Thrifty Thursday: Create a Coupon System That Works for You

Last week I introduced a new regular blog feature called "Frugal Fridays," but this week we decided to rename the feature "Thrifty Thursdays." So on Thursdays, you'll see blog posts around the About.com Parenting Channel that include practical money-saving tips and financial advice from our Guides.

Today's tip involves a tried-and-true money saving strategy to help you save money on groceries: using coupons. In the past, I've been a very inconsistent coupon user, because I just didn't have a system that worked well for me. I was always clipping coupons, forgetting to bring them to the store, and then letting those little slips of paper clutter up space in a kitchen drawer until they expired. In other words, they weren't saving me any money at all!

But just recently, I developed a plan that actually works for me. I took an old index card case and created several sections. (I happened to have some mini index tabs on hand, but you could always separate the sections by attaching a sticky note to a regular old index card.) The sections I created are:

• This Week--for coupons I'm definitely going to use on my next shopping trip


• Regular Use--for coupons that I don't plan to use this week, but are for items that I purchase on a regular basis


• Expires This Month--for coupons that I may or may not use, and are going to expire soon


• Expires Next Month or Later--for coupons that I may or may not use, and aren't set to expire just yet

Now, all I have to do is grab my "use this week" coupons from the case on my way out the door to go grocery shopping. Then, on Sunday, when I'm clipping new coupons and making up that week's grocery shopping list, I can quickly sort through which coupons I want to use for that week and reorganize them as needed.

How about you? Is there a coupon-sorting system that works well for you? If so, please take a moment to share it with our readers by leaving a comment below.

More Thrifty Thursday Blog Posts From the About.com Parenting Channel:

• Grandparents as Child Care Providers
• Find Children's Books at Bargain Prices
• Delayed Gratification
• Getting Some Textbook Cash Back
• Does Your Teen Have Access to the Library?
• Cut Your Child Care Cost
• Is Foster Care Adoption a More Economical Option?
• Totally Free Fitness Toys

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