Extreme Couponing for Normal People

"Where do I start?  How do I get organized?"

There are many ways to organize your coupons.  Whichever one you chose for yourself, it need not be elaborate.  In fact, the simpler it is, the easier it will be to maintain!  (You will need to maintain it regularly)  Ultimately, the choice comes down to what works for you.  The "best" system of organization for one person may be a nightmare of chaos for another!  It is really a trial and error process to find what really works for you as an individual.  I will guide you through two main systems of organization for your coupons and you can decide for yourself which will work for you.  (Or a hybrid of the two like I currently use.)  

I have used many methods to organize my own coupons over the years.  At first, I would clip coupons and put them by expiration date in a little box that grew and grew into bigger boxes.  I was organized, but I couldn't really put my finger on what I was looking for quickly and I was constantly sorting through each date to see if I had a coupon to match what was on sale.  (Not very efficient!)  Then I added categories to each dated section by product type.  Well, this was a little better, but still very time consuming and redundant.  I would have several of the same product categories spread throughout the dated dividers and still I was sorting and sifting through too many coupons to find what I was looking to find!  

Next I tried a hybrid of that system and had a box divided into categories of product types/manufacturers then subdivided into expiration dates.  Now, this worked for me for a long time!  I was finally on to something!  The theory behind that way of sorting was good, it was the application that was flawed!  One mishap of knocking my box of coupons off the table or out of the cart and all my work went flying!  Literally!  I knew there had to be a better way to execute my system!  

A few years ago, I came across the "Coupon Binder"!  It was the perfect way to organize my coupons in a way that was easy to use, portable and relatively safe from mishaps!  (I say relatively because nothing is perfect!)  One time my binder rings came open and all my pages came out!  Not a total disaster because all the coupons were still sorted in their own little pockets of each page, but I still had to go through and sort page by page to put them back into the right category again!  But overall, this was by far the best way that I had come across to organize my coupons.  

However, there is a down side to this method.  (You knew it couldn't all be sunshine and rainbows right?)  The Binder System (as with my previous systems) meant that each and every coupon needed to be cut out from the Sunday inserts, sorted and placed into the binder pages under the appropriate categories.  There is more upfront time associated with this method of organization, but your time spent getting ready to shop is much, much faster since all you do is flip through the product categories and look for the product you are matching up with in the store flyer.  Plus you can take your binder with you to the store and have ALL your coupons with you while you shop.  This way you can take advantage of unadvertised sales and clearance products without having to make a separate trip or miss out on redeeming a coupon on a good sale to make it a GREAT buy!  

Like I said, there are ups and downs to all systems.  You just need to figure out what works for you.  Another binder method is to not clip your individual coupons out, but to collate and file the individual pages by date into your binder.  With this system of organization, the inserts remain in tact, by page, inside your binder, by insert date until you need to clip them.  That way you have the entire insert, by page in the binder by date of insert.  (This is very similar to the file box method below.)  For example, I would take my Sunday inserts and lay them all open on a table, separate the pages and stack all page 1 with page 1, page 2 with page 2, etc.  After all the pages are sorted into piles, take each individual pile and staple them together in a couple places to hold them together and all lined up.  And slip each collated page into a full page protector in your binder by date and insert type.  This way you can cut once for multiple coupons.  (I use this system of collation for the other binder method too, only thing is I cut right away and sort into categories and put into the binder sleeves by category.)  

The File Box System is very simple and low maintenance and semi-portable.  You simply take your Sunday inserts and file them by date.  You can subdivide into the actual inserts Redplum, SmartSource, Procter & Gamble (monthly insert).  You can either leave the inserts completely together within the date or collate them as described above and place them into the file box under the appropriate date/insert.  This way is very easy to maintain and has little to no upfront work.  The down side of this system is that your preparation time before shopping is greatly increased since you not only have to match-up but now you have to pull the coupon from the appropriate insert and clip it too.  BUT, you are only clipping out what you need to clip when you plan to purchase the item. 

"But how do I find them when I need them?  How do I know what insert the coupon I am looking for is located?"

That is where coupon match-ups come in handy!  I post coupon match-ups each week that tell you exactly what Sunday insert you are looking to find the coupon plus I also put links to the online printable coupons that are available too!  All you have to do is look at the coupon match-ups, go to your system of organization whether it is the binder, file box or some hybrid in between and pull or cut them out when you are going to use them.  (Either before you go to the store or while at the store.)  Though I don't recommend the second way since it seriously slows down your shopping trip!  But, it can be done!

Homework Time:

• Pick a method of organization and gather the necessary tools to implement your system.
• Start to place your newly acquired inserts or clipped coupons into your system.
• Check for coupon match-ups Here

Step 4:  The Shopping List

Back to Step 2: Find a Coupon Source