Now that you have decided to use coupons, you need to decide how to store your coupons. There are three different ways to store your coupons: bin, binder and box. The following are the pros and cons of each to help you decide which way is best for you.
BIN: With this method, you will need a portable box, bin, or a filing cabinet and 26 file folders. Each week when you get your coupons, you will either collate them and then put them in the folder, or just put them in the folder that week. We do have these tabs you can print out to put on the folders. (black & white version) You only clip the coupons that you need when you plan to use that coupon.
Pros: This is the quickest way to store your coupons each week. It only takes seconds to place the coupons in a folder each week. If you do decide to collate your coupons, it would take about 10 minutes each week. In the end it will save you time.
Cons: You do not bring all of your coupons with you to the grocery store, only the coupons on your shopping list. If you come across a deal that is unadvertised (i.e. a clearanced item), you would not have a coupon with you.
Binder: This Method involves getting a zip around binder (at least 2″) and some baseball card holders. Having personally done this method now for the last two years, I can personally vouch for the “zip around” part. My son held my regular binder in the parking lot and it magically popped open and all my coupon holders went all over the parking lot. You can find baseball card holders at Walmart of Target near the front where baseball cards and other trading cards are. With this method, you clip every coupon and file it into a holder for future use. Page dividers are also nice to create areas for the coupons. (dairy, cereal, frozen…)
Pros: You have all of your coupons with you when you go to the store. If something is on clearance or an unadvertised special, you have the coupon with you. It is also very easy to see the coupons you have quickly. You just flip the sheets to see them.
Cons: It will take over an hour each week to cut and file your coupons. You also need to remove coupons that have expired. And the binder can get a little heavy.
Box: This method involves getting a plastic shoebox or something similar and some divider cards. They sell pre-made boxes on e-bay. This is the method that I grew up with. (In fact, this is a picture of my mom’s box.) My mom had a check register box and laminated 3 x 5 cards with the different categories that she had. The trick with this method is to be very specific in the categories that you choose. It will save you time searching through your coupons at the store.
Pros: You take all of your coupons to the store with you like the binder method. However, you are not able to see all of your coupons as easily. You need to flip through the coupons to find the one that you are looking for. This is why having very specific categories will help.
Cons: You will spend time each week cutting out coupons and removing your expired ones. It will take approximately 30 minutes each week to file this way.
You also have the option of combining these methods. I know of many that utilize the bin method, but will go through and cut out coupons that they know they would buy if they saw that product on clearance. These coupons would go into a smaller coupon folder that they take with them to the store.
Tell us what method works for your family? And are you interested in trying something different?
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I started out using the bin method, but have recently changed to the binder method. Initially, it took a while to convert but I now have all of my coupons in the binder. I don’t use baby or pet products or denture items or some of the other coupons, so I don’t use up space on those. The biggest thing I like is having all of my coupons there at a glance and when it’s time to pull the expired ones to send on to the military, they are already cut and just have to be mailed.
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I use the combination binder and bin (file cabinet). I don’t always have the time to cut out coupons, so I put them in the bin and when I have the chance during the week, I go through and cut. . .but I keep the coupons until they expire. I am one that like to try new recipes so I’ve learned that there may be times that I need something that I would not normally buy and had thrown the coupon out. So now I keep them in the bin until they expire.
This is a very helpful article. Thanks.
great post as usual!
Great post !!!
I use a file cabinet for long term storage of my coupon inserts, a notebook for storing soon to expire coupons, RR’s, catalinas, extra bucks, rain checks and a small file folder that I call a” Take a Long” to slip into my purse after I have clipped/printed coupons for every transaction/deal I want to do. It’s a lot but I find the more organized I am, the more money I save !
I REALLY like that bag in the very first photo, may I ask where you got it?
You can get them from our C$ Online Store! http://couponsenseblog.com/online-store
hi,
i’m developing my method, but i’ve combined the bin + binder method for now….
for me, the major ‘con’ of the bin method was that if i needed to find a coupon it took forever to find/get a coupon…also i couldn’t carry all my coupons with me.
so, i took a binder, clipped all my coupons, but then organized the coupons by circular and date..
i got 2 sets of dividers. one set of dividers have big tabs on the side. these tabs are labeled by flyer/coupon type (ie p&g, redplum, all you, instore coupons, blinkies, restaurant, etc). for the second set of dividers, i cut off the side tabs and put adhesive sticky tabs up on top of the divider…..these tabs are the dates the flyers were published (8/22, 9/11, etc)
for example, i have a section in my notebook for redplum….in that redplum section, i have subdividers that organize the coupons by date.
so if i see that shampoo is on sale and has a coupon from the paper 9/11 in redplum…i open my binder flip to my redplum section, flip to 9/11 section, and viola!
i know this sounds confusing, but finding my coupons is faster and i can take everything w/me