I’ve been at this refunding-couponing thing for over 25 years now (impossible since I am only 29, but somehow it happened ). What started me on serious couponing was the need to eat. My former husband and I were just starting out and we had NO MONEY. If we wanted to eat, wash our hair, brush our teeth, clean the floors, something was going to have to be done and done quickly. So, I started couponing and refunding just to survive. Back then (in the stone age) there was no internet. People found out about forms from refund magazines, three of which still exist: Refundle Bundle (Susan Sumatra started it all), Refunding Makes Cents (now Refunding Cents), and Refund Express. We traded, not instantly using paypal, but through the mail by answering ads placed in the refunding magazines. There was seldom a guarantee about what forms were going to be in that envelope when it was returned to you (we sent sase), but the surprise and delight of a good trade could really make your day!

I ran ads many moons ago. Back then forms were plentiful and CRTs were not usually required. You could really rake in the cash and “stuff”. Since I ran ads, I needed a way to organize my forms. I had four cardboard post office boxes with envelopes full of refund forms sorted by date in alphabetical order. There were so many forms that sometimes the four boxes overflowed. One ad I gave out over 10,000 forms in 31 days!

Needless to say those days are long gone. Today, finding a refund form is like hitting the lotto! Like back then there are still avid form hunters trying to make a living off selling free refund forms – and some do succeed, which never ceases to amaze me. Others, like me, stumble across forms and share them with online friends. I still receive several hundred dollars a month in refunds, but almost all are NBPR (no beer purchase required) or internet printables. One of the reasons I keep such an extensive printable refunds (rebates) page is to help others that have an equally difficult time finding forms.

So, how to keep these organized?

The best possible way is to have the form at the ready, the you immediately address the envelope, complete the form and put it inside the envelope. Arrange the envelopes by expiration date from soonest expiring to latest expiration dates in a shoebox. Put the CRT in the envelope as soon as you get home with your purchase and attach or write in the UPC at the same time. Stamp the envelope and send it off.

Bwhahahahhaahaa I know. I wiped tears away I was laughing so hard as I typed that.

To be fair, that IS the best possible way to be form organized. But what is the reality? The reality for most folks is a mad dash around the house to find the CRT you “know you had”, locate the UPC and pray the spouse or the kids didn’t toss the packaging, and grumble as you print out another internet form because you recycled the last two you printed out. At this point you become the “slippage” that the industry so counts on and you never mail for the offer.

I think baby-steps is the best way to achieve refund organization. If you print out an internet form, trade for a form, or (hallelujah) find a form, immediately put it in a box by your desk where you know it will be. Eventually you can arrange them by expiration date, soonest to expire to latest to expire. As soon as you return home from shopping, put all your CRTs in the same box. If you purchased something specifically for a refund, don’t put it away…. put it in the box.

By now you are thinking to yourself, “WTH, is this “box” really a steamer trunk!?”

No. The catch is that at every 7-10 days you sit down for 30 – 45 minutes and fill out the forms envelopes and mail the offers you’ve completed. Take a few extra minutes and write up a list of what you still need to purchase to complete the other forms you have. This is especially helpful if you are sending a second offer in for your Mom (no, regardless of what the form says it is NOT illegal if you purchase a second item to send in for someone else. There are very few refund illegalities, most having to do with multiple addresses at the same residence (I could tell you stories about single family homes reported to have 127 apartment numbers and being busted by the PO), sending for multiple submissions of the same offer or ringing up tapes on your own cash register or manufacturing them on your computer – yes, it happens. What? You wondered why people trade for the UPC when the form requires a CRT too? )

Organization of any type comes from a bit of diligence and time and form organization is no exception. A little bit of organization can pay great dividends though… literally in this case.

If you have any tips or hints you would like to add, please do so!