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JennGM
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| Posted: Oct 18 2005 at 3:59pm | IP Logged
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With all this talk of FlyLady, I was wondering if anyone has good advice for coupon clipping. I can't get them organized, especially the weekly ones for certain stores. I end up keeping them loose in my purse and that's getting to be a mess.
What do you do with your coupons? Do you take a certain time each day(s) or certain days to clip and organize...and dispose of old ones? Do you use an organizer? My organizer didn't work for me, and it was never with me when I needed it....either I left it in the car and it never got updated, or it was in the house and not with me when I was shopping, My purse is heavy and large enough...I don't think I could add that all the time.
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to  & ds1  '03 & ds2  '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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Dawn
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| Posted: Aug 27 2006 at 11:24am | IP Logged
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Bumping this old thread because I was going to ask the same questions as Jenn! 
Coupon help or ideas, anyone? 
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Dawn, mum to 3 boys 
By Sun and Candlelight
The Nature Corner
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stacykay
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| Posted: Aug 27 2006 at 10:55pm | IP Logged
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The only time I was ever good at "couponing" was back with only a couple young ones. I had a coupon organizer, and every Sunday, I would clip out only what we use, skipping other brands. It made the volume smaller, and easier for me to handle  . I kept the organizer in my purse, always. It wasn't big, shorter than a business envelope, and a little wider. It was cardboard, too, so not heavy.
When it fell apart, I kinda lost the organization system I was used too, and, well... every now and again, I think, "I am going to use coupons again, it is silly to let those savings go by!" And then, a year later, I will find the now-expired coupons mixed in with a folder of school work. 
With our budget straining ever so, I do need to cut corners, and coupons make sense, if I ever get organized enough (hmmm...this lack of organization seems to be a theme in my life at this moment! )
I will be watching, too, for helpful hints!
God Bless,
Stacy in MI
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kristina
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| Posted: Aug 27 2006 at 11:38pm | IP Logged
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Dear Jenn, Dawn and Stacy,
My coupon bag is my purse from my pre children days (I need a {hands-free!} backpack purse now!). The coupon bag is kelly style so there is narrow zip section dividing the bag in two. On one side is our entertainment book. (We receive that as a Christmas gift from in-laws each year. Even though we don't use it much, the few coupons we have used have surpassed the cost of the book..) The other side has a coupon organizer from the dollar spot at Target. Also a velcro close pouch that holds all of our non-grocery coupons (val-paks, fast food coupons, linensnthings, portraits studios, etc..). I keep this coupon bag ready to go in my canvas grocery store bag so that errand day has everything at my fingertips.
For our grocery coupons, the organizer from Target was unlabeled. So I organized my dividers into the order of many of our grocery stores.. dairy, beverages, cereal, baking, diapers, personal care, paper goods, cleaning supplies, frozen foods and misc - for store coupons.
Like Stacy, I was much more of a coupon user when I had less children. Also, the more eco-conscious I am, the less items I use that offer coupons. The time I used to spend hunting down coupon items is now traded for time reading labels, so my grocery trips are still time consuming...
Blessings,
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kristina
yesterthoughts
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Dawn
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| Posted: Aug 28 2006 at 6:38am | IP Logged
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Same thing for me - I was much more organized about coupons when my oldest was tiny. I'd like to get back to it, though, and try to save more on groceries. This is my current plan:
Wednesday:
clean kitchen - clean out cabinets, fridge, freezer
note what we need
look at next week's calendar and menu plan
start a grocery/errands list
Thursday:
make more notes for weekend errands/shopping
Friday:
sales flyers come in paper
note any sale items on list
clip store coupons
Saturday:
errands and food shopping early
bake later in day
Sunday:
clip coupons in Sunday papers
organize receipts
look through food magazines/recipes
sketch out meal plan
This is my plan anyway. I hardly ever follow it to a T.
I use a small plastic velcro envelope (square shape) to store coupons, gift cards, my grocery list etc. It's not very organized - everything's a jumble, but at least it's all in one place. I've thought about getting one of those organizers with different sections for different items but I haven't found one I like. They're all too bulky. My grandma once gave me one she used in the 60s which was thin and *perfect*. It has since fallen apart. 
Where I shop (Shaw's) they do great savings programs when you use their store card (not a credit card, just a patron card - it's probably a big scam, who knows!  ). I collect points to earn 20% off a future order or use their weekly coupons to get $8 off an $80 order or something like that. Do any of you use those kinds of coupons?
I remember once reading The Tightwad Gazette - she was not in favor of coupons because she maintained she could make it cheaper from scratch. Which is probably true in almost every case. I try not to use a coupon for something unless I am already planning on buying it. Things like bath soap and cat food. It's tempting to buy things that are on sale when you can combine a coupon though - even if it's not something we usually buy!
Has anyone ever made a price book, as she suggests? Where you keep a record of where the best prices are for the items you buy?
Once I get coupons in order, I'd also like to tackle my grocery list and see how I can cut costs. For example, I came home on Saturday with a long groceries receipt. I taped it in my journal and started looking at each purchase to see A. do we really need it and B. how can this choice be more cost effective (buy it somewhere else, make it from scratch) ...
Just rambling thoughts off the top of my head this morning. I love to talk marketing and meal planning!
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Dawn, mum to 3 boys
By Sun and Candlelight
The Nature Corner
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kristina
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| Posted: Aug 28 2006 at 11:40am | IP Logged
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Dawn,
I shop at Shaw's, too. But only for their loss leaders and double coupon items. This week they had a coupon in the flyer for $5 off $25 and a mailed one, too. So I was able to get the $50 groceries for $40 including other coupon items, too  .
We have three Market Basket stores accessible to us and one is quite decent. The prices are consistently better there, but the selection for organic items is random. Also, we have Hannaford (nicknamed "can'tafford" by the teens), too. I sort of rotate my shopping through all of them, because my price book is in my head. For example, I know that organic ground beef is $5.69/lb at Market Basket, which is 40cents less than Shaw's. Organic Rice Milk is $1.25 at Market Basket, but I stock up when it is 10/$10 at Shaw's.
Our favorite peanut butter is $4.99 at Shaw's  , but only $3.56 at Hannaford. Super Wal-Mart  has it for $3.33.
It would be nice to have Whole Foods, Trader Joe's and even Super Stop and Shop closer. I always stop by any of those stores when I have to travel south.
I liked the tightwad gazette, but I am just not there with making everything from scratch. For example, we made Buffalo Chicken Salad for dinner last week. Instead of buying all of the ingredients for the dressing, I had dh pick up the dressing from one of our favorite restaurants on the way home. The price they charged him was less than it would have cost to buy all of the ingredients (then have the leftover unused ingredients go bad..). They gave him more than an entire pint, which the children have had as dip w/ veggies all weekend.
Blessings,
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kristina
yesterthoughts
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Rachel May
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| Posted: Aug 28 2006 at 12:46pm | IP Logged
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Have you thought of tasking the clipping to Dave? Bill does the coupon clipping, and he has a great head for organizing so he came up with a system that works for him.
After we make our menu, he looks up the recipes for ingredients, checks the cupboards to see which we actually need, writes down our usual needs, and asks if there is anything special that I need. Then, he makes the grocery lists also so that everything is in the same order as at the store. The result is, we rarely need to run to the store midweek or waste money on things we don't eat.
Also, if I happen to shop, he can hand me what I need. My real point here is that you could "task" it to someone else.
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Rachel
Thomas and Anthony (10), Maria (8), Charles (6), Cecilia (5), James (3), and Joseph (1)
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Cici
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| Posted: Aug 28 2006 at 1:00pm | IP Logged
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I, too, was much better at clipping coupons before children. Even now, when I have only 2 its too much! I'm with Jenn, the coupons are never where I need them. And, I've started making more stuff from scratch (or at least semi-scratch) and so we really don't use them anymore.
That said, I used to look at the coupons and the loss leaders of the weekly flyers. I would clip coupons for current loss leaders (I found that they almost always coincided with each other) and the two major chains around here. One of the chains doubles coupons so, I would always try for that store. If it wasn't a loss leader, the coupon wasn't clipped - I didn't think it was worth the effort.
Now, I shop Costco almost exclusively - ours offers quite a few organic options. I go to one of the major chains for the items we can't get at Costco, but I find I only have to go there every two weeks or so. And sometimes I try to fit in a Trader Joe's. Truthfully, though, I can't quite "get into" TJ's (my children sure love the fruit leather, there, though). I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. Anyway, I know I probably spend a little more by not shopping around. But I figure my time is worth it. By the time I drive around to all the stores (with kids in tow), I don't think the 3 or 5 dollars of savings is worth it.
Price book? Nope. Goes back to the driving time isn't worth it for me.
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Christine - mom to
My Sewing Blog
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: Coupon Clipping help
