Clipping coupons can be both tedious and rewarding.
Clipping and using coupons can help reduce you grocery bills. Before organizing your coupons, cut out coupons each week after collecting coupon circulars and coupon printouts. Be careful not to cut off the expiration date or any part of the bar code. Choose a table or other large workspace so you will have room to lay out your coupons as you are organizing them. Categorize coupons into several stacks on your table. Such categories usually mimic shopping department areas. Common categories include dairy, meats, canned foods, breakfast foods, spices, condiments, bakery, produce, cleaning supplies, baby items and personal care items.
Instructions
Envelope Method
1. Simple white envelopes can be used to organize coupons.
Label several white envelopes according to the categories you have created for your coupons.
2. File coupons in the appropriate envelopes. Put coupons that will expire soonest in the front.
3. Store envelopes in either a small shoebox or small plastic box.
4. Take your coupon box with you when you go to the store or remove just those coupons you plan to use before leaving for a shopping trip and take them with you. Some people prefer to bring all their coupons with them on shopping trips just in case they have a coupon for something that is on sale.
5. Organize coupons weekly, adding new coupons and removing expired ones.
Accordion File Method
6. An accordion file keeps coupons organized easily.
Purchase a small accordion file. You may be able to find one designed especially for coupons with pre-labeled sections.
7. Label sections, if you purchased a plain accordion file. If you purchased one with labels, you can change a category name by placing an adhesive file folder label on top of the preprinted label. For example, if the file includes a section for baby items and you have older children, you may want to change the label to something more appropriate for your needs.
8. Place clipped coupons in the appropriate sections. Put soon-to-expire coupons closer to the front.
9. Take your coupon file with you whenever you go shopping.
10. Add new coupons and removed expired coupons weekly.
Binder Method
11. Binders provide plenty of room to organize large coupon collections.
Purchase a 3-ring binder. Choose a 1-inch or 2-inch binder so that you will have enough room to organize all of your coupons.
12. Purchase dividers and page protectors to go in the coupon binder. To determine how many dividers you will need, count the number of categories you will use to organize your coupons. You may need to buy more than one pack of dividers to complete you coupon binder. Purchase baseball card protectors to use to store coupons in the binder. Start out with three or four pages of card protectors for each section and expand as needed.
13. Label dividers and place in binder. You may want to alphabetize categories or put then in the order that corresponds with the layout of your regular grocery. For example, if you always shop in the dairy section first, place the dairy coupons first. Add page protectors behind each divider.
14. Place coupons in the baseball card protector pages. Place duplicate coupons in the same pocket, with those expiring first on top. Group like items together to make finding coupons easier.
15. Bring your entire binder with you when you go shopping and plan to reorganize your binder weekly.
Tags: your coupons, accordion file, baby items, baseball card, card protectors, coupon binder