http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dfznzqn3_6f7wk6mrb
My $800 annual budget and how it works.
I have basically put $800 cash into an online savings account. This is for 4 people, one adult, 1 teen, two tweens and two dogs. This averages out to 54¢ per person per day. One month I might spend $100 and only spend $25 the following, but as long as I have not gone over the $800 for the YEAR I am still within my goal. Any time I have to pay out of pocket for something I will use a credit card that I earn rewards on, either cash back, gift cards back or college savings. Then I will transfer that purchase amount from my online account to my checking account to cover the cost of those items when the bill comes in.
I will use coupons and gift cards, combined with store sales and loyalty cards to make my purchases cost less money out of pocket. Gift cards are obtained from trades, special promotions, survey sites, rebates, in store promotions as well as referral bonuses. I never buy gift cards as that would defeat the purpose. The stores I shop at will double up to 50¢ and triple up to 39¢. We do not pay food tax except on convenience foods. I calculate my savings by the price a product rings up at vs. what I pay out of pocket for it. (Example: if something normally costs $3.99 but is on sale for $2.00 and I have a $1 coupon, I saved $1) I know other people calculate different and that is fine, but I only go by what it rings up at since most of the time I would not buy the item if it were not on sale.
Any money earned from surveys or rebates is added back into the budget for future use as long as the rebate was for a budget item (for example if I do an ACE Hardware rebate that money is not added back into the budget).
What IS included in my budget.
1. all food
2. all HBA (health and beauty items)
3. all dog food
4. all eating out
5. all cleaning supplies
6. all coupons I pay for (the paper)
What is NOT included in my budget
1. Clothing
2. Gifts
3. Car
4. House
5. Bills
6. Coupons I obtain by using ECB or RR or gift cards, since it costs me nothing.
7. Gas
It took me almost three years to get to the level of couponing and stockpiling I am at now. It did not happen overnight. Once you begin obtaining a stockpile of items you are able to cut back expense on those items. So even though it might not look like I am purchasing much for my family in various food groups, I am, or have in the past, and am using food from my stockpile. That food was paid for once, so I am not including it in my budget again for this year as I use it.
It takes me on average 1 hour per week to find the deals, gather coupons and make my lists. Then I might spend another 30 minutes actually shopping for the items. With the help of Hot Coupon World, I can find out the deals online without having to drive to many stores to find them. This is a real time saver.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. Please don’t judge until you know the facts. No I am NOT on food stamps nor do we have health problems.
BTW if you are having problems viewing my blog, please upgrade to Internet Explorer 7 or 8. There is a problem with IE6.
Go back to the blog
http://jane4girls800dollarannualbudget.blogspot.com/
“My $800 annual budget and how it works.”
Thanks for posting this Granny. I have been couponing for the past 6 months or so and have also started stockpiling. It has helped a lot with our budget and I have been able to find quite a few things for free. However, our area doesn’t have anywhere that does double or triple coupons, so my savings don’t come close to hers. There are several couponing sites that make the job an easier one - you don’t have to figure out all the deals on your own. They often post the sales a week in advance so you can plan accordingly. I admire this woman for being able to stick to her $800 budget.
(I’m trying to do a mega catch up here. Once the garden is in I should have a bit more time to keep up)