Tuesday, September 15, 2009

How I Organize My Coupons...

If you're new to couponing or just don't like your
method of organizing your coupons here's what I do...
It works great for me!!
Bold

I use a binder like you see here.
Then I got the sheets that hold baseball cards. The ones that have 9 pockets in each sheet. You can get these pretty cheap here on Amazon. I slide the coupons in the slots so that I can see what it is and the exp. date. I also slip them in backwards too so that I can put 18 coupons in one sheet.

These sheets are put in the binder by category.
If a category gets full it's easy to slip another page in anywhere!

If you use the envelope method I'm sure you hate constantly going through the pile to see if you have a coupon. I did too, especially at the store. It takes a little longer to file your coupons away after clipping, but it's so much easier to find a coupon later when I'm scanning the ads or in the store!


In addition to the baseball holder sheets I also have an area in the front of my binder where I do use the envelope method. These are the categories that I typically only use if something is a moneymaker or free. I never have to go through these envelopes in the middle of the store because these are the items that I rarely shop for if ever.

These categories for me are...
**Medicine**
also includes vitamins and cough drops.
I only buy medicine when planned and I have already pulled my coupons at home. Plus there are typically so many of these type of coupons that to put them in the baseball card holders would be a lot of very unnecessary work and take up alot of space.

**Scented**
This inclues anything smelly -- usually Glade and Airwick

**Baby**
I don't need diapers anymore-- however if they're a really good deal I still might want to get them for gifts so I like to keep the coupons. I also like to keep baby wipes around for messy hands and camping so it's nice to have those coupons handy.

**Laundry**
I use the Laundry ball so I haven't gotten soap in months. If it's nearly free however I want to have the option to get it so I keep the coupons.

**Miscellaneous **
This category is huge -- things like batteries, monthly items, tape, coffee, pens, bug spray, hair color, storage containers, ect. Anything that doesn't fit anywhere else but I want the coupon.

Doing this envelope method along with the binder really saves space on items I rarely need but you just never know what is going to be a moneymaker!!!!
***
So this is what works for me!
Hopefully it will give you an idea or two for your coupons!!!

4 comments:

Hope said...

Hi Megan!
My binder looks almost identical to yours, minus the envelopes at the front. I do have an additional tip though... Some of the wider coupons (even after trimming) have to be folded in have vertically to fit in my sleeves. I fold them so that the picture of the product is facing out, so I know what I am looking at.
Have a great day!
Hope

Megan said...

Hi Hope,

Yep I fold mine too! Thanks for mentioning it for everyone else too!!

AudreyO said...

I have never had a system for keeping coupons. I just love your notebook idea. How much do you save each week?

Anonymous said...

Glad you are liking the binder method! My case it binder looks similar to yours.


Laura Williams
Creator of the Coupon Binder Method
http://laurawilliamsmusings.blogspot.com/2007/07/lauras-couponing-and-refunding-hints.html

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