Coupons 101 - What to do with them? Ideas on how to organize your coupons.

Organizing and storing coupons is the hardest thing to get in the habit of. There are many ways to do it, all of which have their pros and cons.

Storing inserts whole.
This is the simplest and most time friendly way of storing coupons. Once you obtain your weekly inserts, you simply date the insert and then file whole thing away where you will be able to find it.
Pros - No clipping needed up front, so takes the least amount of upfront work! Not very much organization needed. No energy spent clipping coupons that won't be used.
Cons - You don't always have coupons with you when you find an item that is not on your list for a good deal. You have to spend time hunting down coupons once you make your list for shopping.


Envelope System
You clip the coupons you plan to use and organize them into categories that will make them easy to find when you are shopping.
Pros - Coupons are already clipped and ready to go when you make your shopping plan. You have a higher likelihood of having coupons with you for extra items
Cons - More time consuming upfront than storing the whole inserts unclipped. Usually don't have room for lots and lots of coupons.

Coupon Binder
Using this system is the most time consuming one up front. You have to clip any and all coupons you think you may use and file them in a binder. Most people use 3 ring binders with baseball card holders in them so that on each page you have 9 different places to put coupons.
Pros - Have coupons well organized and easy to find for planning shopping and during shopping.
Cons - Takes a lot of upkeep to keep coupons current - clipping, sorting, throwing away expired coupons that weren't used. You will clip coupons that you won't end up using, so a waste of energy to some people. Lugging a big binder around can be a pain.

That said, I use a coupon binder as my main coupon organization system. Let me know if you have questions.