[Kayhold]

I see this question daily, and there are a few guides for individual systems, but not one listing EACH system pros/cons.
Everyone has their own type of organization for coupons. What works for you may not work for someone else. Below is a list of each type, with pros and cons to each system.
They go up in order of time involved to organize but they also each make the time spent finding the coupon faster.
After all - the type of system YOU use needs to reflect the time you're willing to devote to it. I hope this guide will help you choose what works for you.
I will spend the most time explaining the binder method, because it's the most involved.

#1 “Not Cutting” Keeping your Inserts Whole

When you get your weekly inserts write the date bigger on the front page of the insert and stick them in a filing box or cabinet. Next week put those inserts in the next pocket of the folder. If you buy multiples, keep them together in the same folder. This is a BIG help to people who simply don’t have the time to cut, or have an allergy to organization. :P

When you need a coupon, you simply find out what insert the coupon is in, go to your cabinet, pull it and cut it.

Pros:
1. CONSIDERABLY Less time spent organizing than the below options. This is a BIG pro because time is very individual and some people simply don’t have the time.
2. You only cut what you need, when you need it.

Cons:
1. You don’t have your coupons if you find a clearance
2. You have to sit down and prepare before a trip – no running out really quickly for a hot deal. It can take an hour to go through inserts and find what you need even for a small trip.
3. You may flip through your inserts 4 or 5 times looking for a coupon that should be there, thinking you’re missing it, only to find out it wasn’t even in your insert because your area didn’t get it.
4. You may feel the need to make a spreadsheet to index what coupons you DID get so you don’t spend time looking through inserts.
5. You will need some other type of system for blinkies, peelies and coupons you clip but didn’t use

#2 Canceled Check File:
Get a small accordion file with 13 Label each pocket with categories, and file your coupons in there. This works best for people who only clip what they KNOW they will use, and only buy one paper a week.

Pros:
1. Less time spend organizing than a binder
2. You always have your coupons with you.
3. Clipping will still take some time, but since you’re just throwing them into the category pocket, you’re still spending much less time than a binder.

Cons:
1. You will spend more time FINDING your coupon – you’ve got to search through 40 or 50 in that section to find that Yogurt coupon.
2. If you buy multiple inserts, you will run out of space very, very quickly
3. You may run out of space quickly regardless
4. You may find a moneymaker or free item you can donate, but your coupon is at home because you didn't think you needed it!

#3 Make Your Own Box

One step towards super organization. You can use a shoebox, or any box that will fit into the seat of a grocery cart. You can use index cards with post-its to make categories – as many as you like.

Pros:
1. Less time spend organizing than a binder (#4)
2. You have more categories than #1 and #2 so you will find coupons more quickly.

Cons:
1. More time spent organizing than #1 and #2
2. You may outgrow your box. If you buy multiples, you will outgrow it fast.
3. Dropping your box will be disastrous.

#4 Three Ring Binder

This system is for the truly organized. This system is a turn off for many because you spend more time upfront organizing, but for many of us, it’s well worth the time spent.

You need a 1.5 inch or larger 3 ring binder, baseball card organizing pages, and section divider tabs. I highly recommend a zippered binder, because dropping your coupons and watching them spill sucks.

You can label them by category or by your stores layout. Store layout works very well if you only shop one store. I DO NOT recommend alphabetically. Doing this means remembering is you used S for Smart Balance or M for Milk, and sometimes coupons list multiple things on the same coupon.

I use baseball card pockets ($5 for 36 at Walmart) and I use cut up index cards in each pocket. I cut the index cards at 4 inches by 2.5, so they stick out of the top a little (this is especially helpful on the top row). The reason I do this is so I can put coupons on the front AND back in each pocket, double my space. The index card also visually helps because using front and back can be confusing to the eye without the index separating them. You can use construction paper instead of index cards. Most binders come with pockets for weekly ads, pencil holders etc.

I use these for each category, (there are cheaper ones, you can get a package of 8 for $1) and for subcategories, I use these and I paste them directly onto the baseball card holder page. You can use these for subcategories, too.

This is my category listing (Google Docs). You can download this from here and edit it however you wish.

There is also a great guide here on setting up this method! Coupon Binder Basics/How to

Pros:
1. Your coupons are always with you.
2. It takes about 5 seconds to find a coupon.
3. If you need to make a quick trip to the store, you don’t need to hunt down what insert a coupon is in, find it in the insert and then cut it before leaving.
4. If you find a clearance item or unadvertised deal, again, you’ve got your coupons right there with you, or in the car.
5. You can have as many categories and sub-categories as your little heart pleases.
6. When you outgrow your binder, you can buy another and move a section over – a lot of people have one for food, and one for household/HBA
Cons:
1. Takes more time to organize than above. I do it while watching TV, so for ME, it’s not a big deal. You may not have the time. It takes me about 2 hours a week but I don’t mind because I have the time, and I personally need the organization somewhere in my life, and I choose this.
2. You have more products to buy upfront – binders, dividers, etc.

A Few tips for this system:
1. If you end up with 2 of the same coupon, put the one that expires in the front.
2. You can put multiple coupons in the same pocket – for instance, all of my Colgate go into one pocket and I search through those if I need a specific Colgate coupon.
3. I have a box with categories that exactly matches my binder. As I cut, (while watching TV) I put them immediately into their section, then when I’m done, they go from box to binder. Otherwise, I end up with a big stack of coupons in the bed that need to be separated.
4. Baseball card holders mean you will have to fold some coupons. I don’t mind this, but some people buy photo refill pages that have 3 – 4 pockets per page and are larger, some people even use 3 pocket currency pages, but these will be more expensive and require more pages.

Perhaps this will help you decide which system will work for you. It's going to come down to personal preference, and time involvement.

If you have something I should add to these, please respond and I will add it in

[CarrieM]

Thanks! I love the category listings....I really need to re-organize my binder...it's a mess right now!

[Kayhold]

Thanks, hope it helps

[NYIceQueen]

Fantastic job!!! I love the binder method, but need to tweak my categories again.

Actually I'm getting ready to need a 2nd binder, so I'm thinking Health and beauty in one and then everything else in the other

[couponcort]

Thanks! As a newbie, I'm using the 13 pocket method now. I hope to graduate to the binder method, but am not ready to spend the up-front $ yet. I think I will grow out of the 13 pockets even though I'm just planning to get 1 paper a week...likely through trades, potlucks, coupon clipping svcs, etc, etc...

[4kidsandahubby]

Awesome!Thanks so much!! I am a very VISUAL person so this helped me tons!! Since you only use the ball card pages,how do you put in like the raincheck coupons and the bigger ones? I know you fold them obviously but is there a certain way you do them to see a certain thing?(hope that makes sense!) My ball pages should come tomorrow hopefully,as I had to order them online bc EVERY SINGLE store in 3 cities were OUT!!! CRAZY!! I figured I would have to buy different sized ones for the bigger stuff but I've already spent a pretty good bit and now seeing all the categories and such I'm already going to have to buy more dividers! I've only got 21 and 5 of those have the pockets on each side.I only bought a pack of 50 sleeve pages(that cost me $15!!) and I'll need more of those too!

[Robbo]

Wow... thanks for taking the time to put this together!

Here's a link to another Binder How-To that's very detailed as well. I think it's great to put all of this information out there so everyone can find it...

Coupon Binder Basics/How to

Also, as far as organizational techniques, there is another option.

I file my coupons alphabetically by manufacturer. Categories just NEVER worked for me - I could never find anything. There are a few others that do this, although it's much less popular, so I think it's worth mentioning.

I've tried going full-binder but it was too time consuming and cumbersome. I ended up with two huge binders and, like you said, the maintenance time was more than I was willing to invest. Filing took kind of a long time, but cleaning those things out was just plain ridiculous.

I tried going straight insert filing, but ran into the two problems you mentioned: taking FOREVER to get ready for a trip - two or three trips a week consumed as much time as fully clipping the inserts. And then I always had the trouble of my "loosies" - IPs, tearpads, peelies, stuff from trades, stuff I clipped but didn't use. I kept these in the old binder, but found myself forgetting about them more often than using them.

So now I use a hybrid method that some others use (although we all do it a bit different). I cut out what I know I will use and what I hope I'll get to use and file the remainder of the insert by date. The ones I've clipped I keep in a box sorted alpha by MFR with a section for the stores I frequent to keep any special stuff there (ECBs, RRs, OYNOs, etc.). The box is new, it's an upgrade from a 4x6 expandable file, but so far I'm digging it. I like the box better than the binder because stuff fits better - no folding, no needing 37 different sizes of plastic pages, etc., and it's somehow easier for me to flip through and find things.

I dunno, I know the binder seems to be "the thing" for the very serious and super organized, but it just ain't me. So I'm adding my two cents for anyone else that struggles with the binder or with categories as well.

[Kayhold]

I will take some pictures tomorrow of how I do my folding! I fold IPs in a way I can see the exp and product, and for other things like rain checks or large tearpad coupons, the main category divider I use has pockets so I stuff them in there

[4kidsandahubby]

i'm sure i would never see mine if i poked them in my divider pockets!haha

[adamhagar]

Thank you so much Im newbi very informative

[SLB627]

WOW! What an awesome post! I really appreciate your taking the time to break everything down the way you have. I got some good ideas to combine with my binder method. Again, thanks!

[monkeydawn]

I do kind of an oddball mixture too. When I first started I was certain this was a hobby that I would get over pretty quickly so I didnt want to invest too much money. I got one of those cheap (dollar bin!) small accordion organizers and clipped all the coupons. I quickly figured out that our food stores here suck for deals and that typical *grocery store only items* coupons would usually go to waste. But I didnt want half clipped/ half full inserts and I couldnt bear to throw out the partially clipped inserts just in case. So I decided to go to the insert filing system. For awhile I carried the whole inserts with me but that became cumbersome and time consuming to flip through in the store. I find that most people will tell in a scenario where a coupon comes from and if not the database usually provides that information quickly. So here is the system I have been using now for about 3 months and really liking...

I use envelopes labeled with the store and the sale week start date. As I am reading I make a note of which coupons to clip and which envie they will go into. I am usually pretty good about remembering if I have a coupon and if I have already clipped and/ or used it. Since I am working from a list, it usually only requires one flip through the inserts. I will generally do this up to three times a week, taking anywhere from 5 minutes to a half hour usually. I have found that generally if I clip a coupon and the store is out of stock (and it is a hot item) generally another store will have it on sale soon after so I just transfer envies. If that isnt the case then I file in the little cheapie accordion file I purchased at thye beginning of this experiment! I also keep store cards in the current store envie. That cuts down on keychain clutter which I LOVE. And I keep any printed store rewards in the current envie for the store. They are all paper clipped together with the earliest expiring, higher denominations first (I tend to have more trouble spending the higher denominations so I want to keep them in sight). And a gift card if that is typicially how I pay tax for that store. I keep a list of deals for each store in the correct envie and I keep a small piece of scrap paper in the Wags and RA envie so I can write out scenarios. I always have a calculator and pen in my purse for making scenarios on the fly.

The one tweak I have considered making lately is wrapping each envie that I carry with me in different colored duck tape. Duck tape because some hot weeks I start to wear through the bottom of an envie and that could be disastrous. Colored so I can easily see which store envie is which. (Although I can usually see enough of a coupon peeking out to tell which store envie it is!)

This system really works for me although after writing it all out it looks crazy! it is very interesting hearing what system others use. i like seeing it all collected in one post.

[4kidsandahubby]

for the free section...is that for coupons that offer completely free items or do you include other coupons too like bogo's? I just recieved my sleeves and i'm about to get to work!

[qrazy]

I also do ABC order. I have switched from a big binder to 4 photo storage boxes. 2 for food, ABC order by brand name. And 2 for non-food, by category. Works great. My favorite part is my small binder (cancelled check holder) with 13 slots. I have the slots labelled with the stores I visit, drugstores and grocery. I only carry this small binder into the stores. I live right behind my favorite store, across the street from another favorite, and have several others very close. Not to mention Walmart, Super Target and others nearby.

[kaz]

I have fallen off the coupon wagon due to organization. I started out with full inserts, but we seem to never have the same q's that are listed in our region. I then went to the binders, but I don't have the time to do all of the up front organizing that the binders require. (plus they were sooooo bulky) I tried converting my binder system to a modified binder using 2 of the $5 photo albums, from walmart in a tote bag. (They are narrower with 3 4x6 slots on each page) Didn't work well either. I tried going to a long photo box with dividers. Better to organize, but not very portable.

(I really sound high maintenance, huh?)

I think I have "my" solution: I bought a caboodles "envy" bag at walmart. It is like a doctor's bag, zips wide open and perfectly holds 4 index card boxes! It looks like a purse and fits nicely in the cart seat. So now I can be ready for unexpected deals. I really hope this works for me, I can't afford for it not to!

[Kayhold]

Originally Posted by 4kidsandahubby

for the free section...is that for coupons that offer completely free items or do you include other coupons too like bogo's? I just recieved my sleeves and i'm about to get to work!

Thats just a reminder to me that I can get those items free, so I only pay for them when I need them

[Ajma417]

Thank you so much... Just getting started couponing, and this has helped me a bunch!!

Sent from my iPhone using AFullCup

[powerparks]

Thanks so much for all the useful info. I am sure this will help out.

[Kayhold]

No problem! Glad it helped

[tratra]

Nice break down of the different options.
I do a mix of 3 things too.

First, full inserts go into an egg crate, organized by date and put in manila envelopes. On the front is the date and a copy of the list of coupons in the insert (copied from the list the seller provided, put into alphabetical order, and then printed). With the list on the front, I don't have to leaf through the inserts to know if a coupon is in them.

Every couple weeks I'll take an afternoon or evening and cut out all the current coupons from the inserts. I sort them into the big categories (edible vs non edible) as I'm cutting and then sort them further and put them into 3 large binders, organized by category.

After I've made my shopping list, I pull all the coupons I'll need and put them into a baby wipes box, organized into folded papers by store. I'll add in some hot or expiring-soon coupons too just in case I come across some unadvertised deals. This box is the only thing I take shopping. I'm a list-driven shopper and don't like the bulkiness or the attention of taking a binder into the stores. I also like that it snaps closed and if it gets dropped the coupons won't go everywhere.

If you're looking for supplies for organizing...
thrift shops often have used office supplies for cheap-- 3-ring binders, divider pages, envelopes.
Ebay is a good place for the divided sheets and you can find all sizes there. Just watch the shipping costs; they can get pretty high.
Huggies or pampers boxes are free when you purchase the wipes. Print your list of coupons on the back of scratch paper that you'd otherwise toss.

[Tjemgoins]

I use gallon ziplock bags the bag holds the coupons, sales paper, register bucks, notes, etc. I use one hag for each store I visit.

I keep my notebook and whole inserts in a tote bag that is with me but I generally don't pull it out. I only pull out my ziplock.

[Kayhold]

I love hearing how other people organize, thanks for sharing!
If you want to share pictures, I made a post for that (bottom link in signature), too!

[Shashahx]

Originally Posted by tratra

Nice break down of the different options.
I do a mix of 3 things too.

First, full inserts go into an egg crate, organized by date and put in manila envelopes. On the front is the date and a copy of the list of coupons in the insert (copied from the list the seller provided, put into alphabetical order, and then printed). With the list on the front, I don't have to leaf through the inserts to know if a coupon is in them.

Every couple weeks I'll take an afternoon or evening and cut out all the current coupons from the inserts. I sort them into the big categories (edible vs non edible) as I'm cutting and then sort them further and put them into 3 large binders, organized by category.

After I've made my shopping list, I pull all the coupons I'll need and put them into a baby wipes box, organized into folded papers by store. I'll add in some hot or expiring-soon coupons too just in case I come across some unadvertised deals. This box is the only thing I take shopping. I'm a list-driven shopper and don't like the bulkiness or the attention of taking a binder into the stores. I also like that it snaps closed and if it gets dropped the coupons won't go everywhere.

If you're looking for supplies for organizing...
thrift shops often have used office supplies for cheap-- 3-ring binders, divider pages, envelopes.
Ebay is a good place for the divided sheets and you can find all sizes there. Just watch the shipping costs; they can get pretty high.
Huggies or pampers boxes are free when you purchase the wipes. Print your list of coupons on the back of scratch paper that you'd otherwise toss.

I know I've heard that you can print on the back of other stuff but I'm so afraid a store won't take them if I do that! I've been using the unused portion of the paper for scratch though

Btw - love the wipes box ideas!!

Sent from my iPhone

[tratra]

Originally Posted by Shashahx

I know I've heard that you can print on the back of other stuff but I'm so afraid a store won't take them if I do that! I've been using the unused portion of the paper for scratch though

I should have been clearer above. I print the list of the coupons for each insert on scratch paper, and that goes on the front of the insert folder. I'll use it for my chicken-scratch handwritten lists too

I sometimes print coupons on the backs, and as long as the right side is up when I hand it to the cashier, it has been ok. I usually put a squiggle line through the back just to be safe though.

[Dodgers89]

thanks so much!!!!!!