Almost everyone uses coupons nowadays, whether in-store or online. The problem is that these promotional periods are typically very short-lived (usually no more than a week max), making it difficult for consumers to save and organize the coupons they have collected.
This can result in a coupon folder filled with useless, expired codes that don’t work, and if you don’t proactively purge your folder every day, you can have a disorganized and relatively useless collection.
To help you make the most of your coupons and ensure you stay organized, we will walk you through four easy ways to keep your coupons organized.
From paper coupons to digital solutions, we have made sure to provide an option for every type of coupon collector!
One of the best ways to keep your coupons organized is by using a coupon binder.
Whether you choose to buy a purpose-specific coupon binder or if you DIY one yourself, this is one of our favorite ways to keep track of all our coupons and ensure that none go to waste.
However, simply throwing all your coupons in a binder won’t be enough to keep them properly organized, and you will need to put some thought and effort into how you go about the organization.
The best method we have found so far is to organize your coupons based on store or category. Using a binder divider to separate each new section allows you to easily flip through the folder and find the coupon you’re looking for.
Personally, we organize our binders based on category, as we shop at 10+ stores for different items (for example, our groceries don’t come from just one store.)
For example, we use categories such as clothing, tech/gadgets, auto, furniture, and misc to organize our coupons.
Another fantastic method to keep your coupons organized is by keeping a calendar of all the coupons in your inventory based on their expiry date.
Coupons are only useful if they are in date and usable, and more often than not, people forget to use them before their time runs out. This is especially true if you are someone who has dozens, if not hundreds of coupons at any one time.
We suggest creating a calendar that is solely dedicated to tracking when coupons expire.
For every coupon you click on or save, immediately log its expiry date in your calendar and set an alert to let you know when it expires.
This lets you keep on top of your coupons and automatically reminds you when you need to use them. Without this method, you may find your coupon collection becoming very disorganized and being filled with mostly expired coupons.
While we might live in the digital age, not everyone subscribes to online shopping.
In-person shopping is still extremely popular, as there is very little that can replicate and reproduce the experience of going to a store.
If you prefer to shop in person, then we have a great hack to help you keep your coupons organized.
Chances are, you travel to the store in your car, so why not keep your coupons there so you never forget them? There is nothing worse than getting to the checkout and realizing you left your coupons at home, so by bringing them with you on every car journey, you’ll never be caught out again.
We recommend purchasing a small accordion folder and attaching labels to it to help you categorize your coupons.
From there, you can simply pop the folder in your glove compartment and be sure that you will always have your coupons with you when out shopping!
If paper coupons aren’t your thing, and you prefer to organize your life using technology, you might benefit from using a digital coupon service.
Instead of sifting through catalogs and emails to try and find coupons every day, digital coupon services automatically search the internet each day and provide the best and most up-to-date coupon codes on their website.
For example, CouponFollow tests thousands of coupons every single day to figure out which ones are legitimate and then publishes them on its website.
Using a digital coupon service could not be easier. CouponFollow has a handy Chrome extension called Cently that automatically applies the best coupon available when you are at the checkout of an online store.
This means that even if you haven’t personally found a coupon. Cently will still check and apply one if there is a discount available. Plus, the program is connected to over 5,000 retailers and currently possesses 200,000 coupons within its database.
You can be confident that you are truly getting the best deal possible and save yourself hundreds of dollars by simply using a digital coupon service.