Each week I will be addressing some questions that I get from my readers in the hopes of helping a lot of you with your couponing and money saving struggles.   I’m always here to answer questions and I’ll help in any way that I can!

How do you manage your coupons? I can get them clipped and organized, but have trouble dealing with expired ones or making sure I use soon-to-be-expired ones. I need a system to purge . . .

I will start off by saying that I do not use every single coupon that I clip and I have let some good coupons expire before using them.  It happens to us all and you have to allow it to happen and not beat yourself up over it, even if it means you have to (YIKES!) pay full price for something.

How do I try to avoid this?  I will share with you a few ways you can try to avoid missing out on using a coupon before it expires.  I have a section in my coupon sorter for coupons that are “Expiring This Month” – if you don’t have one, make one because it can be extremely helpful!   But getting them in there can be a challenge but hopefully these tips will help you.

I try my best to clip my coupons every week and sort them at the same time.  I accomplish this about 3 times out of 4 so that’s not too bad.  When you sort your coupons and/or when you are looking for coupons, take a quick peek at what you have and if anything is expiring soon pull it.  If you can use it that week then go for it, if not put it in the “Expiring This Month” section.

At the beginning of each month, while watching TV or chatting on the phone, you can go through the entire binder and pull all those that are expiring that month and put them in that section right away.  Then each time you look for coupons, check that section to see if you can use any of those coupons first.

Since a lot of coupons expire towards the end of the month, the last week of the month is a good time to pull everything that is expiring and see if you can use it that week.

It can be hard to keep up, find a system that works for you and stick to it.  But also don’t drive yourself crazy if you miss one.  That coupon will likely come back around again and you can save money next time.

Do you have any other tips for staying on top of your expired coupons?

Have a question about using coupons or saving money? Email Me and your question may be answered right here on the blog. Check here for all questions answered in this series.