Coupon Binder/Folio Categories?

[couponclippercaitie]

I'm having such a hard time efficiently organizing my coupons lately, and a binder just isn't working for me, too bulky for my needs. I bought a really nice coupon folio with lots of sections, and I'm wondering what are popular categories to efficiently organize? What categories do you use?

Thanks in advance for your help!

[Sassy Saver]

I may not be much help, cause mine is fairly straight forward and in a binder..
But I do:
WOMENS (Sub categories are Hair, Body)
MENS (Sub categories Hair, Body)
ORAL CARE
CLEANING (Sub categories Laundry, Bathroom, Scents (sprays, candles etc), other)
FOOD (Grain, Dairy, Snacks, Sauces, Fast Food)
MISC (I usually have a section for medicines, one for batteries, and sometimes clothing store coupons go here

[slayer_glade]

I used to have a folio system. I didn't label the tabs since I don't have a lot of options when it comes to coupons. I just grouped like items in each section. Started with food at the front, then health (ex toothpaste) items, then women (ex shampoo), then cleaning products and then "fun stuff" like scents and candles.

I found ithe folio annoying for me cuz I would have a hard time grabbing what I needed if I saw something in store that I hadn't seen in the flyer. I outgrew it.

Now I use two small photo albums (saw it in a youtube video and intrigued me enough to try lol) and it allows me to see everything quickly (like in a binder). I have two: one for food and one for everything else.

I didn't make tabs either for this system, but they are organized. For example, for food, all vegetable items together, all pastas, all frozen items, etc etc. It's pretty much sorted as the folio was.

I tend to move items around as I use coupons (since I'm new, I pretty much have one of each except if it's a tearpad) so thats why I don't bother with tabs.

I hope that helps. Have fun organizing! I did XD lol

[couponclippercaitie]

Thanks guys! You were both a lot of help, I think I'm on the right track! The photo albulm idea is interesting, I have never seen that before!

[hollyquaiscer]

I have 2 binders and thousands of coupons since I've been at this almost 21 years. These are some of the catagories I use. It just makes it a bit quicker to find the coupons your looking for.

Air Freshners (because there are always so many coupon)
canned products
dairy
box and bagged foods
frozen foods
bread & crackers
condiments
laundry (again tons of coupons)
hair care (ditto)
soaps & bodywashes
oral care
medicines
baby products
cooking products (splends, flour, oils, etc...)
I have several more, but you get the idea.

Does this help??? I hope so, you will find what works well for you though, thats the best thing.
I can't use a file because I like to be able to see what coupons I have (I have 2 stores that I stack coupons at so I need to see them all).

[FrugalFreckleFace]

I just try to keep it simple (otherwise if it is complicated I dont stick to it ver well) Food, Kids, Hygiene, mis, household.