What should I do with all these coupons?

Now that most of you see the advantage of clipping those coupons, you are probably wondering how you should organize them. There are a few different options:

You can do the easiest and most simple method by organizing them in an accordion folder. You would need to divide them in different sections. Some people choose stores, expiration dates, items...whatever works best for you. I find dividing them by items works best for me. This is great if you get one or two newspapers a week. Any more than that, it might start busting at the seams. I also found one on clearance at Walgreen's that was longer. This was especially helpful when it came to internet coupons. Most of those are larger than your ordinary newspaper coupon and the longer folders accommodate them better. I also think this method is great if you like to carry it with you in your purse. I like to check out clearance isles and match up any coupons. This is an easy and compact way of making it simple.

Another method of organizing them is by a baseball card binder. This is something I have personally not done but I can see how it would be helpful. You simply cut all the coupons out and store them in each little slot. You can buy a ring to connect the right corner of each sheet for easy reference. I think this would be a good idea for something you has the time to clip all of the coupons and wants to be able to see everything at a quick glance. You would still want to separate them out into categories for a quicker way of looking to see if you have a particular coupons. Depending if you like big purses or not, this might not fit in your purse. It would be very helpful if there was a smaller versions of this to make it more portable.

If you happen to get a lot of inserts a week, this next method is great for that. Purchase sheet protectors and put all of your inserts for the week into one. Then label it with which insert and the date (RedPlum 8/17) You can go to this website and see where the coupon was that you need. You can then buy a little clip to attach them all at the left corner.

I plan on doing a combination of two: the accordion file and the sheet protectors. I really like the file because it is so convenient. But I get way too many coupons and mine will not hold them all. Plus, I don't want to spend an entire Sunday afternoon clipping coupons. Seriously, I have between 5-14 inserts per week. I plan on clipping one newspaper's inserts and filing those in the accordion file and filing the extra in the sheet protectors. This way, I can have the best of both.

There are a lot of different products out there for purchase so if you feel like these would not work for you, just look around. I hope this helps a few people out there. Let me know if you have a different system that works for you!

(April mentioned something about keeping the coupons together that you plan on using on your trip. I used to keep them in the front of the accordion folder where I can see it. I then started keeping all of my coupons for free items there. That way I can always pick it up whenever I go. What I do now is make my list on an envelope and put all the coupons in that. It seems to work great. Thanks for reminding me April!)