How to organize your coupons

For a while now I've been clipping every coupon out of the coupon inserts and filing the ones for products I use and putting the rest in a baggie to share with friends.  I'm rethinking that process as it's taking me way too much time.  Now that I'm working part time, my set up time is limited.  I'm going back to clipping the ones for products I use regularly, writing the date of the insert on the front page in black marker and saving them in a folder or box.  This way if I see a deal mentioned on one of the forums I read and they have the insert name and date I can find it easily.

The way you keep your coupons is really a matter of personal preference and affordability.  I used to have a big file book, kind of like a check keeper but notebook size.  That turned out to be too big for me and it didn't have enough dividers for all my categories; I ended up having 20 labeled envelopes in there as well and it became a huge mess.

I've gone back to using the smaller check holders.  I decided to use two of them, one for food and one for everything else.  I have found I'm able to find food coupons better when I organized them by brand name since those items are usually found together.  The non food are organized by categories.  Hair, Face/Body, Teeth, Laundry, Paper good/storage..... this new system has been working nicely.

Before shopping I go over the circulars and make a list for each store and clip the circular and coupons and shopping list I intend to use there all together.  I do take my coupon holders in case I see an item that I have a coupon for at a good price.

My shopping list will have the store name on top and I list each item to buy, quantity, price, how many coupons & the value of each coupon and any store bonuses I should receive at checkout.  So for the most part I know how much I should be spending before I even get to the store.  This is a great way to budget as well.