Friday, December 13, 2013

Columbia Couponer: Coupon Organization

Friday, December 13, 2013
As a newlywed, I have come to notice the fierce need for coupons.
I tried out an app called ibotta which pays you for the things you buy but... I didn't really like it. I mean, you had to get specific brands which ended up costing about the same amount you would save if you went with a cheaper brand... with the stuff we needed that they offered, anyway.
My problem up until now was 1. No Printer and 2. No Sunday Paper.
Now, we have both! Horray!
I thought that I would take you along my journey as I learn to be a fierce couponer! 

This morning, I cut out a bunch of clippings from the Sunday insert of the newspaper and I realized... I have no idea how to sort these!
So, naturally, I looked up some ideas on pinterest and I found one that really appealed to me. 
It was a Coupon Database/Envelope system which I will link here.

Essentially, its a system where you use an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of your coupons. He created different categories and even a formula so that when you enter the expiration date of the coupon, it will tell you which week it is. Why is that important? Well, because that is how you set up your envelopes!
Have an envelope for each week, and then when that week is over, you can just toss the envelope. Easy-Peasy! 
This really appealed to me because I love Excel spreadsheets. I just feel so efficient and organized when I use them! And because I didn't want a humongous binder (yet), and I didn't want to have to by a mini accordion style folder. Here is what mine looks like:

The only problem that I came into was that the free download of the excel spreadsheet (can you say time saver?!) was made in 2012 so the "formula" for the automatic filling in of the weeks stopped in early February of 2014.  So, I manually filled in February through June, and I'll do more later. But that's not really a big deal, just time consuming. 
I think eventually, I may want a more sophisticated system like this from Handmade By Hilani:

But for now, I think this is going to work well for me. It will just require a little bit more planning on my part before I go to the store since I don't have room for a ton of envelopes in my purse. (My purse is tiny, but I love it.). 

Soon, I'll also be starting a knitting journey series! Can't wait ;) 



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