Coupon Organization Tips

The first thing you need when starting to clip coupons is a place to keep them, so when you go to the store, you have easy access to find the ones you need. You can do this with envelopes, an accordion wallet or a binder.

Once you decide on which method to use, which I will explain the difference next, you need to decide how to divide your coupons. You can divide by products, categories such as personal care or freezer items, or by store aisle. If you generally shop at more then 1 store, it would be best to divide by product or category, this way you can search under general sections. If you only shop in 1 store, then you can divide by aisle, which makes it easy for your shopping trips.

Within these divisions, you can then organize your coupons by alphabetically, product or expiration date.

Envelopes
Use individual envelopes for each category. Then you put the coupons in each envelope.

Accordion Wallet
Use each pocket in the accordion wallet to separate each category. You can then organize your coupons in each pocket based on product or expiration date.

Look for an accordion wallet that has tabs on top, that way you can mark the category or product for each pocket.

Keep the front pocket of the wallet free. You can use this pocket to place the coupons you are going to use on your next shopping trip. And during your trip you can store the blinkies and tear-offs that you may have obtained in the store, but have not organized yet.

Binder
This is the method I use. Getting this method starting takes a little more time, but keeps everything in one place and makes it easy to see each coupon. I bring this with me on every shopping trip

To make a binder you will need:
-Standard 3-ring binder
-Vinyl baseball card organizer sleeves (these come in 9-pocket varieties, you can also find other plastic sleeves with different number of pockets; pick which ever style fits your needs)
-Dividers

Use the dividers in between the vinyl sleeves in the binder to section off each category. On each divider you can write what can be found in the following vinyl sleeve. Using this method, I divide my sleeves by the following categories: Cleaning Products, Personal Care Products, Canned and Boxed Goods, Breakfast and Baking, Sauces and Seasonings, Refrigerator Products and Freezer Products. Within each category, I use the pockets to split it by products, so under personal care 1 pocket is used for all body washes, 1 is used for toothpaste, etc. Then within each pocket the coupons are arranged by expiration date.