Tutorial: How to Make Your Own Coupon Organizer

I've had several girls ask me about my coupon organizer, and a few call me crazy for lugging it around the store. With the amount of savings, I don't mind it one bit. It fits perfectly in the baby seat of my cart, and makes my shopping experience easy! My husband will even take it with him when he goes to the store! No shame in saving money, even when our binder is pink! (:

Here's what you'll need:

• Large Five Star 3 ring binder, or 3 ring binder with zippers. I bought mine at Walmart, and it also comes with a zip pouch, and folders in the front! The pouch is perfect for holding the coupons you're going to use that shopping trip, and the folders are great for previous coupon ads.
• 60-80 baseball holder pages. Can be found at Hobby Lobby/Michaels, and sometimes at Walmart or Target. I know, it's a lot! But, I each category needs at least 2 pages.
• 25-30 tabbed divider pages. I like the Avery brand. They're durable, and I can print the tabs off on my computer!
• 3 holed zipper pouch, if binder doesn't come with one. 

First, print off your labels for your tabbed dividers. If you bought the Avery brand, it will come with step by step instructions to do so. Now you may be asking yourself, what do I put on the labels?! I suggest creating a label for each aisle in the grocery store. That way you have your book open to one section at at time, and aren't constantly flipping through your book looking for what you need. You can call your local grocery store and ask for a print out of what can be found in which aisle.
My labels are in order by category and aisle at my local commissary.
The labels I have in my book are as follows:
Condiments, Produce/Meat, Baking, Canned goods, Side dishes and Rice, Pasta, Snack foods/Candy, Breakfast, Beverages, Paper Products, Cleaning Supplies, Dish Washing, Laundry, Feminine Hygiene, Beauty Products, Oral Care, Medicine, Shaving & Deodorant, Soap/Shampoo, Petcare, Freezer Items, Refrigerated Items, Misc, and Restaurants.

Once you have your labels printed out, put them in your tabs and order them by aisle or however you want to order them. Put them in your 3 ring binder, then place at least 2 baseball card slips in each tabbed section. Make sure the openings in the baseball cards are facing towards you, and upwards. Otherwise, you're coupons will all fall out! 

If you bought a binder with additional folders, these are great for saving coupon ads. Especially if you only clip coupons that you'll know you'll use. ALWAYS, always, always save your old ads. You never know when you'll need a coupon for something, and If you follow coupon clipping blogs many refer back to old ads for amazing deals. I always write the date on the front of the ad, that way it's easy to refer back to. I sort my redplums in one folder, Smartsources in one, and P&G in another.

Now, start adding in your coupons! You'll be glad you made it! At first the binder may be big and annoying but once you see how much easier it really is, you'll fall in love.

Buying at least 2 papers every Sunday is a good idea. This way you optimize your savings! Internet coupons are your best friend! Many people don't realize that you don't have to print them in color. I always print them in black and white to save my ink! Also check grocery store websites for additional coupons. Target coupons are my absolute favorite! Target also has a mobile coupon app that you can use in addition to their internet coupons; some coupons are only available on the mobile app so it's worth it to get it!
If you've never read couponing blogs, I highly suggest you do. Many blogs/websites give you weekly deals, and tell you where you can get things for free using your coupons! It never hurts to check them daily. You'd be surprised at how many deals are only good for one day, and once the product is off the shelf it's gone for awhile!

Websites I use for couponing:

http://coupons.com/

http://smartsource.com/

http://www.redplum.com/

http://www.totallytarget.com/

http://mylitter.com/

http://iheartthemart.com/

http://coupondivas.com/

http://www.stockpilingmoms.com/

I hope this answered some questions, if you have questions on anything feel free to ask!