Tip Tuesday- organize your coupons

A different way to store coupons is with a photo album book that holds about 120 4x6 pictures.  I also use post-its and note cards.  My main goal was to put something together with what I already had in my house. 





The front of my organizer has my name and phone number.  I also keep the address of the person to send expired coupons to on the back cover.  If a coupons expires, many military families can use them on base until 6 months after.  I keep them all in my book until it expires, some of the ones I didn't think would get used, actually did- so I was glad I didn't put those aside before then.







I have a post-it note as the tabs-- every 3 pages (front and back).  Anything expiring this month goes on the front page.  Anything after that goes to the back pages in that section by month of expiration.
Categories:
Meat, Dairy
Sauces, Dressings, Condiments, Jellies
Canned goods, Soups
Pasta, Rice, Seasonings, Crackers
Beverages
Flour, Baking, Oil
Cereal, Breakfast
Frozen food, Bread
Local
Desserts, Snacks
Baby
Personal Care (hygiene), Medicine
Cleaning, Household supplies
Pet
Toys, Sports


You won't have the same categories as this, but I based it off of another person's ideas and worked it to fit us.

From the back page, I have my menu for the week (note card) and then write up the stores on tabs.  In that pocket, I put the coupons that are for that week's sale.  Behind that pocket, I put the store-only coupons to hang onto for another time.  Our local stores have been giving coupons for certain products that we have just bought to use another time.  I save those for a good sale that usually comes up before they expire.  I've even used the coupon the next trip while on sale and gotten ANOTHER of the same one!

Stores are listed by how often I go there.
Foodland, Safeway, Walmart, Tamuras, Costco, Times, Longs, Walgreen's, Target.
Some of these stores don't have store-only coupons so they don't take up more than one of the pages. 

I put my shopping list on a post-it and stick it to the front sheet for that store.  On my list I write "**" next to the item if they have the BPOI (Best Price on Island) that week and I have to get it there.  Also, I write "(c)" if there is a coupon I need to use.  Stack as many coupons as you can when there's a sale on an item!

Behind the stores, I have restaurants- these aren't listed because it varies so much, but it's nice to have a quick glance of where I can eat and save a little at the same time.