Coupons organized...and a confession

The confession first: you know those posts I wrote about organizing my coupons (find them here, here and here)...well, those posts were written way back in January. That's right, weeks--NO, MONTHS--ago I had grand plans for revamping my coupon system for maximum efficiency and use. You know, just like Martha.

I tried to just use the inserts, but that failed after a few weeks. Then I tried to switch to Jamie's system, but that took forever. And while I was trying to get my old/current coupons sorted and shoved into those little slots, weeks went by. Inserts kept piling up. I was quickly running out of room in the binder and couldn't keep up with the necessary clipping and sorting. And each week, I'd be flipping through tons of inserts to find the coupons I needed. I was wasting time and losing out on great deals. And that is unacceptable!

Finally, I made a decision: I was going back to my old system. Sure, my old coupon caddy had gotten stuffed to the point of crazy disorganization, but it could be salvaged. And salvage it I did. I got new envelopes to replace the torn ones, new colored notecards to replace the plain white ones.

The notecards/envelopes are grouped according to where items are located in the supermarket. They are grouped by category (bread, cheese, rice, etc.) with a few brand name categories thrown in for super-organization (Kellogg, Pillsbury, Campbell's).

Once the the categories were in place, I began clipping and sorting my amazing backlog of inserts. I started with approximately 24 inserts--the stack was several inches high. Now, after just a week of clipping, I'm down to a few inserts an inch high. I'll have this done by the end of the weekend.

Already I've taken my revamped system to Jewel, and my relief at having a system I know and trust was amazing. I sailed through the store like Martha sails through an antique shop--with ease, confidence and the knowledge that I will get the best deal going. As for the notebook system, I'll be passing it along to MOM2. The coupon caddy is all mine.

For those readers who could care less about coupons, this will be my last post on the subject for a while. (But seriously, you should be clipping coupons!) Now, I'll turn my attention back to my quest for domestic diva-dom. Happy Friday!