Organizing Coupons

I have had many different ones over the years, but my fave is the plastic, non tear one from target (in the art/stationary section). elastic band to hold it shut and plenty of dividers!

I bought mine from Meijers for a few bucks, it's the small plastic accordion style organizer, but the bottom also expands. I' cut the flap of one and taped it to the second one (making it even larger) and when totally expaned and full of coupons, it can easily expand to 1.5 feet long. I've made tabs from anything and everything you can think of food wise. I also have a second one for non edible items (more for toiletries and such) and again break it down into catagories that work for me. It took a while, but after a couple months of using it, I tweaked some categories (those that I found contained way too many coupons). So, it's really up to you and what products you buy. Some categories I know off hand are "baby (diapers/Wipes), breakfast, Frozen, Grains, baked goods, Paper products, hair, body, teeth, etc).

I use a zippered binder. It is a nice Rolodex one that I found on clearance at OfficeMax. I have tabbed dividers, with baseball card inserts to hold the actual coupons. I have a few picture pages in the front for CVS cards/ecbs, walgreens, local grocery stores, and target coupons. Plus have a zippered pencil pouch for giftcard, a pen, stamps, and other shopping cards.

I tried a small accordian style initially, but quickly found it was too small, and I spent alot of time sorting thru stacks of coupons, often dropping them in the process, or irritating people around me.

I love my coupon wallet. After seeing mine, a friend bought one too.
www.thecouponwallet.com

Dollar tree has small ones by the kitchen utensils. If that is too small, go to Walmart or Target and check the stationery/home office area. They usually have small accordian style with elastic closures. Target sometimes has them in the dollar area as well. You can organize by type (health & beauty, etc), by expiration date, or by whatever makes sense to you. Anything bigger or bulkier may be too cumbersome to use as they won't easily fit in a purse.

Like a previous poster, I use a zippered binder filled with baseball card holders. I use dividers to divide up categories. I have several catergories - ie baby, breads, frozen, canned goods, produce, meats, paper product, pets, personal products, etc. I have a misc one too as sort of a catch-all for what I am not sure where to place. I don't seperate out ones that are for specific stores, ie a Target coupon for laundry detergent still goes in the laundry section. My binder has a zipper where I can place store ads and my lsit and a smaller mesh pocket on the front where I like to put the coupons I want to be sure to use on a specific trip.

I use two hard plastic boxes that hold index cards. One is labeled A-K and the other is L-Z. I bought the already made alphabetized dividers and a pack of large index cards. I labeled the cards by writing the section heading on the top of each large index card.

I organize my coupons by subject or section that usually has a ton of coupons.... For example there are always a ton of toothpaste coupons and toothbrush coupons so I keep them separate. But, I keep all meat separated by beef, pork, turkey, etc. even if frozen, or fresh. I also use such headings as: Mexican, Asian, Vegetables, Fruit, Snacks, Dairy, and Frozen.

I don't categorize them by expiration date because Cub Foods will take expired coupons up to 3 months later. Rainbow will not accept late coupons.

I also have two little plastic, clear pouches (one for Rainbow; one for Cub) that are different colors and labeled. This makes it easy for me to pull the ones I need and keep them organized while I'm at the store.

One afternoon to get organized is worth the time spent. It makes sorting and pulling coupons much quicker!

I found mine at Walmart a few years back for only a buck or two. Check the office supply area for a small acordian style one that has little tabs you can separated them based on health/beauty/canned/veggies/dairy/snacks/baking items, etc. Typically you can find one with the elastic band that keeps it closed. I try to keep it in the car during the week in case I run into the store and be sure to bring it in for the weekend while clipping from the Sunday paper.

I use a 4x6 plastic (flexible)photo album. They're little more than a dollar and I just stick the coupons in--you can categorize as you like. I like that I can see the coupons and the expiration date, for the most part (unless you get those super-long coupons, then you have to fold 'em).

I found one was too cumbersome, so I have 2 small plastic accordion style organizers from the Target $1 spot - one for grocery items and one for HABA (health & beauty aids) -so I typically just grab the HABA one for Target, Walmart, Walgreens and both for Jewel, Dominicks....

But I only cut coupons I use very regularly. I have a couple of other full paper size accordion style plastic organizers I also got at the dollar spot. I date each insert & file them - only cut them when I need them (coupontom.com tells you where to find). For more info check out this website: jillcataldo.com (Chicago area) or couponmom.com (national - Atlanta based I believe).

M.

I use one of those pocket folders for checks. I usually sort my coupons by the section of the store they are usually in i.e. produce, dairy, baking, meats, deli. The front pocket I use for coupons that are only good for a specific store and have them in alphabetical order by store name. the back is for restaurants.

I would got to office max or someplace like and get one of those plastic things to hold index cards. That way you can quickly organize by expiration date and it fits in your purse.

http://www.kouponkeeper.com is what I have. I had to switch out the pages that came with it though, they gave you too small ones. I bought a bunch of scrapbook photo album pages to use instead. I love it!! And I can put as many catagories as I want which helps organize the coupons.

I have the same one as Karen T. I have it divided into sections.
jewel
costco
baby
home
electronics
clothes
car
misc

I am really bad at organization and I tend to drop/spill anything that would leave them loose like a recipe card holder. I use a tri fold cosmetic case in which all sections zip shut and it is compact. It has enough sections to break coupons into. Groups that make sense to me and a pouch on the outside for todays list,coupons and store receipts. It sets up well in the cart and if I see a great deal that is not on my list I can quickly check for coupons.
Got it on clearance in luggage section at Target.

I would suggest going to this website: Hip2Save.com and she does a video tutorial on some ideas for organizing coupons. Plus it's a great site for finding great deals.

I use this: http://unclutterer.com/2009/03/19/repurpose-brag-books-fo...