AddictedToSaving.com

**I am reposting this because at least every other day I have an email from all of you asking about how to best organize your coupons 🙂  One of the most common question I get asked is how to organize coupons.  It seems that this is a question I receive from newbie couponers all the way to experienced couponers.  Organization is a tough challenge.  Especially when you are receiving new coupons every Sunday, printable coupons, coupons in mailers, etc etc!  I’ve used two different organizational methods.  I started out with using a coupon binder (see Method 1 below).  I now file my inserts by category and date and only cut coupons when needed (see Method 2 below).

Method 1: Coupon Binder

Step 1)  Buy a 3 ring binder.  Preferably a binder that has zipper to keep it closed (and to keep loose coupons from escaping!)  **UPDATE – An awesome source that sells coupon binders is Coupon Clutch.  Coupon Clutch takes care of all of the steps below by providing you with the tools you will need to have an organized coupon binder!  Best of all, they have given Addicted to Saving readers a 10% off code thru 6/30/10.  Go HERE to purchase a coupon clutch and use coupon code “ADDICTED” to receive your discount!

Step 2)  Buy Baseball Card holder sheets.  (There should be 9 holders on one sheet).  Use these sheets to put your coupons in.  I put coupons facing the front and the back of the sheet.  That way, I can hold 18 coupons per sheet.

Step 3: Cut each and every coupon on Sunday and organize your coupon sheets by category.  (Put multiple copies of each coupon in just one spot – that way all copies are together)  Some people organize the sheets by store aisles to make it easy to find as you are walking through your local stores.  I organize my coupons by category (i.e. pasta, side dishes, produce, dairy, protein, pet products, cleaning supplies, toiletries, etc etc).  That way, if I need cheese, I know to go to my dairy section of my binder and I can see all of the cheese coupons available.  You can use whatever categories work best for you.  The goal is to make your binder easy to use and more importantly easy to find specific coupons.

Step 4: In the inside front cover of my binder, I include important coupons that I don’t want to forget about (they are high value, maybe expiring soon, freebies, etc  etc).  I also keep a pair of scissors as well as envelopes for mail in rebates.

PRO’s:

• You can easily carry all of your coupons into the grocery store with you.
•  You won’t miss out on any great deals because you will always have your coupons on hand.
•  It is easy to find any coupon that you need since they are all categorized in an easy to find manner.

CON’s:

• You have to cut each and every coupon from Sunday’s paper which takes a bit of time. (Why do you cut EVERY coupon?? Because you never know when an item will be dirt cheap, FREE or better yet a MONEYMAKER!)
• Carrying your binder in grocery stores is a bit bulky.

Method 2: Filing Inserts

Step 1)  Find a box or plastic container that is large enough to hold multiple inserts when they are standing upright.

Step 2)  Organize your coupon inserts each Sunday.  If you buy more than one newspaper, put all SS (Smart Source) coupons together, all RP (Red Plum) coupons together, P&G, etc etc.

Step 3: Combine multiple copies of the coupon sheets within each insert.  (See picture below).  You are doing this so that when you need a coupon in the 2/21 RP (Red Plum from Feb 21st), you will have each coupon next to each other within 2/21 RP.  You will only need to flip through the insert once and all copies will be there making it easy to find and easy to cut (you can cut all copies at once – although be careful that you don’t cut off the expiration date or barcode!)

Below is an example of my RP 1/24/10 insert.  I needed Good Life Cat Food coupons.  All I had to do was open my RP insert and turn the pages until I reached the Good Life coupons.  Then I cut all six cat food coupons at once since they were all organized together.

Step 4)  File Your Inserts By Date and Insert Name.  On the front cover of each insert, I put a sticky note with the insert date and name.  Otherwise, I would have to look at very very small print on the front binder of the front page to see what date the insert was from.  I file my inserts in a box with the most recent inserts in the front and oldest inserts are in the back.  In the very back I keep my All You Magazines, store flyers, etc.

[Read more…]