How do you organize your Coupons?

[Shelby143]

Ok, I have tons of coupons... but have no idea how to organize them.

What categories do you put your coupons into to organize them for quick shopping?

I usually put mine in order as the products would be as I walk around the store. Unfortunately, I haven't been getting many lately. But I found that is a good way. I have a hard time remembering when things expire though.

[ark76]

I just bought one of those cheap fabric CD holders with a zipper. I just put my coupons in the slots meant for CDs and I can see them through the slip covers! So now, I just need to flip the pages and find the right one. I take the entire CD holder with me while I go grocery shopping so I can make those on the spur of the moment purchases too!

[ark76]

And could you please tell us how you managed to get tons of coupons?!

[kdm2273]

I organize mine in catagories. For example: Frozen foods, canned goods, baby stuff, etc. Seems to work pretty well. I don't organize by aisles, because I shop at different stores.

[katlnhats]

Originally Posted by ark76

And could you please tell us how you managed to get tons of coupons?!

Hi,
Tons of coupons:

Out of your Sunday papers, you may want to check them quickly in the store to see if it's worth buying more than one. Some Sundays the coupons are much better than others.

Check the grocery aisles in your store. Usually, a manufacturer's coupon will be next to a product that they want you to buy. You can't usually double these and the product may not be on sale, but if you do use it, or want to, take a couple anyways, and wait till they "are" on sale--the coupons should still be good.

Sign up for all the freebies that you can on things you use that manufacturers will send you coupons for, an example of this is the free Potatoes on here, in the Freebies section. It's still good and you get, not the product, but the coupon for a free package of any kind you'd like.

Freebies again: Usually and this really happens a lot, when you sign up for a free sample, you'll also get at least one if not more coupons so you'll buy it. Once again, if you like the product, wait till it's on sale and then use your coupon.

And.....keep all your coupons, the ones you don't use too--post them on here and trade for ones you'll use!

Kat

[verwon]

I have the ultimate coupon organization system!

I have a 3 ring binder, large size, so it can accommodate over 1000 coupons,(this part was Andy's idea) I put baseball card storage pages in it, you know those 9 pocket holders? See through so you can see each coupon, and you can double up with some facing the front and some facing the back so they are easy to see when you turn the page. I have numbered all the pockets with little stickers. I use a free software called Ca$hIn, no longer supported and a little hard to find, but there are some similar ones available, and it assigns a number to each coupon, so I can log the coupons in, how many of each I have, the expiration date and coupon details, then I put them in the pocket that matches the number assigned by the software.

The software lets me create my own category, brand, and other fields for the coupons. It alerts me to expire coupons, and before I go shopping, I can print a list by category, as well as several other options, so when I find an item on sale at a great price, I can just glance through the print out, see if I have a coupon that makes the deal even better, and then just pull out the ones I need by flipping to that pocket number.

I use the front pocket of the binder to hold the ones I am using, there is another larger pocket behind that one that I use for any I find and pick up during that shopping trip on tear pads or in blinky machines. Behind those is a larger side-ways pocket I use to store the print out and my shopping list, so I don't forget stuff we are out of, and I even have a place to store a pen in case I need it, as well as a small ID holder that is see through to hold any store cards I might need for additional savings.

The software also lets you redeem the coupons you use, according to single, double, or triple redemption, and see your monthly and year to date coupon savings. The binder is easy to prop right up with my print out in front, in the little basket at the top of my buggy, so I can make sure I can always see my coupons, as several people around here have had theirs stolen. It zips shut so I can make sure nothing falls out when I am done using it.

A friend of mine, who I taught to coupon, but works full time night shift and just doesn't have the time to set up the computer system that I use, has two different binders with the baseball card pages, they are different colors, and she has made on food, and the other non-food items. Then she just clustered pages together and labeled them with tabs on the outer edge of the pages by categories, so she can just flip to that section and scan for the coupon she needs. She puts the soonest expiring coupons in front, and the longer dated ones in back if she has duplicates, so she makes sure she uses the oldest ones first.


As for coupon tips, check with your favorite stores and see if they accept printed ones, there are quite a few onlines sites that offer them, I usually check them out before each of my big monthly shopping trips and print them to take with me, if there is something you won't use, you don't have to print it and waste your ink and paper.

This site [Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now] lists a coupon preview each week, though some vary by area, you can get a basic idea of what will be in your local Sunday papers each week, to see if it is worth picking up a few. They also offer coupons for a handling fee. I usually check there most weekends, except holidays when there usually aren't any, to see what coupons might be coming out that I can use. If you check out the coupon forum here, or do a google search, you will find tons of other people who get multiple inserts and have their extras up for trade or a handling fee for their time to find and clip them.

I also check every paper before I buy it, to make sure it has the correct number of inserts, as a harried store clerk or paper carrier, will sometimes be in a hurry and miss putting the middle sections in all the papers. I am not going to pay $1 and up, for each paper, if I can't be sure the coupons are in there to make it worth it. I also base how many papers I pick up on how much I am going to save with the coupons I can use that is in them, if there are good freebie coupons, or ones I know will give me items for pennies, then I might pick up 10 or more papers some weeks. Other weeks, it might just be one or two, if the coupons aren't really great.

I am not sure why it doesn't dawn on some people that you can use more than one of the same coupon as long as the details on the coupon don't say you can't, so you can purchase more than one newspaper to get more of the coupons you need. Before my pain got really bad, I used to go down to my local convenience store, a few blocks away, on midnight Sunday, into Monday, they toss the papers they haven't sold, after they take off the front section they need to turn in to the newspaper, they would set them in a bag on top of the dumpster, voila, free, multiple, coupon inserts each week. I really wish I had someone who lived closer to help me so we could split them because I don't drive and can no longer carry them home.

[ark76]

Verwon you always have very nice posts full of information! Thank you.

[lin4869]

I have a plastic 4" x 6" recipe box with dividers that have plastic tabs at the top (usually with the alphabet or something on them.) I just turned the dividers backwards so that the tabs are blank and labeled them with a Sharpie, noting subjects like Baking, Cat-Can, Cat-Dry, Dairy, etc. I have the labeled dividers in alphabetical order and place coupons behind the appropriate divider--generally in order of the best discount. Every month, I purge the expired coupons I haven't used.

Hope this is an idea that works for you too.