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I’m always look for new ways to organize my coupons. A few days on twitter, several of us were discussing our strategies. My new system was described as being an “overachiever” by some. Which I find it hilarious because it is normally an area in which I do not overachieve! My new system does look purty and it is giving me more space for all my inserts and I feel more organized.
Alicia over at the Discount Heroes and I have teamed up to give you some ideas to find a system that will work the best for you. If you are new to couponing, I don’t recommend going out and buying a ton of stuff at first. You need to play around and see what works best for you. You also don’t have to have a complicated system. However, in an effort to try to streamline my inserts, I came up with this method of sorting them.
First, I use the “insert” method, which means I don’t clip every coupon from my weekly inserts. I just clip as needed based on my weekly deal list. I will clip coupons for items I am always buying like toilet paper, frozen pizzas, etc. (Yes, these are the two most important items to have in our stockpile!) You can read more about the advantage and disadvantages of each method in one of my previous posts.
Let’s run down some of my past filing systems I’ve used:
None of these were sturdy enough for heavy duty coupon stash. So here’s what I’m using now:
Yep, a mega size box. The cost was $7.99 or so from Office Max.
Seriously, how hilarious would it be if I toted this to the grocery store? It would be a great hidden camera experiment! I already get enough looks for my black coupon organizer and clear coupon file I take with me.
I have these handy dandy file labels which I color coded using the free Avery Software.
Blue are Smart Source Inserts. Red are Red Plum Inserts. Other inserts such as P&G BrandSaver, General Mills, Unilver, etc. will be plain white. The tabs for the same week’s inserts are lined up on the same “cut”.
Each week’s inserts I mark with a Sharpie the date and then file them in the file. TIP: If you have inserts and don’t know which week, you can find the date on the spine of the insert.
Once I get my coupons clipped, I use a small black coupon organizer for my shopping trips.
I organize the coupons in envelopes inisde this organized labeled by the store. I also store loose coupons in envelopes with just a few categories. I also store printable coupons, other loose clipped coupons, receipts, and mail in rebates in a clear plastic file.
I then put the black coupon organizer and the clear coupon file in a tote. I use this one from Walmart because it is a light weight tote.
So head over to The Discount Heroes and see some other ways to organize your coupons. If you want, link up to your post and show us how your coupon organization system or your coupon disorganization system!
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