I love coffee, and great deals while shopping, so I have tons of "frequent buyer" coffee punch cards, coupons, and gift cards. But with all of them just loose in my purse, it was a mess! Worse yet, when I would clean out my purse and leave some of the coupons or gift cards at home, I'd often be at a store and find a great deal, then realize I didn't have the coupon or card with me - it was at home!
To solve this, I took an extra wallet that I had and put my coupons in the bill holder area, and gift cards and coffee punch cards (along with some other important ones) in the credit card area. Now I don't have to worry about running across a sale and not having a coupon or not getting credit for my latest cup of coffee! Finding things in my purse is much easier too!
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I keep my coupons in the car. That way if I am doing errands and decide to shop, I always have my coupons. This has worked especially well for me with coupons from Bed Bath and Beyond, Joann's, Michaels, and Hobby Lobby.
Occasionally I have forgotten to use my coupons at the checkout only to remember them when I get home. I've started highlighting the items that I have coupons for with bright neon highlighters, that way they constantly jog my memory as I read my grocery list.
We only eat out as a family if we have a coupon to do so. But keeping track of all those dining out coupons can be difficult. I created a coupon file just for this purpose.
This suggestion is about received email coupons for restaurants and grocery stores. To keep better track of which to use up first due to expiration dates, I forward them to my email addy with the name of the restaurant and the expiration date in the subject bar.
When I get a Walgreen's Register Rewards coupon or an CVS store ECB coupon, etc. (ones that are usually high values) and I don't want to miss out on using before they expire, I put a brightly colored yard sale pricing dot on them and put them in my dollar bill slot in my wallet.
When I find a coupon that I'd like to use, I put it with my grocery list that I keep clipped to the refrigerator until I'm ready to head to the store. I remember to use it when it's with my list that I check as I walk through the store to find my groceries.
I purchased a small photo album that holds 3x5 inch photos. I use the clear double sided photo holders to place and organize my coupons so it's easy to thumb through at the store and goes easily in my purse.
I was having a hard time keeping up with my coupons. So a friend of mine bought me a binder for my birthday, and I bought a pack of baseball card holder sleeves and a pack of dividers.
On the rare occasions we eat out, I usually only remember to look for restaurant coupons when we are leaving. Since the coupons were not readily accessible, we failed to take advantage of them and let the coupons expire.
I have a vinyl coupon sorter that is divided into categories (Grocery, Target, etc. and family members names and receipts awaiting reimbursement or rebates) Each time I purchase an item, I place the receipt in the corresponding file.
Instead of organizing your coupons by item, organize buy the aisle the item is found on. That way when you have a coupon you want to use, you don't have to go looking up and down the store looking for the item.
This tip is for organizing store rainchecks and coupons. I try to get rainchecks each time I visit the grocery store, so I may purchase these out of stock products at my convenience, and maybe I have also found coupons by then.
Everyone likes to save money, especially since a large portion of our earnings go toward bills. There are many ways to cut back and ensure we have a little extra to live off of.
I keep a coupon organizer in my car just for non-grocery coupons. I have fast food, nice restaurants, clothes, and other misc. stuff. That way when I am out and about, I always have my coupons close at hand, if we decide to stop for a meal or something.
