Southern Coupon Belle: Southern Coupon Belle's Savings Report Through 04/30/2011

Savings with Style!

Start Saving with Style with Southern Coupon Belle! I'm now COUPONING IN CoMo!
What happens when a Coupon Expert in one region of the USA moves to another area of the country? I have started over learning new stores, coupon policies and building a reasonable stock pile and savings routine from scratch since October 1, 2011. I was an expert in Atlanta and the South but now happily reside in Columbia, Missouri!

I've searched other blogs and sites but I can't find someone else in my shoes so hopefully reading how I started over can help you! Whether you are a seasoned couponer in a new area OR a beginner- I know I can help walk you through what to do and help you start saving big! Starting over has made me realize how newbies to coupons feel and made me walk a grocery store aisle or two in a beginner's shoes again! Email me at southerncouponbelle@gmail.com and let me know how I can help! Thanks for reading and taking this journey with me!

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Southern Coupon Belle's Savings Report Through 04/30/2011

I'm so excited to be a Local Voice for Canton-Sixes Patch.com and my posts here on the blog will be featured on their website. If you are new to the blog, welcome and I hope you will check out the Coupon 101 and Living Smart 101 Labels to the left of the blog to see teaching posts and how to get started. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or would like to participate in a webinar!

I decided to start a savings tracker that I found online at The Coupon Project here. We wanted to track every dollar spent, every coupon used, how well we could stay within our budget goals each month and to see how much we were saving as we reasonably stockpile. Check out how we've done the first 4 months of 2011!

April flew by and May is starting with my household running to keep up! Here's our savings tracker and how we've saved so far in 2011.

Shelf Cost: $3114.07
Coupons: - $722.71
Sales: - $931.93
Saved: $1654.64
Spent: $1459.43
% Saved: 53.13%
Budgeted: $1150.00
Variance: ($309.43)

I was impressed- my husband was skeptical because we went over our budget goals. I reminded him that in the last 120 days- we've stocked up on many household items to last at least the next year like dish washing tablets, laundry detergent and such. We handled big events, holidays, family gatherings, trips and two birthday parties! I am very pleased considering I know the majority of folks go into the grocery store and spend $1500.00 without a second thought in 4-6 weeks! 120 days into 2011= $12.70/day for all meals and items needed for our family of four.

The numbers for the first four months are good- now we face the rise in grocery and gas prices but will also see where we can save in other areas and add the garden this summer. We plan to incorporate creative savings ideas and practices into the formula for the rest of 2011. I'll keep you posted and share how we are making it work! Our savings report is showing that whether we believe it or not- we are saving a lot of money in 2011!

How are you saving? Please share!