It’s the time of the year when I sit back and look at how much money I’ve saved by being a thrifty shopper. I do keep to a tight budget, and whenever I save money on a purchase I drop the extra money into my savings box. I let it accumulate throughout the year, and in January or February I add it up and figure out what to do with it. I use to use most of that money to pay for our taxes since Hubby and I have both been self employed part time for years. This year is different because Hubby was laid off from his full time job in September, and his side business came to a halt as well. Construction is still in the dumps around here. The good news is without Hubby’s extra income we really won’t have to worry about paying into the government this year. The other good news is the lack of income has also caused me to be much more frugal with my purchases, and I’ve found I haven’t had to touch my cash stash very often. I added it up today, and I have over $600 saved up! I know what I’m going to do with my cash. I’m going to put it into the savings account, and hopefully I won’t have to touch it. If we do need it I know it’ll be there, though.
I know I’m not the only person out there who does this. A friend of mine coupons like crazy (something I would do if any of the stores around here allowed us…most of them ban mass amounts of coupons at once), and she saves whatever grocery money is left over from her budgeted amount each week. She saved so much this past year she's thinking she's going to buy a honda snowblower just in case we get hit with another bad winter next year. Personally we don't need anything like that because we hardly see snow in any given year, and this year was a fluke. She lives a few hours away in the mountains of NC, though, and they do get quite a bit of snow each year. She's saved enough money that she's able to provide something for the family that could make their life easier next year.
So what do you do with the money you save by using coupons, taking advantage of sales, and shopping wisely? Do you set that extra money aside to use for something in particular? Do you keep track of your savings?
