Here is a great tool I have developed and perfected over time. Now it is ready for everyone to use!
I used to clip my inserts and sort coupons into a binder. But I found this too time consuming. Plus there are a lot of coupons I end up not using before they expire. But I recommend keeping every coupon you get because you never know when that item can become a moneymaker and help you pay for the other items you need to buy.
So I developed a spreadsheet where I type in the coupons I get from both the York Daily Record and The Baltimore Sun. While most of the coupons appear in both papers, other coupons are regional and only appear in one of the papers, or the values vary between the two.
This spreadsheet keeps track of all my coupons. To find a specific coupon, all you need to do is open the program, press CTRL+F, type in the item I am looking for and then select "search all sheets." If I have a coupon for the item, it will tell me what insert and date it was from, and then I can easily cut it out to take to the store. This saves me a lot of time and clipping and mess! I also keep a hidden sheet on there for my other coupons I print, find at the store or get in the mail.
Now my database spreadsheet is available for everyone to search. Here is the link. You can also find the link on my blog header titled "York and Baltimore Insert Coupons." I usually have it updated by Sunday afternoon. All the coupons from 2011 inserts are on one tab, and then each week, I will make a new tab for the newest inserts. I started typing these up on 9/25, so any coupons from inserts before then that might still be good are not included.
Here are the 6 columns and some info you might need to navigate it:
Coupon:
In this column, I type the verbiage from the coupon. I put as much info that is needed to know what the coupon is about without having to go get it and look at it.
There are some abbreviations I use:
TP: Toilet Paper or Toothpaste. You should be able to tell which from the brand name...at least I hope so LOL
TB: Toothbrush(es)
PT: Paper Towels
Deo: Deodorant
BW: Bodywash
ets: Excludes travel/trial sizes
exc: excludes/excluding
On Buy X, Get Y free coupons, the items will be both be listed like this with the slash in between them: X/Y
Value:
This is pretty straightforward. If a coupon says $1.00 off 2, I'll type $1.00/2. If a coupon says Buy 1, get 1 Free, I'll type B1G1F
Expiration Date:
The date the coupon expires. I have the spreadsheet set up to automatically turn this cell red when the coupon expires. I will delete the expireds every Sunday, but for the ones that expire midweek, you might see a red colored box.
Inserts:
The insert in which the coupon is.
There are abbreviations:
RP: Red Plum
SS: Smart Source
P&G: Proctor and Gamble
GM: General Mills
MTS: Moments to Save (these are the twice a year Pepsi Co inserts)
PS: PlaySkool
On weeks where there is more than one of the same insert, I will designate such as SS#1 and SS#2. The way to know which is #1 and which is #2 is from numbers on the spine of the insert. The lower numbered one will be #1, and the higher numbered one #2.
Date:
The date the insert came out.
Special:
This column is for 2 different things. Most of the time it will be blank. If there is text in the box, it will be highlighted in purple.
*Doubling:
If a coupon says Do Not Double and is worth less than $1.00, I will check the barcode to see if it is coded to double or not. If the bar code starts with a 9, the coupon will never double. If you see DND9 in this box, you will know the coupon won't double.
Others that says Do Not Double, but start with a 5, the computer will automatically double them, so I don't make a note of this. The only way it won't double is if your cashier stops it.
You could also see DND-New which means the coupon says Do Not Double and it only has the new barcode, so I have no idea if the coupon will double or not because the 5/9 coding isn't visible.
*Store Coupons:
I also use this column if a coupon is only for a specific store. These are usually Target coupons, but we've had Walgreens, Petco and Kmart store coupons in the flyer. These are the ones that are not manufacturer coupons at all. If a coupon is store specific, the name of the store will be in this column.
Paper:
This column will say what paper the coupon was found in.
YDR: York Daily Record
BSun: Baltimore Sun
BOTH: In both the YDR and BSun
Occasionally, you will see "other paper" which means I got an insert from a different paper and it had a different coupon in it. I have to type it somewhere for my records. This only happens if I am away on Sunday and buy papers in another place. I still will always get the YDR and BSun every week.
I hope everyone will find this useful! Also, I am open to feedback. So please tell me what you think or if you have an idea for improvement!
I used to clip my inserts and sort coupons into a binder. But I found this too time consuming. Plus there are a lot of coupons I end up not using before they expire. But I recommend keeping every coupon you get because you never know when that item can become a moneymaker and help you pay for the other items you need to buy.
So I developed a spreadsheet where I type in the coupons I get from both the York Daily Record and The Baltimore Sun. While most of the coupons appear in both papers, other coupons are regional and only appear in one of the papers, or the values vary between the two.
This spreadsheet keeps track of all my coupons. To find a specific coupon, all you need to do is open the program, press CTRL+F, type in the item I am looking for and then select "search all sheets." If I have a coupon for the item, it will tell me what insert and date it was from, and then I can easily cut it out to take to the store. This saves me a lot of time and clipping and mess! I also keep a hidden sheet on there for my other coupons I print, find at the store or get in the mail.
Now my database spreadsheet is available for everyone to search. Here is the link. You can also find the link on my blog header titled "York and Baltimore Insert Coupons." I usually have it updated by Sunday afternoon. All the coupons from 2011 inserts are on one tab, and then each week, I will make a new tab for the newest inserts. I started typing these up on 9/25, so any coupons from inserts before then that might still be good are not included.
Here are the 6 columns and some info you might need to navigate it:
Coupon:
In this column, I type the verbiage from the coupon. I put as much info that is needed to know what the coupon is about without having to go get it and look at it.
There are some abbreviations I use:
TP: Toilet Paper or Toothpaste. You should be able to tell which from the brand name...at least I hope so LOL
TB: Toothbrush(es)
PT: Paper Towels
Deo: Deodorant
BW: Bodywash
ets: Excludes travel/trial sizes
exc: excludes/excluding
On Buy X, Get Y free coupons, the items will be both be listed like this with the slash in between them: X/Y
Value:
This is pretty straightforward. If a coupon says $1.00 off 2, I'll type $1.00/2. If a coupon says Buy 1, get 1 Free, I'll type B1G1F
Expiration Date:
The date the coupon expires. I have the spreadsheet set up to automatically turn this cell red when the coupon expires. I will delete the expireds every Sunday, but for the ones that expire midweek, you might see a red colored box.
Inserts:
The insert in which the coupon is.
There are abbreviations:
RP: Red Plum
SS: Smart Source
P&G: Proctor and Gamble
GM: General Mills
MTS: Moments to Save (these are the twice a year Pepsi Co inserts)
PS: PlaySkool
On weeks where there is more than one of the same insert, I will designate such as SS#1 and SS#2. The way to know which is #1 and which is #2 is from numbers on the spine of the insert. The lower numbered one will be #1, and the higher numbered one #2.
Date:
The date the insert came out.
Special:
This column is for 2 different things. Most of the time it will be blank. If there is text in the box, it will be highlighted in purple.
*Doubling:
If a coupon says Do Not Double and is worth less than $1.00, I will check the barcode to see if it is coded to double or not. If the bar code starts with a 9, the coupon will never double. If you see DND9 in this box, you will know the coupon won't double.
Others that says Do Not Double, but start with a 5, the computer will automatically double them, so I don't make a note of this. The only way it won't double is if your cashier stops it.
You could also see DND-New which means the coupon says Do Not Double and it only has the new barcode, so I have no idea if the coupon will double or not because the 5/9 coding isn't visible.
*Store Coupons:
I also use this column if a coupon is only for a specific store. These are usually Target coupons, but we've had Walgreens, Petco and Kmart store coupons in the flyer. These are the ones that are not manufacturer coupons at all. If a coupon is store specific, the name of the store will be in this column.
Paper:
This column will say what paper the coupon was found in.
YDR: York Daily Record
BSun: Baltimore Sun
BOTH: In both the YDR and BSun
Occasionally, you will see "other paper" which means I got an insert from a different paper and it had a different coupon in it. I have to type it somewhere for my records. This only happens if I am away on Sunday and buy papers in another place. I still will always get the YDR and BSun every week.
I hope everyone will find this useful! Also, I am open to feedback. So please tell me what you think or if you have an idea for improvement!
Thanks for taking the time to post this T. This is incredibly helpful info!
ReplyDeleteThanks Trish!
ReplyDeleteI love it because as I go through the ad, if I see something I think I might have a coupon for, I just type it in and it pops right up for me! No more cutting and organizing! It takes less time to type than to clip too if you get multiple inserts like I do.