Sunday, March 6, 2011

How I Organize My Coupons

Last week I wrote about where I get my coupons. You can view that post HERE. This week I want to talk about another question I get asked a lot when it comes to coupons. "How do you keep all those coupons organized?!"

When I first started using coupons and didn't have that many I used one of those accordion photo folders. I just had a few different sections labeled and stuck them all in there. But then I got tired of having to look through each and every coupon to find the one I was looking for. Even when it was in a section of its own, it became a lot of coupons to look through. So I started using a 3-ring binder. Here's all you need to make your own coupon binder.

  • A 3-ring binder- the bigger the rings, the better. Also, if you can find the kind that zips closed that is very helpful to make sure everything stays in and you don't lose anything. I got mine at Big Lots. 
  • Baseball Card Holders. They come in a really big pack for about $5. I got mine at Walmart. 
  • Dividers. This way you can section off your coupons how you want. I also got these at Walmart.
And thats all you need!

I section my binder into 9 sections. Food, Household, Toiletries, Pets, Baby, Publix, Target, Other Stores, and Medicine. You can divide your's up however you would like. I would eventually like to divide mine up into subsections such as dairy and frozen, etc. But that will have to happen later when I am finished with school and have more time on my hands.

All I do each week is clip my coupons and divide them up and put them in the baseball card holders by section. Most of the coupons will fit perfectly in each slot but some you may have to fold. Remember to put the coupon with the closest expiration date on top, if you have multiples of the same coupon.

I'm not going to lie or sugar coat it. It can be time consuming. Like right now I am way behind on organizing mine because I have been so busy with school. But one thing I am going to start is to also get a folder to stick the whole inserts in them by date. So probably another accordian folder... and as I have time clip and organize them in the binder. That way if I need a coupon from an insert I haven't clipped yet, I can still find it easily.

So there ya go! That's how I organize my coupons! If you use coupons, I'd love to hear how you organize yours! Also, please feel free to comment or email me with any questions!

6 comments:

  1. I am going to try this method. They way I have mine now is terriable!

    Mary/SweepingMe

    Following from the Monday Mingle

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  2. You are so organized, I love it! :D hi! new follower of yours thru Mom Blog Monday. Thanks for hosting. :D Hope you can follow me back. Have a nice day!

    Roller Coaster Ride

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  3. I envy you. I could never create my own organizational thing for coupons without something like this blog post. Absolutely awesome. Thanks for sharing!

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  4. I am so envious! My coupon organizing methods are awful!

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  5. I organize mine by aisle in the store. That has been so much more helpful. I mainly shop at 1 store but since I have been doing it for years I have it memorized so that if I go into another store, I know where to look!
    You can get an aisle list at your store.
    When I walk down an aisle, I open to that page and immediately find what I need!

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