Couponing: It's like driving a new car or getting a raise!

My total grocery bill for the month of March is $114.07. (Our budget is $130/month and we have more than enough food to get us through this month and probably most of next month, so I'll quit while I'm ahead unless some great deals come up!). This includes all groceries, toiletries, and cleaning supplies for our household as well as a large number of items that I stockpiled. The total of all of these items before coupons and sales was $569.59. This amount of savings is fairly typical for me. I saved $455.52! If I leave the grocery store and I've only saved 50%, I'm disappointed! :-) Typically I save somewhere between 65% and 95% per trip...sometimes even more!

Putting it in perspective:

A Car Payment!The average American car payment ranges between $380 and $460 per month. Although my husband and I do not have car payments, I have managed to save the equivalent of one car payment this month by using coupons!

A Raise in Your Yearly Salary! The national median income is $46,000/household which breaks down to $3833/month. If you counted the coupons savings in your monthly income, it would be like seeing your yearly income increase to $51,462.24. That's quite a big jump!

Hourly Wage Increase! Sure couponing takes a little extra time. I probably spend 4-6 hours a month organizing coupons and planning grocery trips. If I took my savings and divided by hours spent, it would be like making $75-$100 hour for each hour of time spent planning!