How to Organize Coupons

You need to know how to organize coupons in a way so you can find the coupon you need, when you need it (in other words, while you are at the store!) if you're going to get the best value and save the most money by clipping coupons.

The way you organize coupons depends on how you use them; you want to be able to easily keep track of your coupons in a way that makes sense to you.

The method you choose should also be something that is VERY easy for you to maintain; if you find you're spending twenty hours every week clipping, sorting, filing, and searching for your coupons, it's unlikely that you will keep it up.


Here are some of the most popular methods:

1. By product name or alphabetical order - If you only use coupons for a limited number of products, you might like using this approach, where you label your categories by product (or even by brand) name.


2. By item category or store department - this approach, the most popular method, works very well if you tend to shop at the same grocery store and can label your departments in the order they appear in the store.
   
   To organize coupons by item or store department, you might have one section in your grocery coupon organizer for frozen foods, one section for cereal, one for toiletries, and another for snack foods.


3. By expiration date - the method is especially important if you often discover that you clip coupons on a regular basis and end up having to toss most of them because they expire before you remember to use them.
   
   To learn how to organize coupons by expiration date, you keep the coupons that expire the soonest in front, or sort them by expiration date, so you'll be able to keep those top of mind.

You may even find that you want to combine methods. You might sort your coupons first by item category, and then by expiration date within category (so you are more apt to use the coupons that expire soonest).

Want to create your own free coupon organizer? Check out these great, easy ideas on creating your own organizer with things you likely have around your house right now!

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