One of the most important things to do when beginning Extreme Couponing is organizing your coupons. If you don’t know where to find a coupon you have (due to a stash full of unorganized coupons) then you are not able to reach your full saving potential. Below I am going to show you different organizations methods that work.

Method One: Organize Inserts by Date
This method has been the method I have used for years. I prefer it as it requires the least of my on my Sundays.

How to Start:
1.) Pull your inserts from the Sunday Paper and write the date on the front.
2.) Hole-punch the left margin of the coupon (In all my years, have not had problem with this messing up barcodes to scan.)
3.) Place your inserts in a large binder with oldest in the back and newest in the front (arranged by date.)

Pros:
1.) This makes finding a certain date’s coupon VERY easy to locate.
2.) All your inserts are in one place.
3.) Doesn’t require much time to organize each week.
4.) Easy to get rid of expired coupons. Clean your binder starting in the back.
5.) You have every coupon that came out in the Sunday paper – no coupons went to waste. So even if there is a coupon for a product you don’t buy, you might find the product cheap/free and you can donate the item.

Cons:
1.) Bulky
2.) When searching for a particular coupon (toothpaste), it is not easy to locate. I could be anywhere in your binder.
3.) There is a lot of “extra” advertisement paper (coupons only take up so much room on each insert.)
4.) Doesn’t leave room for loose coupons – another method is necessary to attach to this style of organizing.

Examples:
• See My Example HERE.

Method Two: Organize Coupons by Type
This method is the most common for couponers. Most coupon “pros” (if we can call them that) arrange their coupons this way.

How to Start:
1.) Pull your inserts from the Sunday paper and cut. (Note: If you have multiple copies of the same type, lay individual, like pages on top of each other and cut coupons from multiple inserts at the same time.
2.) Once your coupons are cut, organize them by type. You can arrange by type using photo sheets or baseball card inserts.
3.) Place photo/baseball card inserts into a large binder. You can add as well a zipper pouch for scissors, pens, paperclips, etc.

Pros:
1.) Organization at its best. If done right, this system is very orderly and neat.
2.) Easy to navigate for type of coupon. When you are in the store you can easily go to your health section for a toothpaste coupon.
3.) Easier to see when a coupon is about to expired.
4.) All your coupons are in one place.
5.) All the “extra” paper in the Sunday inserts are recycled or throw away. You do not have an abundance of extra weight due to unneeded paper.

Cons:
1.) Time – you do need to find time to cut and organize coupons each week.
2.) Bulky.
3.) Hard to find a coupon by date. If you need to go to the 1/3 SS insert, you don’t know which coupon came from where.
4.) You must search page by page for expired coupons when cleaning out your binder.
5.) When cutting coupons, you are most likely throwing away coupons you don’t use/need. If there is a sale where that coupon makes something free or cheap, you don’t have that coupon to donate that product to others.

Examples:
• See or buy binder example HERE - She actually sells them as well so you don’t have to make your own.

Method Three: The File System
The title basically says it all. Acquire a file cabinet for all your coupons.

How to Start:
1.) Acquire a file cabinet or cube crate that can hold handing file folders
2.) Take your inserts and arrange by date. Each handing folder will house a different date’s coupons.

Pros:
1.) Clean and Neat.
2.) Requries the least amount of time.
3.) This makes finding a certain date’s coupon VERY easy to locate.
4.) All your inserts are in one place.
5.) Easy to get rid of expired coupons. Clean your files starting with the oldest date
6.) You have every coupon that came out in the Sunday paper – no coupons went to waste. So even if there is a coupon for a product you don’t buy, you might find the product cheap/free and you can donate the item.

Cons:
1.) Bulky – the most bulky method.
2.) Not really portable. You will not walk into the store with this method in your hand/cart.
3.) When searching for a particular coupon (toothpaste), it is not easy to locate. I could be anywhere in your file system.
4.) There is a lot of “extra” advertisement paper (coupons only take up so much room on each insert.)
5.) Doesn’t leave room for loose coupons – another method is necessary to attach to this style of organizing.

Examples:
• Please share if you have/see an example to where I can link.

Additional Methods
When couponing, you will most likely want to mix in other organizational methods. Of the above methods, method 1 and 3 don’t allow you to do it all in one place. You might be able to do it all with method 2.

Accordion File
For loose coupons, it is nice to have an accordion file. You can arrange this by type of coupon. You organization can be as specific ad dairy or as broad as grocery. Other tabs include health and beauty, baby, cleaning, household goods, etc. The accordion file is VERY easy to carry in the store. It can be as small as an envelope size or as large as a piece of paper (in width and height comparison- not depth.) This is a great place to organize peelies, catalinas, blinkies (store dispenser coupons), etc.

Envelopes
When shopping in a store, I plan my lists ahead of time. Like I have shared before, I do not walk in with my large coupon binder. Instead I carry in envelopes (and usually my accordion file mentioned above.) My envelopes are arranged by store name. For example, when I organize my CVS list I carry instead my envelopes coupons I need for THIS trip, Extra Care Bucks, My CVS Card, and rain checks. At the end of my CVS shopping, the envelope will be 95% empty from what I came in the store with.

Smaller Binder
My particular grocery store, Publix, often has a lot of additional coupon flyers/booklets. When I have extra booklets, I hole-punch the booklets and arrange them in a smaller binder. This I call my store coupon binder. If you desired, you could add some photo/baseball card inserts and place additional store coupons inside this binder as well. These would be coupons earned through rewards cards, food/baby clubs, etc. They usually are mailed, printed, or acquired in the store.

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When you begin Extreme Couponing, there will be a number of acronymns that you will see when going through weekly ads, reading posts, and trying to create your own list. It is important you refer back to these terms to maximize the most of your savings.

All of the acronyms I use for couponing are found on the center/right column of Frugal Coupon Living. Below, I have provided a more detailed explanation.

SS – Smart Source. SS is a coupon resource both online and in the Sunday paper.  The larger the city, the larger the SS Sunday insert and reverse rings true as well – the smaller the town, the smaller the insert size. Thus, Smart Source coupons can vary by regions.  Almost every Sunday, there is a SS insert in the newspaper. Visit Smart Source for printable coupons. Coupons found online are different from coupons found in the Sunday inserts.

RP – Red Plum. Much like SS, RP is a coupon resource both online and in the Sunday paper.   The larger the city, the larger the SS Sunday insert and reverse rings true as well – the smaller the town, the smaller the insert size.  Thus, RP coupons can vary by regions.  Almost every Sunday, there is a RP insert in the newspaper.  Visit Smart Source for printable coupons. Coupons found online are different from coupons found in the Sunday inserts.

P&G – Procter and Gamble.  Much likes the other inserts, P&G coupon resource is found in the Sunday paper.  P&G inserts tend to be consistent across the board. In other words the same coupons tend to be in every city/town.  Unlike the others, they come out once or twice a month.  Usually around front or end dates of the month. These coupons usually expire 30 to 60 days once published.

MFR – Manufacturer Coupon. A manufacturer coupon is coupon that is created by company or brand. It can be combined with a store coupon in most locations (grocery stores/pharmacies.)  Most MFR coupons have the most expensive item displayed as a picture on the coupon so it is important to read the fine print. Sometimes you can use a MFR coupon on a trial size item. When this is possible, it is best to do this because the savings is a much larger percent then if you were to buy they full size item. Ten bottle of trial size shampoo work just as well as one large bottle and can end up being FREE!

SC – Store Coupon. This is a coupon that can exclusively be used in the store in presents. For example if CVS puts out a coupon for Colgate, this can only be used in a CVS location.  This SC can be combined with an MFR on one item to produce a greater savings. Sometimes other stores will take SC coupons. For example, sometimes I can use a Winn-Dixie Grocery Coupon at my local Publix Grocery location. Check with your local stores to see if they accept store coupons from other locations.

CC – Competitor Coupon. A CC is a store coupon that can be used in another store. For example, I could take a Winn-Dixie coupon and use it at Publix. You can also create a combination of mixing and matching MFRs, SCs, and CCs for an even larger savings! Two places that regularly take competitor coupons are Publix and Home Depot.

B1G1/BOGO – Buy One, Get One. The name basically supplies the definition. When you buy one product, you get the next product for free. In some locations, B1G1 sales reduced items to 50% off so you can only buy one item in the B1G1 sale. I will make a note of this when this is the case. In most locations, for B1G1 sales, two products need to be in the purchase. I personally appreciate B1G1 sales because you can use two coupons. You are getting two products!

WYB – When You Buy. An example of when this phrase is used is get $1 off product x when you buy or wyb product y.

YMMV – Your Mileage May Vary. Your mileage may vary is a phrased to describe the situation where you have success at one store and not at another store. This is usually the case because clearance items, sales, or managers discretions may change per store. YMMV can be the case for two stores in the same city or for two stores on different sides of the country.

MIR – Mail in Rebate. A mail in rebate is a situation where you get back a percentage of the amount you spent on a product. A MIR usually requires a UPC (universal product code or bar code on the side of a box) , original cash register receipt, a form all mailed in a self stamped envelope.  During a MIR, you do need to pay for the product upfront but are refunded your money either in the form of a check or gift card.  Sometimes, MIRs provide you with a product instead of the refund of a check/gift card. In this case, you would know this before sending in the MIR. On average, MIRs take around 8 weeks for a full refund.

FAR – FREE After Rebate. This case is usually accompanied with a MIR. The item would be FREE after you submit a rebate for a refund of a check/gift card.

$1 SS 1/4 – $1 coupon in the Smart Source Inserts on January 4^th. I use this phrase when matching coupons to sales. If we were talking about Dove Deodorant, I would be directing you to cut the $1 Dove Coupon in the Smart Source Insert that came out January 4^th. If you keep your inserts intact, with the date on the front, this is easy to locate. You can keep them in a binder, in a file system, or cut them up and arrange the coupons by month or by type (health and beauty in this case.)

OOP – Out of Pocket. This is the money you are required to pay out of pocket. This money is usually amount you will pay before a rebate or “reward money” found in the form of Extra Care Bucks or Register Rewards (See CVS 101 and Walgreens 101 below.)

WFC – Weekly Flyer Coupon. This is a coupon found in a store weekly sales flyer. This coupon is required for the discount on the item. It is not a “clip free” coupon.

$1.50/2 – $1.50 off two items. In this example you get $1.50 of the price of two items. If I do not provide a back slash and number, then the discount is off one item. I provide the discount price followed by a slash and number to share with you when you have to buy more than one item for the coupon reduction.

ECBs – Extra Care Bucks. This is a money system found at CVS stores. It is like paper money that can be used on products in their store only. ECB sales are found weekly in their store flyer. Sometimes, CVS has items that are FREE after ECBS (much like the FAR system.) See more on shopping at CVS with ECBs below.

Wags – Walgreens. Acronym used for Walgreens.

RRs – Register Rewards. This is a money system found at Walgreens (Wags) stores. It is like paper money that can be used on products in their store only. RRs sales are found weekly in their store flyer. Sometimes, Wags has items that are FREE after RRs (much like the FAR system.) See more on shopping at Walgreens with RRs below.

Related Posts:

Eight Tips to Couponing HERE

CVS 101 HERE

Walgreens 101 HERE
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