My Coupon Conundrum

Okay, before you read this post and think-wow! Melissa is pretty gosh darn smart! What a great idea! And so on...you must know...

This revolutionary coupon organization system was entirely NOT my idea!

I actually got the idea from one of my absolute favorite blogs, Young House Love.

If you haven't checked out this amazing blog, you absolutely must! I have gotten so many fantastic DIY ideas from Sherry and John, and I can't wait to use some of their baby ideas when a baby Tackett is on the way! (Not for quite some time though).

I am horrible about my coupons. I usually shove them into my purse, where they disappear among my makeup, pens, miscellaneous school items, etc. When I read Sherry's post about how she decided to tackle her coupon clutter, it inspired me to try out her technique. Here's what she does (and what I did):

I bought a notebook/expand-a-file at Target for a mere $5.99. It's actually the same one Sherry uses in her post!

Then, I labeled each of the file tabs with the following captions:

• Food
• Clothing/Crafts
• Sevices
• Target Grocery
• Target

I also used the front pocket (the one without a tab) for Bed Bath and Beyond Coupons.

Then, it was time to start organizing! I was amazed at how many misfit coupons were hiding in the bottom of my purse!

Last, I wrote my captions for each tab on the top of one of the sheets of the little notebook that is nestled inside. I then wrote out, in pen, each of the coupons that are currently residing in that said tab. I wrote the amount, the date they expire, and even the quantity for each coupon.

The idea is that you never can keep track of how many coupons you have and what they are for. Now, I can take this little notebook with me wherever I go and open it up to see that list of coupons. As I use the coupon, I scratch it out on the paper! AMAZING idea right? So far it has been fantastic, and I am MUCH better at keeping track of what coupons I have. Plus, it makes it easy to organize, especially when you go to stores like Target that print out coupons for you at the register.