Couponing101 - Part 3: Organizing Your Coupons

Just joining the Couponing 101 series? Catch up here:

• Inroduction
• Part 1: Menu Planning
• Part 2: Coupons & Where to Find Them

There are numerous ways to organize your coupons. I have tried almost all of them before I finally settled on what I do now.

Don't be afraid to try several methods for several months each before you settle on what works best for you.

Accordion Folder/Coupon Box
Clip your coupons & store them in accordion folder or small box organized by categories.

Possible categories include:

• Baby Supplies
• Baking
• Breads
• Canned Items: fruit, veggies, soup
• Cereal
• Cleaning Items: Dishwashing, Laundry, Household, paper products
• Condiments
• Dairy
• Drinks: tea, coffee, hot chocolate, coke, juice
• Frozen Items: dinners, desserts, veggies
• Health & Beauty: shampoo, shaving, body wash, toothpaste
• Medicine
• Pasta/Rice
• Produce
• Snacks

This method is very easy to carry with you to the store.

Here are some samples of people who store there coupons in accordian folders/coupon boxes:

Money Saving Mom's Catagorical Example

OrgJunkie's Alphabetical Example

Hip2Save Binder Videos

Binder Method
Clip your coupons & store them in a three-ring binder using plastic baseball card inserts/pages. You can organize your coupons by catagory or alphabetically.

Copyright theroyalmother (via Flickr)

Here are some examples of people who use the binder method:

Utah Deal Dive Binder Example

Coupon Mommie's Binder Example

The Couponizer (a pre-made binder method you can purchase)

Envelope Method
Some find it easy to clip ALL of their coupons and store them in an envelopes based on insert and date (for example 7/26 SS). They then store their envelopes in a caddy similiar to this one.Obviously you could also use something like this to organize your clipped coupons by catagory or expiration date.

File Drawer
I grew tired of cutting coupons very quickly, and at one point I believe my husband complained that I was "ALWAYS CUTTING COUPONS." I was never caught up. So, this is the method I settled on over two years ago - it works fabulously for me!

Each week I flip through ONE of each insert. I note the LATEST/OLDEST expiration date in each insert and write it on the front:

I then store the full/uncut inserts in hanging file folders.

I then write several things on a sticky note:

• the date the insert came out in the newspaper (in large numbers on the top left of the sticky note)
• the dates that the inserts will expire (in smaller numbers on the top right of the sticky note).

These full inserts are stored in a file drawer. This method allows me to only cut the coupons I will use.

You can see all kinds of pictures of how people have organized their coupons here.

As always, feel free to ask any question. I'll be hanging out in the comments section to talk deals and steals!