Well, I've started my binder and I have pretty good little collection of coupons. Last night I was looking through the WalGreens, CVS and Rite Aid sales papers trying to match coupons with sales items and then it dawned on me . . . why am I sitting here going through all of this trouble to save money or potentially get an item for free if it's something that I don't even use! Do you guys do that too? I mean what am I going to do with 7 colgate toothbrushes and 5 boxes of this, etc. So, my question is this. Do you clip coupons ONLY for those items that you use on a regular basis, or do you clip coupons for anything that you might be able to get for little to no cost and just keep them on hand? If you do the latter do you find yourself with a bunch of stuff you don't want or need? I could really see this becoming a hobby but I don't need to have anymore junk around the house than I already do. :lol:
Me 2 Even if I could get it for FREE or dirt cheap, I don't buy what we dont use. And right now I don't have the space to house 90 tubes of toothpaste.
yep, and why even spend 50 cent on something that you won't use? it's wasted as far as I am concerned.
Why use coupons anyways, you just spent 90 million dollars. with all that money coupons don't mean squat. :jester:
Love the questions as I am doing this myself. So, when you are cutting out the coupons and putting them in the organizer do you put them in by the name of the Store or by the Product? OCD on my end, with accounting degree, so I am always over analyzing things. At first I put them in by product, such as T for toothpaste, but then I had to go through all of the items in T when at the store to find one that they would take. I know I'm making it harder than it should be, darn it. Sherry
I do it by store. when I get to that store, I get out that stores coupons. If I am going say to walgreens for toothpaste, and I dont have a walgreens only coupon, I will go through my 'general' coupons for the toothpaste coupons. make sense?
So, let me say it back to you....you know how thick headed I am: You put your coupons in the accordian folder in alphabetical order by store. Then you pull out all of those coupons when going to that store to see if you have a coupon for the items you need. If I said it back right to you....it makes sense to do it that way. Now, do you have them in any certain order for that store or when you make your list do you go through them to see if you have a coupon? Learn new things all the time, Sherry
well mostly right...I am not so organized I have them in ABC order by store, I just have a Walgreens slot, CVS slot, Rite Aid etc. The general coupons are only organized by categories: food, cleaning/household, bath and beauty, paper products. and yes, I pull out all coupons for said store when I go in there. just in case.
I don't do them by store. I only shop at LF so no need to, but I am getting on the bandwagon to look for better deals. My binder is broken down into items... Frozen Dairy Meat Sauses/Condiments Paper Products Meds etc...
I only clip coupons for the stuff that I use. I use a binder that I ordered from Faye's website http://smartspendingresources.com. It is divided up by types of products, as others have mentioned - Baking, Beverages, Dairy, Frozen, Paper Products, Toiletries, etc. I also have a section for store coupons, but the only coupons I put in there are the ones that are only for that store. Lowes Foods, Food Lion, BJ's, Target and Walgreens all have store coupons that you can only use at their store and that is where I put them. I love it! Edited to say: I just saw on Faye's website that she doesn't sell the binders anymore, but you can buy the inserts from her. The binders can be found at office supply stores.
I do it by store & aisle. For example I have a section in my notebook for BJs and Lowes. I also have sections for stuff like Paper products (TP, paper towels, napkins, etc.), baby/kid, frozen, meat, etc.
I felt the same way when I first started it out. I only buy foods when it's on sale. For example, canned vegetables. I buy alot of them and stock them in my food pantry. It'll be good for a long time. If it's home cleaning supplies, for example, dish sponges. It was on sale at Walmart few months ago and with coupons, I got it for .25 cent each. Now I got 5 sponges under my sink to last me for a year. Every Sunday, I only buy 4 newspapers.