Coupon Organizing: Extreme Saver

After you've chosen your couponing level, you'll want to chose how you organize your coupons.  This is important, if you bypass this step you'll be mad about it when you go to use your coupons.  The way you organize your coupons is completely personal and up to you however it varies with your level too.

Here's a guide to help you organize based on your couponing level:

Extreme Saver: You have the most coupons and need to be very organized with them in order to save time (and your sanity).  You will need 2 - 3" binders, card collector sheets, sheet protectors AND an envelope size expanding file folder.  The binders will house your coupons for general storage.  The expanding file folder will hold the coupons that you will be using for your specific shopping trip, divided by stores for that day and transactions.  Always carry both all, this way you'll have your expected coupons ready to go and have your other coupons in case you find a great unadvertised sale.  Use the card collector sheets to store your coupons, each type of coupon in one slot (eg: 5 Bounty Paper Towel coupons for $1.00 off all go into one pocket of the sheet).  Use the sheet protectors to store coupon policies for the stores you frequent.

Here are some categories to divide your coupons by organizational tool:
Expanding File Folder
Store 1: List, Transaction 1, Transaction 2, Transaction 3, Transaction 4, Sales Flyer
Store 2: List, Transaction 1, Transaction 2, Transaction 3, Transaction 4, Sales Flyer
Store 3: List, Transaction 1, Transaction 2, Transaction 3, Transaction 4, Sales Flyer
Store 4: List, Transaction 1, Transaction 2, Transaction 3, Transaction 4, Sales Flyer
Store 5: List, Transaction 1, Transaction 2, Transaction 3, Transaction 4, Sales Flyer
Fast-Food Restaurants
Sit-Down Restaurants

3" Binder #1: Edibles
Baby Foods, Baby Cereals, Baby Formula, Baby Snacks, Baking Mixes & Flours, Bars, Breads, Butter, Canned: Beans, Canned: Fruits, Canned: Meals, Canned: Meats, Canned: Soups, Canned: Veggies, Candy, Cat Food(if you have one), Cereals, Cheese, Chips, Coffee, Cookies & Crackers, Dairy Creams, Dog Food (if you have one) Dressings,  Dry Condiments, Dry Goods: Other, Eggs, Frozen: Desserts, Frozen: Fruits, Frozen: Meals, Frozen: Meats, Frozen: Veggies,  Fruit Snacks, Juice, Lunchmeat, Meal Kits, Milk & Creamers, Meat, Nuts, Oil, Pasta, Produce, Refrigerated Misc, Rice, Sauces,  Seafood, Soda, Soups, Spices, Sweeteners, Wet Condiments, Yoghurt

3" Binder #2: Non-Edible
Bathroom Cleaners, Bathroom Tissues, Batteries, Body Cleansers, Body Moisturizers, Books, Cat Stuff (If you have one), Clothing, Computer Items, Dental Care, Deodorant, Deodorizers, Dog Stuff (If you have one) Electronics, Facial Care, Facial Tissue, Food Storage, Gardening, Hair Care, Hair Color, Laundry, Magazines, Makeup, Medicine, Misc, Nails, Napkins, Office Supplies, Pesticides, Razors, Shaving Prep, Suncare, Toilet tissue

These essentials will keep you organized and sane:

Coupon Organizing: Crazy Saver

After you've chosen your couponing level, you'll want to chose how you organize your coupons.  This is important, if you bypass this step you'll be mad about it when you go to use your coupons.  The way you organize your coupons is completely personal and up to you however it varies with your level too.

Here's a guide to help you organize based on your couponing level:

Crazy Saver: You will be using a good amount of coupons, a full size expanding file organizer plus file dividers is what you'll need.  Your coupons need to be organized into more categories than basic saver because of the amount of coupons you'll have.  This way if you're at the store and see a great deal and want to search for a coupon, you don't have to look through 50 coupons to find the one you need.

Categories for you include:
Baking, Beauty, Body Care, Breads, Canned, Chips/Nuts/Popcorn, Cereal, Cheeses & Spreads, Coffee/Tea, Condiments, Dairy Creams & Eggs, Dental Care, Facial Care, Food Storage, Frozen Desserts, Frozen Meals, Frozen Fruits & Veggies, Grains, Hair, Juice/Soda/Water, Household Deodorizers, Household Cleaning, Laundry, Meats, Medications, Milks & Creamers, Office Supplies, Paper Products, Produce, Refrigerated Items, Sanitary, Sauces & Dressings, Sweeteners, Misc: Edibles, Misc: Non-Edible

These products are essential for you:

Choosing your couponing level.

A few people have asked me to teach them how to coupon, here I'm inviting you all to learn with me.  Couponing seams hard at first but with a little organization and patience it pays off big and gets easier as you go along.  Let's take a look at the first step..

The very first thing you want to do is decide what type of couponing is best for you:

Basic Savings - Saving a little each time you shop - This is great if you only have an hour or 2 a week to dedicate to couponing.  Here you'll save a few dollars each time you shop.

Average Savings - Saving around 20% each time you shop - This is ideal for those who have more time to spend each week on couponing.  You save an average of about 20% each time you shop.

Crazy Savings - Saving up to 80% each time you shop - This takes on average 10+ hours a week of prep time but the payoff is big.  You save on average up to about 80% when you shop depending on how much time you've put into  your planning.

Extreme Savings - Savings of up to 100% when you shop - This is the type of couponing you see on the TLC Tv Show, Extreme Couponing, and takes upwards of 25 hours a week to prepare for.  This level is savings of up to everything free!  Remember you don't have to get thousands of dollars worth of product for it to be extreme!

If you are completely new to couponing, never having used them start at Basic and move your way up to where you are comfortable.  If you've used coupons comfortably before then start at Average and work your way up at your own pace.  Right now I'm at Crazy Savings and working my way up to Extreme.