Where are you in your journey with coupons, deals, rebates, and more!?! Are you slowing down while soaking up the spring air outside——or are you already in full summer swing and everything is array?!? Or do you really have your savings gear on this season? It is never too late to create a budget and save money!!
I’ve (Litsa) remained a stay at home mom this past year and continue to work on our savings plan——-with coupons and deals to negate debt and to refrain from working outside the home until our little girl enters Kindergarten! It’s a challenge to stay on course with a savings plan in today’s economy but to show you and myself that it matters, I tallied up our savings for January 2013, February 2013, March 2013, April 2013, and now May! Here’s a glimpse of our savings by categories this month:
Coupons (Kroger/Wal-Mart/Walgreens): $204.92 (many, many stockpiled items—shampoo, conditioner, deo, shaving gel, cleaning products, etc.—which may last until the end of the year! Although several items were pulled from our stockpile to donate to victims of stormy weather in Oklahoma.)
Swagbucks/NCP/Cashback/ibotta/rebates/SavingStar: $48.45
Items Sold (items around the house): $54—took a break this month and just toted items to the mission for tax deductible receipts—-these receipts are perfect at the end of the year!! However, I did sale two toddler items in order to buy a new swing for our little girl for late summer!
Blog Dealing (One Source): $336.00
Online/Retail Store Savings: $26.85
Our family’s total was $670.22 for the month of May! That’s a grand total of $6,714.13 for five months of working from home on deal blogging, watching sales and clipping coupons!! I didn’t even buy the newspaper the last three months! A neighbor has been kind enough to give me her coupons that she doesn’t clip!!
Now, I reiterate as in the past that I don’t encourage you to quit your job because the hours put in on accumulating this figure were FULLTIME hours! However, I can say that our stockpiles are still working wonders and will take us to the end of the year as we negate debt.
There’s always room to save! I opted to color my own hair again at home ($60 savings—and STILL much blonder than salon haircolor—a little summer fun & sun helps!) and I’m not using a gym membership (rather working out on my own outdoors and/or home videos–yoga by Rodney Yee, running stairs, walking/running routine)! Additionally, it was a great month to use stockpiles. We ate what was here and emptied the pantry a little before vacation! All of these funds were well spent negating debt (less stress as debt has been lifted off of us)!! Our medical bills from January that came at us like snowballs are down to three bills! Three! I am elated and will focus on eliminating these all summer long! When I want to purchase something, I will think of paying lingering bills and having readers that are holding me accountable to my success!
And again……there’s that dreaded budget word—–spend what you have coming in before you have the money in hand! That’s my focus for June and July as I watch sales, deals, and more to buy what we need and eliminate the WANT buying—-an all cash budget for daily needs throughout the month is another goal!! I’m not there yet but much, much closer after this five month journey and how May’s savings added up to my delight.
There were many, many freebies too that came in the mail—-magazines and more! I did attempt to make a list but it might not do justice to all we received: Soil, Clorox Wipes, Sabra Humus, 14 boxes of popcorn, many, many magazines, yogurt, 2x the points for Kroger Gas, cat food, Birdseye Veggies, and more…more…more! We indulged in some, packed others for vacation, and shared many through donations too!
Let your journey of savings and having it all be just as prosperous as ours this SUMMER!
Set goals. Achieve—-as you envision where you want to be a month from now—or a year from now! My personal goal this summer beyond what I’ve already stated is to buy only perishables that we will consume so that we make full use of our stockpiles. We will PAY down medical bills this summer as we enjoy our summer vacation at my parent’s home in Greece. We’ll dine on summer fruits and vegetables—-and return in August to really focus on clipping coupons as we menu plan and prep for a school routine.
Pick a savings pal and get to it! You can do this too! Watch your savings grow, eliminate debt, & live joyfully having everything you desire!
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