This may sound silly, but when you’re couponing you need to set a budget. Maybe you’re very meticulous about things like that, but I will admit, I am not. I have a “budget” but I didn’t adhere to it so much that when it ran out I stopped. I’d just look back and say okay this much we spent “x” amount of dollars so lets budget for that next month, etc. When I began couponing at first I spent MORE money.
Let me say that again. When I began couponing at first I spent MORE money. Sound wrong? Well, let me explain. Remember in the first week of my couponing posts I said I am trying to live by the motto - “Don’t shop for what you NEED shop for what you DON’T need?” When you start out this is difficult b/c you don’t have a stock pile to pull from so you have a lot of need items on your list. So you buy what you need and you stock up on what is on sale. Which caused me to spent more.
This didn’t last forever and I was quickly able to shop more for what was on sale + couponing and my needs list grew smaller and smaller. On an average week I’d say my needs list costs me around $40 and I then have the remainder of my budget to coupon/stock up with (and if I can coupon shop on a need for that week it is even better).
My first budget for myself was $100 a week. I know some of you out there are already very savvy grocery shoppers and spend far less than I was a month to feed your family. I was spending approximately $700 a month pre-couponing. This is for every need based thing in my home, food, diapers, etc. So pulling it back to $100 a week for all that saved me a significant amount of money. As of last week I pulled it back to $75 a week which cuts another $100 off my monthly budget, making it $300 a month which to me is fabulous.
But it can be difficult to stay in budget. Not b/c its impossible but b/c some weeks there are so many deals you want to get them all. But if you start your planning with a number to end at in mind you will do your smartest shopping within your budget. You don’t have to stock up on EVERY deal. (And at the beginning I totally felt that way.) Be selective. Is this really a GREAT deal or just a good one? Do I need these right now or am I stocked up enough that I can wait on the next sale? Is this something I normally buy or is it a luxury I’m only buying b/c of the sale price? Buying those things on a great sale is awesome, but if its causing you to spend money you otherwise wouldn’t it isn’t such a great idea.
If you’re getting it for free? Well, then just go for it, it doesn’t hurt your budget at all…and getting something free is always exhilarating. I remember one week I had a total come down from $50 to less than $2 b/c I was getting the items all for free and only paying tax. Seriously my heart was pounding watching that total drop lower and lower and lower. It was so much fun.
One other thing that I find is hard on the budget at times are the Walgreens and CVS deals where you get rewards bucks back to use in their store the next week. While getting the dollars is fun and often causes you to get an item "for free” you have to remember to include in your budget the out of pocket cost you must put forward before getting the rewards bucks. For example, there are free razors all the time but often you have to give them 4 or 5 dollars and they’ll return that same amount back to you in store bucks. Essentially free, but you must plan to spend the $4 or 5. I’ve stopped getting some of those deals at times for a few reasons. But if you want pay that $4 or 5 with rewards bucks from the previous weeks then you’re basically exchanging bucks for more bucks…which is good b/c the bucks do expire.
Alright, kind of a jumbled post, but the moral is: Set a budget and stick within those limits, it will further your savings and keep you from buying unneeded items.
No comments:
Post a Comment