De-cluttering my coupons was a pretty big task this week, because I had to get rid of all of my coupons that had expired in May (and there was a ton of them!).
The first thing that I did was think about whether or not my current coupon organization system was working, and I decided that it wasn’t.
Right now I am using a large binder for most of my coupons and a medium sized storage tote for all of my extra coupons. The problem with this system is that I would never bring my storage tote to the store with me, and I would always need it when I was out.
The other usse that I had was that my binder was about to explode from the amount of coupons I’d stuffed in there!
So, I have decided to go the 2-binder route. I will have one binder full of food and beverage coupons and the other binder will be full of everything else.
I know, I sound a bit insane, don’t I?
I know a few people that organize their coupons this way and they say it works really well, so I’m going to give it a shot.
I’ll be purchasing my second binder next week (I completely forgot to pick it up when I was at the store yesterday) and will get the food coupons moved over to that one.
Oh man, now I’m really going to look like an “Extreme Couponer” when I go shopping!
The second thing that I did was really go through my coupons and get rid of the ones that were totally useless to me and that I was 99% sure I would never use.
I don’t know why it’s always so difficult for me to let go of coupons, but I did it anyway!
Check out all of the coupons I said goodbye to (I gave some to a neighbour and gave the rest away on freecycle):
I also got rid of a ton of expired coupons. It was so sad to see them all go!
The last thing that I did was re-organize the area that I collect my coupons (until I am ready to cut them).
I always advise people to clip and organize their coupons as soon as they get them, but I receive hundreds of coupons every week and I simply don’t have the time to organize them as soon as they come in.
I set aside an hour or two (depending on how many new coupons I have to add) once a week to get them all organized.
There’s no need for a before photo of my “coupon holding area”, because I didn’t have an actual place for them. Just imagine a gigantic pile of coupons taking over my desk. It was a nightmare.
I now have this huge bin in the organizing unit beside my desk that is just for my new coupons. When it’s time for me to clip and file my coupons, I just take the drawer out and get to work.
I usually watch TV while I clip coupons so that it doesn’t feel like such a chore.
Did you de-clutter your coupons this week? If so, please share your results!
Stop by tomorrow for the 6th and final De-Clutter Your Home challenge!
More from this series:
- De-Clutter Your Toys (Challenge Complete)
- De-Clutter Your Books (Challenge Complete)
- De-Clutter Your Recipes (Challenge Complete)
- De-Clutter A Cabinet (Challenge Complete)
- De-Clutter Your Coupons (Challenge Complete)
- De-Clutter Your Email
Hi Everyone,
Thanks for all of your ideas! I have caught the coupon-bug too, and I am truly inexperienced! I have two small dollar store binders, 6 1/2 by 6 1/2…one for food, pet supplies and restaurants, and the other for household products and health care products. So far this seems to work. I like that I can fit them both in my big purse!
Lori – I pull out all of the coupons I plan to use before I go shopping, and I keep them in an envelope in my purse. As I go through the store, I put the coupons that I am going to need (from my binder or from the envelope in my purse) into the front pocket of my coupon binder.
I am very new to couponing and still have lots to learn. On Saterday I bought a binder to hold pictures and it is working great.It holds all sizes of coupons. I never thought I would get excited about coupons, but even my children are now helping me out. They usually find the coupons that they like.
I’ve done both the envelope and baseball card system. Both have their advantages. I’m more of a tactile person so I like the touching of each of them. But it’s more efficient to visually see the coupons.
I think what works the best for me though is my son
. Since we decided to put 1/2 of everything we save into our new laptop fund, he’s been great at helping me find, cut & file coupons.
What I’m wondering, especially after watching ‘that’ show, how do you keep track of them when you go to the store?
Great job de-cluttering your coupons, everyone!
Thanks for sharing.
Hi Fellow Couponers!
I have been couponing for about a month and a half now and I use a 13 pocket mini accordion folder from dollerama. My coupons are paper clipped or binder clipped into categories with sticky notes. Simple enough of a system, easy to carry and it seems to be working so far. The Finish quantumatic and go coupons can fit in there no problem. The only coupons I had to fold to fit were the HUGE printable Snuggle $1 off coupons.
Some categories are getting out of control though as I get more coupons like, laundry products, Soap/shampoo/bodywash/lotion, Toothpaste/toothbrush/mouthwash, Cleaning products (OMG HUGE), Dishwasher products, Vitamins & Drugs (HUGE). But as I said, I’m a newbie so its working out so far.
I also have been using one of my son’s old backpacks which I keep hidden in the corner by the dining room table (my coupon area). Inside I keep pens, highlighters (for Cassie’s weekly coupon matchup listing
, sticky notes, scissors, paper/binder clips, envelopes, addy labels, tape, MAGNIFYING GLASS (some of those expiry dates are bloody impossible to read!). I also keep my coupons rec’d/printed in there until I have time to clip them. I know how you feel about leting some coupons go. Thursday I purged out the end of May early June coupons and sadly some of the 50 cent sunlight coupons and 3 ziploc coupons went to coupon heaven 
I am thinking of starting a binder system but the thought of having to fold most of the coupons to slide in and out of those pockets seems painful to me.
PS – Just a little quip about my newfound couponing love…a couple of weeks ago I was printing and printing until I could no longer see! Went to bed with my table littered with coupons. The next morning my husband said his work watch broke and he was going to get another one. He was going through my coupons and asked if I had any coupons for a watch in there by any chance. LOL!!
I now have 4 accordian files, 1 for trades/trains, 3 for my use (which I haul to the store each time!:))! I still like these best for me, so that is what I will keep using.
However, I just did a HUGE coupon purge/organization. I was behind on trains, insert filing, coupon filing, pulling expiries, etc. It just took me 4 hours to go through them all, I’m so tired! But so glad to have done it, my desk is now clear. I usually do them once a week, at least, but two weeks of not touching coupons, and it very quickly got really out of hand!
So, glad to be done! Just in time to file more brandsavers, once I collect them.
Thanks everyone for the great advice! I was using an accordian style envelope divider for my coupons, and it was just too stuffed to see what I had in there. I’m definitely heading to the dollar store to see if I can get some baseball card size sheets, and look for some of the other ones you ladies have suggested.
Since I don’t have many coupons, I just stick mine in an accordion envelope divided into categories. I’ve also started keeping an inventory of what coupons I have in there on my computer, along with their expiry dates, to help me keep track of what I have and what I can purge more easier. If it starts getting full I may divide it into two accordion envelopes. So far it’s been working out well for me, except when it comes to full page printable coupons. I may carry a separate, bigger, file folder for those and put everything in a big tote bag. I’ve also learned that having scissors, writing utensils and a calculator on hand during shopping trips is essential!
If you’re hardcore, you can buy boxes of card protectors on ebay. Sellers will send you a box of 100 high quality sheets for $15-20. You can get different sizes of pockets to suit your needs, but they sell them by the box…. which might be more than you need and can get expensive if you want a variety of sizes.
Thats why I went to a comic store in Toronto. Had to pay $0.25 per sheet. But it got me set up nicely without having to spent $60 on card protectors, and still getting a variety of pocket sizes. These are the same high quality protectors found on the web. The store I went to is called ‘The Hairy Tarachula’ in case you’re a Torontonian.
I just buy my plastic inserts from the dollar store. They’re too expensive at staples LOL.
I use the big plastic page inserts for bigger stuff like coupons from cereal boxes.
where do you get the plastic binder inserts from? I would love some of those!
Coupon Reorganozation Story:
I started couponing a month ago, using a 5′x8′ box with index cards. Within a week, the box exploded and I had to move to a binder.
Bought:
1 plastic 3″ D-ring style binder (Grand & Toy)
2 packages of sheet covers (Dollar Store)
100 Baseball card sheet protectors (3×3 pockets) and (2×2, large pockets) from ‘The Hairy Tarachula’ (comic book store on Yonge Street in Toronto)
1 transparent soft plastic, 3-hole-punched pencil case (Grand & Toy)
2 large permanent black markers (Dollar Store)
1 package of 66 stickable plastic divider labels (Staples)
2 packages of blank white “garage sale” labels for expiration dates (Dollar Store)
In response to Nicole’s question below, I use the 3×3 pockets for small wedsaver.ca-type coupons, the 2×2 pockets for larger ones (i.e.: current Aerius $4 off coupon), and sheet protectors for the oversized ones (i.e.: current $2 off Bic flex razors).
In light of all the May 31 expiry’s that had to be purged, I did clean out my coupons. I do have 2 binders, one for grocery, the other for non-grocery and find it quite convenient-though each are 1″ binders that both fit in a cloth tote bag with my flyers. Quite compact to take into the store…but I am thinking of switching to that cloth organizer everyone was talking about on SC….then I could set them all right next to my purse in the grocery cart. I think it might be easier…maybe… Rather than ordering one I am going to make myself one with scraps I have here and I can personalize it with a pocket at the back for my calculator and a pen and notepad. Still planning it in my head!
Nicole, I don’t know what others use, but I just fold my coupons to fit the 9 pocket holders. A pain, but at least they are organized!
Hi,
I was just wondering what plastic page binder inserts you use? I did this challenge this week, and found the business card plastic binder insert worked great for websaver, save.ca, and coupons from P&G’s site. I have been wondering what to do with my gocoupons, and irregular sized coupons?
Thanks for the tips,
Nicole