the front of my binder. This way, I have *all* of my coupons with me and don't miss deals. Each week takes 20 minutes tops. Once a month or so, I will go through and pull any pages that have expired completely. These go to the recycle bin. When there are 2 or 3 pages left for a week, I cut them, put them in the baseball card holders, and put them in my binder where I keep my other coupons (tearpads, blinkies, etc). I've saved myself tons of time cutting and purging my binder and the whole process is a lot easier. I do cut the ones I know I will use (i.e. free stuff at Walmart, CVS/Walgreens sales, and my grocery sales every week.) These go into an expandable check file that stays in my purse with my RR, ECB, Store cards, etc.

So what are you doing once the page is in a page protector? Do you find that you cut Qs out in-store when you see an unexpected deal? Do you go through and cut in advance before going to the store? I think your idea might work for me (2-3 hours a week is burning me out also, though I have lots of idle bus-commute time in which to do it) .... but I'm usually only organized when I get the binder up to date. I'm NEVER organized right before I go to the store!! It's usually a major struggle and victory just to get out the darn door!!!