Okay I decided last week that my coupon organization just wasn't working for me. I am always amazed that I can "remember" what coupons are in my binder and what I have recently cut. But while browsing online at one of the coupon sites I follow, Raining Hot Coupons, I got some ideas about how to organize better and more efficiently! I generally pick up the weeks coupons towards the end of the week and I try really hard to make sure they are sorted and clipped right away. I find that if I don't, boy oh boy does it get out of hand quickly!
In this picture you can see how I started. I pulled all the coupons out of my binder (expect the peelies and catalinas and the ones that I had printed). I laid them all out so I could staple an strays and see exactly what I had to work on. What a task!
Here you can see where I was pulling them out of the food binder.
For inserts that I had not clipped yet - I simply put the date on the front to file. I only had one of this particular insert so this is all I did to this one.
For inserts that I have more than one of I sort the pages and staple at least one coupon - this holds them together in the file. Bug really enjoys "couponing" with me, so this is a great way to get him involved without making too much of a mess and making me crazy! LOL He takes the inserts and lays them out on the living room rug and sorts them out. Woo-Hoo! He's a great helper! And I am sure their is some life skill in here...and reading...lots of reading practice as well. He cracks me up because he reads like every single coupon to me. LOL- What a great kid!
After I had all the coupons out of the binder, I began the arduous task of sorting them according to date and which insert they came from. Then they went into baggies. Each baggy has a date and abbreviation for the insert.
Some weeks have two bags and some more - but each insert gets it's own little baggie. Inside the baggie is all the clipped coupons (which are stapled together).
These bags go into a file box with hanging folders - I will show more on this later in the post.
Here is a close-up of my "reorganized" coupon binder - I am using heart shaped sticky notes for now. Someone told me that Post-It makes tabs that you can stick on - something like binder tabs - but it's just the tab. So I am going to look for some of those. Until then hot pink hearts it is! :)
Each little heart is labeled with a category. My categories include: Albertsons; Target; Baby; Cleaners; Dairy; Dry Foods; Frozen; Household; Meds; Personal Hygiene; Pets and Photo; Refrigerated & Snacks.
This is the very front of my binder. I put all of Albertsons and Target coupons in their own category so they would be easier to find.
Here is a close-up of my file crate. Each week has a green hanging folder with a tab labeled with the date. Then the bags and inserts go into the hanging file folder.
Well, I guess that is it. The reorganization project took a couple of days of sorting and labeling and such - but I have to say that I feel good about it.
I am still using my small file folder so that when I create my list and match up my coupons I can carry that with me easily. I still have my binder with all the catalinas, peelies and printed coupons as well as those I get from books, magazines and such.
I don't really think there is a perfect system, it's really want works for you! :)
Happy Couponing!
Wendy
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