MONEY

 

Everyone uses it.  Everyone needs it.  Everyone wants it.  Everyone has it. 

It's taboo to talk about it. 

 But everyone wants to know what to do with it, how to make more of it, and how to save some of it.

Money is on your mind so much, artists got hip and wrote songs about it.

Mo Money, Mo Problems- Notorious B.I.G.

She Works Hard for the Money- Donna Summer

Bills, Bills, Bills- Destiny's Child

If I had a $1,000,000- Barenaked Ladies

Just to name a few of my favorites.

Last year I did a blog post on budgeting.  I've done multiple posts on couponing and saving money on groceries here and here and here, just to name a few.

So, after all my posts, all my advice, and all my saying, "look Ben, this was free!" how much money did I really save in 2014?

On groceries from Giant, Harris Teeter, and CVS: I saved $2800

That is from using my store card, coupons from the newspaper, and coupons from coupons.com

When using coupons to buy clothes at Old Navy, Macy's, Motherhood Maternity, Target, Gap, Ann Taylor Loft, and Brooks Brothers: I saved $1400

In addition to the groceries and clothes, I use coupons at Bed, Bath, and Beyond, Bath & Body Works, Auntie Anne's Pretzels, Regal Cinemas, Johnny Rockets, two different Thai places by our house, BJs wholesale (like costco), Ulta, Subway, and I'm sure at least 10 other places that I can't think of right now.  I also use Groupon and Living Social for deals for our family. 

 The $4200 I saved my family last year does not include the additional money we saved at the other retailers.  I lost track around the $300 mark mid-way through the year, but I am guessing we saved around $600-$700.

So... those are the numbers for our family.  For some people, it's worth it and for others it's not.  For my family, it works for us.  I am by far, not as good at couponing and saving as some people, but I am still working at it and I try to remember that every penny counts.

Happy Monday!