Binder vs Coupon Box

Have you ever had the feeling that you had a certain coupon, but you couldn't find it flipping through your coupon box in the store?  Do you think that if you break your coupon box into many categories it might be easier to find the coupons when you are looking for them?  I have been there, missed coupons, had coupons stick together, took forever to find.  When watching "Extreme Couponing" I noticed a common thing from show to show.  Everyone had coupon binders.  Hmm....interesting....I was hesitant about moving from a coupon box to a binder.  How would I organize it?  What would happen if I had a coupon that went before others already filed?  Was I going to be spending a lot in baseball card sheets? Was it going to be more work then it was worth?   Finally I gave in, found a binder that was on clearance for under a dollar and price compared baseball card sheets, and purchased packs of dividers to separate my sections.  Found the best deal for my money at Target for my sheets and dividers.
The hardest part was coming up with the categories.  I wasn't sure how I wanted to break my coupons into categories.  Here are the categories that I currently have in my binder:

• Baby
• Baking and Seasoning
• Beans
• Beverages
• Bread
• Candy
• Cereal
• Cleaning Supplies
• Dairy
• Dressing and Condiments
• Frozen
• Fruit
• Health and Beauty
• Meat 
• Nuts
• Paper Goods
• Pasta & Rice
• Peanut Butter and Jelly
• Pet Food
• Snacks
• Soups
• Stationary & Misc.
• Stop And Shop
• Target
• Other Stores and Resturants

I add categories or  split categories up as needed.  Sometimes I run across a coupon that might not fit in any of those categories.  In these cases I might keep it in the front pouch of my binder or pick it in a category that is similar to the coupon item.

Within these categories I have the coupons alphabetical.  Sometimes if I am adding a few coupons that go in the middle of a current page  I might stick a blank sheet before or after the page and shift the coupons over.

Since the coupons come in many different shapes and sizes there are often times I have to fold a coupon in halves or thirds before inserting into the coupon sleeve.

The sheets make it easier to go through and clean out the expired coupons, find a coupon, store multiple of the same coupon, and keep everything together.  Yes a binder is bigger to carry instead of a compact coupon box, but the time it cuts down on finding the coupon you are looking for is well worth it.  

Give it a try, see what you think.  If you need help setting yours up or we know each other and want to take a look at mine, contact me.  Once you have yours set up and are using it, let me know what you think of it...Do you like it?  Is it making things easier?  Are you going back to the old coupon box?