Reader Tracy asks:
I have my coupons grouped by month of expiration rather than category because I used to let them expire before using them. Is there a way to do it that’s the best of both worlds? I hate having to go through all of them to find one I know I have!
In Coupon Organization, I personally feel like the most important element is having your coupons filed in such a way that you can easily find them for multiple purposes, not just expiring ones. It seems to me that to file by expiration date is only going to help you with the expiring coupons and it will probably frustrate you more to try to find the majority of your coupons on any given day.
Here is what I recommend:
1. Use the Coupon Database to find expired coupons. If you want to make sure you are not missing out on the upcoming expiring coupons, you can use my Coupon Database to easily find them. All you do is go to the Faithful Provisions Coupon Database and click on the “Expiration tab” until it gives you the most current date (see the arrow below). Clicking here will list them all out by nearest expiration AND it will tell you where to find them too! See the image below:
2. Keep Favorite Coupons Up Front. Another method to use is to file all coupons by category and place your favorite coupons in the front pouch. Each time you do your grocery shopping you can flip through them to make sure you don’t overlook them in the shuffle.
All in all, I feel like these are much better options than filing by expiration date, because you have more opportunity to use and easily find your coupons.
Anyone else have a suggestion or a method they use to keep from missing out on their favorite coupons expiring? Leave a comment and share your ideas.
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Tracy,
I used to have the same problem. This is what I do now. I use the Couponizer for all of my coupons except for the ones expiring in the current month (or day 1 or 2 of the next month). I keep those in a pocket photo album using the same categories as the Couponizer. So, I pretty much look through the ones expiring this month first, and if I don’t have what I need there, I look through the Couponizer. I hope that makes sense. It is still a little extra work, but I have found it to be a good system for me.
I do something similar. Either once a month or sometimes before each grocery trip, I pull out coupons that are expiring that week (before I’ll make the next trip). I place them in the front pocket of my organizer and I actually make a list (like a grocery list) of what those coupons are (it helps put them in the forefront of my mind if I write them although more work) so that as I shop thru the store, I may notice a good sale, glance down at my “expiring” list to see if it’s worth it for me. I don’t want to impulse buy just because I have an expiring coupon but if it’s paired with a sale or good deal, I may go ahead and purchase. A little extra work but I’m trying out and so far, so good.
Well I organize them by categories that I feel work for me such as; baby, jars/cans/plastic bottles, cleaning supplies, personal hygeine/meds, etc. I go through them every week to get the ones I need for my trip to the grocery store. The ones that are going to expire within the next 30 days I place in the second to the front pouch so that I can quickly look through them if I think I see a deal while I am at the store. The front pouch is reserved for the coupons I will definitely be using during that grocery visit. I find that it is easier for me not to let them expire going unused unless I choose to do so! Hope this helps!
I use the method of keeping my Favs (mostly coupons for free products) in the front. I also try to go through my binder on Sunday when I put new coupons in and pull out expired coupons as well as coupons that will be expiring within the next week that I want to make sure I use before they expire.
Tracy,
I used to have that same problem. I have my coupons catagorized by subject(ie: baking, beverage, dairy, freezer, and so on). At the end of each month, I go through the coupons and pull out the ones for the next month, plus the first couple of days in the following month. I keep them in order of the catagories, and that way I can see at a glance what is expiring that month. I also go thru the current month’s coupons, each week, and pull out the coupons that are expiring for that week. Another thing that I do, is keep my food coupons separate from my non-food items. That way, I only have to look at one section at a time. Hope this helps. It works for me really well, and I find that I am more aware of what coupons I have.