I found the following statistics and facts to be very fascinating. The part I found the most interesting was the User Coupon Savings by Household Income. What did you find the most intriguing in these facts?

There are many methods of organizing coupons, none of them being more right than another. You will need to find the one that works best for you and your couponing needs. If you try one method and don’t like feel free to try something different. It took me several tries to get a system that works well for me. These are not the only methods of filing coupons, but they are some of the more common methods.

Coupon Binder Method

A common method for coupon organization is the coupon binder. This is typically a zippered type 3 ring binder filled with baseball card sleeves. After coupons are cut they are then organized by categories such as dairy, toothpaste, etc. and slid into the sleeves.

The advantage with this method is that you could take a lot of coupons with you while shopping. You would also be able to quickly page through and see at a glance what coupons you have.

A disadvantage of this method is that the binder gets heavy rather quickly and becomes difficult to manage while shopping. It also takes quite a bit of time to cut and sort the coupons each week. You would also need to through your binder on a regular basis to weed out the expired coupons.

Whole Insert Method

Another form of organizing coupons is the Coupon Insert method. Using this method requires no cutting when you get your inserts but rather the insert is marked on the front cover with the date (I use a black marker so it is easy to read) and then filed away. The date is found in small print on the spine of each insert. Then when you need a coupon, you use the handy Coupon Database to find which insert the coupon you need is located and then cut the coupon.

The advantage to organizing coupons this way is that you are only cutting coupons as you need them. Also with this method you will have all the coupons from each insert. Whereas if you were cutting them out you may come across a coupon and think I would never purchase this product so you don’t bother cutting the coupon and a few weeks later after the insert is long trashed that item you though you would never buy is a moneymaker at your local drugstore.

Using this method the disadvantage would be that when you are out shopping you won’t have your coupons with you, so you may miss a few good deals sometimes.

Coupon Box/Organizer

The third method would be a coupon box/organizer. This can be a small plastic container, a basket, an accordion coupon folder, a coupon box or even a fabric homemade one. Dividers are usually made of heavy cardstock and labeled by category.

The nice thing about using this form of organization is that these items tend to be smaller in size and some very easily fit in your purse or bag, making them easy to take with you wherever you go.

Using this method though you will still need to cut and sort all your coupons into categories. Since these organizers are smaller they can quickly become very full with coupons. And should they get dropped or spilled you may find you have a mess of coupons everywhere.

I would love to hear what methods you have tried for coupon organizing and which one you found works the best for you.

Next week I’ll show you which coupon organization method I use and also a look at what I take along to the store on a shopping trip.

Does it seem you are spending more money than you would like on purchases at the grocery store. Would you like to pay less for your health and beauty items? Then you have come to the right place. I will show you how to save money on groceries and household items with just a little planning and preparation so you can easily shave 50% or more off your weekly purchases.

How to Get Coupons

Let’s start out with the basic item you will need to save money – coupons! There are two main places to get coupons, from the Sunday paper and printable internet coupons.

The first way to start saving money is to subscribe to your local Sunday paper or if you have family and friends who already subscribe and don’t use their coupons, you could see if they would save the inserts for you. If you are a new subscriber to the paper find out if they are running any specials at the time or if they offer any kind of discount to new subscribers.

A few months ago I decided to find out how much money I save using coupons out of the newspaper inserts. Guess what I found out? You can pay or very nearly pay off an entire years Sunday subscription in 1 month! For the one month I kept track of every coupon I cut and used at the end of the month I added them up and discovered I used a whopping $99 worth of insert coupons. This number could vary from month to month but it definitely shows that a newspaper subscription is well worth its money.

How Many Newspapers Should I Buy?

In the Sunday paper you will find 1 – 3 inserts per week. The insert names are Red Plum, Smart Source and Procter & Gamble. Each week I list a Sunday Coupon Preview where you can find which inserts you can expect in that weekends paper. Coupons and their values tend to vary from region to region but the preview gives you a general idea of the included coupons.

A general rule of thumb is to buy 1 paper per household member. Personally I recommend starting out with buying 2 papers. The reason I suggest 2 papers is, my favorite kind of deals are Buy 1 Get 1 FREE and at my local grocery stores on these kind of deals I can use 2 $1 off 1 item coupons, thus making for greater savings than if I would only have 1 coupon.

Printable coupons found on the internet are also another source that will help you greatly reduce the total at the bottom of your receipt. My favorite sites for printable coupons are, Coupons.com, Red Plum, and Coupon Network.

When you print coupons here is a money saving tip. Print in black only, if you use color you will be be spending a lot of money on ink. Also check your printer settings and print in draft or a similar lower setting print. I print all my coupons this way and never have a problem with them scanning.

Next week I’ll show you how I organize my coupons and more.