It’s no secret anymore that coupons are the best way to save money on groceries. Yet, of the over $70 billion of coupon saving offered by manufacturers each year, only $4.5 billion are redeemed by consumers. That’s barely 6%. So how come millions of Americans are not jumping on the bandwagon?
According to Susan Samtur, The Coupon Queen and founder of www.selectcouponprogram.com, the answer lies largely in the fact that most people simply do not think couponing to be time-efficient. They believe that it takes hours every day to clip coupons and figure out how to get the best deals. In today’s busy world, most people just don’t have that kind of time, so they avoid the process for fear of being sucked in and losing out on time that could be spent elsewhere.
But is the myth true? Do you really need to spend half of your waking hours clipping, sorting, and alphabetizing coupons? Of course not! The key to all of this is proper organization – with the right system in place, shopping with coupons becomes a walk in the park (or in the aisle)! There are a few simple steps anyone can follow to keep their coupons from becoming an overwhelming, terrifying mess of papers.
First and foremost, you need a large folder to keep everything in. Folders with built-in or add-on separators are great, but as long as your coupon-holder is easy for you to manage, that is all that matters.
Next, write a list of categories into which all of your daily necessities are represented, and keep it alphabetical. Don’t go crazy in trying to have a category for everything. If you don’t have children, you don’t need a diaper section! It all depends on what products you normally buy. For example, you might have these twelve categories:
Canned Goods Dairy Drinks
Medicine Cereals Frozen Foods
Fruits/Veggies Household Items Meats
Paper Goods Pet Food Snacks
You could always subdivide within categories as well (eg, having smaller sections within Household Items for things like lighting, cleaning, dishes). Once you’ve got your categories, you’re home free! The trick is to keep at your system; don’t get lazy! When you clip your coupons, file them away immediately unless you plan to use them right away, or else you’ll end up with a pile of cluttered, disorganized coupons on your kitchen counter!
If you have special offers like free samples or rain checks, keep these in the back of your file and check them periodically.
It also helps if you put the shortest expiration dates in the front so you’ll see those coupons first, but make sure to go through your file every month to throw out expired coupons, especially at the end of the calendar year when many coupons expire. Otherwise, your drawer/folder will fill up faster than you can use the coupons!
When you are ready for your weekly shopping trip (or biweekly) make your list of items then go to your coupon file. Pull out the coupons you’ll need and put them into a small envelope so that you can match them to the correct product when you get to the store. Check the expiration dates one more time before you go to make sure you won’t end up with an expired deal.
Don’t get discouraged if you still have trouble acquainting yourself to a system at first. Like all systems, the coupon-organizer takes time to adjust to, but as long as you remain consistent with your filing procedure, you’ll save tons of time and tons of money! Once you get organized with a system you know and feel comfortable with, you will be able to cut your sorting time into a fraction of what it once was. It’s as simple as that!
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