Coupon Organization Strategies

Let’s face it. The couponers who are the most organized tend to save the most money. I don’t know if there’s any research to support this, but it couldn’t be far off the mark. So once you’ve gathered a bag or box full of coupons, how will you create an efficient system that works for you? How will you store your stash so that as soon as you find a rock bottom price you can grab that stack of “$1 off any Activia product” and get to the grocery store to score some yogurt before the “crazy coupon lady” gets there and clears the shelf? What good is a coupon if you can’t find it when you need it?

Well, there are a few methods and it really depends on personal preference. Some couponers like to leave coupon inserts intact, file them by date, and clip them as needed. Others clip all their coupons and store them in a box (like a photo box) alphabetically either by product type or by brand name. My preferred method has evolved over the years, moving from one strategy to another. I’ve finally landed on the binder method. I (currently) prefer to clip all of my coupons and file them in a binder using baseball card insert pages. This way, I am able to quickly pull the coupons that I’ll need for my shopping trip, and easily transport the entire collection to the store in case I run across an unadvertised deal. Another reason for doing it this way is that I was getting more and more coupons that weren’t the traditional Sunday insert type. I was collecting blinkies, tearpads, printables, cut off of packages, coupons received in the mail, magazines, etc. You get the picture. It is just easier for me to slide them into the binder and be done with it.

Now, how should you organize your binder? (And you thought you were done!)

Lessons learned about the binder method – based on dropping my coupon binder not once, but twice – 1) use a binder that zips all the way around; and 2) rather than get a progressively larger binder the more coupons I collected, I now use a separate (small-ish) binder for food items and one for non-food items. This filing method costs a little more to get started, but I’m able to save money and space by adding a little cardboard divider in each slot and using the front and back of each one. I also keep a zippered pouch right in the front (like a pencil pouch) to hold a small pair of scissors, a pen or two and a calculator.

If you haven’t already, you’ll soon settle into a comfort zone of your own. Have any words of wisdom to offer? What have you learned along the way? Leave us a tip in Comments!

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