I am thinking that I am going to change up the way I sort/file/keep coupons. I am going to try a combo method where I file my inserts whole by date and then go through them as I need them. I just don't have the time to invest to keep up the binder with every coupon under the sun.

I have a stack of inserts, but I can't tell what the dates of them are - or I just can't see if there are dates on them? Are they printed on the covers/back pages somewhere? I guess I can go to the whole insert sites and look at the cover, but it sure would be nice to tell by insert.

I do know from this moment on, I am going to date the front covers..

If you open the cover of the insert, on the spine, in very small print, it has the date and paper that it came from. Good luck!

I never knew about the date on the spine. You learn something new everyday. I like filing my inserts by date I have found it is a much easier method than a binder.

Jamie

Tough times never last, but tough people do...

I also file by insert. The upside is that every purchase is planned, no more grabbing something just because I have a coupon or the deal is super great. I have to really think through all my purchases and then if the deal is great, I go back home and clip the q's needed. I don't live that far from my stores so it takes less than 10 minutes to do this. The date is so small on the spine that I had to get a magnifier to see it then I put that date on the front with a sharpie along with the date of the coupon that has the latest date on it.

"Face it girls, I'm older and I have more insurance." Evelyn Couch, Fried Green Tomatoes

The date and the name of the newspaper is always on the outside spine edge of the inserts.

If you file them by date - It can also be helpful to have a list of what is actually in the insert. Since they can vary from region to region you might find that a insert in your area was different than what is recorded in the Cpn DB.

An easy trick is to copy (just simply use the copy/paste feature on your browser) the preview of the weeks inserts from the "coupon preview" resource on the tool bar at the top of WUC. Then paste it into a word processing document and you can add to it, change the value or take off anything you did not get in your insert. You can then save it as a document or print it out and file it with your inserts.

Then when you look for a cpn in the DB and are trying to find something (you know you have) it can be easy to cross reference it, with your list.

I also file my inserts by date and I write the date that the last cpn will expire on the file folder also. So that when I ready to thin things out - it's easy to look at the tab on the folder and know I can throw the whole things away without having to look thru it again.

Great tip! That will make it much easier to plan too. :-) Thanks!