How do I store my coupons?

You'd think that someone who calls herself "Recessionista" would have a pretty fancy way of keeping coupons organized, right? Well you are so wrong! I have dreamed about owning one of those fancy accordion-style contraptions that has multiple sections for each coupon category (food, cosmetics, etc) but the truth is, I'm pretty low-tech when it comes to how I keep my coupons.

A while back, I found a really cute little makeup bag at my local Japanese dollar store. I initially purchased it to hold my feminine products (it's the perfect size for those types of things) because, well, I'll come clean and tell you I'm really lame when it comes to keeping feminine products in my purse. I can't count how many tampons I've wasted because I was in a hurry, threw a few in my purse, only to dig them out a few months later with wrappers tattered or totally destroyed. So anyway, I bought this bag thinking I was going to use it to keep my feminine products nice and pristine, however the bag had other ideas and eventually became my coupon holder:

If you've never been to a Japanese dollar store, a lot of the items have cute sayings printed on them. Sometimes the sentiment gets lost in translation, but this one makes perfect sense. It always makes me smile when I see it:

Let's have a happy time every day.

Wanna see inside?

So the challenge with this bag was that, after a while, all of my coupons would get mixed together and I'd find myself having to go through every single coupon to find the one I was looking for. Luckily, Mr. R came up with a great DIY idea. I used an old file folder and it cut it down into strips that fit inside the bag. The paper used to make file folders is sturdy enough to use as separators, but it's not so thick that it adds a lot of extra bulk to the bag. To jazz it up a bit, I covered each strip of file folder with some leftover vinyl cabinet liner paper (pink gingham design) and presto! Coupon separators!

Now I've got sections for cosmetics, bath and body products, food and household items. Yay!

It is SO much easier to find exactly what I'm looking for now that I've got these little separators to keep everything neat and tidy.

I also am trying to make it a habit to go through my coupon bag every Sunday and toss out all my expired coupons, and also pull the coupons that are about to expire and move them to the front of the bag just to remind myself that I either need to find a way to use them, or toss them to make room for new ones.

I hope this post has inspired you to create your own coupon organizing system. It literally can cost pennies to do this, and the rewards are tenfold. If you use a bag that fits easily into your purse, you'll never be without your coupons again!

If you've already got your own system, I would LOVE to hear all about it. Please leave a comment on this post and let us know how you work your coupon magic!