Organizing Coupons Hall of Fame: Readers Share How They Do It

by Taylor @ Home Storage Solutions 101

Need some inspiration and ideas for organizing coupons? If so, this is the place to be.

During week #7 of the 52 Weeks to an Organized Home Challenge I asked everyone to tackle coupon organization, and many of the readers wrote in to share with me how they do it in their homes.

I was surprised at all the alternative methods represented by the ideas shared below. There are those who don't like filing inserts, those that don't want to clip coupons, ways to avoid using a bulky coupon binder, and how to save money without even using coupons.

However, as different as all these ideas are (scroll down to see them all), they are all ones that really work for people, not just in books or blogs, but in the real world! I like that.

So choose a method below that works for you, or tell me your method if you do something even slightly differently.

In addition, if what you see here inspires you to get your coupon piles in order, I'd love for you to participate in the challenge too. First, read the Organize Coupons Challenge, and then get to work.

Make sure to share some pictures of your organizing system with me in the Creative Storage Solutions and Home Organization Hall of Fame, and I'd be happy to feature your system too!

Photo by krossbow

How And Why I Use A Coupon Binder For Organizing Coupons

by April @ Saving For My Family

April from Saving For My Family blogged about how she organizes coupon, and being a couponer she has a great system.

She used to use the filing method, but stopped. She said, "I used to use the File Method where you file the whole insert and just cut the coupons you are going to use. I quickly realized that I was missing out on clearance deals or unadvertised deals." That is what I've found to be the biggest complaint about this method too!

Now April uses a coupon binder, separating her coupons into categories and filing them behind the correct tabs. She said, "The Binder Method does take longer because you are cutting out every coupon but I also know all of the coupons I have and don’t miss out on any unadvertised or clearance deals."

She also uses a red expandable folder for her Target coupons.

I just chose four of her pictures to share on this post, but I encourage you to go over to her blog post and look at all of them. I thought these four really explained her system well.

First, I love how she's got many of her supplies organized and stored within her coupon binder itself, in a little three ringed pouch, holding her scissors and other supplies.

The second picture shows all of her tabs in her binder. The more coupling you do the more categories you should have so you can find everything quickly.

The third picture shows the plastic sleeves she holds her coupons in, within her binder.

And finally, the fourth picture shows the expandable folder, which is also tabbed, she also uses. If you don't have that many coupons such a folder this size (or half the size) may work well for you too.

My Couponing System For Home And The Store

by Cortney Jenkins @ Faith, Home, Love
(NC)

Cortney from Faith, Home, Love was gracious enough to share some of the pictures of her coupon organizing system with me, and they are definitely worthy of this hall of fame.

Although she has a coupon binder, she does not clip all coupons. Instead, she files many of them by the coupon inserts and matches the deals each week and only cuts what she needs.

She actually has a couple of parts to her system, which includes the coupon binder, an expandable coupon organizer that she takes with her to the store (leaving the larger binder at home), and a grocery list folder.

Even though she doesn't clip her coupons, but instead files the inserts, she does have some binder pages holding loose coupons that come on the products themselves, or in the mail, so she can keep track of these too.

This is what she told me about her system: "I think I finally have a system that works for me! I use a binder in which I keep the inserts whole and then cut the coupons as I need them using Southernsavers.com to help with matchups. I then put all of my cut coupons into an expandable file to take to the grocery store with me."

Cortney actually wrote her blog post in two parts, and the second part is here, which describes what she does at the grocery store with her coupons.

Check out her blog for all her organizing tips. I especially like that she printed out the coupon policies for the stores she uses coupons at, so she can reference them when making her plans for couponing, so she is sure she keeps within the rules!

How I Save Money Without Using Coupons

by Angela @ Confessions of a Craft Addict

Angela and Confessions of a Craft Addict didn't have to work much on this week's challenge, because, as she explained "couponing, while it sounds good in theory, just doesn't work well for me."

Therefore, even though she blogged about this week's challenge, instead of organizing coupons she shared some additional ideas for saving money on groceries without coupons.

Read her blog post for full details, but here were some ideas:

• Shop at Target using some coupons, plus her Target card which gives 5% off; and


• Cooking with her co-op once a month to make freezer meals

I had heard of buying food in a co-op before, but I had not heard of making freezer meals as a group. It sounded like a lot of fun though, along with saving money on meals this way.

Thanks Angela for the great ideas!

What I Do As An Alternative To A Bulky Coupon Binder

by Ferris @ The Hamman Family Blog

Ferris from The Hamman Family Blog shared an idea she implemented for organizing coupons after she became disenchanted with her bulky coupon binder.

She said about her previous coupon binder system: "I hated cleaning it out and coupons got very old in there or even though it was organized well I still couldn't find what I needed. AND my all time pet peeve.... The ONE time I'd forget to take it in with me... There would an awesome sale that I HAD coupons for! UGH!"

So, she looked for a new method for organizing her coupons, and hit upon an idea from Pinterest. The pictures you see above are hers, when she tried the idea for herself. She used a binder ring to hold only the coupons she planned to use together, when she went to the grocery. As she actually gets the item into her cart she takes the coupon off the ring and then its ready to hand to the cashier. Love it!

Are You Inspired Now To Make Organizing Coupons A Priority?

I don't know about you, but looking at all these great ideas from participants in the 52 Weeks to an Organized Home Challenge got me motivated to revamp my coupling system a bit.

If you've been inspired too, I'd love for you to join the challenges. You can read my instructions for how to organize coupons, and then you can work on your own coupon organization project.

When you've done it, please take pictures of your couponing system and send them to the Creative Storage Solutions and Home Organization Hall of Fame so I can feature you too!

Some links on this page are affiliate links, meaning that if you purchase a product through them I receive a small commission which helps me provide this information to you for free, plus support my family. My integrity and your satisfaction are very important to me so I only recommend products I would purchase myself, and that I believe would benefit you. To learn more please see my disclosure statement.

Related Links At Home Storage Solutions 101

Compare Grocery Prices In Your Area With A Grocery Price Book

Save Money On Groceries With The Grocery University Couponing Course

Go From Organizing Coupons Hall of Fame To Home Storage Solutions 101 Home Page