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Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Coupon Organization


As many of you know, when I started out couponing I had 1 coupon file. Then it grew into two. One for my coupons, and one for my budget money & the stores I would be shopping at. The coupons began to take over and my poor little file thing was about to explode. I decided to switch to a binder using baseball card pages & tabs separating the food categories. This was a good decision for me as I'm a bit of an organization freak and truely appreciated being able to see each and every coupon I had (including the expiration date), without having to sort through them all one by one. It also made my shopping trips a little bit less stressful. If I spotted a random deal, it took me seconds, instead of minutes, to flip through and see if I had the right coupon. It takes a little more time up front (clipping, sorting, and filing), but I feel it is worth it. I ended up having 2 binders in the end, one for food items, and one for non-food items. The following are the categories I broke them into --figured out by trial and error, of course, and 10 months of couponing....


Food Binder
Produce/Deli Items
Bread
PB&J
Condiments (Ketchup, Mustard, Mayo, BBQ, Pickles, etc)
Canned Veggies
Canned Fruits
Soups/Canned Foods (Hormel Chili, Manwich, etc)
Tuna
Boxed Foods (Pasta Roni, MacNChz, BC Potatoes, etc)
Rice
Pasta & Sauce
Mexican
Asian
Baking
Juice (Welch's, Capri Sun, Crystal Light, KoolAid, etc)
Breafast Foods/Granola Bars (Pop Tarts, Oatmeal, etc)
Cereal
Meat
Seafood
Pizza
Frozen Bagged Meals
Frozen TV Dinners/Snacks
Frozen Breakfast
FrozenVeggies
Frozen Fruits
Frozen Breads
Desserts/Ice Cream
Soda/Sports Drinks (Pop, Sobe, Powerade, etc)
Chips
Crackers
Cookies
Misc Snacks (Combos, Chex Mix, Peanuts, Popcorn, etc)
Candy
Yogurt
Cheese
Butter
Refrigerated Drinks (Milk, Juice, Sunny D, etc)
Misc Dairy (Sour Cream, Cottage Cheese, Eggs, Jello Packs, etc)
Refrigerated Dough (Cresent Rolls, Cookies, etc)

Non-Food Binder
Hair (Shampoo, Conditioner, Styling Products, etc)
Soap/Body Wash
Teeth (Toothpaste, Mouthwash, Floss, etc)
Eyes (Contact Solution, Visine, etc)
Razors
Deodorant
Lotion
Makeup
Feminine Products
Toilet Paper
Misc/Paper Goods (Paper Towels/Plates/Cups, Tin Foil, ZipLock, Trash Bags, etc)
Laundry
Kitchen Cleaners
Bathroom Cleaners
General Cleaners (Windex, Carpet/Pet Spray, etc)
Air Freshners (Air Wick, Glade Sprays, etc)
Candles
Fabreeze
Swiffer
Batteries
BBQ (Charcoal, Lighter Fluid, etc)

Other categories you might want to consider are:
Retail Store Coupons (Old Navy, JC Penny, etc)
Restaurant Coupons
Entertainment Coupons (Six Flags, Zoo, Bowling, etc)
Toys/Games
Target Coupons
Baby Items (Diapers, Wipes, Foods, etc)
Medications

If it seems like A LOT of categories, it's because IT IS! If you stick with it, you will have tons of coupons to fill them all! And... will probably wish you had even more categories ; )

You can find all of the supplies needed to make a coupon binder at Walmart. My binder was $1-$2, baseball card pages (35pk) $5-$6, and divider tabs $1-2 for an 8 pack.

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