Task #19 Coupon Organization

I really shouldn’t show you the mountain of coupons I have that I have been needing to conquer, but I am going to!

AHH!  Most people who know me, know I love a coupon.  Even more than that I love a good deal to go with a coupon.  But, after having both girls, I just have not gotten back on the coupon train the way I need to.  I was saving some money at the grocery store by keeping a budget and a list and only buying what we needed (for the most part), but I knew I could be saving more if I could only get my coupon act together.

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So, I decided to go back to school – coupon school!  My task for the day was to get my coupons in order again, but I was questioning my previous couponing system and thought I needed a brush-up on my coupon game.  I found an amazing resource right on my computer: Grocery University.  I am only half-way through the course (I listened while the girls were napping), but I have already found helpful reminders, new ideas, and confirmation of my old system.

After I listened to the MP3s on Grocery University about coupons and coupon organization, I felt confident again in my old system of coupon organization and was ready to tackle today’s task.

Here’s how I organized a mountain of coupons while sitting on the couch watching a movie (and drinking coffee):

1. I gathered ALL the coupons together and grabbed a trash bag, too.
2. I started at the top and sorted coupons into expired and coupons to be cut.  I also found an assortment of gift cards (yes!), cash (yes!) and random bits and bobs.  I placed each of these into stacks to be dealt with at the end of this process.
3. All the expired coupons went into the garbage (recycle).
4. Once I had gone through the mountain of coupons I cut all the coupons from the coupon circulars I had.  As I cut them, I sorted each coupon into broad categories:  grocery, personal hygiene, home care, restaurants, retail stores, and rebates.
5. After all the coupons were cut and broadly sorted.  I grabbed my trusty coupon organizers. 
   I use 3 small expandable file organizers (like these ^).  One is for grocery coupons, one is for personal care items, and one is for home care items.  They are in different colors, so I can differentiate them at a glance.  I sorted through the old, expired coupons inside my organizers (READ: I threw away most of the contents of my organizers, I do have some never expire coupons, and some coupons with longer expiration dates).
6. Then for each broad category of coupon, I broke the coupons down into more refined categories: dairy, meat, frozen, etc.  I do not break my categories down as much as some coupon queens do, but this system works for me, so I stuck with it (based on confirmation from listening to Grocery University).  After they were broken down into the sub-categories, I simply inserted the coupons into their correct category.  I did this for each of my 3 coupon organizers.
7. I found an envelope to hold all the restaurant coupons we have.  I can keep this envelope in my car console or slip it into my wallet, so we have it when we are out and about (and hungry!).  I also put all my gift cards and retail coupons into a slim pouch that is easy to slip into my purse when I am planning on going to the mall or another retail store.  I slipped that extra cash I found into an envelope, too.  And slipped it into my coupons to have on hand just in case I find an extra amazing deal to stock up on while I am out.

I returned all these things to my coupon drawer and now I actually want to open it just to look at its awesome organization.  I showed my husband and even he was impressed!

NOTE: This post includes affiliate links.  If you click through and make a purchase, I will receive remuneration. No pressure, I only share things I love and think you will, too!