Organizing coupons

I wish I could say this is an original idea, but I got it from browsing for money saving tips one day online. I used to cut coupons, but hardly ever used them in the store. The idea I found was to use a photo album to organize your coupons. I use a slide-in album that fits two 4 x 6 photos across (one across each page). The advantage is that I can see all my coupons as I shop. I do not have to rifle through a coupon wallet and constantly be dropping or sifting through coupons. I even taped a plastic envelope on the inside cover to store the coupons as I get that item from the shelf. Then I am ready to hand them all to the cashier. I put the newer coupons behind the older ones so that they are automatically in date order. Then it is easy to get rid of expired coupons every few weeks. I have gotten lots of compliments on this coupon system as I am shopping.  

I like the plastic ones that you can find here locally at Creve Coeur Camera. I have also seen them at The Container Store. They have a solid color plastic cover. I use post-it tabs to divide the album into sections. I use one album for food items, one for non-food items, and one for store coupons.

Here are my categories for Food: Produce & Deli, Baking, Prepared & Canned, Breakfast, Beverages & Snacks, Dairy/Refrig., Frozen & Misc.

Here are my categories for Non-Food: Office, Baby/Kids, Toiletries, Medicine, Cleaning and Supplies.

Here are my categories for Stores: Medical, Cleaning, Office Supplies, Home Improvement, Mall, Gifts, Ice Cream Treats, Amusement, Car, Art/Clothes, Travel and Bed, Bath (this store has its own tab because we get so many coupons from there and they do not worry about the expirationd date).

Happy couponing!