Organizing Your Coupons
By · Jul 08If you have been clipping coupons, even for just a few weeks, you are going to have quite a large stockpile of coupons. What do you do with all of them? When I first started couponing, I used a little coupon organizer that I bought at the store. It was called a coupon organizer, and you have probably seen them before. They are about the size of an envelope and mine had 13 little pockets inside to organize your coupons.
The problem is, if you are a serious couponer, you have too many coupons for this little thing to hold. I would spend forever at the store trying to find the coupon that I wanted, and I couldn’t remember what coupons I had.
One of the most popular ways to organize coupons is a binder. Many people use a 3 ring binder and then they fill the binder with baseball card organizers. You can buy these at any office supply store. The problem that I had with this method, is that the baseball card organizers seemed too small to fit your coupons in, and I didn’t want to mess with having to fold my coupons. Plus with the baseball card organizers there are 9 coupons to a page, for me that is too overwhelming and sends my brain into overload.
Another way to organize coupons is with a box. You can use a photo organizing box, or a shoe box or a Rubbermaid type box, any box really. Then you just put organizing tabs in to separate the sections.
You can click on this forum at Hot Coupon World to see pictures of the ways people are organizing their coupons.
After a lot of thinking and going back and forth, this is the coupon organizer I bought:
(Excuse the grimy fingerprints!)
If you are going to use a photo organizer, make sure that you get one that the photo pockets open to the inside and not the edge, otherwise your coupons will fall out. I also like that there is a lot of room in the middle part so that I can get my coupons out easily.
I also bought these index tabs. They are made by 3M and cost about $3.00. They have their own adhesive on them and are really easy to use.
These are the categories that I have in my book:
11 Comments
July 9th, 2008 at 1:03 am
I am so glad Nicole posted this. Before she got here, I had decided to not even mess with this system, but after shopping with her and seeing how convient it was I decided to do it to. I found that it was really great to have all my coupons with me because sometimes there may be a clearance item or something along that line. I shopped around alot and in the end bought one like hers. I was trying to not be matchy, but since she is such a pro I decided to go with her suggestion.
July 9th, 2008 at 7:02 am
so i have my own system, but this, this is genious! thanks for the tip. i take the coupons i’m going to use and put them in one pocket and as i pick up the item i transfer correlating coupon to other pocket. but this, this will really improve things. thanks!
July 9th, 2008 at 7:04 am
oh and my system does include a binder . . . i do have more of a system than pockets.
July 10th, 2008 at 6:28 am
Perfect information!!! Now I can get my stash all organized—thank you very, very much!!
August 27th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
What a great idea! I will have to try this. I have a couple of old photo albums at home.
December 6th, 2008 at 2:33 am
I am new to this idea… I am really trying to convert to the idea… I want to be better about using coupons…
YOU are making it sound more like a game (games I like) than work!
Love the site!
May 12th, 2009 at 10:24 pm
I’ve been following your blog for some time now, reading about all the money you are saving etc. with coupons. I have finally decided to give it a try. I came across another couple of blogs that also do what you do and I have to say you are the most “real” about it. I love it! I think if I knew you we’d be friends! Anyways, just wanted to say thanks for what you do. It totally helps me. You’ll probably be hearing from me with lots of questions as I wrap my head around all of this, but I’m starting simple like you suggested. I’m totally organizing like you said and will actually copy your tabs even! My envelope sized organizer only has 6 tabs…yeah, not really working!! Keep it up, i’m spreading the word to all my friends and we’re jumpin on the bandwagon!
May 12th, 2009 at 10:32 pm
Thanks Sheila! Keep the questions coming! I am happy to help.
August 7th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
I have been using the same type of album, I picked up one from a clearance end cap at Target. My categories are almost the same. I even bought a larger purse so I could carry it with me. So far it has been working great for me. I will have to try the envelope in the front like you since I have been trying to use a binder clip for the coupons I want to pull out at the register but it is such a pain to use. I have to fumble around with it and try to keep the ones I have already pulled from falling out! I put file stickers on the front of each of my “windows” and quickly memorized where they were in the album.
Mine is also cute and I had the same thought, if I was going to use something I wanted it to be convenient to use, easy to carry and good looking.
I love your blog. I have been using your pizza recipe. It’s so much more convenient than my previous one using my bread machine. My family loves it.
I’m trying to work up the nerve to try the drug store game. I think I’ll give it a try once my kids go back to school.
Thanks!
November 3rd, 2009 at 2:32 pm
Is your photo album for 4×6’s?
November 3rd, 2009 at 4:48 pm
Yes, it is a 4×6.