How Do You Really Start with the Coupons and the Binder

Wow T.F. did she ask for your opinion on whether or not it was worth her time? goodness....
Anyways i just used the small coupon accordian file things. Plastic in the dollar section.
I have one for food and one for other stuff.
Then i sort by first letter of items.
Example: For food pastas go with P, eggs go in the E slot.
Shampoo in the s.
If you haven't all ready check out hiptosave.com. She has a whole section for new couponers and how to set up a binder. SHe even has videos specificly on the binder system. Another good blog is couponingtodisney.com
Good luck with your couponing. I hope you save lots of money!
Coupons i get from sunday paper, redplum.com, smartsource, facebook, cellfire.com, shortcuts.com, and the manufactuer websites.

I bought index card boxes and cut pieces of manilla file folders into the right size to fit behind the tabbed dividers of the alphabet. I then wrote simple categories on each new tab.

For example:

fruit
veggies
bread
frozen
pork
beef
laundry soap (we don't use softener)
dish soap
cereal

You get the picture. Make it easy. Add categories when it makes sense to. That way when you are at the store it makes it easy to find an extra coupon you hadn't pulled before you shopped.
I have a little fabric bag that holds my boxes, a pen, and small pair of scissors. I tuck the weekly ads into the bag, too.

Good luck, make it simple, and have fun! Oh....and save money!

Keep in mind that time = $$, so be aware of how much time you are putting into your couponing.

The extreme people (tv show) are glorified hoarders and commit coupon fraud.

Also, how much do you really save when you drive from one place to the other? Consider gas, wear/tear on you car, etc.

Using coupons can be a good way to shave some bucks off the bills, just use common sense when doing it.

EDITED TO ADD.. Mamaof 3M... I never said anything was wrong with couponing or that she was overdoing it in anyway. Sure, couponing can save you money but it also takes time to put into it... that's all I meant .... TIME=$$ just be smart about it. Gees.

Hi Krislyn

I have a coupon organizer as well. It's an expandable large wallet I bought on Ebay for $2. It came with deviders/stickers to label.
I have mine labeled by categories that I use - crackers/chips, dairy, meats, toiletries, household, CVS, Target, Walgreens, spreads and sauces etc.\
I get 3 papers every Sunday and I go through them, cut out only coupons that I know I will use. I leave the other ones in the insert and file those by date. thekrazycouponlady.com has info on how to set up your binder.

I'm signed up with a couple coupon sites and get daily emails with the deals for that day and they tell you all the deals at different stores, what coupons to use and when to find them. If it's something I need I go and find my coupons, make a list broken down by store and then go shopping.
I don't cut all the coupons because a lot of them I won't use anyway, so I just cut them as the deals come up and as I need them, that's why I don't need a big binder, just this little expandable wallet thingy is enough.

When I first started couponing about a year ago I was going crazy running to 3 different stores almost every day.
Now I have a small stock pile of things I need like toiletries, some foods etc and I don't run around as much anymore. I make my list for all the stores on Sunday and then make a couple of trips during the week - I usually go to CVS, Walgreens, Target and a local grocery store and then I'm done for the week.

Here are a couple of sites you can use:
www.dealseekingmom.com
www.thekrazycouponlady.com

The krazy coupon lady.com has a lot of good info on how to get started with the binder and with couponing in general.
Good luck. This is truly worth the time and will save you tons of money, but it's extremely addicting.. ha ha

Realistically, I would say that you should set your binder up the way it makes most sense to you and how it will work most efficiently for you. Ask yourself how will it be easiest and most time-efficient for you to organize and search for coupons?

I get the majority of my coupons from newspapers, some from online sources, and don't have a circle of friends who trade them...I'm the most value conscious of the bunch and often feel I'm talking to deaf ears when I explain how I scored some great deals.

My MIL give me her inserts after she clips her 3 or so coupons. I find that for the most part having 2 copies of a coupon ( by copies I mean 2 legit coupons for the same product) Is plenty for me, Quite a few of the stores will print a limit of so many on really good deals, anyways. so don't feel that if you don't have 20 colgate toothpaste coupons that you won't get a good deal.

I do like Yvette, I clip stuff i am brand loyal to, like dog food will always be Purina since i don't want Fido getting an upset tummy. i always clip Ortega coupons because i know my store sells refried bean for $1 and packets of taco seasoning for 50 cents, so with that Q i can get 2 packs of seasoning and a can of beans for $1. I digress. Once i clip the ones I know i want, I write the date of the insert on the front ( you can find it reallly small on the spine) staple that baby together and file it.

Once a week i check the coupon blog, make my list and as i go about my business in town I stop at CVS, RiteAid, and occasionally Wags.
We also do a big grocery shop once a month for produce meat etc. I could be better about that but it isn't worth dealing with hubby since he likes to be in charge of the big shop.

I keep my Q's in a dollar store small plastic accordian file, well acutally i have small envelopes that fit inside the file, and each envelope has a catagory. I would keep them pretty broad so you aren't spending a TON of time filing, ( that is also why i don't like the baseball binders),

My catagories, are Dental, Cereal, Cleaning Supplies, Pet Food, Dairy, Cosmetics, those are the ones i use the most.

I would suggest having an empty envelope or a binder clip or something so when you put an item in your cart you have a place to put the coupon so it doesn't get shuffled in. I"m bad about just setting it on top of the item and it floating away.

oh and when i look at the blogs for match ups, i pull those q and put them all in a part of the file for CVS or whatever.

good luck, it is fun. Know that if you miss a deal another will come along soon.

These are my categories:

(1st half-Foods)
Baking, Veggies/Fruit, Salad, Bread, Dairy, Spreads/Condiments, Meat, Sides, Soups, Pasta, Breakfast, Chips/Crackers, Snack Box, Misc Snacks, Beverages, Food Storage

(2nd Half-Household Items)
Laundry, Dishwashing Detergent, Cleaning Supplies, Smell Goods, Shampoo/Conditioner, Deoderant/Feminine/TP, Pain Reliever/Fever Reducer, Dental/Vision, 1st Aid, Makeup, Pets, Misc

I get most of my coupons from the paper. I usually buy only 1 Sunday Paper and wait till the local paper comes out to get the rest. The local paper is only 50 cents compared to the $3 Sunday paper. I also visit my local library which has a box of coupons the public leave for anyone who wants them. I sort through that box on a regular basis. Sometimes, if I see there's an awesome coupon out, I'll dumpster dive. Sometimes if you like a product and leave a comment about it on it's website, they'll send you some free samples along with some coupons. Sign up for just about every product's online newsletter. Companies love to send out coupons for you to use and review their products. Visit www.thekrazycouponlady.com for current coupon deals. They also have a database of printable coupons as well as info on how to get started couponing and stick with it.

A few friends of mine are thinking of starting a local "Coupon Group" meeting up at the library once a week. Anyone would be invited. THis way, we can trade and chat about coupons.

I get my coupons from the paper or from my local grocery store that sends me coupons for their store. I want to start doing more couponing myself. I saw on tv the "extreme couponing" and this one lady who went to Winn Co (i think that's the name), she spent about $800 and with all her coupons, she only spent about $5 max out of her pocket. I think that was the one. Anyway, it was a huge grocery bill and she saved so much money with all her coupons. I was in shock! She did so much figuring between the store VIP savings, and the coupons....wow...she saved huge. Of course her house could be a grocery store now too. LOL I'm going to come back to this question because I'm curious as to how others organize their coupons and do their figuring too. Thanks for asking this question! Have a great day!