Persepctive

I've thought alot about the totals that I posted the other day and something has been bothering me about them.  I just couldn't put my finger on it until this morning.  As accurate and unbelievable (I'm still in awe) as the numbers are they are slightly misleading.  Now, if I could just explain this in a simple way...

Here's an attempt at full disclosure:

Prior to my coupon craze Bubba and I had budgeted $170 every other week for groceries.  This comes out to $368 a month for groceries.  What are groceries?  Anything you can buy at Kroger, Publix, Food Lion, etc.  Shampoo, toilet paper, toothpaste, cleaning supplies, AND food.  When I started couponing I stayed with that budgeted amount for several months.  Starting January 1 is when I took the plunge and challenged myself to budget $70 every other week or $152 a month (which is where I get $35 a week).  Even though the spread sheet that I am using says that we saved over $400 for the month of January the reality is, according to our budget, we saved $200 of actual out of pocket expenses.  Does this make sense?

Bubba and I do not have an extra $400 sitting in our budget for the month of January which is the amount we saved at the store.  That $400 is calculated based on original shelf cost minus store sales minus coupons and/or rebates.  We do, however, have $200 actual cash sitting in our budget!  This cash will stay there for the year as I continue to learn, make mistakes, and get comfortable with using coupons.

If you are seriously interested in saving money on your everyday grocery purchases then you need to know where you are financially.  We are fans of Dave Ramsey (www.daveramesy.com) and highly recommend his book "Total Money Makeover".  If you do not know where you are, right now, financially then how can you decide where you want to go?  God will honor your desire to be a good steward of His money!  :-)

Blessings,
Mrs. Bubba