[wfordkngroos]

Oh, I got the photobox at Michael's.. they were on sale for $1.66, normally they are about $3.99, but of u use a 40% coupon it works too!! LOL..

[metalmama1]

Originally Posted by Robbo

I'm terribly excited about it because not only did the guts get an upgrade but I got a new box. I cashed in some swagbucks for Amazon codes so it didn't even really cost money. Once the new box is here and it's all assembled, I'll post a pic. Because I think I'm in love with it

PRAISE GOD!!! & what the heck is a "swag buck"?? is it something you get on here??? is it a bling?? what are you talking about?!?!!?

you coupony types & your funny coupony code words !!

& dude post a pic!!! post a pic!! (of your new box, not of your "swag buck" thing, or whatever or however it is!!)

Originally Posted by wfordkngroos

I do that because this one lady saw my binder, looked at me and grabbed all the shaving cream there was, like 15 of them..

LOL!!! didja burst out laughing & say 'wow!!! someone needs to shave her mustache!! '

man..... i woulda been sorely tempted to !!

ohhh i'm such a liar!! i wouldn'ta' thought of saying that till 3 hrs later

Originally Posted by wfordkngroos

I also printed off a list from a database of all my coupons I add and delete as needed.. if its a tear pad or peelie, I type in up in my miscellaneous page.. that way I only walk in with my notebook and bags and keep a low profile.. LOL.. its worked for.me so far..

wow!! brilliant!!!

i got an awesome q i forgot to use today!!!! even tho i bought half the qualifying stuff!!!!! crazy frustrating!!! i think i need to buy a color laser printer so i can color code my freakin' lists... mebbe that'll help!!! GRRRRR!!!

someone needs to invent "q'ing helps for the hyper q'er!!!" dude, i'd totally buy it!!!

Originally Posted by wfordkngroos

Oh, I got the photobox at Michael's.. they were on sale for $1.66, normally they are about $3.99, but of u use a 40% coupon it works too!! LOL..

wow!!! dang it, i recycled my 40% off receipt thing cuz i figured 'i'm not artsy or crafty'!!! DANG IT!!!!! every time i think i "know" something, or i "figure" something, it costs me money!!!! dang it!!!

[Robbo]

go to swagbucks.com

You just do stuff, they give you points, and when you get enough then you cash out. You get points from doing searches (like using Google, but on their site), taking surveys, watching videos, sometimes they put out a code and you get points. You get points when you get other people to sign up.

I pretty much always cash my points in for Amazon gift cards and buy stuff like new boxes for my coupons or other random things that I really want but don't want to spend money on. I usually forget about it for weeks at a time then all of a sudden I want something (coupon box) so I go crazy doing things for points for a few weeks until I can get a couple $5 cards. Then I go back to forgetting about it.

[Sassypenguin]

Fridays are the best days to join, they have a mega swagbucks day. So you get lots of extra bonus bucks for joining.
I also replaced my google widget on my phone to the swagbucks one so I earn more bucks for searching

No I'm not one of thoooose couponers!!!

[vaughanville]

What I did was to get some plastic Rubbermaid boxes from the mart that have lids that latch. They're about 8" long x 6" deep if I remember right. I think they're about 6" tall too. I spent the entire weekend cutting old manila folders we had down into mini folders and colorful cardstock left over from my son's wedding this summer as dividers. Now I have a mini version of the very cool organizer many of you got from ebay. I'd like to have THAT but I can't justify the cost when I've been able to make it myself. Mine is not as cool as that in that I had to divide my coupons into 3 boxes (I alphabetize mine so they are A-N, O-Z and all of my individual store qs and pets, Groceries are in one to themselves) which I don't "hate" but I don't love simply because I haven't found an easy way to carry them into and from the store. I'm considering a small duffle bag, but we'll see what I can find. On the upside they fit nicely into the cart's seat, 3 across. I'm liking having them in boxes so far (only my 2nd week) and it really is surprising how easy they are to get to. I thought I'd be fumbling and flipping all over the place to find what I needed, but that folder just lays open in the palm of my hand, I pick through my bundles (I staple and cut them 6-8 at a time) and within seconds have what I need.

I also decided to catalog my coupons onto an alphabetized Excel sheet. It took me a while to get my over 6300 qs (I only buy 6 paper's a week and get 2 from friends and family. I live in the land of no tearpads and won't take peelies from products I don't buy so these are suprisingly 99.9% insert qs. I was shocked too!) onto the spreadsheet as I had to enter each one by hand, but I found a blog that has them in Excel format and for future inserts I can now just copy and paste each week into my list. I like being able to sort and resort alphabetically or by expiration date and am hoping this will help me have less coupon waste. We'll see. I've printed it out and have been carrying it with me to the store so that I can just look at the sheet when I see an item I think I might want to buy and easily tell if I have a q and if it's worth matching and buying.

So anyway...just an update on my decision. I haven't the foggiest idea how to post a pic or I would, but hopefully my description was clear enough to make up for it.

[Robbo]

Ok, I'm a little overly excited by my new box. It finally came today and I stuffed it with all the little folders I painstakingly made by hand from card stock, but I so love it. Thanks,metalmama for the idea!

[Tessmom05]

That is just too cool! I love the box!

Originally Posted by Robbo

Ok, I'm a little overly excited by my new box. It finally came today and I stuffed it with all the little folders I painstakingly made by hand from card stock, but I so love it. Thanks,metalmama for the idea!



Attachment 22454



Attachment 22455

[icoupon4mknm]

I love my binder, I am OCD about it, it so neatly organized n so pretty , a box wow stress me out... 2 each their own My bf has dropped my binder before n I was like stop traffic (in the isle ) I'm sure I looked funny I was so worried but it made it through without damage

[icoupon4mknm]

Originally Posted by Robbo

Ok, I'm a little overly excited by my new box. It finally came today and I stuffed it with all the little folders I painstakingly made by hand from card stock, but I so love it. Thanks,metalmama for the idea!



Attachment 22454



Attachment 22455

Do have 2 admit its super cute

[Quazel]

Originally Posted by Robbo

Ok, I'm a little overly excited by my new box. It finally came today and I stuffed it with all the little folders I painstakingly made by hand from card stock, but I so love it. Thanks,metalmama for the idea!



Attachment 22454



Attachment 22455

Awesomeness!

[pattcoupons]

I love the box/accordion method. that is what i have always used. i also have a printout of the coupons in each insert and a master list with all my coupons.

[Quazel]

Originally Posted by pattcoupons

I love the box/accordion method. that is what i have always used. i also have a printout of the coupons in each insert and a master list with all my coupons.

How easy is the master list to maintain?

My concern is this. Bindering takes more time up front but isn't it the same amount of time updating a master list would take since you are clipping for both? And then when you are at the store, if there are thing you need, things you see great deals on, etc. doesn't it take more time to check your list and search your box than to open your binder and look in the correct section?

Is filing into a box/envelope easier than stuffing into the baseball card slots? How easy is it to find expiration dates when cleaning out your box?

I enjoy the binder method but it is sometimes hard to get everything filed so I am always open to new ideas.

[Robbo]

I used to do the master list also, but the overall time it took to maintain the list really was more than the extra several seconds it takes to flip through a small envelope/file of coupons and see if I have it. I've been at this long enough that I have a fairly good idea of what I have coupons for and what I don't so it's not total blindness w/o a list. In the beginning the list was very helpful, but now I could probably tell you a quick yes/no/better check off the top of my head with relative accuracy.

Filing into a box is at least 500 times easier than baseball card slots. I'll post a pic of one of my box files in a sec so you can see (too hard to type replies on the phone so I have to do the pic separate). Finding expirations isn't that hard, either. I just go folder by folder and flip through them. It's quick, and very few coupons get folded so very very easy to see them. Some people staple like coupons together to make flipping easier, I use paperclips. I haven't tried stapling but I'd think unstapling when I'm ready to use would take as much time as paperclipping does in the beginning, so probably about the same. Plus paperclips recycle themselves

I've ditched my binder for a box over a year ago and will never look back. Gimme a few mins to do the pic.

[pattcoupons]

The list is very easy to update. I get the list each week from koupon-kash . com and add it to my excel spreadsheet, so it doesn't take long to update my list. I can sort my list by date, alphabet, insert.

I also don't clip my coupons until i want to use them, so I don't have loose coupons everywhere. I have a small checkbook size envelope for the loose coupons that I have.

I don't throw out my inserts until all of the coupons have expired, according to my master list.

[Robbo]

Ok, when filling into the box, you don't have to pull the file up at all, just stick the coupons in. when looking, easy to flip through. I used to use envelopes and those served me well for a year, but I find the open sided folders are easier to flip through.

I'm a planner, though, so have most of my stuff pulled before I shop. I don't do too much in-store flipping. This might get old if you flip a lotat the store without a table to set stuff down, but for just a few it's perfect.

Biggest box downside: getting things to stand up when it's not full enough. I stick stuff in the back when that happens so nbd for me.

[pattcoupons]

Using an accordion file works great too.

[wfordkngroos]

Originally Posted by Robbo

Ok, when filling into the box, you don't have to pull the file up at all, just stick the coupons in. when looking, easy to flip through. I used to use envelopes and those served me well for a year, but I find the open sided folders are easier to flip through.

I'm a planner, though, so have most of my stuff pulled before I shop. I don't do too much in-store flipping. This might get old if you flip a lotat the store without a table to set stuff down, but for just a few it's perfect.

Biggest box downside: getting things to stand up when it's not full enough. I stick stuff in the back when that happens so nbd for me.

<img src="http://www.afullcup.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=22476"/>

<img src="http://www.afullcup.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=22477"/>

I have been doing the master list.. and it is a bit time consuming to update it.. I think I'm going to try it in categories now.. I'm always trying new things.. where did you Get the little folders from?

[Quazel]

Thanks guys. The wheels are turning in my head. I think filing would be much easier this way but I feel like I am only well prepared for every other grocery trip. The ones in the middle require flipping although I guess I could always make very specific categories. The other downfall I see is that I don't, and won't, clip every coupon so if I did the spreadsheet, which I do get emailed to me from a company, I then need to mark which coupons I did clip and carry.

I don't know, I may try it just for fun. I wonder if I could find an NKOTB lunchbox...

[Robbo]

Originally Posted by wfordkngroos

I have been doing the master list.. and it is a bit time consuming to update it.. I think I'm going to try it in categories now.. I'm always trying new things.. where did you Get the little folders from?

I made them out of cardstock. I trimmed it down to size, folded and then cut out the tabs. It did kind of take forever but I'm really happy with the result.

Originally Posted by Quazel

Thanks guys. The wheels are turning in my head. I think filing would be much easier this way but I feel like I am only well prepared for every other grocery trip. The ones in the middle require flipping although I guess I could always make very specific categories. The other downfall I see is that I don't, and won't, clip every coupon so if I did the spreadsheet, which I do get emailed to me from a company, I then need to mark which coupons I did clip and carry.

I don't know, I may try it just for fun. I wonder if I could find an NKOTB lunchbox...

The hardest part was choosing a lunchbox. There was just so many to choose from I almost went with Rainbow Brite, but they didn't have metal and I didn't want plastic.

Before you invest too much time, effort or materials I'd suggest trying out with a shoebox & envelopes. Flip the part you'd close up to make tabs. If you like the whole method, then you can do more permanent stuff. I ended up cutting off the flap and taping on cut up notecards to make tabs & used it like that out of a shoebox forever. My little box now took me a week to make - but I'm fully invested in the box method so I know it won't be wasted time or materials.

[vaughanville]

[quote=Quazel;4564459]How easy is the master list to maintain?[quote]

So far, so good. I just copy and paste into my excel sheet which I have saved at Google docs (ya never know when my ancient computer is going to die! ) and voila. I do take a few minutes to double check that I have the exact same qs as the creator of the list has.

The only thing is that now I have to train myself to change my inventory number when I use the qs. I totally forgot this weekend and had to backtrack from my big Walmart grocery trip with loads of PMs.

[pattcoupons]

Never thought of using a lunchbox. Very creative.

[Quazel]

Originally Posted by Robbo

I made them out of cardstock. I trimmed it down to size, folded and then cut out the tabs. It did kind of take forever but I'm really happy with the result.



The hardest part was choosing a lunchbox. There was just so many to choose from I almost went with Rainbow Brite, but they didn't have metal and I didn't want plastic.

Before you invest too much time, effort or materials I'd suggest trying out with a shoebox & envelopes. Flip the part you'd close up to make tabs. If you like the whole method, then you can do more permanent stuff. I ended up cutting off the flap and taping on cut up notecards to make tabs & used it like that out of a shoebox forever. My little box now took me a week to make - but I'm fully invested in the box method so I know it won't be wasted time or materials.

This is a good idea. I actually realized I have a really cool Harry Potter lunchbox but we are doing the 2012 in 2012 declutter and I can't remember if I kept it or got rid of it. I'll have to look!

[Shanti_Writes]

Wow. I've just read through this thread and my mind is boggled. I've only been couponing since May and I use a binder - actually two binders, one for food, one for everything else. I *do* clip every coupon (or almost every one) and file them all in the pages. I've got two younger kids whose job it is to pull the expired q's while hubby and I and the two older ones clip, clip, clip. Takes us about an hour and a half or so Sunday afternoon.

I can definitely see the advantage to the box, but I'm a very 'visual' person and have a horrid memory, in part because I don't do all the clipping myself. My binder lets me see what is there on the spot. I price match to adds at home and carry one of those cutsy little accordian wallet-sized envelopes with the q's I know I'm going to use, and then my binders are in a reusable grocery bag. I only bring it out/flip through it if I see an unadvertised deal that I want that I think I have a q for, so not often.

So far, it works for me, but you guys have me pondering a box now - and the concept of *not* clipping all the q's just boggles my mind. I would never know where or how to store all the unclipped inserts or how to find the q I wanted (or even know I had it) if I didn't get them all clipped.

Clearly I need to learn some different techniques! Thanks to everyone for sharing your methods!!

[Robbo]

I clip every coupon, I don't file every coupon & keep it with me. The ones I don't keep with me I put in a business sized envelope and write the date on it, that way I can find something in there with relative ease. I keep the envies in a long tupperware like box I got at the Dollar Tree. I rarely go through those, though, I know what I'm not going to buy even if it's free 99% of the time I go through those envies it's for a trade or some super random drugstore MM. I'd just keep them uncut and file the whole insert by date but those things get *so* messy once you've clipped a bunch of coupons out of them.