How do you get ready for a shopping trip?

I used to pick up my purse and walk out the door, not saving much money and always wondering why, eating cheaply, we never seemed to have any money in the house. 'Maybe I'll try couponing' I said to my husband a few years ago..it never really went anywhere.
With my 2 or 3 coupons I'd go out the door and those for those couple of items and then wonder why I didn't really see any difference in my bill. So, I gave up.

Then one day I was looking on Twitter and put in coupons for the fun of it. FUN?? OMG!! It was like I hit the jackpot. I found a few 'mom blogs' and it all changed. I started to look at all the cool deals they were finding and decided to try some.

Then 3 BIG things happened. #1 my local grocery store began accepting printed coupons. #2 I learned how to match ads and coupons instead of making mindless lists. #3 I discovered CVS.

I began saving money hand over fist (pun intended) and my hubby was constantly shocked. "Why didn't you start doing this before now?" he would ask me, but I just couldn't give him a good answer.

I started off with a big wallet type thing for my coupons, then went to an accordion folder. If hubby wanted to go to the store I would tell him to let me know with lots of time so I could get organized. It was a pain in the butt. Then I discovered it...the coupon binder!!

I bought a 3" binder (actually first bought a 2" binder but it was not big enough) and a bunch of baseball card sleeves. It took me 3 days to sort and categorize all my coupons but it was soooo worth it. Now I can just get up and walk out the door again 'on a dime' when hubby beckons. Yes, I have to make sure I keep everything together and I do still make lists of the sales I want to coupon match but this has made my life so much easier.

What do you do?