Coupon Binder Question

i went baseball card and discovered that my shoe box/coupon box was much easier to handle and i just better organized my categories...now its fun taking my box to the store again......but as anything do as you want/whatsbest for you...

My system - I will clip those coupons that I know I will use (i.e. lunchmeat, cheese slices) and put them in a big envelope. The rest I leave intact. Then I stack up the flyers sorted by date so that I can find them if/when I need them. The info here that tells which Q is in which flyer is critical to success with this plan.

It would take many hours If I was to cut out every coupon and try to organize them in some fashion,

Quote from WBBell : My system - I will clip those coupons that I know I will use (i.e. lunchmeat, cheese slices) and put them in a big envelope. The rest I leave intact. Then I stack up the flyers sorted by date so that I can find them if/when I need them. The info here that tells which Q is in which flyer is critical to success with this plan. It would take many hours If I was to cut out every coupon and try to organize them in some fashion,

Ya know - that is interesting - I may start doing that.

I use the baseball card page binder method, but only for my internet Q's. I keep all of the manufacturer's coupons that I get from inserts intact in page protectors that snap in to three ring binder. I agree that it is a waste of time to clip all of the coupons when you may only use a small percentage of them.

It really depends on how many inserts you get per week. When I was only getting a few it was easy to keep up. Then when I was getting 20+, it was a major PIA. I started filing them by month then week. My insert source went bye bye so now I'm back to just getting a few inserts and trading. That was a blessing though as it was getting out of hand. I'm going to go back to the binder method.

I have 3 binders. One is for food items, another for non-food products, and the third is for the drug stores. The last one is just a 1 inch one that I put in the coupons I need for the deals. For the other two, I have them catergorized like you'd find them in a grocery store.

I use the binder and box and envelope method. I started with just a recipe box, but have since outgrown that, but after I cut out the coupons I sort them into the box - and then when I have time I take the ones I know I'll use, or are likely to use and put them into my binder. The ones I'll give away or trade I keep in the box, or any I doubt I'd use unless absolutely necessary.

I'm the kind of person though that has to have it rignt in front of my face or I'll forget I have it - so I have to cut out all the coupons (doesn't take me long as I only get 3 sets a week - and I stack and clip - and any other sets I get later from people I just do when I have time) and have them easy to look at in the baseball card or photo pages (photo pages are nice for those big coupons) in a binder. Plus it makes it easy to pull expireds because I can see the dates on every coupon. I don't set a limit to how many pages I use .

Then when I'm making my lists I'll pull and put the coupons I'll need into envelopes along with the typed shopping list - and I recently found some clear plastic zipper pouches at Target, that I picked up in different colors so each corresponds to a store. Keeps me from buying something just because I have a coupon, and is easier to handle with 3 kids in tow (9, 2 and 6 weeks).

If I'm shopping alone I'll take my binders with me (one for food/cleaning - the other for HBA/pets) so I can scope out clearances and really look for deals - something I know I can't do with the kiddos.

I use a eight by ten photo album to put my coupons in.... It fits in my purse. I keep inserts whole, and only cut the coupons I'm sure I'll use, or might use, or might possibly be on clearance. You'll get better at it with them. I also bring a capri sun pouch filled with random coupons that fits in my purse as well... If I "have" to have extra coupons, I'll bring another large purse filled with about 2 or 3 copies of each insert. Works for me.. If I cut all of the coupons, I'd never even get to the store...

I use the baseball card method, and in the next few weeks will be updating it to a new level.

I also have heavy duty sheet protectors that I slit the top layer on the left side so it's front and top loaded... put a bit of FAR packaging tape across the bottom inch or so and you have QUICK and EASY access to your Q's.

No time to get that started now.

Results will be posted.

I use the binder method. I keep having to go up in size and I think I'm at my limit now. I swear that thing weighs 20 pounds. But I like having every coupon easily available, and access to all coupons when I'm in a store in case I see something on clearance or on sale that I didn't know about. I get 10 inserts a week.

I usually get 8-12 inserts per week.

My Mom likes to recycle dumpster dive and she said last weekend she got the 'mother' lode of inserts - around 30+.

I am looking for a good way to handle that many...even unclipped, that is still a heafty # to be dealing with...

I went to Joann Fabrics and got 4 black 12" x 12" boxes
used to store scrapbook pages. I use them for my inserts.
My boxes are divided like this:
RedPlum
SmartSource
P&G
Miscellaneous

The ones that I know I will use I clip on Sundays and
put them in an envelope that goes in my purse. The others
stay intact and go into the boxes, piled by date.

So far it has been working pretty well but I always read these
posts for new ideas!

Quote from WBBell : My system - I will clip those coupons that I know I will use (i.e. lunchmeat, cheese slices) and put them in a big envelope. The rest I leave intact. Then I stack up the flyers sorted by date so that I can find them if/when I need them. The info here that tells which Q is in which flyer is critical to success with this plan. It would take many hours If I was to cut out every coupon and try to organize them in some fashion,

That's exactly what I do . I sort them with manila envelopes by date and type (SS, RP, P&G). There are some great threads on slick deals that tell you what coupons to find on what date. I just refer to those whenever I compile a list of purchases.

I was using a binder, but that was getting too full. I have switched to a filing cabinet drawer, lol