One of the most frugal, money-saving things you can do is utilize as many of the free coupons you have at your disposal as possible to cut costs on the products you use.
You’ll never redeem each and every coupon that comes your way, but by keeping your coupons organized and at hand for when you need them will surely shave some dollars off your grocery bill.
If you’re ready to be a Coupon Queen (or King) but aren’t sure how to setup a couponing system, here is a How To Guide for sorting your coupons efficiently, how to make a coupon organizer and organizing system plus you’ll find plenty of coupon collecting, sorting and organizing tips and resources listed below. If you’re already full steam ahead with your own coupon system, you might find a few new tips or useful ideas to try.
Coupon Organizing Method #1 - Using Envelopes
To organize all the coupons you have on hand with envelopes, one idea is to make an envelope for each category (such as Meat, Beauty Products, Soaps & Detergents, Paper Products, etc.).
Clip all the coupons you’ll use and store them in the applicable envelopes so you’ll find them easily. Once you have all your coupons sorted within the envelopes, store the envelopes in a plastic tub, shoe box, file folders, whatever works best for you.
Another idea for envelope organizing is to label and sort the envelopes by month (expiry dates). You’ll find more sorting tips toward the bottom of this post (under How To Sort & Organize Coupons).
Coupon Organizing Method #2 - An Accordian File Or Wallet
You can buy an accordian file or make your own (see Design Your Own Accordian File and How To Make An Envelope Accordian, #28 on list).
You can choose a large accordian file (like in the picture) or a wallet sized one, they do hold a lot even though they’re smaller. The best wallet sized ones for long term use would be a plastic or fabric organizer since they hold up longer, the wallet size also makes it easy to bring all your coupons with you on your shopping trips.
Use each pocket to store your coupons. If you have a wallet sized accordian file organizer, keep the front pocket free and you can toss in the coupons that you plan to use on your next shopping trip.
If you’re going to buy an accordian file (either a folder or wallet), look for one that has tabs on top of the pockets. This way you can mark each pocket (ie. the Month or Product Category) and you can see at a glance what each pocket holds.
If you’re going to make yourself an accordian system, make or buy tabs that you can attach to each pocket. The tabs really do help you find the right pocket quickly.
Coupon Organizer Method #3 - An Index File Box
Boxes are great for organizing coupons, you can use anything from a cardboard shoe box, a plastic tub (with lid), a recipe box, or try an index card box.
You can go as large as you need to or keep it small with recipe and index card boxes if you don’t have a large coupon collection (although these little boxes will hold a lot!).
Use dividers to separate your categories and then cut, clip and sort your coupons within each category. Either buy index dividers that will fit your box or make them out of the cardboard from old cereal boxes. Make sure each index divider is tabbed so you can mark the sections.
Coupon Organizing Method #4 - A Coupon Organizer Binder
You can make yourself a coupon organizer binder to sort and store your coupons, this is an especially nice system if you are a heavy-duty coupon user and have lots of coupons to keep organized.
You can use a regular binder but for a complete coupon center, a zippered organizer binder with inside pockets will give you lots of useful features. With the binder zipped up, you’ll have no worries about coupons or supplies falling loose and getting lost. You can setup the binder to hold everything you need for shopping and coupon clipping plus there’s an added benefit: you can easily take it with you while shopping.
Some ideas to store in the zippered binder:
- Small pair of scissors for coupon clipping
- Calculator
- Pad of paper (for grocery list making)
- A Price Book
- Coupon sorting mat (you can make your own)
- Pens or pencils
Separate the plastic sheets with binder dividers. You can sort each section: By alphabetical, By expiry date, By product category, or whatever you like. Do some experimenting and see which method works best for you and your needs.
You can buy zippered binders in any number of sizes, but you’ll want a size that will fit the plastic pocket sheets. These plastic sheets can be bought online, at your local card collecting shop and most department stores such as Walmart and Target.
How To Sort & Organize Coupons
Whichever method you choose as your coupon organizer, you’ll need to have a battle plan on how to keep them organized within the storage system of choice. Here are a few suggestions:- By Expiry Date: You can clip together coupon batches by month (based on expiry dates) or just store them all loose in the envelope/pocket/etc., with the about to expire coupons at the front and moving back (by date).
- By Products: Within your Beauty & Health category, you can clip together all the shampoo coupons, all the deodorant coupons, makeup coupons, etc. Within each product category, sort the coupons by expiry date (with the soon to expire coupons on top).
- Sort Alphabetically: Another way to organize coupons within the system is by product name or product item (Ivory Soap, Smuckers Jam, or Peanut Butter, Laundry Detergent, etc.).
Coupon Preparation Before Shopping
Before you go shopping, prepare your grocery coupons before hand. Here’s a suggestion:
- The first step is to make your grocery list on a sheet of paper or on the back of an envelope, then go through your coupons and pull out any that are applicable to your needs. Mark a “C” beside each item on your list that you have a coupon for.
- Store both the grocery list sheet and the coupons inside an envelope (or stick the coupons inside the envelope that you wrote your list on).
- Follow the grocery list while you’re shopping and you’ll spot quickly which items have a coupon. See Quick & Easy Way To Remember Coupons (Tip #10) for more details.
Making A Coupon Organizer - Tips & Resources
If you’d like to see some examples of coupon organizers that people have made and use, here is a list of sites for you to check out:- Mom’s Build-It-Yourself Coupon Organizer
- Organizing Your Coupons
- A Tour of A Coupon (and More!) Organizer
- The Coupon Lady Strikes Again!
- Secrets To Supermarket Savings
- Organizational Methods For Coupons
Coupon Collecting & Organizing Tips
In the sites below you’ll find some excellent details for saving money with coupons and tips to organize them:- Coupon Queen Savings: Get Your Grocery Coupons Organized!
- Grocery Shopping Tips
- Saving Money On Groceries
- A Hassle-Free Way to Organize Your Grocery Coupons
- Laura’s Couponing and Refunding Hints &Tips
- Secrets To Supermarket Savings - Part 8
- Organized Coupons? Is it Possible?
- How To Accumulate A Nice Stash Of Coupons
And Now Your Coupons Are Organized…
By developing a coupon sorting system and making yourself a coupon organizer, you’ll find it much easier to save money on groceries and products since you’ll have all your coupons in one place, and you’ll know just where to look for that coupon you wish to use.Keeping coupons organized will take some time to first setup and figure out what works best for your needs, but once you have determined the best system that works for you, maintaining it regularly won’t be such a chore. It will simply be a matter of purging expired coupons and filing away new ones.
Tip: Coupon clipping and organizing is an easy, productive thing you can do while watching tv.
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