Well I have been tracking my purchases for two weeks now so it seemed like a great opportunity to summarize the monies spent and saved and also to review the time and effort it has taken to make these deals.
First of all, let me tackle a few of the questions that have come up in the past couple of weeks.
First myth to dispel....this has not taken a lot of time. When looking at the deals several people have made comments along the lines of... 'I couldn't possibly do this as it takes too long and I work all day'... well guess what...I ALSO work all day as a mother to three children, one of which is 4 months old and one of which is special needs. It is just one of those things you have to be interested in doing and just make a little time for each day.
'How can you possible ever use 100 boxes of Pop Tarts or 75 bottles of shampoo?' The purpose of the stockpile isn't to just hoard hundreds of items for the sake of it. My stockpile items are typically long 'Use by dates' or do not have dates at all. The Pop Tarts will last a year and I am unlikely to have to purchase shampoo for several years. Now that these items are plentiful within the stockpile, I am able to focus on different areas. For example, this week we have been focusing on toilet paper. I will save a lot of money by not only purchasing these items at ridiculously low prices but also in the fact that I will not have to purchase them again for such a long time.
Second myth to dispel... 'Using so many coupons when you visit stores is taking advantage of the system' Absolutely not! I only ever use coupons legitimately and in stores that are have corporate policies that allow them to accept them. This argument (ironically) is most often thrown at me by ill informed cashiers at the stores I frequent! The stores are not being defrauded...they are reimbursed by the manufacturers for every coupon that they correctly take. The manufacturers are certainly not being defrauded..they calculate exactly how many coupons are being released and the cost to them for that promotion. The manufacturers have no interest in whether I use one of their coupons or one hundred - the cost to them is already accounted for.
Anyway... time for the good bit - the fortnights summary! (...drum roll please...)
Total Before Coupons: $1493.09
Total Money Spent: $174.24
Total Saved: $1318.85 (88.3%)
First of all, let me tackle a few of the questions that have come up in the past couple of weeks.
First myth to dispel....this has not taken a lot of time. When looking at the deals several people have made comments along the lines of... 'I couldn't possibly do this as it takes too long and I work all day'... well guess what...I ALSO work all day as a mother to three children, one of which is 4 months old and one of which is special needs. It is just one of those things you have to be interested in doing and just make a little time for each day.
'How can you possible ever use 100 boxes of Pop Tarts or 75 bottles of shampoo?' The purpose of the stockpile isn't to just hoard hundreds of items for the sake of it. My stockpile items are typically long 'Use by dates' or do not have dates at all. The Pop Tarts will last a year and I am unlikely to have to purchase shampoo for several years. Now that these items are plentiful within the stockpile, I am able to focus on different areas. For example, this week we have been focusing on toilet paper. I will save a lot of money by not only purchasing these items at ridiculously low prices but also in the fact that I will not have to purchase them again for such a long time.
Second myth to dispel... 'Using so many coupons when you visit stores is taking advantage of the system' Absolutely not! I only ever use coupons legitimately and in stores that are have corporate policies that allow them to accept them. This argument (ironically) is most often thrown at me by ill informed cashiers at the stores I frequent! The stores are not being defrauded...they are reimbursed by the manufacturers for every coupon that they correctly take. The manufacturers are certainly not being defrauded..they calculate exactly how many coupons are being released and the cost to them for that promotion. The manufacturers have no interest in whether I use one of their coupons or one hundred - the cost to them is already accounted for.
Anyway... time for the good bit - the fortnights summary! (...drum roll please...)
Total Before Coupons: $1493.09
Total Money Spent: $174.24
Total Saved: $1318.85 (88.3%)
1 comments:
Diane, I think your savings are wonderful! I still have so much to learn as far as saving goes and look forward to coming back here to see your progress (and learn a few more things)
Thank you!
tucky
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