Organization — Coupons

Over my 24 years of marriage I have had various forms of coupon organization and management, from none to some.

Originally when we were first married and in college I had a super cute little hard-sided accordion file that had a ribbon closure on top. I think it was a Hallmark product and could be used for pretty much anything. My choice was coupons. I didn't take it to the store though; I only used it to keep them organized at home.

Later on I switched to a similar sized plastic accordion file for my coupons, for a couple of years I had nothing, and then when I was in Illinois I had a basket hanging on the wall and they were all thrown into it. Before I went to the store I would shuffle through them and see what I wanted to use, if I was lucky enough to have time before I left. Many would expire before I had a chance to use them, and I typically only clip the ones for products I use, so I was definitely not using the coupons to my full advantage.

For our two years in Virginia and the year since we'd been here in Michigan I had a large white envelope I'd carry around in my purse with my coupons. Obviously I didn't have many. We didn't subscribe to the paper and many Sundays we would forget to go and buy one, so my coupon pickings were slim at best. But I'd have them with me all the time and could use them to their full advantage.

I wanted something better though, and in the last few weeks we subscribed to the paper so we could get the best coupon savings, because if I have them I do use them. Our local grocery store also prints out coupons at the register, and they can be pretty good ones sometimes. The commissary is about 30 minutes away, so I only go there about every six weeks and do use the local grocery store frequently.

At Get 'er Done in June, one of the neighborhood ladies brought her coupons to 'get done' and had this nifty method, The Couponizer. I asked her about it and got my own personal testimonial. I was sold, and recently got my own Couponizer.

I did a google search and found an active coupon for $2 off at the time, so it was $17.95, plus shipping. There are a multitude of sections inside, but at the front this is one area you will find. I just used it last night.

Here's an idea of what the sections look like throughout The Couponizer where you organize your coupons. It's alphabetized!

There's a large fold-out paper for separating your coupons before you place them into the sections. It's organized just like the sections in The Couponizer.

Here is how it folds up.

This is a sample of some of the sections at the back behind the coupons.


Here is an idea of how big it is. My hand is kind of long, but it is not as pudgy as it looks in this picture. If it's true that a picture adds 10 pounds to you, and it did that to my hand, I fear what it actually does to me.

Last night I saved $14.25 at the store, including a couple of double coupons. I would say that about 1/3 to 1/2 of that I would not have saved if I'd just had the stuff in my envelope in my purse instead of organized ahead of time in The Couponizer (I just thought I was doing a good job!). I think it will make a good place to keep the receipts for returns I'll be making to the store, instead of keeping them in my wallet. There is a section for it (in the picture above even) that I just haven't used yet.

I've already found myself grabbing it every time I walk out the door! That's a good thing.

This post is linked to Works-For-Me-Wednesday hosted by Kristen at We Are THAT Family.