Couponing does work!

Technically the month is not over yet, but that is ok.  There have been four Sunday's thus far and it has been a good month and I am going to break it down for you.

Remember - I cleaned out my coupons at the first of the year.  Started fresh with none to work with.  I had also depleted much of my stockpile in the end of 2011 diverting stockpile funds to teachers gifts, holiday spending etc.  So while I had some items left on my shelves, of course, I was also in great need of re-stocking.  Because of this I diverted a larger amount of my monthly budget to the stocking up fund for January and will likely do so again in February and March!!

January savings recap:

I subscribe to the Sunday Paper (get it delivered) this costs me $45 dollars a year or .86 cents a week!

I purchased an additional 8 papers this month at a cost of $12.00

So in total I spent $15.44 on Sunday papers for the coupons and ads.

Thus far from these papers alone I have saved:

WAIT FOR IT....

$117.06 just by using coupons at the grocery stores and drug stores...Subtract out the cost of the papers and I saved $101.62

Because I stack the coupons on top of in store sales the total amount saved this month is much much higher...but I wanted to share simply the dollars in coupon savings to keep it real for you.

So, I ask you my friends - what would you do with an extra $100 bucks?  I operate on a very defined  budget and using coupons this way helps me stay within that budget so I don't actually see an extra $100 at the end of the month what is does for me is cover at least a weeks worth of fresh veggies, juices and dairy products (oh and DIET PEPSI) at the grocery store - so I can keep the grocery part of my budget lower and have money for things like prescriptions, lightbulbs, socks etc..

I am also expecting rewards and rebates from office supply stores totaling $138.00 - this will help a ton with school supplies and keeping some of my paper products stocked for the year - it helps eliminate surprise trips to the office supply store for something one of the kids needs to a minimum and decreases the amount spent on these necessities throughout the year.  Did you know they estimate school supplies cost Americans between $60 and $100 per child per year?  I don't think that includes standards like backpacks, and the expensive calculators that middle schoolers need - so think of what you can save if you watch the sales through the year and purchase the anticipated items when they are super cheap...if you use the rewards programs to the fullest...and if you give a little back to the community while your at it!

This month I was able to spend it a little extra time and with diverted funds from the budget a little extra money to refill the following items in my stockpile:

Toilet Paper (full)
Paper Towels (full)
Kleenex (full)
Pasta (full)
Cereal (good for 3 months)
Snack Boxes (good for 3 months)
Hand Soap (need two more)
Lotion (need 4 more)
Avery Binders (full for at least next year, possibly the following too!)
Ink for my printer (good for 6 months)
Printer Paper (good for 6 months)
and some miscellaneous items

When my stockpile is FULL it means that if I couldn't or had to I wouldn't need to purchase those items for the remainder of the year - However it is best to keep watching the sales and when the items are at their cheapest assess your stockpile and refill as needed...

NOTE - remember I diverted my budget this month and had my eyes set on stockpiling - I do not save $100 each month!  The average is closer to $50 in coupon savings per month - but remember because of my stockpile I am able to spend much less at the grocery store each month as well - so my overall savings are grand and totally worth the time spent!

My favorite deal this month: Last week Staples had a 4 pack of Bic Highlighters on sale for $1.00 (reg $4.49) I had 4 $1.00 off Bic coupons from the first newspapers I bought this month.  Guess what?  We now have 4 packs of highlighters that didn't cost a single penny - nope they were FREE!  I put 3 packs in the stockpile (because they are always on the school supply list) and dropped the fourth pack in my donation bin!  YAHOO!

I will come back at the end of February and March and recap again -