My New Pet >>>>> The Coupon Binder

Tired of digging and searching for those coupons? Try this out!

It's no secret. I have this not-so-little obsession with coupons and with saving money. I like to save as much as possible in the stores. It's a challenge and I try to master it. My last few methods of organizing coupons have had so-so results. For years I used the portable checkbook file thingy. I think most of us use those for coupons. But, I kept having to search and re-search my categories to try and find that certain coupon, usually with a tired and bored child (or 3) trying to compete for my attention.

Then I heard about people using binders with baseball card holder sheets. Hmmm, tempting. I attempted to make one, but didn't have a great way of organizing, so that method quickly fell by the wayside. Back to the check organizer I went, albeit a slightly larger one.

Then...wow...I came across this YouTube video that someone posted on my coupon board. All the stars aligned and the world was right for that gleaming moment. The way this woman did her binder made utter and complete sense to me. I had to do it!

Here is the video if others are interested in following her tutorial. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcbstm5vx5k I've been using my binder for 3 days now, and have saved over $120. I'm a visual, slightly OCD gal, and having everything in front of me means that 1) I don't search for 10 minutes for one coupon, and 2) My coupons don't expire.

Here are some photos of my new 'pet', the binder. It's still a work in progress (especially the section up front for each and every store...right now I have 1):

First thing you see when opening binder

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The tools I use

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Inside cover of Binder. Holds my

Weekly Ads, Store Coupon Books, and Rainchecks

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Tabs and Pages of Binder...each tab

for a different category (Baby, Pantry, Organics)

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The beginnings of my Store Coupons section

(a work in progress)

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Organic Section, Page 1

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Turn Page, More Organics

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Baby, Page 1: Diapers

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Baby, Page 2: Wipes

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Baby, Page 3: Baby Food

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Baby, Page 4: More Baby Food

In the interest of saving space, I opted not to show you "Baby, Page 5, 6, and 7". (Formula, Baby Bathing, and Baby Utensils)

Rebates Section

A Work in Progress

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Restaurants,

Also A Work in Progress

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Wondering what I do with the coupons I'm NOT using? Well, I don't throw them out, because somebody might need them. (Me on a good sale, or friends looking for coupons). I keep my inserts in the contraption below. I found it at Target on clearance (made by Real Simple). It's a portable hanging file folder.

Portable, Hanging File Folder Holder

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Outside of Insert Holder

(Three Months' Worth of Inserts)

Each File Folder = One Month

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February's Newspaper Inserts

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Look on Binding to See Insert Date
(Handy for filing purposes, or searching for coupons)

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Also, if you are trying to find out when a coupon came out, or if a coupon even exists for a certain product, visit Hot Coupon World (http://www.hotcouponworld.com/). They have a coupon database that allows you to look for your coupon needs. For instance, if it says 2/22/09 SS....you know to look in the February 22nd edition of the Smartsource insert (pictured above).

If you have any questions, feel free to comment. I'm so glad I got organized like this. The most painful part for me was paying $12.97 for the zippered binder. It wasn't even on sale (and I can never find them on clearance), but I knew it would save me a lot of money by getting it. Plus the added perk that my coupons wouldn't fall out of the binder when carrying it around.