Taking the time for coupons

Rachel and I keep telling everyone that you will get out of couponing only what you put into it. And what you put into it is completely up to you!

Sometimes when we tell people how much money we are saving it seems to make them angry at us for some reason--even more so when we tell them they can do it too! The number one response I get is "I just DON'T have the time to do that." Rachel has four kids that she homeschools. That is like four full time jobs. If she has the time to save money, I do too.......right? As some of you might know, I have a 7 month old little girl and a husband that travels all summer long for work. The last 3 months have been tough because I have been sick and exhausted --due to the fact that I am pregnant with our second, woo hoo!!! :) --all I want to do is sleep and take care of a baby. Coupons have not been my priority. At all. So my coupon binder has really suffered. I finally decided that since all of the coupons in my binder expired oh, three months ago, I should probably figure something out. I do know that I am not wanting to take the time right now to clip every coupon. There has to be another way! I want to save the money but I don't want to put as much time into it. This said I will probably not be saving as much money, but I am okay with that.

So here is my new binder plan. I am going to try it out for a little while and see if it works for me. Instead of clipping every coupon I am going to put full coupon inserts into my binder. They are arranged by date and I have written the date on the outside of each insert.

www.sundaycouponpreview.com/ has a list of all the coupons that are in the insert in alphabetical order, along with expiration dates. Now this isn't completely accurate since the inserts are regional, but it is a whole lot faster than typing it out myself :) So I have copied, pasted, adjusted and printed the list of coupons. this goes in front of each insert, also with the date written on it.

I am not getting rid of my categories though. I have internet coupons and other loose coupons that need a home! in order to keep these organized, I have the front of my binder organized by category (also in alphabetical order).

Don't forget one of the most important parts of any coupon binder.....store coupon policies.

So I am happy to say that my binder is now up to date. All of the coupons that expired in August are gone and I am starting to feel a little more organized. I will keep you up to date on the pros and cons of organizing coupons this way! In the mean time.....we want to know how you organize your coupons. What is your method, and how does it work for you?

{ -Shannan- }