Coupon Clipping may seem like it takes a lot of time, but once you get a system going it can save you a lot of money in the long run. There are many ways to sort and organize your coupons to keep them easily accessible and readily available. If you follow these simple steps, it will make your Coupon Clipping experience much more enjoyable.
1. GET YOUR FRIENDS INVOLVED: You can do this in many different social situations. You can do this with your neighbors and have weekly or monthly get togethers to catch up on things going on in your lives, and clip coupons at the same time. If you belong to a Church Organization, you can get your Ladies Bible Study Group involved in the many benefits of Coupon Clipping. Even your local mom’s groups would more than likely be interested in the idea of saving money every month. Having children in the house can be expensive depending on how many children you have, and how old they are.
2. GET YOUR FAMILY MEMBERS INVOLVED: Teach your young children the fun that it can be to clip coupons and sort them into different piles and save money. Your Children will have fun while learning about math and responsible money saving ideas at the same time. You can even teach your parents who may be starting to get older and have had to learn how to live off a fixed income like retirement, the many benefits of Coupon Clipping.
3. START OUT BY SORTING THE COUPONS BY EXPIRATION DATE: You may have more than one of the same coupon, but if you look carefully, they just might have different expiration dates. Having your coupons sorted by the expiration date, will help you to see how soon you will need to use the coupons and how soon you can go back and use your next one to replace the same item when you run out of it.
4. ONCE YOU HAVE SORTED YOUR COUPONS BY DATE, YOU CAN SORT THEM INTO CATEGORIES: Sorting your coupons into Food Groups, for example, will help you to see what exactly you have and help you with meal planning ideas and menu’s.
5. SIT DOWN EITHER WITH YOUR FAMILY OR BY YOURSELF AND FIGURE OUT MEAL IDEAS THAT WILL GO ALONG WITH THE COUPONS THAT YOU HAVE CLIPPED: There is no point in spending money on food that no one in your family will eat. So do not bother clipping the coupon and keeping it for yourself if it is something that you are not going to use, but someone else can.
6. FIGURE OUT HOW LONG YOUR SHOPPING LIST IS AND IF YOU CAN HANDLE DOING IT ALONE: Depending on how many items are on your shopping list, you can either go alone, or you can make it a family event or a girls day out. Separate the shopping list as mentioned above and you can assign different sections of the list to different people who have come with you for this shopping experience. You can even assign someone to do the non-food items like pet food, cleaning supplies, paper towels and toilet paper.
7. ONCE YOU GET YOUR ITEMS HOME: You may think that just because you have got your items home in one piece that your shopping adventure is over, but sadly it doesn’t end there. Now that you are home you need to find a “home” for everything that you have just purchased. Depending on how many people are in your family, you might need an extra freezer or refrigerator to store everything in. As you are putting your items away, make a list of everything you have purchased, the quantity and the expiration date if it has one, and once you have finished a specific item you can mark it off the list so that you will know that you might need more the next time that you go to the store.