Coupon Organization

Now that you have your Sunday papers and your IPs you will need a system to store and organize them. There are several options when it comes to organizing your coupons.

1. The Clipless Method

               This consists of gathering the inserts from the Sunday papers, writing the date on the front, and filing them.  Then when you check the blog of the store you will be shopping at, it will list where you can find the coupon.  If it is in the 3/27 SmartSource, you go to your file box, pull the insert and clip the coupon! This is the easiest way to start out.  There is no messing with tons of clipped coupons, everything is organized nicely in your filing box.

      Downside: If you are shopping and come across an unadvertised sale or clearance item, you won't have your coupons handy to take advantage.  You will either need to go back later wasting time, gas, and money, and there is no guarantee that the product will still be there.

          2. The Accordian Method

                 This is the first method that I used.  I went to Walmart and bought a legal letter-size filer.  It had 13 separate compartments and I labeled each one with a category that I could sort my clipped coupons into.  I had the following categories: body care, baby care, health/medicine, household, diapers/wipes, oral health, make-up/face, hair, cleaners/air fresheners etc. I also had food lumped into one category but it got too messy so I purchased a 3x5 accordian file and filed the food coupons according to category as well.

              Downside: you cannot see your coupons all at once, you have to sort through them at the store if you see an unadvertised deal.

              At least you will have your coupons with you to catch the deal!

    

     3. The Binder Method

                 

              If you are a serious couponer, this may be the best system for you.  You will need a binder, at least a 1.5-2 inch to start out, baseball card holders, larger photo holders, and dividers.  With this method, your categories would be written out on the dividers and baseball card holders would hold your coupons.  This method takes a little bit more time to set up and keep up, but it has advantages.  Every coupon will have a place and you can easily reference your coupons because they will be organized by category and also by type. (ex: you can put your yogurt coupons near your milk coupons because they are sold in the same section at the store)

               Downside: the binder can be bulky...

Here is a link to some photos of the various organization methods. this blog is also a very good resource of information. http://simple2save.blogspot.com/p/organization.html