This was a pretty good week for me. I actually went to Publix SEVERAL times this week as we had tons of errands this week–so I made a point to do a few little shopping trips while we were out and about! So–NO, I did not buy 33 Fisher Snack bags at once…they were from several stores in several transactions 🙂
I had a request from several of you –you want to see which coupons I used to achieve my totals. I am going to work on it this weekend and I will try to update this post to include a link to my spread sheet. I am going to emphasize the word TRY 🙂 We are going to be out of town this weekend visiting my husband’s family–so I hope to have a chance to spend some time detailing the spread sheet so it will make sense to everyone.
This week I spent a total of $16.17 …I added a fair amount of snacks and paper items to my stockpile. My total would have been $164.25 had I not used coupons! That is about a 90% savings this week. I was checking out another blog the other day and noticed that their “savings” seemed quite high. I came to realize that they determined their savings based on retail price. I never calculate savings based on retail as that would just make my savings seem astronomical! I use a spreadsheet that deducts the total amount of coupons from the current price of an item. I do not use the amounts at the bottom of my reciepts as that typically included the savings based on the sale. To give you an idea of how dramatically different it looks–here is what the cost of the items would be if I just used the store indicated “savings” –$230.05–WOW! Using that number, my savings percentage would be 93%! That is a 3% difference…meaning that 3% of my overall savings was due to the fact that the items I purchased were on sale. So which number do you all think is the best way to report savings? I’d love to hear some opinions!
We are going out to eat tonight…so I may try to talk my husband into letting me run in Walgreens tonight on our way home …I will update if so. For now, here is what I bought this week for $16.17:
Bounty Single Roll x 10
Danimals x 5
Apple & Eve Juice x 1
Ziploc Sandwich x 5
Starbucks Ice Cream x 5
Fisher Fusions x 33
Penny item–Duncan Hines Cake Mix x 1
Perdue Nuggets x 2
DiGiorno Pizza x 2
Honey Maid Graham Crackers X 1
Glad Snack bags x 1
Dozen Eggs x 2
Glade Gel warmer x 3
Digiorno Thin Crust x 1
Bread x 1
coke 8 pack Bottles x 2
Deli Ham ($7.76 worth)
Kingsford Charcoal x 1
Pork Roast ($8.10)
Pam Spray x 1
Digiorno Flatbread Melt x 1
Deli Turkey ($2.85 worth)
Danonino x 2
*Banquet Sausage x 10
*Hershey Syrup x 1
*Wesson Oil x 1
*Kroger items
How did you all do this week? Leave a comment or link to your weekly totals!
10 Comments
imo you should include the total savings including store sales. If you leave the store sale savings out it’s like not giving yourself credit for being smart enough to not only use the Qs but use them when the item is on sale. I say include the store savings as well!
jmo 🙂
I also think that you should include the sale savings. I mean seriously… would you have bought the item if it wasn’t on sale? Probably not. Couponing is hard work and you should be able to count every last penny saved. I know I do. HTH!
I do enjoy reading your blog, and have added it to my Google reader 🙂 My trip to PX today was good, saved 72%. Still learning, but I am getting there. Thank you for all the information
I agree with Kerry and Staci, however…I figure it both ways, just to see what the ‘total value’ of my shpping trip comes to. Maybe I just want to stroke my ‘shopping savvy’ ego a little bit….LOL
I vote for the pre-sales price of the item too. If you needed the item and had to run to the store for it, you’d pay whatever the shelf price was.
“That is a 3% difference…meaning that 3% of my overall savings was due to the fact that the items I purchased were on sale.”
If you calculate the % difference between the before sale and after sale price the savings attributed to the sale prices would be 28.6% (230.05-164.25/230.03). The amount saved based on coupons (164.25-16.17/230.05) would be 64.4%.
28.6% savings from store sales
plus 64.4% from coupons
=93% overall savings
This really illustrated how much you can save with coupons in comparison to only shopping sales and why it’s worth the time and effort to combine sales with coupons. Thanks for explaining how you calculate, I’m an math nerd and like doing the calculations of savings also 🙂
Couple of questions…. what are fisher fusions?? And where are the bounty coupons from Target? I can’t find them and I need them!!!
And has anyone checked out the Kool-Aid prices? I was wanting to know if that was a good deal to get free sugar???
I also think you shoud include the sale savings…. And I can’t wait for you to show what coupons you use to get the great deals. I have a huge list this week and hope to make a couple trips on Sunday and Monday and pick up a couple penny items too!
I think you should include the sale savings. Primarily because a fundamental rule of couponing is “wait for the sale.”
Finally found the Unilever coupon booklet (my heart started pounding when I saw the display!). I think I’m going to make a KILLING this week!
Thanks for being so dedicated to keeping your site updated. I know that my Q-friends really appreciate it!
Hey Reagan
The Fisher Fusions are little bags of trail mix. They were BOGO last week and with the $1/1 they were a small moneymaker 🙂 Gotta love FREE snacks that make you a little money!! The Bounty coupon was not in my home delivered paper –BUT it was in my 6/21 SS county neighborhood paper.
Thanks for the input everyone–I love the comments you all made–and I totally agree!!SO–I will report my savings and include the sales!
I agree with the folks that think that you should include the store savings. You should get credit for buying what is on sale. That is our main purpose in stockpiling; we purchase items that are on sale!