One Way To Make a Coupon Organizer

I've used the same coupon organizer that I bought on line for several years.  It has now officially been declared "worn out".  But, I loved using that pocket style coupon organizer.  I was just about to order myself another one, but it didn't make sense to me to spend money if I could make something similar myself.

There were several of these small size 3 ring notebooks at my office that had previously contained insurance information and were going to be thrown away.  Its hard for me to throw away something that could be used, so I stuck 3 of them in one of my filing cabinet drawers.  They are 7 1/2 by 9 inches.  The spine is 1 1/2 inches wide.

I like that this notebook isn't full size and so it will fit in my purse.  I don't think I would like using a full size notebook in the store.  Too big and cumbersome!  This one is big enough, but I don't feel like people are thinking I'm a "crazy coupon lady".  I can decorate it by putting pictures or cards inside the plastic sleeve on the outside and along the spine.

I made some cardboard pockets similar to the ones in my old coupon organizer.  I loved being able to label them any way I wanted to.  On my old one, I had marked out and renamed some of the categories.  It has pockets in the front and the back that work great for holding my grocery lists, coupons to be used or receipts.

Here's how I made the pockets.  I had a package of plain file folders at home that I used for most of the pockets, but you could use any light weight cardboard.  Some of my pockets are smaller than others.

Open the file folder or other cardboard and then fold the bottom half up to the size you want your pockets to be.

 

Then fold it back in half. Cut the edge off so that its the size you want. Then just tape the side together, punch holes and insert in the notebook.

 

If you don't have a notebook, I am sure there are other ways to secure the pockets together.

However, the point is to have a nice organizer without spending any or much money.  Look around to see what you already have on hand.  I think you could make a pretty cardboard cover and use ribbon in the punched holes to hold it together.  If you put on your creative thinking cap, I'm sure you could make one even better than mine!