How To Coupon: The Proof Is in the Savings

1 Comment | Written on April 13, 2012 at 9:00 am, by Rachel Achmad

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It’s tax time. I don’t have tax withholding, so I just had to pay up. Thanks to my couponing, though, paying taxes wasn’t as painful this year. If you still aren’t convinced that couponing can make a difference, check this out.

I started couponing in earnest exactly one year ago. I know I’m spending less, but I never calculated exactly how much less. I decided to do a monthly analysis, so I saved all my receipts in March.

Pre-couponing, I gave myself a weekly spending cap of $160 for my family of four. I chose that amount because it was the most our income allowed. My total spending on groceries for March was … drum roll… $392.99, which divided by 4.3 (standard budget calculation) is $91.40 per week. Admittedly, that’s far more than the Extremers on TV spend, but included in my shopping are fresh produce and protein sources, and a few favorite treats that sometimes I just have to shell out full price for (Nutella, peanut butter). Even with those indulgences, at $91.40 a week, my spending is about $70 a week less than my old budget — that’s a savings of about $300 per month … or $3600 for the year!

Now, I haven’t been stashing that “extra” cash somewhere; it’s not like I have it in a lump sum. Here’s what that savings has done for us. Along with most American families, we are lurching through precarious times, and that savings has allowed us to pay many of our other everyday expenses (prescription cat food, gymnastics lessons, and oh, yes, those pesky taxes) without the anxiety and, often, credit cards that used to accompany every expenditure. So my advice: get clipping!

Looking to get started couponing? Read on!