The much requested COUPON BINDER! A how-to pictorial

First you start with a LARGE 3-ring binder. I was able to get about a dozen of these for 50-75¢ each at a thrift shoppe, brand new. Mine are from a business complete with logo, but that's ok. 50-75¢ sure beats 8 bucks at Wal-mart. Plus mine DOES have a front pocket, in case I want to make it a bit purtier.

Some people prefer a zippered binder. These are GREAT if you can afford the dough for a LARGE one. This one is especially great as it has a handle for carrying.


You'll also need some pocket pages. I prefer the 4-per-page pages. The pockets are a little bigger, which is GREAT for those LONG coupons (which stick out, so I fold them in half) and those WIDE coupons, and especially for holding more coupons than their miniature counterparts! Now others have had luck with other pages. They come in 1-pocket (also known as sheet protectors, which we'll be using as well- we'll get to that later), 2 pocket, 4-pocket, 5-pocket, 6-pocket, 8-pocket; 9-pocket. Anything with more than 9 pockets is going to be a royal patoot-pain and you DON'T want those! Some also use a combination of the above. A task I find too confusing and messy, therefore I stick to the 4-pocket pages for coupons.



After inserting a bunch of these into your binder, be sure to add a zippered pouch (not necessary if you have one of the zippered's, as they come with LOADS of pockets!). This is great for holding other necessities, such as pens/pencils, a small notebook (which I do not have in my binder, personally), extra shopper's cards (I have them all on my keychain, but in the event I have Hubby's keys one day, or I am out with someone else and don't take my keys, I have spares), a GOOD pair of scissors. I prefer Fiskars for my cutting marathons. This pockets is also great for those that don't carry a purse. You can toss your keys and cell in there as well, if need be.




You will want to type up an index. This will go by section, then by type of food. You can make this as detailed or as vague as you want, depending on the amount of coupons you have. I personally have something along the lines of (this is a screenshot of my Word Document):


And here is an actual photo of one side of the completed index IN my binder, and here is where we use a sheet protector:



You'll also need a way of labeling your pockets. I used masking tape, but you can also use things like address labels, plain white labels, etc. A permanent marker or computer and printer will word these labels.
After the coupon pocket pages, we also have pocket pages for things such as rebate forms, store specific coupons, RC's (rainchecks), etc. As with ANY couponing adventures, YMMV (your mileage may vary, meaning that what I get in my area- coupons, prices, policies- may be different than in your area).



Then last but not least, I have several letters sent snail as well as several emails that state store policies. This is in case of ignorant cashiers or cocky managers that refuse to accept a certain coupon, or that feel the need to make up their own rules as they go along (yes, sadly, this happens). These letters are also in sheet protectors, one page per side.

So now we have, in order of apeaarance in the binder:

* 4-pocket page. This is for the coupons I am using TODAY on THIS shopping trip. For instance, let's say this afternoon, I am hitting up Ingles for their 10/$10 pizza rolls (we'll get 6 of these since I have 2 printed from the internet & 4 from inserts), a bag of kitten food (I was able to acquire 1 coupon for a FREE bag of food) & 2 Kotex pantiliners which are on sale BOGOF at $1.38/deal or per 2 pkgs (I rec'd booklets for 75¢/1). Then I want to hit CVS up for 10 pkgs of carefree pantiliners. They are $1.49/pkg. I have 4 coupons for $1/2 and 2 that I printed from the internet for 50¢/1 PLUS I rec'd from a CVS homemailer, a coupon for $2/$10 purchase. Then I want to hit up Kroger for some meat and veggies. I have a few catalinas for various denominations off "my next purchase." Oh and we'll throw that winetag coupon in for $2 off ANY beef. What I do with my very first page is use each pocket for a different store. One pocket will hold the Ingles coupons- kotex, cat food 7 & pizza rolls coupons; another pocket hold the Kroger q's, and so on and so forth.

* Then we have our zippered pouch,

* our binder index,

* followed by our labeled pocket pages, full of coupons,

* then the ones for rebates

* then the store specific coupons

* And last, but not least, our letters of P&P (policy & procedure).

Please keep in mind, this is MY binder, and it is what works FOR ME. You may start with one like this, but maybe you prefer your P&P in the front. Maybe you don't need a page for TODAY's coupons and you prefer to use an accordian style folder instead. It's all up to you. I have given you a recipe, it's up to YOU to tweak it to suit your tastes.