With just a few weeks left of 2010, I thought I would sit down and tally up all my Spending and Savings from this past year. YES! I do keep all my receipts, not only for this reason of figuring out my savings at the end of the year, but its great to keep all your receipts cause you never know when a Rebate will come out for a specific product you may have just purchased or if you need to return something in the near future.
Mind you, I only kept track of the spending and savings I made on Groceries, Health & Beauty, Household items and for most of this past year Diapers and Wipes. So this total of spending and SAVINGS does not include any of what I purchased online using discount codes or any other items such as clothing, toys, etc that I used coupons or codes on. So just imagine how much more I actually saved.
This is the Spending for a family of 4. (2) Adults (2) Children, 3 and 7. Most of this past year I had to purchase Diapers and Wipes as my son as not yet potty trained. We eat very well and healthy. I purchased alot of Fresh Produce, Meats, etc. This also includes, household items such as Paper Towels, Toilet Paper, Trash bags, Cleaning products, Laundry Detergent, Fabric Softener, Ziploc Bags and more. As well as Healthy & Beauty Items.
Jan $194.89 Savings $586.65
Feb $147.88 Savings $168.29
Mar $151.25 Savings $316.01
Apr $182.81 Savings $256.93
May $196.94 Savings $173.12
June $235.38 Savings $207.47
July $241.28 Savings $340.16
Aug $215.10 Savings $451.12
Sept $250.93 Savings $322.60
Oct $167.16 Savings $368.90
Nov $194.52 Savings $673.00
Dec $82.08 Savings $81.25
Total YTD Spending $2045.12
Total YTD Savings $3945.50
I spent an average of $170.42 a month for a Family of 4.
I saved an average of $328.79 a month. That is almost DOUBLE what I spent per month.
This also shows a trend of when the good sales usually are. As you notice January is a great month to shop all the after holiday sales on Ziploc Bags, Paper Products, Holiday themed Baked goods and more. You can see my Spending went down during the Cold Winter months up here in New England. For me the cold is a money-saver as well. I tend not to go out as much. The summer my Spending went up due to all the extra food we prepare for cookouts and family get-together's, as well as extra shopping during vacations. The Savings during the summer is not great either, due to not as many sales on things. September is a BAD month for me as far as Spending. I try to stock up on all the food items needed for when my kids go back to school and life gets back to normal. But sales are starting to pick back up so my Savings still managed to be way more than my spending. As Fall hits..my Spending goes down as I get back into a routine and my Savings goes up from all the good deals happening. November is the BEST month to save for me. I get great deals on all m baking items, cereal, soups, broth, meats, produce and more.
Maybe your News Years Resolution will be to keep track of your spending and saving and at the end of the year you can see how easy it is to save on everyday items.
