Do you buy or have a subscription to the Sunday paper only to clip out the coupon section?  Or do you spend your break time at work scanning over new coupons on the internet at CouponWinner.com?  Maybe you just have an email account simply for your shopping memberships and you live for their special shopper value days.  The only problem is after you’ve done all that clipping, and scanning and surfing when you look at your coupons you have missed dates and they are now expired.  Or many times you have misplaced the coupons in a different purse when you stop at the grocery store.  Not to mention when you get to the store you have so man coupons for things you don’t even need that it is more overwhelming to even try to find the ones you need.  Well if this fits you then read on.  There are a few organizations skills that are needed to be coupon savvy.  Most of the time to achieve total coupon satisfaction vs. coupon craze is just to be organized.

Like just about everything else there is an art to shopping.  And there is truly an intricate study of being a savvy shopper.  In order to do this you must be able to take advantage of all the coupons that you have for your best discounts so in turn you can continue to buy more, but pay less.  This is a beautiful thing, one we are all trying to achieve.  Like anything else, we must first determine that we are going to become a savvy shopper with coupons. This takes dedication and perseverance.  After all, it is a discipline.    Once you have committed to it then you must commit to a time that you will grocery shop and do all your other shopping.  It is best to keep them separate.  Once you have determined those time, then you must decide which time you will devote to clipping your coupons which must be of course before your shopping times.  It will not be smart to do these things on the same date as you need time to organize your coupons for your best savings.

The number one rule in clipping coupons is to not clip everything.  Never clip coupons thinking you might try something one day, or that you’re clipping it for someone else as you usually never get the product, nor do you give the coupon to the friend.  They just add to clutter and disorganization of your coupons and keep you from getting most discounts.  Only cut and save the coupons that are a part of your regular shopping routine.  The next step is to purchase a coupon case.  Do not attempt to use the pockets of your purse or a regular envelope as you are trying to achieve coupon organization and stay away from the coupon craze.  When purchasing your coupon holder you need to make sure that you get two.  Make sure they look totally different as one should be for groceries and the other for your clothing and big ticket item purchases.  The holders should have several dividers that you can label so that shopping and saving will work hand in hand.  Use the simplest labels that will not put too many items in one divider.  For instance, you can label using dairy as all of these items will be in the same place, but do not label as cold items.
Moving on to the biggest part of the problem which is beating the date expirations on coupons. Make a shopping calendar just as you would do your chores for yourself and your kids.  Stick coupons on the calendar by the dates that they expire.  Make sure you can clearly see each item and each date.  As you make your shopping list on your special day of the week, transfer those off your shopping list only to the coupon holder.  Do not automatically put items in the coupon holder as it will quickly fill up.  Only make a shopping list of needed items and utilizing expiration dates, transfer the coupons into the coupon holder.  Pretty soon you will be the most organized coupon shopper and have the deep discounts on each receipt to prove your shopping savvies.