[Nimbus254]

Originally Posted by risker Ugh. You guys are so good with using binders. I just can't bring myself to use them. (I embarrass easily.) I hate having my overstuffed accordion organizer out of my purse let alone bringing a binder in the store. As for the inserts at home, I put each week in a file folder and label it. I then put all file folders in a big file folder holder. Did that make sense??? I forgot what they're called. I actually just got finished going through and throwing out exp. so I can fit them all in. Lately I've had quite a few for each week. Well more than usual for me!

This is what I do as well. Before filing them, I enter all the coupons that I think I'll use on a spreadsheet, including the insert date, quantity, etc. It's easy to sort the spreadsheet alphabetically or by insert date, so I can instantly see which insert the coupon I want is in. (If a good deal comes up for an item I didn't think I'd buy and I didn't enter the coupon on my spreadsheet, then I just use the virtual coupon organizer on the Coupon Mom website to see which insert the coupon was in.)

I make my list up for each store beforehand, highlight the coupons on the spreadsheet that I'm taking with me, pull that week's insert out and cut out the coupons I need. I have a little envelope labeled for each store that I put the coupons in.

When I come home from the store, I go to my spreadsheet and adjust the quantities to reflect which coupons I have used. They are easy to find because I already highlighted them before I left.

The spreadsheet is also helpful because I can just copy and paste it to my Have List. And I can sort it by expiration date also and just delete the expired ones from the list.

I love this method! It may seem like a lot of work, but it requires much less time than cutting and organizing all those coupons! And I'd hate lugging around a big binder. I do have a little accordion-type organizer that holds coupons from back before I started this method, and I just stick my store envelopes with that, wrap a rubberband around them and toss them into my purse.

Edited to add: In addition to the weekly inserts folders, I also have a "Trades" folder and a "Rebates" folder. It's very convenient to have them all in one place.