Part 5: Coupon Organization

Couponing can be messy. Without the proper organization, paper, weekly coupon inserts, catalinas & peelies can take over your world. 

When I first started couponing, I had NO organization style. I would put all of my weekly inserts & printable coupons in a reusable bag & dreaded trying to find any certain coupon! And when I finally did find the specific coupons I was looking for, I would put them in an expandable file-which was ok, but was definitely not the most effective format for me.

Worst of all,  I knew that because I wasn't organized, I was often missing out on some great deals!  Thankfully, I am now an organized couponer. I decided that for me, the binder format was going to work best right now. I purchased a 3 ring binder, 2 zipper pockets & baseball card holders and created my coupon binder. I made it simple & organized alphabetically. 

 (this is not my actual coupon binder, but it's very similar)

I use one zipper pouch to hold store coupons (Publix, Target, etc) and I use the other pocket for the printable manufacturer coupons. I'm not completely happy with this format, but until I come up with a better one, it is what it is.

The cons of the binder format: 

• It's very easy to get behind on clipping & filing the coupons
• If you miss a week of clipping/filing, the next week is almost overwhelming & let's be honest-miss 3 or more weeks & you might as well abandon all hope & start over!

The pros of the alphabetized binder format:

• If you run across an unadvertised sale or clearance, you already have all of your coupons with you.
• It is very easy to locate each coupon since you simply turn to the appropriate page in your binder
• It is very easy to transport to & from stores & sits easily in the front of a shopping cart.
• You can store small scissors, a calculator, a notebook & receipts in your binder to make things even easier.

If you decide that the binder format is not for you, here are two other organizing options.

• The 'shoe box' format:
• File clipped coupons in a box(file alphabetically or by type of item) & pull out the ones you need before you head out to shop
• The 'file folder' format:
• File entire weekly inserts by date & only clip the coupons you are definitely going to use at any one time.

Most of all, remember that there is no right or wrong way to organize your coupons. Do what is best for you! If you don't, you will most likely get behind, become overwhelmed & give up on the process. 

Happy Clipping!

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