Ok, It wasn’t that long ago that I did a post on how to organize your coupons. I was talking about starting a binder then, but hadn’t yet.
Well, it has been a couple months, and I now am the proud owner of a coupon binder. I couldn’t be happier. I used to save a ton with my coupons, but there was always that deal that I missed out on because, “Oh, that coupon is at home.” By the time you go home, you don’t really want to turn around to go back to the store. So, that deal went missed.
Now, I clip all of my coupons. I have a couple really great little helpers. I then file them alphabetically in my binder. I have found it is easier to file them alphabetically that way I don’t have to worry about categorizing them.
I bought the plastic baseball card sleeves off of Amazon for a fraction of what they cost in the store. I had the binder in my closet, which is 4” by the way. You can get one now really cheap with the back to school deals. I bought the ABC dividers at Staples for, I want to say $2 something. OH, and I got super lucky and found this really cool bag at the Bealls clearance center down the road for $9! It fits my binder and is full of pockets for things like my cell phone, business cards, calculator, etc.
All together I probably spent $20 on the bag, binder and all. Which is better than the $40 you see them advertised for online. Plus, they don’t come with as many pages.
I have saved so much extra by carrying my binder with me. Do you have a binder? How do you organize your coupons?
Short Cut Savings CVS: 5/19/13
Short Cut Savings: Walgreens 5/19/13
Short Cut Savings: Target 5/19/13
Old Navy Coupon: $10 off $50 In Store Purchase
Betty Crocker Coupons ($250 Value) & FREE Betty Crocker All Time Best Recipes Book ($10.99 Value)
About Amanda @ A Few Short Cuts
I have a coupon binder too, have found it to be oh so handy, I have organized mine by toiletries, cleaning supplies, paper and plastic products, dry good, refrigerated, frozen, and so on. I get compliments on mine all the time, people stop me at least once every trip asking about it, and have even brought their friends over to show them how organized I am, which they are really impressed when I have all 4 kids in tow.
I’m loving this binder. What a perfect bag for your binder too.
Do you alphabetize every coupon or just put the A’s in the A’s? I think it would be hard to re-alphabetize every time I got a new coupon.
Lisa,
I just did all the A’s together and all the B’s together. It is too hard to alphabetize every coupon!
Ok…I’ve been dying to ask someone this question…I am a pretty hardcore couponer…My question is do you cut EVERY single coupon out of the newspaper inserts or just the ones you know you’ll use??? It seems like it would take hours to cut up every single insert… But I want to do what everyone else is doing to get the max savings I can and if ya’ll are cutting every single coupon out …I want to also! LOL … Please let me know!!! Thank you Amanda!
Jennifer,
You can file your inserts by date so you don’t have to cut them out, but….I am pretty hardcore myself. I do clip them all. Otherwise they dont’ get used, and then what is the point?
I have found a quick way to do this….maybe a future post. Basically if you buy more than 1 paper like me. Disassemble the inserts and stack like pages together. You can cut up to 4-5 inserts accurately this way. Saves me a ton of time!
I stack all the like pages together too, but I have learned that when coupons are printed close together it’s best to cut each page out seperatly. That way you know your not cutting off an expiration date or bar code.
Hello, my fellow Amand-onian!
*giggle*
I have two binders, but they are now empty because all of the coupons I initially inserted are now expired. One binder is for food products, and the second is for non-food items. That makes it easier when I am shopping for paper products/cleaning supplies; I don’t have tons of pages of food coupons to get in my way.
I organized mine by item-type groupings as well. Each section is a main category (i.e. Dairy, Lunch Meat, Produce, Beverages, Cleaning Supplies, Toilet Paper/Tissues, Misc.-for things such as batteries, flashlights, 3M hooks, etc)
Then I group my coupons for the same brand together and put those all in one ball card slot (I use multiple slots if necessary, due to larger quantities.)
Each page then has a variety of similar type products. This makes it easier when you know that you need to buy, for instance, cheese and pizza. I can go straight to the cheese page and see all of the brands at one time, and pick the one with the greatest deal.
I can also see, though, how your system would be beneficial. Mine works best for the “browser-type shopper.” I walk down the aisles and think to myself..”Cookies….Oh, cookies sound good!!!” So I grab whichever is on sale, and don’t have to go back and forth from “K” for Keebler, “S” for Sunshine, etc. However, your system seems to be great for the organized, lucky few who can actually create a shopping list at home, and stick to exactly what you want, and stay away from browsing at the store just because you want a type of food. If you see something that is not on your list, you can look it up right away and instantly know if it’s worth it or not.
The one thing I know for sure is that shopping is so much more fun with my coupon binder. And you’re right!!! The compliments from fellow patrons is SO worth all of the effort!! Another of my favorite things to do is..while I’m waiting in the grocery line, I look at the stuff the person in front of me is purchasing, and gather up a few coupons and offer them to the person. Most of the time they are very appreciative, and it makes me feel good that I planted a little bit of happiness in their soul that day. Hopefully they pay it forward, too!
So, that’s my experience with my binders in a (rather large) nutshell.
Amanda P.
Amanda,
I love long comments!
I like how you did 2 separate binders! that is a great idea! I would want to carry them both then, and I don’t know how I would manage 2 with 3 kids. I guess I could assign a binder to each kid. Wait, I would need another binder. 
The ABC thing works for me, cause when I walk past and see something on sale like “lindsey olives” I just thumb through the L’s real quick. I already have an idea of what I am looking for. I am just loving all the extra savings I have been getting!
Thanks for sharing your binder with me!
I have a binder to. I got one of those old school trapper keeper binders at Staples with some rewards money awhile back and some dividers on clearance and my husbands old baseball card holders (so super cheap). One thing I do differently is that when I first started I went into my local publix (the store I use the most) and wrote down what was on each aisle. I then used dividers to separate each aisle (write on tab dividers are awesome for this) When I file my coupons I have to organize them but I do it generally, grocery, toiletries, baby (2 kids at home), meat/dairy/cheese, frozen and then I organize each pile. Some people think this is harder when I go to another store but I know my Publix so well that I know that if spaghetti is on aisle 4 at Kroger, it is on aisle 5 at my Publix. Can you tell I am a type A personality and also a high school teacher with 2 small kids (4 and 1) and I try to be SUPER organized
Carolyn, I love it!
It is so funny! I get asked all the time, “How should I organize my coupons?” But it is all about the individual and what works best for them in there situation! Sounds like you have it figured out!
I love all of the comments and ideas!!! Another little tip….when you stack your duplicate inserts on sunday, staple the stacks right on the picture of each coupon. That way when you cut your coupons they are neatly together for when you purchase mulitple items.
This has worked AMAZING for me with a 12yr old son and a 16mth old daughter. My husband still thinks I’m crazy since I usually get 4-8 papers each sunday, but he loves when I show him my savings
Thanks again ladies, I will be checking back for more ideas.
Joanna
I enjoy all your advice and tips!!!