Clipping

Make this a Sunday-night routine to do while watching TV: Collect a pile of newspapers and put two baskets next to you, one on each side. Go through the stack, cutting out all the coupons you’d use and setting them in one basket. If you see any good coupons for items you’d never buy — like dog food when you don’t own a dog — cut those out, too, and put them in the other basket.

Sorting

From medicines to breakfast, choose categories (broad or specific) that best suit your needs. For example, you could group all lunch items under “lunch,” or divide into “frozen foods,” “lunch meats” and so on.

Storing

Two easy, cheap methods are 1) a three-ring binder and 2) envelopes. If you choose the binder, put coupons in transparent sheet protectors or baseball card holders and separate categories using the binder’s dividers. If you go the envelope route, use spare return envelopes that come with magazine or charity mailings. Label with your categories, and store all envelopes in one accordion file. Put the coupons you don’t need in a shoebox labeled “swap.”

Maintaining

At the end of each month, go through your coupons and dump expired ones (or see our Q&S tip!). Every so often, invite friends over for a coupon trade. Take out the “swap” shoebox and exchange good deals. As for keeping your stash handy, the best place for your collection is the car, of course. That way, if you make an impromptu trip to the store when you’re already out and about, you’ll be prepared!