Receipts, Coupons and Gift Cards, Oh My!

As an Organic Freedom, I have never known what to do with receipts and gift cards. Coupons? Are you kidding? Ugh. Too many details involved in using these. In fact, I am going to take a stand and say that coupons should only be used by Classics and Funs. And probably only by Classic Structures and Fun Structures because you probably won’t have an allegiance to a certain brand the way the Classic Freedoms and Fun Freedoms do. (And if I’m wrong, please let us know!)

So why would I relieve all those Organics and Smarts from using coupons? Because, um, it’s a tedious detail task and a big pain in the butt. Because we’re all about making life easier. There are better ways to spend your valuable time doing something that you actually enjoy. And sorry, but many Classics and Funs LOVE to save money, LOVE a bargain, and LOVE to organize little things like coupons, receipts, and gift cards into a portable mini-filing cabinet.

This is a great idea for Funs and Classics, because you can file things away and remember they are there. And if you have them with you in your purse, then you avoid that one rare occasion when you do forget the Gift Card or Coupons. Plus, you’ve got them with you at all times in alphabetical order.

This isn’t a great idea for Organics and Smarts because we would all forget we had those coupons, gift cards and receipts the minute we filed them away (even if they were in our purse). Out of sight is usually out of mind for us. So what to do? I still haven’t really found a great solution for us, so get rid of your coupons and keep your receipts in ONE PLACE, so at least you know where to go if you have to return something. (I only keep big ticket receipts or stuff I’m not sure will work.) And I treat Gift Cards like credit cards and keep them in my wallet, but I often forget I have them because they are tucked away. If you can dedicate a bulletin board to gift cards with the expiration date on them, then you’ll have a better chance of remembering, but make sure NOT to put anything else on this bulletin board. That’s as good as I’ve got for Organics and Smarts, let me know what your solution is for us.

Best for FUNs and CLASSICs

Originally published on January 6, 2010.