I have been doing coupons & rebates for about 11 months now. I laughed at my friends(shame faced honesty here) as they were doing coupons because I truly didn't think it made a difference($ saved/time invested). Well I am still seeing how it all comes together but I do know that we are able to purchase things for free & VERY discounted prices at times. I also have a much bigger stock pile of food & necessities now than I did a year ago. Also as for the time investment--I have recruited my daughters as my helpers and that has helped save me time in getting coupons clipped & such.
After reading multiple blogs about how much people were spending per week/month on groceries & household items, I began to get curious about how 2009 has gone for our family. I am a big believer that month to month things will fluctuate but over a longer period of time you can get a good picture of your average spending. I know that we have stayed for the most part under our budget each month on groceries & household. So here is how we've made out so far. Remember we have a family of 6 & 2 teens. :)
Grocery average is $557 our budget is $588
Household average is $362 our budget is $555(we save up for some bigger items this way)
At the beginning of the year my $ spent was MUCH higher than say last months spending--$50 more. So I think that using coupons & rebates are definitely paying off! AWESOME!
I want to start to shave those numbers even more--maybe just 10% to start. We will see how Nov & December affect things as we do more cooking & such during those months. However we will be able to use some of the stockpiled items and perhaps off set the additional purchases for the holidays!
After reading multiple blogs about how much people were spending per week/month on groceries & household items, I began to get curious about how 2009 has gone for our family. I am a big believer that month to month things will fluctuate but over a longer period of time you can get a good picture of your average spending. I know that we have stayed for the most part under our budget each month on groceries & household. So here is how we've made out so far. Remember we have a family of 6 & 2 teens. :)
Grocery average is $557 our budget is $588
Household average is $362 our budget is $555(we save up for some bigger items this way)
At the beginning of the year my $ spent was MUCH higher than say last months spending--$50 more. So I think that using coupons & rebates are definitely paying off! AWESOME!
I want to start to shave those numbers even more--maybe just 10% to start. We will see how Nov & December affect things as we do more cooking & such during those months. However we will be able to use some of the stockpiled items and perhaps off set the additional purchases for the holidays!