Coupon Organization

I adore coupons.  I love a good deal and coupons bring you lots of good deals... if you actually use them. My coupon organization needed a bit of a change.  At one point, Adam and I began putting coupons in card sleeves in a binder.  It was a good system, but we never took the time to put the new coupons in the sleeves and throw away the old, expired coupons.  We ended up just sticking them in the front pocket of the binder.  Not very helpful.  And then I started keeping some coupons in a little envelop in my purse.  So we had two spots for coupons and I never seemed to have the right coupon in the right place.  

  

When I was at Target the other day, I came across this adorable little coupon organizer and thought it would be the perfect solution to our coupon troubles.    

With a new coupon file, I decided to merge all my coupon collections into one system.  First, I took inventory of the coupons I currently had.  I threw away about 90% of them because they were expired.  I found coupons that expired in 2013.  I also found some good stuff, like movie passes and gift cards I forgot I had.  

After I threw away all the expired coupons, I sorted the remaining coupons into categories.  I ended up with:
-Restaurants
-Housewares
-Home Improvement
-Auto
-Entertainment
-Groceries
-Health & Beauty

Each category got a labeled section in the coupon organizer.  

Our coupon organizer lives by the microwave.  That way we can grab it anytime we're going out to eat or shopping.  All the coupons are in one place and we both have access to them.  I made a promise to myself to only put coupons in there that I will actually use.  And I also promised myself to look for expired coupons when I put new ones in.  

This certainly isn't a huge organizational development, but it will save me some time looking for the right coupon.  Plus, it brings a little more order to my life, which always makes me happy.