Hopefully by now if you're following this blog, you've started gathering some coupons. Maybe from the Sunday paper, maybe a blinkie machine at the grocery store, or have requested some online.

I'm going to show you guys how I store/organize my coupons. Most people think that couponing takes a lot of time, but if you spend just a little time each week organizing, never missing another deal will be a breeze!

A rookie mistake that a LOT of couponers make (myself included) is trying to cut and file coupons. After a few weeks of this I realized that I was misplacing coupons and I had a pretty big mess, not to mention it's time consuming not only to clip but to organize, then have to sort through a pile of cut coupons to find what you're looking for. I now put the entire weeks worth of inserts into a sleeve inside a 3 ring binder. I know what you're thinking- "but how will you know what coupons you have?". No- I don't have a super-human memory. What I do have is a coupon database online.

Here's how it works:

Let's say you're going to the grocery store, and you make a list of things you need:

Eggs
Soy milk
salad

Now go type those words into the coupon database, and viola! It pulls up every coupon and where you can get it for each item! Here's an example for when we search "eggs":

Egglands Best Cage Free Dozen OR Organic Dozen Eggs - 01-30-11 SS

$0.75/1

6/30/2011

Insert

It gives you all the information you need: The name of the product, value of the coupon, where the coupon is, and the expiration date. This says I can find the coupon in the 1-30-11 SS Insert, so I flip to that insert in my binder and find my coupon.

Another thing I like to do is take a few minutes to flip through, and write the latest expiration date in the insert on the front, so I know when to toss it.


For organizing all of my printable coupons and various booklets, I keep a smaller
folder:

I try to only print coupons I know that I will use to conserve ink and paper (if you're printing a lot, set your printer on the lowest print quality to conserve ink!), but if there's a high value coupon that I think I might use, I'll print it as they only allow a certain number of prints and the hot coupons go fast.

For blinkies, home mailers, and other smaller / loose coupons, I use a typical coupon organizer:

Also, another great resource for coupons is the ALL YOU Magazine. It's only available for purchase at Wal-Mart or through subscription, but each issue has a ton of coupons. Again, I leave those whole because if a coupon I need is in there the database will tell me.


Hope this is helpful to you! :)

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