Comments on: Coupon Organization Methods: The Coupon Binder

By: Heather

Heather — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 09:43:01 +0000

I keep my coupons in clear plastic page protectors labeled by category. However (!!), I have a coupon spreadsheet that organizes the coupons by category. Then I keep track of when I got the coupon, when it expires, and when I used it. It helps!

By: Katie

Katie — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:41:54 +0000

No one may even be reading this by now, but here’s my method: My dad is in management at our local newspaper’s circulation department, so he gets me at least 4 extra inserts per week. Clipping is just not an option for me, as the mother of 3 preschoolers who are practically triplets! Oh, and my family of 5 has had to temporarily move in with my parents (that’s 7 people in a 3 BR house) until we sell our other house, which is in another state. Needless to say, efficient planning and couponing is essential! I have a huge plastic accordion file divided into 4 catagories (SS, RP, PG, and MISC). Each week on my planning day (usually Sunday), I flag the top of each insert with a post-it note labeled with the date, then I file it in the proper category. I have a BusyBodyBook Wall Calender, which has 6 separate columns. The first column is our “Everybody” Column, which has the menus for the week. I plan out our meals according to store deals, make my list, clip/print the appropriate coupons (very easy to find), then file them in a smaller index accordion file to be put in my purse. Also in that small accordion file, I have a pen and small notebook. While at the store, I get only what’s on my list. Also, I check out the closeouts and unadvertised deals and then write down the items I need to come back and get later. Once I get home, I can then go to a coupon database and find appropriate coupons for those items. So, the downside of my method is that I can’t make any impulse purchases, which is a good thing for me. I also have to go to some stores twice per week if I want to get closeout items. The positives are obvious: no clipping and careful planning=more time for my family or for ME

By: Stacy

Stacy — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 15:04:59 +0000

I use the binder with baseball card inserts. I love it because I”m a visual person and being able to flip through and see all of the coupons helps me remember what I have. I also like that ALL of the coupons with me in the store, since Fry’s (Kroger) often has unadvertised specials/clearances. I’m also pretty picky about which coupons I use because we try not to eat too much processed food. I cut out the coupons that I want, then pass the inserts along to a friend. I also can easily expand/contract categories of coupons as needed simply by moving my pages around.
What I DON’T like about the binder is the amount of time required to cut and file the coupons. I tend to not do it every week, so sometimes it takes me a few hours to get everything up to date again. Having to fold them doesn’t really bother me.

By: Kimberly

Kimberly — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 21:43:39 +0000

I’m not a hard-core coupon-er, but at my husband’s suggestion, I started using a cheap $1 photo brag book to store all my coupons. I can easily keep it in my purse and the coupons are all stored by category behind the clear plastic sheets. I think it has the advantages of a binder and an accordion file in one! Also, I couldn’t justify spending up to $10 on a binder and sheet protectors that would hold something to save me money.

By: Mandi Harris

Mandi Harris — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 21:10:45 +0000

Are you going to post anything about your financial seminar? I would love to hear how it went. I just checked out Total Money Makeover from the library because you had talked about it a while ago. I have loved it so far!!

****************
Money Saving Mom here: I’m planning a post on Monday or Tuesday with details on what we learned at EntreLeadership. It was very inspiring!

By: Cate

Cate — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 19:33:42 +0000

I actually put together a coupon box tonight! My mom brought over a bunch of inserts from last week’s paper (bunch of good coupons there!) and after clipping them I realized I had way too many to just be keeping them in a big envelope and sorting through them before I went to the store every week. I actually ran out of small envelopes the second I finished, so I just plopped my coupon envelopes right back in the box. How’s that for easy? I’m tickled to death with this method so far (even though I just put it together) and I’m hoping it’ll work out for me even better when I go to the store this week. Up until now I’ve left the coupons I wasn’t planning on using at home, which I’ve kicked myself over many times before, but it just seemed like too big of a pain!

Thanks for your tutorial on the coupon box. It really helped me out.

By: Amanda

Amanda — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 18:22:14 +0000

I have a plastic shoebox with custom dividers – a lot of them! 4×6 index cards fit perfectly, and most coupons do not need to be folded to fit. My dividers are done by store aisle, and then also by type of food. Some aisles are more prone to having a wide number of coupons available at any given time – like cereal or pharmacy aisles – so they have more dividers. My cereal aisle is divided by major brand, granola bars, gummy snacks, hot cereal, etc. This works extremely well for me because I do 90% of my shopping at a single store, only occasionally cherry-picking sales at other places. Unadvertised sales can be easily matched to coupons because I don’t have to look through all canned goods to get to the beans on aisle 8B. The box fits in the child seat of the cart and there is room on either side to stash a pen, pending rebate forms, and other pertinent items. I used a different color cards for the non-food dividers in the first half of the box. Oh, and the very first divider is for free coupons, as I found that I was forgetting what I had free when I filed them in the proper section. As I’m shopping and I get something for which there is a coupon I stash those in the freebies section also until checkout.

By: Jenn

Jenn — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 17:27:41 +0000

I have a question,

Where to put coupons that can fit into different categories at the same time?

thanks

By: lorrie

lorrie — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 16:05:34 +0000

I use a coupon box and love it. I file everything by manufacturer (ie: kraft, dannon, general mills, etc). I carry my box with me to every store. I try to organize my shopping before hand by placing the coupons I think I may use into an envelope before going into the store so I have it all together but if I find a deal I just open my box and browse through it. The box is a bit cumbersome but fits in t he seat of the shopping cart well. I invested in a pretty photo box and put alphabet inserts. My family expects us to bring it with us everywhere, even on vacation if we are driving! I can’t imagine using another system.

By: Nicole

Nicole — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 14:40:25 +0000

My husband surprised me with a coupon binder for my birthday in May. I tried it for three months an it did not work for me. It was very time consuming and too cumbersome. I like my smaller coupon organizer which has about 20 labeled slots. It’s always in my purse so I’m never without it. If you want a binder I’ll be getting rid of mine soon.

By: Aeja Peterson

Aeja Peterson — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 12:43:18 +0000

I just switched over from the box method to the binder method, and I must say I LOVE the binder! It is the same principle as the box in that you clip individual coupons and have it organized in sections that make sense to you — however the plus is that you can see all of your coupons at a glance, and don’t have to sift through one by one. This saves time and sanity — particularly if you are shopping with little ones. Also, you can add more inserts as you need, which keeps your sections very organized and virutally painless to maintain.

I got a nylon binder at Target for $9 that zips up (keeps all the coupons from falling out), and it has this great accordian system attached to the front. I use a mix of baseball card and photo inserts for the main part of the binder, then I use the accordian filer for specific stores that I frequent. Also, the front of the binder has a zippered section where I put my rebates, G/Cs, etc.

By: Jennifer @ Once Upon a Coupon

Jennifer @ Once Upon a Coupon — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 12:34:05 +0000

When I started couponing I tried every method I could get my hands on and found what works best for me is to combine a few organizational tools. I use mainly check files, but I also have file folders and a box for “overflow”.

A few months ago I wrote a quick post about it on my blog…

http://www.once-upon-a-coupon.com/coupon-basics/organizing-coupons/

By: Heather A

Heather A — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 12:33:06 +0000

Hanging file folder system which is a no clip system. Great for those working outside the home. You simply sit down on the weekends and make the grand plan.

By: Traci in Nevada

Traci in Nevada — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 11:33:52 +0000

I, too, recently switched from an envelopes-in-a-box method to a binder with baseball cards. So far, the binder method is working so much better for me. I do one thing different from some that I’ve read here. (I haven’t read all 87 posts, but I read nearly half of them so someone may have already suggested this.) My biggest problem was that I was constantly searching for coupons I knew I had, but couldn’t find. I was using the category system and even though I expanded the categories, I was still “dealing cards” trying to find a specific coupon. I don’t even get multiple inserts. In any case, I use 9 baseball card pages and I use the bottom 3 pockets of each page only. I tried 6 per page, but using just the bottom 3 allows me to put the Internet printed ones and the tall ones in with no problem. In the top pockets I have one letter each i.e. “a,” “b,” “c,” etc. as a marker and I ALPHABETIZE the coupons by manufacturer. This has been awesome! I’m not loaded down in the “household” category or the “baking,” etc. If I need Kelloggs, it’s in “K,” Pillsbury in “P.” This has been very liberating. Best of all, I can now bring my thin binder to the store and take advantage of unadvertised deals. It works! I can see if I have a Yoplait coupon or Eggos, etc. Pockets in front for printed but unclipped. It works for me.

By: wendy

wendy — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 10:28:59 +0000

I love the binder system. It might take a little time to cut and put away, but it make sit so easy when it comes time to find them. What good are coupons when you can’t find them when you need them?
But- with a crazy two year old, I never take it with me to the store. When new ad cycles start, I make a list, pull my coupons, and put them in a small plastic accordion A-Z holder that’s big enough to hold coupons, but small enough to fit in my purse. I keep it with my all the time so if I want to stop at the store on a whim, I don’t have to worry if I have my coupons with me. I also keep my fast food/ oil change coupons in there. I put the bundle of coupons for that week’s sales in the slot that goes with the store’s name. (A for Albertsons) It works out perfectly. I go to Kroger most often, so it gets 3 slots- one for shelf foods, one for refrigerated/frozen, and one for non-food. When I shop, I put my purse in front of me in the cart, pull out my list and when I grab and item I take out the coupons for that item and put them in the very front slot. Then when I checkout, I can easily pull my coupon from the front slot to give to the cashier. It has worked very well for me. Juggling a big binder in the store would never work for me and I don’t have time to browse the aisles while I search through the binder.