Coupon Organization...the only right way is the way that works for you
There are lots of ways to organize all of your coupons, none of which are wrong. I've seen people keep them all in an envelope, plastic container, accordion file, or my personal favorite the three ring binder. Whichever way you choose, you will have your own way of sorting your coupons. Some sort by date of expiration, some alphabetically, and some by type of product.
Whichever method you choose, don't feel like you can't explore a different if the method you chose originally doesn't work for you. One tip I will give is that once you decide on what method you want to do, decide how you will sort your coupons. A real time saver I've found is for sorting by types of items. Simply take a few sheets of plain paper and draw boxes on them. I do nine boxes to a regular sheet of paper. In each of those boxes, write the name of a category. Do this for all of your categories. Once you cut all of your coupons out, you can place them on the appropriate box and it makes sorting a breeze!
Whichever method you choose, don't feel like you can't explore a different if the method you chose originally doesn't work for you. One tip I will give is that once you decide on what method you want to do, decide how you will sort your coupons. A real time saver I've found is for sorting by types of items. Simply take a few sheets of plain paper and draw boxes on them. I do nine boxes to a regular sheet of paper. In each of those boxes, write the name of a category. Do this for all of your categories. Once you cut all of your coupons out, you can place them on the appropriate box and it makes sorting a breeze!
The Envelope Method
This method is just how it sounds. You take all of your coupons and put them in an envelope or envelopes. Then you flip through them as needed. This method is good if you don't keep a lot of coupons for numerous items or types of items.
The Accordion File
Accordion Files for coupons are something I see a lot of. They come in all sizes, colors, everything you could imagine. Some even geared towards couponing. Using these, you can sort any way you like, and label the sections accordingly. This method would be good if you have more coupons than can fit in an envelope easily, but not enough to be considered "extreme" couponing as some would say.
Plastic Containers
Plastic containers work well for coupon organizing when used almost like a filing cabinet or an index card type organization system. This is good for lots of coupons, and is totally customizable to your own personal needs. Index cards can be used for dividers, and tabs can be added as needed for whatever method of organizing you choose to do.
The Binder Method
This is the method I've been seeing most often anymore. Any size three ring binder can be used for this method. Most recommend around a two to three inch binder. Baseball card sheets are often used in these. They're a plastic sheet with nine sleeves perfect for inserting coupons. Tab dividers can be used to separate into categories of your choice, whether it be by date, type of item, or any other method you can think of. This method is the one that I have chosen to use personally, and I organize my coupons by types of items. I will have another section more about my binder on this site.
My Organization System
For myself, I chose the binder method. This seems to work very well for me, and for the amount of coupons I keep. I started with a two inch binder, but I will soon be moving up to a three inch. I keep everything in the binder along with my coupons. I have all my store coupon policies, ad flyers and previews in my binder so I will always have them handy. Here are some photos of my binder, I will post new ones once I move to a larger one.
