Budgeting with Coupons and My Budget details for 2012

First and foremost, I am NO budget expert. In fact, I never grew up learning how to budget (I certainly wish I had) and a majority of what I have learned is through doing, analyzing, and doing and analyzing all over again. And this all has taken place last year, so please don't quote me as an expert! LOL.

Moving on....

For 2012 I really want to focus on my grocery budget and make sure I'm not over spending. I have made a goal of spending $200 a month, although we technically have $300 in our budget. This includes everything from diapers, makeup, cleaning products, and groceries of course. But here's the catch, at the end of the month if I have reached my goal of $200, I then will transfer the $100 extra into our savings account. If I haven't reached my goal of $200 but still have not reached the $300, I will still be able to add some to savings.

Ok so here's how January looks so far:
Week 1 (1/1-1/7)   Spent: $47.61      Savings:  $37.27
Week 2 (1/8-1/14) Spent: $91.51      Savings:  $126.53

Notice how Week 1's totals are A LOT lower? That's because it was a slow week with not too many deals. But also, notice how the second week (this past week) was a really great week but at the same time I spent more. I basically would call that a stockpiling week because I took full advance of the great deals to build up my stockpile.  This is why it's tricky and I have to add my extra cash to my savings account at the end of the month, and not weekly.

One other thing I have learned, If you spend more than your budget in a given month, it's not necessarily a bad thing. While you may think it's bad because you have over spent but if you are doing good with taking advantage of the deals while they come and not over buying on things you would rarely use (unless they're free of course) you are probably still in good shape. I say this because throughout the year, there will be are months were you spend more to build your stockpile up (when the deals are great) and then they're will be months when the deals aren't too great and you live off your stockpile and your savings percentage may not be as high as you want it.

The only way you can really track if you're keeping up with your budget overall is to look at a 3 month period. 


Ask yourself these questions: 
Are you meeting your percentage/dollar amount savings goals?
*This answer should be YES.
Are you spending less than your budget is allowing? 
*This answer should be YES.
Are you going through periods of BOTH replenishing your stockpile and diminishing (living off of) stockpile? 
*This answer should be YES.
Are you buying things you wouldn't normally buy or perhaps more importantly DON'T need? (unless of course they were free and you WILL use them or donate them)?
*This answer should be NO.

Let's look at an example. Now, Sept-Nov weren't the best couponing months for me, but it's here to give you an idea of what I was talking about looking at a 3 month period.
September - Spent: $174.65      Savings: $107.75
October -    Spent: $245.87       Savings: $236.51
November - Spent: $310.24      Savings: $421.51

So, you could measure in different ways what my best month was out of those three. You could measure it by dollar or percentage savings, or by the budget. Personally, I'd say November was my best month, it was a replenishing stockpile month filled with great deals, and an overall savings of 58%. But more importantly, looking at the total picture it goes something like this:
(Budget for 3 months of $900) - (Spent of $730.76) = $169.24 
While I saved (off retail prices): $765.77
And about 30% of that is still in my stockpile today.***See below
Again, not my best quarter for couponing but I still managed to contribute $169.24 to savings.

***If you're wondering how I can keep track of what's left in my stockpile, that's a simple answer. With a permanent marker, write somewhere on the package the date you purchased it. I know some products you will not be able to write on them but if your stockpiling them it's a good probability that you can.

Ok, I'm done for today. *Steps off the podium* Any questions? Comments? :)