Crazy Coupon Tips -- Part 1

Do you get the Sunday paper? Do you need to figure out how to keep track of the all your coupons? Would love to get started couponing to save TONS of money at the grocery store? One thing you will need to do is organize your coupons - they do you no good if you don't know where they are.

Where should I store my coupons?

• Recipe Box
• Three Ring Binder with baseball card holder inserts -----
  
• THIS IS THE METHOD I USE
  
• Accordian style File Folder with dividers
• Shoe Boxes
• Envelopes
• 4x6 photo albums
• Baby Wipe Box

How do they work?

• Recipe Box - You’ll need divider cards for your recipe box. You can purchase index cards or simply make them yourself out of cardboard. These cards will represent different categories to sort your coupons. Everybody sorts their coupons differently so there is no universal rule. Here are some different ways to label your dividers:
  • Alphabetical by product name (GM, Kelloggs)
  • Alphabetical by item type (Cereal, Milk, Paper Towels
  • Alphabetical by General Category (Dairy, Meat, Paper)
  • Store Name (Albertsons, Walmart, Target, Walgreens)
  • Expiration Date (this might work better if you only have a small amount of coupons)
  
  
• Three Ring binder with baseball card holder inserts - this device allows a lot of storage space for your coupons. Many people choose this method because its so easy to see your coupons. Again, categorize them however you seem fit. Many people will carry around a dry erase marker to write notes on the baseball card inserts while they’re shopping. Just a little bonus!
  
  
• Accordian style File Folder with dividers - this is probably the most popular way to organize your coupons. They come in all different sizes and colors. Again, you’ll need to choose categories that will make your shopping trips easy. In addition to simply choosing your categories some people go the extra step and have a folder for each store that they shop. It really depends on the number of coupons that you need to organize. Another option is to have an accordian file for “grocery items” and another for “health and beauty items”.
  
• Some people will just file the whole Sunday insert in a file folder and only cut the coupons as needed.
  
  
• Shoe Boxes - you can use this method as you would the recipe box method.
  
  
• Envelopes - this method works well if you don’t have a lot of coupons to organize. Some people choose general categories (dairy, meat, paper) and some people choose to label their envelopes by stores (Rite Aid, Kroger, Target, Grocery Store).
  
  
• 4x6 photo albums - this method is similar to the baseball card insert method. You have clear holders to see your coupons easier. Again, sorting the coupons is based on your preference.
  
  
• Baby Wipe Box - you can use this method as you would the recipe box method.

More tips will be posted soon or visit Pinching Your Pennies.