[msiegmund]

How many pages are in your binder?
What tabs do you have in your binder?
What changes have you made to your binder to make it work better for you?
What else do you keep in your binder besides qs?

Any words of advice as I embark on creating the Msiegmund Coupon Binder 1.0?

[jenkerr1]

The binder is definitely the way to go! I never thought I needed it but now that I have it I would not go back.

I am shopping for me and my cat and what I can to donate. I have 1 pack of baseball card inserts and 1 pack of inserts that would hold photos in a photo album. Approx 45 pages.

here are my categories (from the couponizer that I used to use):

Baking & Staples
Beverages
Bread & Bakery
breakfast
canned goods
Condiments
Dairy
frozen food
meat
pasta & quick meals
snacks
health and beauty
pet
household
restaurant

I definitely like the binder that has the accordian style fold out on the inside. Great for holding ads and other large coupons (bed bath beyond and the larger inserts we get here for various restaurants. I may or may not use these thats why I don't always put them in the restaurant tab).

I also have a pencil holder w/ a calculator, scissors, pens and highlighters. I also keep envelopes in mine to use when I'm in a hurry. I can write my list on the evelope and keep the q's inside that way I don't have to take my whole binder in.

When I do carry my binder in, I use a reusable shopping bag like others have mentioned. Keeps my hands free and I can carry items out in it.

You can also check out Laura's couponing 101 thread there is a lot of good info there too.

Good luck!

[abmitch01]

I just started using one, has the accordion pockets and three rings and a bunch of pockets. Has a strap I haven't tried yet. I got pencil pouches on clearance and marked one each for Wag, RA, CVS, WM, Target and Price Chopper. They had cardboard inserts and those are nice to separate qs from ECBs, RRs, etc. I try to carry just those into each store but sometimes I end up running out to the car to get the binder for unexpected deals. So on bigger trips, I bring the whole thing in with me. My binder doesn't zip and so far, I like it that way, I like easy access to the pages. I'm sure I feel differently once I drop it. I bought 70 pgs of baseball inserts and have used around 50.

My only complaint- it's so heavy already!

I don't use tabs but I do separate by categories in the rough order of the grocery store aisles. The tip about putting index cards inside each pocket really helped me. I keep scissors, pens, and a notepad in it.

[msiegmund]

Originally Posted by abmitch01

I just started using one, has the accordion pockets and three rings and a bunch of pockets. Has a strap I haven't tried yet. I got pencil pouches on clearance and marked one each for Wag, RA, CVS, WM, Target and Price Chopper. They had cardboard inserts and those are nice to separate qs from ECBs, RRs, etc. I try to carry just those into each store but sometimes I end up running out to the car to get the binder for unexpected deals. So on bigger trips, I bring the whole thing in with me. My binder doesn't zip and so far, I like it that way, I like easy access to the pages. I'm sure I feel differently once I drop it. I bought 70 pgs of baseball inserts and have used around 50.

My only complaint- it's so heavy already!

I don't use tabs but I do separate by categories in the rough order of the grocery store aisles. The tip about putting index cards inside each pocket really helped me. I keep scissors, pens, and a notepad in it.

What does that do?

[DanicaV]

I have a 5" D-Ring binder

Front inside of binder has a pocket, I paper clipped a envie (flap backwards into pocket) to hold any Q's that are not able to be used during shopping trip and that need to be re-filed when I get home. (I also use this pocket to hold recipe cards that I collect from the store displays...etc.

In the front is a zippered pencil holder with a pad of sticky notes, small scissors, calculator and a pen.

Next there are 5 double sided, plastic pocket, tabbed dividers each labeled with a store that I shop at. After each divider is a baseball card sheet as well as a 4 pocket sheet. Each Divider will hold the current weeks flyer for that store on one side, a shopping list of what I plan to get that week on the other. The pocket sheets will hold the Q's I plan to use at that store that week, the 4 pocket sheet holds Rainchecks, Store specific Q's and membership card (if applies to store)

Then the rest of the binder is seperated with tabbed dividers. The catagories that I use are...

1-Baking
2-Beverages
3-Bread
4-Breakfast
5-Canned
6-Condiments
7-Cleaners
8-Dairy
9-Frozen
10-Health & Beauty
11-Meat
12-Medicine
13-Paper/Plastic
14-Pets
15-Sides
16-Snacks
17-Sweets
18-Misc.

Of course each category might have more pocket pages depending on how many products we use in it. For example, Health and Beauty has quite a few, I have a separate page for Oral products, makeup, hair care...etc. Pets have a page for dogs/cats

Well you get the idea. But I must say at this point, my D-Ring is FILLED and the cover is no longer sloping down when I close it

[DanicaV]

Originally Posted by msiegmund

What does that do?

It allows you to use both sides of the pocket pages, that way you can use one pocket for two different Q's (one facing each side of the page) which doubles its use. HTH

[abmitch01]

oops, I realized my post made it sound like the index cards and the next sentence were related. Sorry. It's what Danica said, makes it so much easier to organize

[abmitch01]

my velcro to close it is barely closing, I have to find some ways to pare down. I think I could start by taking out all the empty baseball pages. I like putting the pencil pouches and the ads in the accordion section on the inside but that ads bulk too. I love having it all in one portable place when I'm working on it at home but it's getting unwieldy to bring it in the stores.