Organizing your coupons???

[Juliep_coupons]

I hope this is the right place to ask this!!

I have just come back to couponing being off for a few months.. My binder and shoe box have gotten so hard to manage! Last week my daughter knocked my binder down while it was open and most of the coupons ended up on the floor!! I am now trying to reorganize and its difficult! Could you all share your tips and what you do??

I just have a bunch of tearpads I probably won't use unless there is a great sale or can trade them.. so I keep them around. But its gotten to the point my shoe box is falling apart!! lol

Please help!! And sorry if this is in the wrong area!!

[2shopmom]

I'd love to find other ways to organize as well. Great question. I have the coupons that I use in one photo album type binder. This is so I can access quickly and regularly when shopping. The others that don't fit and I don't regularly use are in another photo album that I picked up at the dollar store.
I try to put them in the sleeves as soon as I get them because if I don't, they end up being mixed up with others and possibly not used.
There have been a few posts about baseball card type sleeves, but I wonder what a couponer would do with the larger coupons.

[MrsSunshine]

my biggest tip.. I don't keep my trades/extras anymore. at least not in MY binder. I will keep a baggies/envie of them. JIC.. for trades/trains or if i see something someone has one sale someone i know may use.
I can't recommend the hockey sheets enough (dollar store) or the newer side entry sheets (like save.ca coupons) found in the stationary area. so cool. they definitely help keep them organized.
seperate with thin plastic dividers. i find i i use the heavier plastic or paper ones it becomes way too heavy. or they fall apart. labelling is important when you have ALOT. once your supply diminishes where mine is now. its not such a big deal.
a binder is awesome. if you can get your hands on a double binder. one is being food the other being household. even easier to control.
there are so many tips for organizing, from expiring ones go in a small envie to either RAOK or use up before they expire.
put the coupons your going to use more often near the front , the less used ones near the back.
keep all small size essentials in their too.. calculator, paper clips/clips, pens/ highlighters. when you get your coupons if you highlight the expiry date/address the company mails them too for redemption it makes easier for the cashier. saves so much time.
make sure you have a space for your PM'ing flyers and your PM'ing list.
i hate when i get to a store and don't have a flier from another store to PM a better price.
anyway. im sure you'll get more tips.

[ANJessica]

I always stuff my coupons in my small wallet. I only bring the coupons that I know I will be seeing at stores that day. Of course, I regret sometimes not bringing certain coupons but that's how I've always done it

[saddlebag]

I organize my binder in sections....foods.....cleaners.....personal care items.....pet foods....

Coupons for items I'd never use I don't add to binder....

As I clip and find new coupons I place in plastic container until I can add to binder

[Juliep_coupons]

Thanks so much for all your help!! I am still a bit stuck with my darn shoebox! LOL Maybe I will just make dividers like the binder and put the coupons in those sections? lol

[natynat]

I have two binders - one for myself, and one for potential trades (which is still quite new!). I organize them both by sections, and sections within sections lol. For example, my first section is food, and in it I have dairy, snacks/cereals, juice/pop, and then the rest. Then, I have the pet section, followed by hygiene/body care/shaving/etc. Towards the end of the binders I have paper products, cleaning products, and smellies. At the very end of the binders I have coupons that I may or may not use, which I was too lazy to put away, and ones that I stuff into my trading envelopes.

I buy the hockey slips from a "game" store for $0.25 a pop, and they're actually better quality than the more expensive ones from Staples. To save on them, I use both sides of the sheets.

I never bring my binder with me when I go shopping because then I'd be too tempted to use coupons on stuff I probably don't need at the moment. So I make a grocery list after consulting the circulars and then bring my stash of coupons in a descreet envelope

Hope this helps

[MrsSunshine]

Julie you should totally PM PrincessD or Amanda4 on here. they can both offer you advice on shoebox coupon organzing.

[2shopmom]

how do you organize coupons that are too large for the hockey/baseball size holders? I find those ok for the save.ca coupons, but some are too large to fit in the holder

[daynabas]

how do you organize coupons that are too large for the hockey/baseball size holders? I find those ok for the save.ca coupons, but some are too large to fit in the holder

I have my binder organized similar to how others have stated (food section divided into dairy, meat, produce, snacks etc), and then for the bigger coupons, I fold one of them up to the size the hockey card holder, making sure that the price and product is visible, if I can't have the expiry visible, then I will write it on the bottom corner of the visible part of the coupon, and beside that I will put how many of the coupon I have. I put it in the appropriate section of my binder, then I put the rest into an accordian style coupon folder. I have a different colour folder for each main section (food, personal/hygeine/health, household, pets/baby/other). I'd love to have all my big coupons IN my binder, but until I find something that will hold them better without adding tons of extra bulk to my binder, this is the system I find easiest.

What I REALLY need to organize is the coupons I have yet to add to my binder or folder. I have a bad habit of leaving coupons everywhere. In fact, I should be organizing them right now LOL. I have coupons on my coffee table, on my side tables, by the front door, kitchen table, kitchen counter, garage, and my bedroom. Oh, and my car! I like someone else suggestion of a plastic container until they can be organized, gonna have to try that because I'm sick of the coupon clutter everywhere!

I don't separate coupons I will and won't use because I don't have another binder to sort them, they would end up in a mess and being forgotten about. I will be upgrading to that soon though because my binder currently weighs about 10lbs

[erin9mmm]

I've converted my day-timer binder into a coupon carrier. I made clear plastic pockets that I organized according to sections in the store (freezer/cleaners etc.), then before I leave I bring the ones I know I will be using to the front of the pockets. I like it because it's is a lot smaller than carrying a full size binder and somedays it will even fit into my purse!

[Juliep_coupons]

LOL Thanks everyone!! I am glad I am not the only one with coupons everywhere!! And thanks for all of the excellent ideas!! I will also PM those users to see what they did with their shoebox!! Thanks!!

[littlenom]

I have a huge zip up binder I use for my coupons, and I use the baseball sleeves to hold them. I just fold the ones that are too big to slip in the sleeves. I take my entire binder everytime I go shopping! It is so heavy but there have been times I was super thankful to have it because of an unadvertised instore sale that was for something I needed! I put my flyers on the inside pocket on top of the binder and I keep my list and coupons for that shopping trip in an envelope there too. It's great to have the binder because I can just zip it up and am able to keep all my inserts in a pile in it too. It works really well for me!