Organizing your coupons

There are tons of ways to organize your coupons, and something different may work for each person.  Working at Publix, I see many different organizational methods: coupons loose in the bottom of your purse; in a plain envelope; in a coupon organizer; in a poly file folder; in an index card box; and in rubbermaid storage boxes.  I've also heard that some people keep the coupons in folders according to the date they came out, so when finding deals on websites they can easily find them that way.  While doing a google search to find some images for this post I came across dozens of different ways to organize your coupons and sites where you can buy organizers.

These are pictures of my accordion style cardboard coupon organizer, which i got for $1 at a dollar store about four years ago.  It isn't the best when it comes to categorizing, so I usually have to dig for coupons, but it serves its purpose.

(You can click the images to see the full size versions)













Similar to what I have are the poly file folders that you can find at Office depot, Staples, or the like, usually used for filing checks.  These are moving up the price scale from the cheap cardboard organizer like I have.  Depending on how many dividers the folder has, you can organize your coupons pretty well.

Next is the index card file box.  This is fully customizable so that you can easily and efficiently access your coupons.  I'm thinking of upgrading to this since I can make my own dividers/categories.  The only negative I see to this is that its a bit larger that the poly folder and cardboard organizer and wouldn't fit in my purse as easily.  Plus, in addition to paying for the box, you have to pay for the dividers and/or tabs to make your categories, unless you're crafty and want to make them yourself.


Last up is the large rubbermaid box.  There is a woman that comes in my store with, literally, hundreds of coupons in her box.  I'm not sure of her organizational methods, but if you're a serious couponer like she is, this might be the way to go so you don't lose any of your coupons.  The size box I'm talking about is hard to get from the picture, but its around 16x11x6 inches.



So what method do you use to keep your coupons organized? Do you have any tips or tricks you'd like to share?