Saturday, January 2, 2010

Spending/Saving Saturday

Each Saturday I will financially recap my weekly shopping trips that have influenced the grocery and household spending for my family.

Previously, I had kept tabs on our spending using mental math and guesstimating (yikes) and then I'd sit down at the end of the month and tally all of my receipts. This year my weekly approach will hopefully keep me up to date, encouraged to keep spending more coupons than cash, and maybe I'll even stumble upon more *new* and *creative* ways to save!

January 1-2
1/1- CVS
Spent: $0 (spend ECB's, a coupon and GC)
Saved: $13.41

1/2- Gordon Food Service
Spent: $7.98
Saved: (much less expensive vs. the grocery store prices)

Total
Spent: $7.98
Saved: $13.41

10 comments:

Anonymous

So far this year I have:
Spent:113.64
Saved: 111.78
I have stockpiled pads/tampons/bar soap/dishsoap for probably 5 months
I have stocked my freezer with precooked meat and broth and for the first time in years planned and prepped for all my weekly meals. And I am a full time working mom.
All this and I have only seen your blog for two weeks. I feel accomplished!
Thanks
Faithful Indiana Follower

Laura Webber

YAY for YOU Miss Indiana! Keep up the GREAT work!

Leesa

I'd like to ask your opinion.... tonight I went to Meijer with my husband and both of my sons. I got quite a few things and wasn't paying attention when the cashier was scanning my coupons since I was trying to deal with my boys. Yes, that was my first and second mistakes. Well, when I got home I noticed that she didn't take a few of them off. One was for a free bag of pita chips. The $3.49 wasn't taken off and there were a couple of other ones not taken off either. My guess is that it was at least $6.50 of coupons weren't off. I'm not sure what I should have done about this or what I should do in the future if this ever happens again. Opinions? Ideas?

The team

I love the new Year-To-Date feature!!!!

Laura Webber

Hi Leesa,
Personally, I'd call the store and speak with a manager- explain your situation (a calm voice really helps!) and ask if you can visit the service desk for a refund on your coupons. You should be able to!

Bummer!

Leesa

Thank you for your advice, Laura! I will give them a call later today. :-) Either way, I'm going to be way more careful from now on when my coupons are being scanned. On one hand its only $6.50, but on the other had its $6.50 of MY hard earned money! The funniest part is that my husband has been picking on me for buying a bag of pita chips for $3.50. I would NEVER spend that much on a bag of pita chips. haha

Katie

Do you include tax in your totals? I never know what to do. Even when an item is FREE, technically I paid 6 cents!

Laura Webber

I include the tax in my total's spent, but I count an item as FREE when it is FREE before taxes.

In my CVS spending (1/1) I didn't have to pay the tax since I put the remainder of my total on a gift card that I had earned from transferring a prescription.

Unknown

I have had the same situation with Leesa at Meijers...before I checkout I count the coupons I have. I like to think that helps me. And then before I leave the store I look at my receipt and count my coupon savings. It is hard to always pay attention, because you are loading your groceries and/or looking after the children. Hope this helps.

Laura Webber

lisa.jane,
I do the same thing... I add up how much my coupons should total and make sure that that amount is deducted from the total prior to my coupons being scanned. This is much easier to keep track of at the U-scan machines!