Couponing Organization - How To Make Sure You Don't Miss Discounts

Couponing Organization – How To Make Sure You Don’t Miss Out On Discounts

107 Quick & Easy Ways To Have More Money

• Quick and easy changes you can make today to have more money in your pocket.

• It is NOT about depriving yourself and making depressing cut backs.

• It IS about making sure you're not wasting money, enjoying what you have, and looking for ways to have more fun!

• Be sure to check your email for the bonus surprise freebie!

We sometimes use affiliate links in our content. This won't cost you anything, but helps us to offset the costs of maintaining this website. Thanks for your support!

If it's your first time here, be sure to read our Introduction To Couponing article!

When you get serious about couponing, you also need to get serious about organization if you’re going to be really successful at it. Keeping track of tiny pieces of paper and important dates will be part of your life, and the better at it you are, the more money you’ll save. Keeping your purchased items organized will pay off, too, so you don’t let things expire or go bad, or waste money buying years and years worth of something because you forgot it was already on the shelf.

A Simple Couponing Organization System

I’m not a naturally organized person, so I can promise you that everything I’m sharing here is designed for even chaotic people to have a reasonable chance of success at. I was never the girl with the flash cards and multi colored pens in school, but I managed to get along without needing that. Now I’m the girl with the folders and the paper clips and the color system, so I guess anyone can change if they’re properly motivated. 

My first useful item is my phone’s calendar app. I’m only human, and there’s no reason for me to waste my brain’s bandwidth on just remembering when the Old Navy Super Cash can be used, when I can just have my phone give me a reminder instead. My life and my job demand a lot from me, and it’s stupid to lose money because I forgot about a valuable coupon.

I now unapologetically outsource any remembering I can, and my calendar app makes it so easy. I highly recommend you learn what your app is capable of and use it to the greatest extent you can. Typically I set a reminder when a good sale or coupon starts, to go off in that chunk of the morning between waking up and leaving the house. I set a second reminder for a day or two later (depending on the situation) so that if the first one hit me while I was distracted I have another chance. I’m also now in the habit of checking my calendar for upcoming events so I don’t go do my grocery shopping a day before a good sale starts.

Couponing Organization - keeping things filed.

Tracking Paper Coupons

For my paper coupons, I use one of those old school folding accordion wallets. Grandma knew what was up, and those work great for small scale couponing. Some well known couponers use large binders with clear pages that have lots of little compartments in them. If I was couponing for a large family I would TOTALLY have one of those going. They seem amazingly handy and efficient. I just don’t need all of that space, though. When starting out I used a few envelopes until I wore those out, so if you’re just getting going or you’re really broke, you can easily get away with that for a while, too.

I organize my wallet basically the same way I did when I was using a stack of envelopes. The first section is empty usually, and I use it for coupons I expect to use on my next trip. This keeps them handy when I need them, and helps me remember I have coupons to use.

After that, each section has a type of good. Makeup, medical (like Advil and band-aids), personal care, perishable foods, freezer case, pantry, and wildcard all have sections. Within each section, I have a stack of coupons paper clipped together that all expire in the same month. So under makeup I’ll have a January tag with January coupons clipped to it, a February tag with coupons clipped to it, a March tag… and so on for every month I currently have coupons for. This way, when I’m looking for a coupon for a product I can start with the ones that expire the soonest, and at the end of each month, the unused coupons can go right into the recycling so they don’t clutter up my system. 

Couponing Organization - double checking that the coupon applies to this item.

Take Lots of Notes

When it comes to actually shopping, I usually use the notes app on my phone to make a shopping list with little checkmarks. I randomly add items to the list as I think of them, and I’ll add a bunch after assessing what’s low in the stockpile. This works if the shopping trip isn’t that elaborate, but I do sometimes make a paper list broken down my store, with coupon and discount reminders. This is reserved for major trips, and when I do this I TAKE A PICTURE OF THE LIST with my phone before I start. That way, if I manage to drop it somewhere I still have a record of the plan.

Take Care of Your Stockpile

After your shopping is done, when you get home with all that stuff, you have to actually put it somewhere. I talk about this in my article on deep pantries and stockpiles, but keeping your stockpile organized is just as important as accumulating it. When you buy things and then let them expire before you use them, you’re absolutely just throwing money away.

Having some sturdy shelves to hold your stockpile, where new things are added at the back, and things to use are taken from the front – just like how a well run grocery store is stocked – will help you keep your stockpile healthy. Regularly monitoring your pantry for pests will keep your food safer, too. Having things organized neatly will make this all much easier. I always make a point of putting everything away right when I get home. If I sit down, it can be hours or days before I get back to it, which leaves my home messy, and tempts me to grab something from the bags I just brought in, instead of properly cycling everything through the stockpile.

Organization can take some time to set up, but if you really commit to your system, and do little bits to maintain it every day, you’ll be able to keep your purchases manageable, and your coupons ready to go for your next trip. Don’t forget to pat yourself on the back for sticking to your organization, it’s a skill not all of us are born with, so you should feel good about yourself when you get your own system set up and rolling. Your needs will be different from mine, so consider what I’ve said here and try to figure out what will make it easy and efficient for you to keep everything you need sorted and ready to go!

107 Quick & Easy Ways To Have More Money

• Quick and easy changes you can make today to have more money in your pocket.

• It is NOT about depriving yourself and making depressing cut backs.

• It IS about making sure you're not wasting money, enjoying what you have, and looking for ways to have more fun!

• Be sure to check your email for the bonus surprise freebie!

107 Quick & Easy Ways To Have More Money!Don't Miss This Free Ebook!

• Quick and easy changes you can make today to have more money in your pocket.

• It is NOT about depriving yourself and making depressing cut backs.

• It IS about making sure you're not wasting money, enjoying what you have, and looking for ways to have more fun!

• Be sure to check your email for the bonus surprise freebie!