Coupon Organization

I have a love/hate relationship with coupons. I love that I save a lot of money with them. I love the thrill of using coupons and seeing my total at the check out line keep going down and down. What I hate though is having to cut them all out. And then this leaves the question, what to do with all the coupons? So today I want to talk about coupon organization. I have three methods on how to store your coupons. Each have pros and cons, but each one works well depending the level of the coupon users.

First Method: The Binder system
This is the one that I use. You will need dividers, 3 ring binder, and baseball card holders. You divide your binder into different categories. My categories are: baby, beverages, canned, cereal, cleaning, dairy, laundry, meat, medicine, misc., personal hygiene. You can have as little or as many categories as you want. This is what works for me.

Pros: The pro to this is that you always have all your coupons with you at all times. So if you find a deal you weren't expecting you have your coupons right there with you. Another pro is being able to see all of the coupons that you have.

Cons: The cons to this method are that you have to cut out every coupon and they don't always fit perfectly in the baseball card holders.

Here is a picture of mine.

 Here is someone elses that is very similar to mine.

Dividers

I always carry the store coupon policy with me

I always have a pair of scissors, because I don't always cut every coupon before going to the store.

Second Method: Accordion Folder
This is a great method for just starting out. All you need is an accordion folder. You can usually find these in the dollar spot at target. Just as the first method, you cut all of your coupons out, and organize them into different categories.

Pros: The pro is that this is a lot smaller to carry around than a 3 ring binder. It will probably fit into your purse easily.

Cons: The con is that you can't see all the coupons you have, because they are smashed together in a folder. You have to take the coupons out of the folder to view them.

Third Method: File System
This system works great if you don't want to coupon aggressively. When you get your coupon inserts you just write the date you received them on the front. Then file them away in a folder. You then rely on people posting deals, going to the specific coupon, and cutting it out. (Here are a few of my favorite deal sites.)

Pros: The pro to this is that you don't have a to carry around a huge binder.

Cons: The con to this is that you only are going to the store with those prepared deals, and if you find something else you won't have your other coupons with you.

I hope this helps you feel a little more organized, and I hope it gives you the motivation to start or continue to coupon.