How Do YOU Organize YOUR Coupons? Questions and Answers from a MomSaves Reader Survey

A few months ago I asked our MomSaves readers several questions about how they organize their coupons to get the most savings. It was amazing to me when the answers to these questions started coming in how many creative ways people find to organize their coupons. Listed below are some of the answers to the first two questions:

Question #1:
What method do you use to organize your coupons?

Question #2
Did you try other methods before the current one?

Aprel D wrote that she used to cut out every coupon but now keeps each week's coupon pages together and inserts them in vinyl page protector sheets. She then places a sheet of paper with a list of the coupons and expiration dates in front of the inserts. She says she gets this list from various blogs where it is posted each week.

Jenn F says she clips and organizes every Sunday when the inserts come out. She uses a large binder separated into categories and staples the coupons to pieces of paper. While she is stapling the new coupons each week she removes any expired coupons.

Tara W created a database in Access. As she gets new coupons she enters them in the database and then places them in a small bill/receipt binder.

Paula H uses a file purchased from Refund Cents. She bought extra category cards and used Avery clear labels to make 50-60 categories.

Cindy C used a small accordian file until she got so many coupons the file broke. Now she uses baseball card pages in a binder.

Jody J previously used a plastic accordion file. Now she marks the date received on the front of her coupon inserts and files them in a zip-up folder. That way she know which date they came out in the paper.

Betsy L first tried using a box and envelope method but it didn't work for her. She said it took too long to organize each week, wasn't very portable and was hard to get into while shopping. Now she uses a 2" zipper binder (bought on clearance of course) with tabs for the categories and page protectors in between to hold all the coupons. She says the binder has held up well to three small kids, many trips to the store and being dropped (with no coupons escaping)!

Courtney I says she used to keep all her coupons in her big wallet - organized by food and non-food - so they were always with her. Recently she decided to get organized and filed them all in an accordian style coupon file. She really felt organized - until left home and forgot to take it with her! (Note from Mom: Isn't it nice when we can laugh at our own mistakes? And Courtney - I imagine all of us have left our coupons behind a few times - I know I have!)

Heather W originally used envelpes to sort her clipped coupons but now files all of the inserts for each date in a manila folder and writes the date on the front on a sticky note. She subscribes to a service that provides a list each week of coupon/sale match-ups with the date the coupon came out.

Lesley retired recently and started couponing to cut expenses and as a hobby. She started putting her coupons in envelopes by category but now used clear binder pencil pouches in a zipper binder she found at a garage sale. She also keeps scissors, paper and pen in a pouch inside the binder.

Karen originally used a binder with baseball card inserts but she got so many coupons she couldn't close the binder. She still uses the baseball card inserts but places them in 3-prong folders which are put in manila folders in the top drawer of her file cabinet. She has a folder for each letter of the alphabet. She says this makes it easy to go through them and keeps them neat.

Marilyn O says she is normally a very organized person but hasn't found the right system to organize her coupons. When she wrote to me she was putting all her coupons in a plastic ziplock bag which she kept in her purse.

Melanie R first used a small accordian file that would fit in her purse but has now moved on to the binder method.

Rachel D uses a little organizer she bought at Walmart for $1.50 which came with alphabetical tabs. She sorts the coupons by product name and places coupons for things she rarely buys in the back of the organizer.

Traci M has an expandable envelope with dividers in it. She is thinking about using a binder with business card and photo pages so the coupons are more visible when shopping. She says she tends to forget which coupons she has and gets frustrated when she has to sift through them when shopping.

Tish G also carries a ziploc freezer bag of coupons in her purse but likes the idea of a photo album like her friend uses.

Wendy R clips her coupons as soon as she gets them and files them in two accordian style coupon organizers - one for food and one for household/other. She only clips one set of coupons but if she gets additional inserts she marks the date on the front and keeps them in a stack above her washer and dryer.

AnnMarie M used to have a coupon binder but felt it was too bulky plus she switched to organic food only and there are not as many coupons for those products. She now uses a plastic "checkbook" accordian file which is big enough for the odd size ocupons but small enough to fit in her purse or diaper bag.

Marina R has tried lots of different coupon organization systems. Since she works full time they were all too much work for her to keep up with so now she just clips the coupons she knows she will use.

Paula B has a coupon organizer which she purchased from Amazon.com several years ago. It attaches to the grocery cart and has divider tabs which she has arranged in the order of the aisles at her favorite grocery store.

Shannon P says she found a Rubbermaid box on clearance for 75 cents which fits perfectly in the child seat of the grocery cart. It's approximately 12" long, 5" wide and 3" tall. She cut dividers from card stock and uses the box for all her coupons and refund info.

Ginny uses the Couponizer which seperates the coupons by category but would like to switch to alphabetical.

Stacey N has a small bag with separate envelope for different categories. She also keeps a shoebox with envelopes of coupons for the various stores where she plans on shopping.

Deborah R says she used to keep the whole insert each week but now goes through and throws away the ads and coupons for things she knows she will never use. Then she keeps the inserts in a box and cuts out coupons as she needs them.

Deann S places her inserts each week in file folders with the date written on the outside of the folder. She visits several sites each week where coupon/sale match-ups are listed. She then clips the coupons she needs for each things she's going to buy.

Sara C gets 15-20 coupon inserts each week so her binder is overflowing with coupons. She is now considering two binders - one for food and one for non-food items like she would buy at CVS, Walgreens, etc.

Shay S says she uses a small expandafile which does in the diaper bag because the baby almost always goes everywhere with her.

Jessica T uses a photo book with 4 x 6 pages to organize her coupons.