COUPONING 101- PART 2- HOW TO ORGANIZE YOUR COUPONS

There are a couple of different ways you can organize your coupons. Pick whichever one works best for you. I myself get 5 papers at the most a week and that doesnt happen very often, so i do not use the no clip method of organizing my coupons.

I get very impatient so when my fiance brings home the paper for me on sunday night i usually take all of the coupon inserts out and start clipping! i only clip the coupons that i will use if i find a good enough deal. i never clip coupons that i wont use. i usually let my mom go through the extras or cut out what i know friends and family members may be able to use. then i save the insert to pass on to someone else or i put it aside incase i find a good trade.

FOR BEGINNERS: for beginners i recommend using a coupon organizer that fits in your purse. when u first start couponing u wont have an over abundance of coupons so there is no need for a huge coupon binder in my opinion yet. i started off with the coupon organizer in the link above and it has worked great for me the past couple of years. i use 2 and they fit great in my purse. one for FOOD one for NONFOOD. depending on what u use u may be able to use just one organizer and just label the sections differently.later in this post i will share the sections i have in my organizer(s)

FOR THE COUPON PRO: if you have been couponing for a long time and find that u are now getting more coupons or trading or have mastered stockpiling i recommend getting a coupon binder. you can either make one yourself with dividers and baseball card holders or splurge like i did (its my becoming a new mommy gift to myself) and get a coupon clutch.

After i clip my coupons i usually seperate them into the catagories they belong in and then put them into my organizer.
These are the sections in my FOOD coupon organizer: BAKING ISLE, BREAD/BAGELS, CANNED FRUITS/VEG, CEREAL/POPTARTS, CHIPS/CRACKERS/COOKIES, CONDIMENTS, DAIRY, FROZEN, GRANOLA BARS, JUICE/WATER/SODA, MEATS, MISC., PASTA/SAUCE/KITS, PRODUCE,RICE/POTATOES, SOUP, FREE COUPONS, STORE COUPONS

These are the sections in my NONFOOD coupon organizer: BABY, BODYWASH ,CLEANER, DEODERANT, DISHSOAP/LAUNDRY, FACESTUFF, GIRLSTUFF, HEALTH, LOTION,MAGAZINES, MAKEUP, MEDICINE, MISC, PAPER GOODS, RANDY(my fiance-i put mens coupons there), RAZORS/CREAM, SHAMPOO/CONDITIONER, SMELLY STUFF, SOAP/SANITIZER, TOOTHBRUSHES/PASTE, ZIPLOC, HASSIN(the cat- u can of course put PET), FREE COUPONS, STORE COUPONS

Of course you may have a different way to label them but this is what works best for me. its mostly how the store is set up by isle.

I hope this helps you to organize your coupons!

COUPONING 101- PART 1 - WHERE TO FIND COUPONS

There are many places to find/get coupons..

SUNDAY NEWSPAPER- every sunday (except for holiday weekends) there will be anywhere from 1-4 coupon inserts in the paper. i always check sundaycouponpreview.com to see what coupons will be in the paper for the week prior to purchasing the paper. depending on how good the coupons are i will usually get anywhere from 1-5 newspapers. i recommend checking out your local dollar store to see if they carry the paper so u can pay $1 instead of $2.

INTERNET PRINTABLES- IP - you need to have access to a printer in order to get IP coupons. some websites who offer printable coupons are: coupons.com , redplum.com , smartsource.com , allyou.com

FACEBOOK - facebook is a great place to get coupons. often times when you "like" a page they will offer a coupon. most of the time it is a high value coupon. also there are times you can get a coupon for a FREE item when the products facebook is doing a special promotion

STORE COUPONS - some stores such as Target offer their own coupons online or sent in the mail specific for use in their store only (these can also be stacked with a MFR coupon-which i will get into later when i post about target.) some stores also have coupons in their weekly ad that can also be paired with a MFR coupon.

BLINKIES, TEARPADS, WINETAGS, PEELIES - blinkies are little coupon machines placed by a product in the store where a coupon spits out for you- u can see a picture of one here. tearpads are a pad of coupons that are usually hanging on a display or next to a product offering a coupon to use on that product. winetags are coupons that are hanging on a product. Peelies are also on the product itself.u peel the coupon off the product to use it on that purchase

MAGAZINES - All You magazine offers great coupons monthly. i have only seen allyou magazine in walmart. i have a subscription which is a great thing to have. there are other magazines who have coupons as well but sometimes its only a couple.


FRIENDS,FAMILY,CO-WORKERS - ask your friends ,family and co-workers if they use their coupons and if not if they could save them for you every week. or to save the coupons they dont use for you as well. my mom gets inserts from co-workers for us after they go through and clip the coupons they use

TRADING - i love to trade coupons. sometimes i have an over abundance of coupons that i will never use or dont use that i can easuly trade with someone who will use them. a couple of great sites i have used to trade are: afullcup.com , couponmom.com and weusecoupons.com

COUPON CLIPPING WEBSITES - sometimes u cant find someone to trade with, a coupon may be regional and u didnt get it or there is a great sale on something that u want to stock up on. thats where a coupon clipping service comes in. they get a ton of coupons and u pay for their time to clip them and shipping not for the coupon itself. i have been using mycouponhunter.com for well over a year now and i am very happy with her site.

WRITING TO COMPANIES - last year i got a great idea from a fellow blogger to write to companies complimenting their products. most of the time when u do this they will send u some high value coupons as a thanks for liking their products. you can also request coupons and most of the time they will send you some.

THE PRODUCT ITSELF - sometimes there are coupons inside a product or box or bag, ect.- so always check!!

SAMPLES -i sign up for every sample i can. almost everytime i recieve a sample in the mail it comes with a coupon! so its worth the minute it takes to sign up for a freebie/sample in hopes that there may be a coupon in with it.
  
ECOUPONS:Cellfire, Shortcuts, uPromise, P&G eSaver. These are coupons that you can load to your store savings cards. No clipping required! - thanks Freesamplefreak

NEWSLETTERS: Sign up with your favorite brands or stores newsletters online. If there is ever a brand or a store that you like, sign up for their emails, most companies send out newsletters that include money saving coupons. - thanks Freesamplefreak


Thats all i can think of for now. if anyone else has any other ways to get coupons please let me know and i will add it to the list. i hope this helps!!

COUPONING 101- INTRODUCTION

I decided to start my own couponing 101 series in my own words in hopes it will help fellow couponers and beginners.
i am not sure the order i will be posting the series in but here is a list of what i will be covering:
where to find coupons
how to organize coupons
how to use a coupon (correctly)
coupon lingo
cvs
rite aid
walgreens
target
walmart
shoprite
how to write out your shopping list
and more

if you have questions or suggestions on anything i should cover please comment this post and i will make sure to answer them for you.