Couponing Step 2

2. Organizing your coupons:

2.1. To Clip or Not To Clip

2.1.1. Many price-matching sites tell you the date the coupon was in the paper, so some choose to organize their inserts by date unclipped.

2.1.2. Others choose to clip all coupons and store by category/brand, etc, in a binder system/box.

2.1.3. Ultimately you have to find what works for you. If you choose not to pre-clip, you will have to take the time to clip when planning your shopping trip. And if you do pre-clip, that takes time up front for some coupons you probably won’t end up using.

2.2. Tips:

2.2.1. Clipping—I collate each coupon insert and staple like coupons together (usually over the picture) and cut all 5 copies at once. No need to cut each page separately if they are all the same. I sort my clipped coupons with the ones expiring soonest in front . This way it is easy for me to spot expiring coupons when I flip through my book.

Here are the pages collated:

As I clip them, I sort them into one of three piles: food, non-food, and trade (coupons I won't use)

Then, I sort the coupons into categories: Dairy, Baking, Freezer, etc. and file them in the binder, pulling out any expired/soon to expire coupons.

2.2.2. Expired coupons can be sent overseas to be used by military families for up to 6 months after they expire. You can adopt your own military base, or send them to:

KCL Overseas Coupon Program
c/o Andrea Ponder
30865 Shelton Rd.
Parma, ID 83660

It is best to have food and non-food coupons separated into ziplocs. Which is why I sort my trade coupons into food & non-food Ziploc's when I clip em, so I can easily add the expired ones to my envelope to mail off every other month.

2.2.3. Some stores have a coupon swap bucket/box where you can leave coupons you won’t use and take coupons you will use.