Savings challenge - save $1378 in 12 months + open a new ING account and score $25!

It's a new year and if you are like many Americans, you are may be looking for an easy way to start saving money. Yesterday I was told about a savings system where you deposit a certain amount of money based on what week it is. At the end of this year, you would have set aside $1378.00! So for example, we are in the first week of January, so I would deposit $1 into our savings account. Next week would be $2 and so on. To help keep track of how much you should put in each week, there is a spreadsheet available here.

For us, it will be hard to set aside $202 in December ($49, $50, $51 and $52). So, I have decided to tweet the savings plan a little. I will use all the amounts on the spreadsheet, but I will do it in the order we can afford. Since we will have the most money around tax time, I will do the higher amounts then and save the $1.00, $2.00, $3.00 and $4.00 amounts for December. There is really no set way to do it, but the goal is to save $1378+ interest!

We used to have a savings account with US Bank, but the interest rate was terrible. I recently signed up for an ING Direct online saving account to replace our US Bank one. Currently, ING is giving all new members who sign up for an Orange Savings Account a $25 bonus deposit (Sorry, but deposit $250 to receive the $25 bonus)! ING Direct also has an awesome interest rate of .75% (average savings account with a bank is .09%). You can easily link your current checking account to your ING Direct account to do all your transfers for free. 

The Orange Savings Account

• High Interest, No Fees, No Minimums - All your money goes to work for you.
• No Changing Banks - It electronically links to your current checking account. Transfers are free and easy.
• FDIC Insured - Your deposits are FDIC–insured up to $250,000 per depositor.
• Quick Application - Start saving in less than 5 minutes. Giddyup.

If you do the saving plan and count in the free $25.00 ING Direct is giving you, you will have saved $1403+ interest on December 31st 2013! 

Have you heard of this savings plan or taken part in previous years? Feel free to share your experience!

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May spending vs. savings report - 68%

We were out of town 11 of the 31 days in May, so I didn't do much shopping. I had 31 total shopping trips in May - most of which were CVS and Meijer. Our food perks were expiring at Giant Eagle the last day in May, so we made a big shopping trip and used up our perks. That brought down my number a lot. That shopping trip I only saved 41% and spent $170!

Here are my results for May:

Total shelf cost - $660.96
Total saved with coupons - $242.88
Total saved with store sales - $209.22

Total spent in May - $212.31 (of which $170 was just one trip to Giant Eagle)


We have our sons birthday this month but I am still hoping to save back as much as possible and not spend anywhere near by $300 monthly budget amount.

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April - Savings vs Spending report - 68%

April had one of my lowest shelf cost months, but highest OOP cost. Part of it was the cost of Easter dinner. ($75) I waited until the day before Easter and didn't use a single coupon so that hurt my percentage quite a bit.

The numbers below include all drug store, grocery store, super centers and 1 random Sears purchase :) 

Shelf Cost: $879.53 (amount I would have spent without coupon/sales)

Amount saved with coupons and sales: $534.33 ($301.39 was coupons alone)

Submitted for $27 in rebates

Final OOP: $286.28 or a 68.37% savings rate!


For May so far, I have only spent $12 OOP...hoping to keep that number SUPER low this month :)

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March Spending vs. Savings results - 86%

I finally have entered all my receipts for the month of March and have my spending vs. savings results! We REALLY cut back on shopping this month in an effort to save up for our anniversary trip and vacation and pay for things like the hotel, car rental, plane tickets etc. Here is how the month of March played out:

Shelf Cost: $1010.31 (amount I would have paid without coupons/store loyalty cards)


Coupons used: $392.83


Sales & store promotions: $434.87


Submitted for: $39.99 in Mail in Rebates & earned $6 in Fuel Perks at GE

Final OOP paid: $152.12 or an 86.4% savings!




This includes all groceries, H&B items, and baby items (Basically anything that can be found at a grocery store, drug store or super center). There are also a few random pet store purchases and clothing purchases included but for the most part I usually do not include those in this list.

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My February saving vs. spending results - 66%

This month I spent more than I like to & my savings rate wasn't as high as it has been. I used our 15% food perks at Giant Eagle and got over $300 in food for $181 so that brought my percentage down a lot (since it was only like a 40% savings rate) & my OOP high. My goal each month is to spend less than $300.

I submitted for 2 rebates worth $15. (This does not include Staples Easy Rebates)

February totals:

Total spent OOP: $356.35
Total Saved: $664.69
Saving rate: 66%

We are saving up for a few vacations this year, so my goal is to spend next to nothing the next few months :) We have a lot of different food items, we will just need to be creative with our meals so we can use them all without buying a bunch of extras. Plus, I still have every single box of Hamburger Helper from this shopping trip back in September, so maybe we'll finally get around to eating it ;)

You can view my January savings rate here

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My January spending vs. savings numbers - savings rate: 75%

I *think* I have entered all my receipts for the month & have my spending vs. savings numbers! I can't decide if I want to include ALL purchases, including clothes, home items etc or if I just want to keep doing grocery, super center and drug store trips. In January, the only non coupon store trip I included was a trip to Babies R Us. I made purchases at A&F, Hollister, Staples & Home Depot that aren't included....

So here our my numbers:

I also have submitted for a $10 MIR (along with various Staples Easy Rebates that aren't included)

Total Shelf Cost:			964.84
Total Coupon Savings:			362.99
Total Discounts:			351.23
Total Savings:			724.22
Amount Paid (after rebates):			259.53
Savings Rate:			75.06%

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My November Spending vs. Savings results - 88% savings rate!

I just entered my final receipt for November and I have my spending vs. savings results! This was by far my best month spending wise & savings wise. We were out of town though for 9 days, so that is one reason why my spending was so low. I also did a very good job stocking up on everything we may need besides fresh groceries before we left because I didn't want to spend a lot when we got back. I want to try to do the same in December since it is Christmas time (which is always expensive) and our daughter's birthday. Here are my results:

TOTAL SHELF COST: $549.59
TOTAL COUPON SAVINGS: $278.27
TOTAL STORE SAVINGS: $182.32
 -EARNED $20.00 IN REBATES
TOTAL SAVED : $480.59


TOTAL SPENT OOP: $82.71


SAVINGS RATE: 87.45%


I only spent $82.71 on groceries and health and beauty items for the month of November! That is well below my $300.00 a month goal I have set! Our fridge is getting a little bare now though so I am sure I'll be having a semi expensive run to GE here in the next few days :)

Feel free to share how you did!

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My October spending vs. Savings results

If you are new to reading my blog, this is a monthly post I do to show how much I saved in the previous month with coupons and sales. My goal each month is to spend less than $300.00. I knew I would be over that amount this month since I was "stocking up" for vacation & for the winter months (I HATE HATE HATE driving in the snow & carrying 2 kids around in the 10 degree weather to shop :))  I did 6 CVS gift card deals so I could have to gift cards for vacation - so that raised my OOP a lot. My $300.00 a month goal includes ALL food, diapers & wipes, health and beauty items, pet supplies and household items. I don't included clothing purchases, home items (decorative items etc) and things along those lines. We are a family of 4 (2 Adults, a 1 year old & a 2 year old) with 2 cats. Here are my results:

Shelf Cost: $1,557.06 (this is my highest shelf cost amount all year)
Coupons: $693.16
Sales: $322.58
Rebates: $76.00
Savings: $1091.74 (my highest savings amount all year)
My Price: $494.38 (my highest OOP all year)
Savings rate: 70.1%

Shelf Cost is what I would have spent without coupons or sales
Coupons includes store coupons and coupon doubles
Sales are any sale that includes a loyalty card (Target sales are not included since they are not included on the "amount saved" on your receipt)
Rebates included mail in rebates, promotional offers were I receive a gift card & GE Fuel perks earned

My Price is how much I actually paid Out Of Pocket
Savings rate is my % of savings (50% is considered awesome)

We are very well stocked now on Toilet paper, paper towels, ALL H&B items (shampoo, medicine, make up, soaps etc), laundry detergent & cleaning items.

Hopefully when we get back I will just need to purchase fresh food & a few things for Thanksgiving dinner (we already have most of what we will need..YAY!)

My goal for November is to spend less than $200.00 & have a savings rate OVER 80% :)

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My September Savings vs. Spending results!

If you are new to reading my blog, this is a monthly post I do to show how much I saved in the previous month with coupons and sales. My goal this month was to stay as much as possible below my $300.00 goal I have set for myself each month. That $300.00 includes ALL food, diapers & wipes, health and beauty items, pet supplies and household items. We are a family of 4 (2 Adults, a 1 year old & a 2 year old) with 2 cats. Here are my results:

Shelf Cost: $1,089.59
Coupons: $555.77
Sales: $280.76
Rebates: $52.21
Savings: $888.74
My Price: $215.77
Savings rate: 81.6%

Shelf Cost is what I would have spent without coupons or sales
Coupons includes store coupons and coupon doubles
Sales are any sale that includes a loyalty card (Target sales are not included since they are not included on the "amount saved" on your receipt)

My Price is how much I actually paid Out Of Pocket
Savings rate is my % of savings (50% is considered awesome)

I'm so excited I was above 80% savings in September AND was still $85.00 below my budget goal!

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