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Organizing Coupons to Save Money

image By Professional Organizer Lea Schneider

I know. You really meant to use those coupons. Now they are expired. As an organizer, I find expired coupons in this drawer and that.

It costs you time to clip coupons. That time is wasted unless you have an organized system for using your coupons.

Decide if you are really saving enough money from coupons to make it worth your while. Make an either get-in big or get-out decision.

Only clip out coupons you know you are going to use. Clipping every coupon just because it is a coupon costs you a lot of time. You have to clip them, sort them, organize them and go through them over and over. Don't add to the mess. If you don't use them, don't clip them.

Choose one home for your coupons. No more sticking them in this drawer, that drawer, in your purse and on the fridge with a magnet. One home only!

Create a file for your coupons. You may wish to buy a coupon wallet, available at the grocery store or dollar type store for very little money.

You can use a file box. Create dividers with cardboard or file folders.

Set up your dividers by category, such as frozen foods, breakfast, cleaning supplies and so on. This will help you find coupons as you need them.

Place new coupons in the back of each file. This way, soon-to-expire coupons will be pushed to the front.

Buy the newspaper or look online. You'll want to note what products are on sale and then use the coupon for that product to maximize savings.

Be open to buying the Wednesday and Sunday paper in order to get coupons. The same goes with magazines.

Make your grocery list before pulling the coupons. Once you have a list, then pull the coupons you need. Remind yourself that you are using coupons ONLY to save money, not to sample new products. Always make sure that the coupon is the best deal. Perhaps a store brand or another on-sale brand is cheaper.

If you don't have a coupon, head to the computer. Use your search engine to look for coupons for products on your shopping list. You should be able to print some that you need for that shopping trip.