Monday, August 8, 2011

Coupon binder how to

A friend of mine knows that I coupon.  She asked me about a binder that she found online.  I told her that while I liked it, I couldn't justify the price of it when it was really just a fancied up version of what I already do.  This post is for her with more details of my binder.  This post is also for anyone reading who wonders why I carry around a 3 ring binder at the grocery store. haha

So I started with a basic 97 cent 3 ring binder from walmart.  It lasted me probably 2yrs maybe 3 before I had to replace it from wear.



Then I added a zipper pouch meant for pencils.  I believe I got this on clearance at walmart for 1.00 and they often go on sale in the back to school sales so be watching!



Then I added these 9 slot page protectors meant for baseball cards.  I found these on amazon for just under 6.00 for a 25pack.  One 25 pack will be plenty (at least in my experience).  So that brings the total cost to just under 10.00.



Then I sorted my coupons into a few general categories to make it slightly easier to find the coupon I'm looking for.  I went with Frozen foods, aisle foods, and cold foods.  I separate non-food coupons into the pink pencil pouch at the front.  I don't use those coupons as often and just finger through them when I think I should have one for a specific something.  I use my food coupons MUCH more regularly and so they are worth the time that it takes to put them in the separate slots.


The front and back of the binder each have a little pocket in them and I keep things like my shopping list and coupons that are expiring on or just after my next shopping trip, or whole inserts I haven't bothered to clip yet.



I often tuck my spiral notebook in the front with my meal plan and lists on it (not in a pocket, just kinda laying in there).  I am considering adding another pencil pouch for my scissors and a small calculator.  I also like the idea of adding a couple of regular sheet protectors to keep my sale ads in.  So I will probably do that as well.  I hope this is helpful to someone out there.

3 comments:

  1. this is great! quick question, the coupons you file in the pockets are individual coupons so you can see what you have or are there more than one in each slot/pocket?

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  2. Well I buy two or three papers each week so I usually have multiples of the same coupons so there are usually 2 coupons in each slot but they are the same coupon. Does that make sense? Say I have a coupon for mini wheats 1.00/2 and I have one for 1.00/3 - I would put those in separate spots so I can see that they are different coupons. Hope that helps.

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