How Do I Organize The Coupons??

Yesterday we talked about how to find coupons. Today, we'll talk about organizing them. There are so many different methods out there, so I really can't tell you the best way. All I can do is offer a few suggestions, tried and true by other coupon moms.

• The Binder- cut out ALL coupons and keep them in a binder. Lots of women buy plastic baseball card sheets to place their coupons in. Coupons are sorted by date so expiration dates don't get lost.
• The Expandable-This is my current preferred method. I bought a small expandable holder at Wal-Mart and labeled each tab with the following: 
• Breakfast
• Frozen
• Dressings/Sauces/Condiments/Jellies
• Canned Items
• Dairy/Refrigerated (Includes meat)
• Beverages
• Desserts/Snacks
• Baking
• Paper/Cleaning products
• Baby Items
• Restaurant/Retail/Other
• The Box-This one is similar to the Expandable idea. I see women use these on blogs who have much more experience than me. So maybe as you save more and more coupons you have to keep them in a box. Who knows. Basically, with a box, you create dividers (use similar categories as above) and order the coupons front to back in each category. The ones that expire soon go in the front, the ones that don't, go in the back.
• The Folder-This suggestion just came to me recently and I have to admit-it sounds smart! One woman doesn't clip ANY coupons, until the week she needs them. She keeps all inserts for a few months, and writes the date on each one. Then, when she reads a blog that says, "Use the 2/$1 from the 6/13 Smart Source, all she has to do is find that insert, cut out the coupon she needs and go get the deal. I might attempt this one someday.