Couponing: Starting Your Filing System

In one afternoon last week, I purchased over $300 in grocery and health & beauty items, but paid about $100 out-of-pocket.  I also left with $15 in store credits (Walgreen's Register Rewards and CVS Extra Care Bucks) and qualified for a $10 mail-in-rebate!

Anyone can do the same thing.
The first thing to do is start saving your coupons - all of them!

Next, start your coupon file.
Don't put in a big investment starting out. I recommend finding what you have around the house and working with that until you know your couponing style, which will determine how much stuff you need for a filing system.

Supplies:
* File “Cabinet” - Find something you can turn into your coupon cabinet, a copier paper box, a file crate, space in a filing cabinet drawer or anything else that can be your filing "cabinet."
*File Folders – use basic manilla file folders. If you don't have any, this is the only supply I would recommend buying at the beginning, but get the cheapest ones available.
*Envelopes - save empty used envelopes. Slit envelopes at the top and then hang onto them to use in your filing system. If this is a little too extreme saving for you, using a blank envelopes is fine.
*Coupons – start saving all your coupons.   Keep the entire insert(s) from the Sunday paper - not just the coupons you know you'll use.

I’ll explain how to organize them using the above materials in another post.

Once you get the hang of couponing, you'll develop preferences.  Maybe you would rather use hanging files instead of basic manilla or maybe you prefer a plastic coupon "wallet" instead of envelopes.  Many people use the "Couponizer." I don't because I didn't want to spend the money!