How to Start a Coupon Binder

Organize your coupons to simplify your shopping trips and maximize savings.

Organizing your coupons is essential to being able to find and use coupons successfully. Creating and using a coupon binder can help you easily store and survey your available coupons. Your coupon binder should be personalized for your shopping needs. With only a few supplies and a few hours, you can set up your own coupon binder.

Things You'll Need

• 2-inch, 3-ring binder
• About 50 baseball card protector sheets
• About five full-sheet page protectors
• Dividers
• Coupons

Instructions

1. Gather binder supplies. You will need a 2-inch 3-ring binder, baseball card protector sheets, full-sheet page protectors and tabbed dividers. To ensure that your coupons do not fall out, choose a binder that zips shut.

2. Determine what categories you will want to use to divide your coupons. Choose categories based on your individual or family needs. Common categories include dairy products, meat, breakfast items, baking items, pasta, condiments, snack foods, desserts, canned foods, bakery items, frozen foods, produce, medicine, baby items, paper products, cleaning supplies and toiletries. You might also want to have a section for miscellaneous coupons that do not fit in one of the main categories.

3. Place dividers in your binder and label them according to the categories you have previously selected. You might want to organize sections according to your grocery stores layout or put categories in alphabetical order.

4. Gather coupons. You can find coupons in newspaper circulars, magazines, on store displays, and online at coupon and manufacturer websites.

5. Insert coupons into card pockets. Fold the coupons so that the expiration dates are visible.

6. Print out store coupon policies and put them either in the pockets of your binder or in full-sheet page protectors at the back of your binder. You might need the policy if the cash register or the cashier rings up coupons incorrectly.

7. Customize your binder to your needs. Add additional dividers and coupon pages as needed.

References

• University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture: Using Coupons
• University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture: Clipping and Organizing Coupons
• Utah State University: Clip Coupons -- Save a few $$$

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish