This is part three in a three part blog series on the most popular methods of organizing your coupons.

Part one can be found here: How to Organize Your Coupons: The Binder Method

Part two can be found here: How to Organize Your Coupons: The Whole Insert Method

The Coupon Box Method:

The coupon box method is in many ways like the coupon binder method in that you clip and file all of your coupons and categorize them in some sort of category system. The main difference is that instead of a binder of coupons that you can flip through the pages, the coupon box allows you to find you coupons much like you would find important papers in a file cabinet.

Who should use the coupon box method?

The coupon box method is good for those folks that get under 30 inserts per week. You can find a coupon box to fit your needs. If you get 30 inserts you would probably need a larger box for your coupons, however if you get less a smaller box would work. If you get more than 30 inserts every week clipping that many coupons and carrying them to the store may be hard to do as the box size needed might be too big.

Materials Needed For A Coupon Box System:

• A box to file your coupons in – There are many options out there for coupon boxes. I have seen coupon boxes made just for coupons as well as shoe boxes, diaper wipe containers, plastic boxes with lids and other boxes used. And while not actually a box per se I have seen couponers user a briefcase in much the same way as those that use a coupon box.
• File folders to separate the categories of coupons – You can find tabbed index card file tabs, cut down full size file folders or even use labeled envelopes to divide up your coupon categories.

Those are the basics; for the more organized folks you may want to use a label maker to print out nice and neat labels or you can just write out your labels by hand.

Cost to set up a coupon box:

The cost of the coupon box method system can vary greatly depending on the box you choose to use. You can use something that you already have in the house such as a regular shoe box or leftover baby wipe containers (recycling!) for which the cost would be basically free. Moving up on the cost scale you can pick up plastic Rubbermaid type shoe boxes for a dollar or two at most “Mart” stores. Then then are the “deluxe” coupon box systems that are either premade just for coupons or I have even seen some great coupon boxes made out of plastic organizers designed for scrapbooking. As far as dividers for your categories you should be able to pick up what you need for a few bucks. Overall the cost of a coupon box can be from a few dollars to around $40 depending on how much you want to spend.

Setting Up Your Coupon Box System:

Setting up a coupon box system is much like the process I outlined in setting up a coupon binder, so instead of typing it all out again I am going to just go ahead and throw in a link to that: http://www.hotcouponworld.com/2011/04/how-to-organize-your-coupons-the-coupon-binder-method/. Basically in a nutshell you are going to want to decide if you want common grocery categories or an alphabetical system and then create your dividers, clip your coupons, and file them in each appropriate section.

Coupon Box Method Insider Tips:

Here are my top 4 insider tips for using the coupon box method that you may want to try out.

1. Set up a category or two at the front of your coupon box to store you “hot” coupons. This is the place to any coupons that you want to make sure you use before they expire. You may also want to set up a category for each store that you shop at to store any store coupons and Catalina coupons that are good at each store.
2. Because you cannot easily see what coupons you have in your coupon box at a glance like you can with a coupon binder some people who use the coupon box method like to keep an excel spreadsheet to help them keep track of what coupons they have. However this can take some time to set up typing in all of the coupons. Instead you can use the Coupon Database here at HotCouponWorld to create a personalized “keep list” for all of the coupons that you have in your box. To set this up you must be a member of either the Trader in Training or Trader groups (Join here if you are not) and you can use the coupon database to create a “Keep List” which is like your own mini personal coupon database.
3. Stay on top of your coupon organization by pulling expired coupons from your box every week as well as clipping all of your new coupons and putting them away to avoid piles of coupons all over the place. Put a dedicated time on your calendar each week so that you get it done and don’t fall behind.
4. Be sure that whatever box you choose has a tight fitting lid on it. Nothing is worse than dropping your entire coupon box on the ground, in the rain, in the parking lot of the store! (Been there, done that!)

Pros and Cons – You decide!

Pictures of Coupon Box filing systems from the HotCouponWorld Community:

 

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