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With a new year I have given thought to the idea of tracking what we save this year through deal hunting, coupons etc. It takes quite a bit of effort to match coupons, rebate apps, etc and I would love to see my progress (although I'm not sure I have time to track this!)
Looking for opinions...any of you track these things? Coupons used, cash redeemed from cash back sites etc?
Would love to hear your experience, what you do and how you do it!
I started off with a simple excel spreadsheet, DH then upped me to a fancy pivot table. I track almost everything including all the loyalty programs and the two cash back apps, coupons etc. it takes a few minutes to do each week, but seeing te savings is so motivating. Each year it gets higher, I have tracked since 2012, but I know coupon girl has been doing it for 30 yrs. the other good thing is this proves it's not a hobby or waste of time. We saved 3000.00 last year. DH is in on the action now and is as much a part of this as I am, because he sees the value. Good luck with finding something that works for you.
Love it! Do you track even items you buy on sale? Of just coupons, etc?
Does anyone have an excel sheet etc they would be willing to share? :)
I didn't track SCOP or items on sale. I used to but tracking stuff on sale was time consuming and really none of us would have paid regular price anyway. I also realized after seeing spanishpoets note in the other money thread that I have not been tracking swag bucks. I also track it when I spend it not earn it. So I have 3 MC from the cereal promo that arrived last year but until I use them they don't count.
I stopped bothering. you can tell true savings by your bank account lol, and I don't feel that adding up the coupons I used reflects true savings. I never would have spent that money I saved using glade coupons, for example, to purchase an item for $2 and make 50 cents using snap...know what I mean? So I'm not going to count that $2 coupon as money I "saved." You have to do what makes sense for you. Everything is a personal choice, like whether to look at your optimum points as money, or as "extra." The main reason I don't bother with tracking these things is the time investment. i come home with too many receipts bother. With the investment of time I could be doing something more lucrative than tracking it, like printing coupons, or even making pennies on some survey or points site. I know last year I saved thousands, literally, in out of pocket expenses, so that's all I need to know! lol
I track my money spent on groceries only but I track coupons, GC's, MIR's, SCOP's and CO51 but only when I have used them. I just do it in a book.
I track! I'm newish to couponing, so tracking is part of how I'm deciding which things are worthwhile for me. I have a spreadsheet with multiple pages. The first page is really simple, basically just a list. "January 7 / $25 / Swagbucks payout" I put anything that I put effort into so coupons, cashback, points redemptions etc. My grocery store tallies my coupons for me which makes it easier.
On the other sheet, I have a really detailed grocery tracker. While I'm shopping I mark the regular prices of everything on my list, then on the sheet I track sales, pricematch, coupons, points, and cashback. It calculates what I'm saving off of what the bill "would have been" had I paid full price for everything. It's not perfect because obviously I wouldn't have paid full price for everything, but I like data :) And it's nice when my friends look at me skeptically about it and I can say hey, it's worth $3,000 a year.
I track and have keep track for 30 years as lilo stated-in a note coil book with a pencil
-I track coupons used,checkout51,snapsaves ,scops and p.c and shoppers points programs but only when I use them -oh and refunds too when they come in
-I also track kjijiji sales -cause that is money coming in too
-last year saved 2,814.05
I have come a long way back in 1985 when I saved 165.81 in coupons and refunds -mind you coupons were .15 and .20 back then
-its a hobby of mine that I never tire of -love it -will be doing it into my older age for sure
i started tracking $ spent on baby things for my baby who's coming in a few weeks and maternity items i bought for myself. I want to know how much i spent, where, when, coupons used, cashback offer used, etc. Then once i'm done with these items i'll be listing them on kijiji so knowing how much i spent is good for when i list them.
Great tips! :) I found an awesome tracking excel sheet on a blog that I downloaded and I love it. I'm going to try tracking. I would like to see how much my effort is worth! lol
With my 2nd ( I was smarter) I can remember forever stuff I bought used (like new) and used with baby and then sold for more!Quote:
Originally Posted by Purdee
Baby swing (one you have in house) Paid $20 sold for $40
Little Tykes play house Paid $20 Sold for $60 after DS had for 3 years
Those are the 2 that thrill me lol. Simple things in life keep make me happy :)
@Frugalbigmama , just like you said. I want to at least break even - making some $ on newer stuff would be awesome.
For 2016 I'm tracking for each product:
Store, date, pts earned,
quantity, brand, variety/flavour, product,
price, tax rate, total coupons used, total in-store (SCOPS, pink stickers) used, total redemptions used, gross total, net total
product size (g/ml/cnt), serving size, serving kcal, total kcal per pkg
category
My categories are:
FOOD
Snacks (ready to eat)
Produce
Meat
Beverage
Prepared (heat and eat)
Grains
Cheese
Condiments
Processed Meat
Fats Oils
HEALTH
BEAUTY
PERSONAL CARE
HOUSEHOLD (consumables)
HOME (household durables)
CLOTHING
LAUNDRY
OFFICE
HARDWARE GARDEN SPORT
ALCOHOL
My useful reports are:
Total spent by store, total coupons used, total in-store (SCOPS, pink stickers) used, total redemptions used by store
The kcal information...no longer think of a bag of chips as $.99+ but 1,000 kcal ;)
Spending by category...I am trying not to buy Snacks, Prepared, Cheese, Processed Meat, ALCOHOL so I am keeping my eye on these and I feel the shame when I am in the grocery store...don't buy, don't buy!
Wow, now that's a lot of detail! That's awesome :)
Quote:
Originally Posted by lecale
i so agree, the cheap food is not cheap when you consider all teh other costs associated with it.