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Thursday, March 31, 2011

1st Quarter Savings & Updates

Hello frugal friends,

I'm O so very happy to be back on the couponing wagon. Today, I finally had a chance to sit down and tally up all of my receipts from the last 6 weeks when I was um, NOT on the wagon. I was really dreading adding up the numbers. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought but it's not exactly where I would like it to be either. My current stats look like this.

Weeks: 13
Total Spent: $756
Total Saved: $1270
Percentage: 63%
Weekly Average: $58.18

For starters, my percentage is not as high as I am accustomed to but it's still well over the 50% mark. My goal is $50 a week and I'm clearly over that. Right now, I'm at a deficit of about $100 altogether, which shouldn't be too hard to recoup considering that I've still got 39 weeks to go before the year ends. :)

Here's what I will be working towards for the 2nd quarter of the year.
  • My stockpile did take a big hit when I was skipping trips to the store. I need to focus on getting my overstock built back up. Specifically, we need meat and paper products.
  • I finally kicked Kroger to the curb and it feels good but I'm still adjusting. Kroger is the closest store to me at home and hubby at work so its kinda tough if we happen to need something ASAP. Publix is about a 25-30 minute drive for me but it's totally worth it for the customer service alone and the BOGO deals.
  • I'm going to buckle down with meal planning. This will help us to avoid last-minute needs, which almost always result in paying full price.
  • I am going to make a weekly trip to Publix, preferably on Wednesdays so I can take advantage of the Penny Item. I'm hoping to get into a really good groove that will carry me through the rest of the year.
  • Finally, I'm going to work hard to stick to my budget each week (or even under) to get my weekly totals down into the $55 range by mid year.
How have you done so far this year? What are your goals for the 2nd quarter?

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1 comment:

Candy said...

I need to get myself back on track for my budget as well. I've ran $10 a week over, which isn't bad considering I fed 28 people dinner and cupcakes for Carleigh's birthday party with a Bunko dinner thrown in and I splurged on a traditional St. Patty's dinner too. My budget is $80 weekly and my stock pile is almost gone, we need cereal mostly! I'm not sure what my % of savings is, I haven't gotten in to tracking that yet but I do keep up with the prices I spend on items so I know when I got the deal and how much a good deal is. I did request some extra money from our tax return so I can get a good stock pile for us.

I'd love to know how you've cut out Kroger, I only buy the Laura's Beef and it's the only place I've found it. I LOVE the service/experience at Publix but I'm not sure how to incorporate all of my needs to them.