Getting Organized

The very first thing to do is to get your hands on some coupons. I've covered how to get coupons in my "Go Get Um" section.

Once you have your coupons, you will need to get organized. I found that the easiest and most effective way to keep track of my coupons is to file them in my very own 'Coupon Binder'. To create your 'Coupon Binder' you will need the following items.

• 1 Zipper 3-Ring Binder - the zipper ensures that you don't lose any coupons
• 2 packets Baseball Card sheet holders - you know the kind that your brother used to store all of his baseball card collection in...I get mines from Walmart or Target...you can find them at one of the checkout lines, you know where they have the gum and candy lined up? One, and only one of the checkout stands have them, they will be with the baseball and Pokemon cards.
• 1 pack page dividers
• 1 Pocket Calculator
• 1 box paper clips
• 1 scissors

You have to decide what your categories will be for filing your coupons. As for me I have 8 dividers.

1. Hygiene - body wash, deodorant, shave gel, razors, feminine products, etc
2. Hair Care - Shampoos, Conditioners, Hair gel, Hair Spray, Mousse, etc
3. Dental Care - Toothbrushes, paste, floss, mouth wash, etc
4. Household - Cleaning products, paper goods, laundry detergents, etc
5. Baby Care - Anything having to do with babies
6. Food/Drink
7. Medicines
8. Store Specific - In this section I organize my store coupons by store name.

 Simply file each coupon in its appropriate category.  Each product receives its own baseball card pocket.  As you receive more coupons for the same product simply file the new ones behind the existing ones, so that the soonest to expire is always in the front.  It makes it easy to keep track of what coupons are coming up on their expiration dates.

The reason I find this method so effective is because I am able to take my whole binder with me into the stores.  And if the store has an unadvertised sale, or clearance items, I have my coupons with me, and I can score on some awesome savings.  When I find something in the clearance area I simply open my binder to that category and I can easily spot the coupon I need without having to rummage or flip through a stack of individual coupons laying in an envelope or file box.

As the month comes to an end I simply browse through my finder to pull out all the coupons that are expiring.  I try to use them before they expire...but only if the items are on sale.  If I don't use them up, I simply throw them away to make room for new coupons.

So go ahead and get your coupons organized.  The first time you set up your binder will take you a couple of hours.  Don't be discouraged, just take it one step at a time.  Once you complete your initial set up, it will be a breeze to clip your coupons weekly, and file them in its rightful category.  You'll be grateful that you took the time to be organized from the very beginning...it will make couponing so much easier.