Create This: Coupon Binder

If you're an Our Tips And Tricks reader, you already know I always try to use coupons when feasible.  What you may not know is that until recently my coupon stockpile was haphazard and disorganized.  Those bi-weekly Bed Bath and Beyond coupons were scattered in various drawers, behind car seats, and in other nooks and crannies.*  BJ's, Babies R Us, Carters, Pampers, and other coupons were all over the house, but I could never find them when I needed them.

My Solution

If you have a similar problem, take five minutes and a few dollars to create the obvious fix: Create a binder for your coupons.  While I've seen people use accordion folders to organize their coupons, I prefer using a 3-ring binder ($2.48) with clear plastic dividers with pockets ($3.42) so that the coupons are visible to quickly skim through.

Since the coupons are visible, your binder doesn't have to be too organized.  Just bunch similar coupons together.  For instance, I have seven folders: Bed Bath and Beyond, Babies R Us, baby clothing, BJ's, car maintenance, restaurants, and random.

The OurTipsAndTricks Coupon Binder

The result is all of my coupons are in one place, stored in my binder at the end of a counter.  When I get a new coupon, I just throw it in the correct folder.  Every month or so, usually coinciding with the delivery of a new BJ's circular, I'll clean out the expired coupons (minus the ones you can use when expired).  

That's it.  Easy (and admittedly obvious)!

*lack of commas in Bed Bath and Beyond is their grammatical error, not mine