I think 90% of saving money at the stores is being prepared. If you go wandering into the store at the last minute to buy dinner, you’re most likely going to pay full price. If you start looking at the store circulars, cutting coupons for items you will need in the coming weeks and planning a menu, you will pay much less for your family’s food and supplies.
One of the necessary evils of being prepared is to decide which method of coupon organization you want to use. I’m sure we’ve all tried many different ways to organize coupons. It can be time consuming and less face it- a real pain.
There are two main ways to organize coupons for serious couponers. The first is the coupon binder method. You can read my post on making a coupon binder here. This is the method that I primarily use as of now. It’s easier than other methods I’ve tried. You put your coupons in baseball card sleeves so you can group coupons together and check the expiration dates at a glance. The only problem with this method is that deals for coupons that you haven’t cut out come along and if you’ve thrown out the circular, you can’t cash in on the deal.
The second method of organizing coupons is the file box method. You get a file folder box like the one pictured above. You store whole inserts in the box filed according to date and whatever type of insert you have. For example you could put all of your RedPlum inserts in red file folders according to the date. This method is good because whenever you see a deal on ML2S or wherever, you can pull the insert out easily and particpate. The only con of this method is that the box is too bulky to take out to the stores so you have to transfer your coupons to take with you.
I use a combination of the two methods mentioned above. I cut out the coupons that I’m really excited about and put them in my coupon binder. I store the rest of each insert in my file box so that I never miss out on a deal 
Do you have a method that I didn’t mention ? Leave a comment below. We’d love to hear about it.
I’ve decided to do the binder method .. I cut out all coupons and file them. Of course I’m still fine tuning my sections and its hard to find the inserts that I want to use for those larger coupons. But I’ve just ordered a supply from Amazon and Im waiting for their arrival to see if they will work.
But I have a question … do you take your binder to the store with you? Or do you pull the coupons that match up with the circular and pull them out and only take them???? I’ve watched that show Extreme Couponers and noticed they take their binders with them. I was wondering if other did too??
I definitely take my binder with me. You may find clearance deals that you have a coupon for while you are in the store. When not in the store I keep my binder in the car. I keep all of my restaurant Qs in the front in case we are going out to eat. I also keep all of the coupons for FREE products in front so that I don’t forget to use them
I’m using a combo of the 2 methods, but I’m running into the issue that if there is a deal that was unadvertised or a clearance deal, if I didn’t clip the coupon (as part of my deal plan), I lose out
That’s happened a few times this past week where I saw the item on a clearance rack and knew that I had the coupon, but it was at home. Total bummer!
I definitely take my binder in to all stores. I’ve recently gotten some “oh, there’s one of those Extreme Couponing wanna-be” looks but I’ve also have gotten a lot of people who are genuinely curious and want to learn more. I think the show has really made people either love it or hate it.
I also use the binder system. Organization is definitely the key and well worth the effort. My binder is so “well loved” that it is partially held together with duct tape! I have no shame in bringing it into the store with me. I know the coupons it contains are a big factor in getting my family out of debt. Has anyone noticed that since the start of Extreme Couponing, more and more people are bringing their coupon systems into stores with them?
On a side note, coupon binders can make a neat gift. I made them for several friends and family members and received great feedback. My choice of color is always green….to represent the cash they will start saving!
I’ve been couponing for about two years now. I’m using the whole insert method. We use “milk crates” purchased at Staples and plain old manilla and file folders. I put the date on the file folders and then the name of the insert on each manilla folder. My only problem was when to pull out the expired ones. I found a site in a google search called Coupon Cleanout (www.CouponCleanout.com) and its been very helpful in that last respect. I select my state and it shows me what inserts are safe to pull out. Thought I’d pass it along for any other “whole insert” filers.
I live in a small country town. Wal-Mart, IGA, and Sav-a-lot are the only stores. Thank goodness our Wal-Mart is wonderful abour pricematching all stores. They even pm stores 1 hour away if there isn’t one closer. I make my list of what I want trying to only buy items that are on sale, then I pull out those cuopons and put them in the front of my binder. I mark on my list how many items I need to cover the coupons I want to use. This method allows me to not have to flip through my binder while I’m in the store so it makes my trip quicker but since it’s with me I still have it if I see a good deal.