How Much You Spend Is More Important Than How Much You Save

At the end of a week of shopping I decided to add up all of my savings. I was amazed that I had spent about $80 on a little over $300 worth of groceries! That is impressive, but then I thought, "But I still spent $80." My goal has been to spend about $50 a week for our family of four. I said 'no' to some deals that I didn't necessarily need (easier said than done, sometimes). I was able to shop like this for over a year. I spent around $80 once every month or two, but every other week I was able to keep my grocery spending to around $50, and even less some weeks. I was able to stock up on so many things that I was even able to 'take a break' from shopping and lived on the supply of food and goods that we had at home for a time. 

Some people actually pull cash out of the bank each week, and they say it really helps them think about what they're going to spend because they are holding in their hand the amount of money they want to spend that week. I've never tried it cause I'm afraid I'd lose the money somewhere, but I am curious to see if it encourages me to be more careful than I am when I swipe my card and justify that the $3 I just spent was a great deal. The little deals add up!!

A word of warning: as you start getting better at scoring great deals, you might become what I call, "Coupon Happy." You'll want to snag every deal you can get your hands on, and before you know it, you've spent way more than you intended. Sure it was a great deal, but one skill that definitely is important to master if you want to actually save money is to stay within your budget and learn to say no to some deals in order to make that happen.