Money money money Money...

Ok, so I realize this is maybe not the most terribly exciting thing to read about, but I'm going to post my monthly savings tracker and just say a few words (rare, I know) about it and what I hope to do in the month of March.

February-at-a-Glance
Total Shelf Cost:			$1,623.50			Monthly Budget:		$300.00
Total Coupon Savings:			$1,310.88			Variance:		$2.38
Total Savings:			$1,325.88
Amount Paid (after rebates):			$297.62			Rebates Owed:		$15.00
Savings Rate:			81.67%			Amount Paid (exc. Rebates)		$312.62
February Spending & Saving Details
Date	Store	Shelf Cost	Coupons	Discounts	Rebates*	Total Savings	Amt Paid	Savings Rate	Comments
02/05/10	Food Lion	$6.06	$5.00			$5.00	$1.06	82.51%
02/05/10	BiLo	$116.87	$86.24		$15.00	$101.24	$15.63	86.63%
02/05/10	Ingles	$34.20	$30.00			$30.00	$4.20	87.72%
02/05/10	Publix	$109.18	$82.03			$82.03	$27.15	75.13%
02/07/10	Walgreens	$43.76	$42.98			$42.98	$0.78	98.22%
02/07/10	Walgreens	$16.48	$16.40			$16.40	$0.08	99.51%
02/07/10	Walgreens	$15.98	$15.25			$15.25	$0.73	95.43%
02/07/10	Walgreens	$53.06	$51.08			$51.08	$1.98	96.27%
02/07/10	Walgreens	$43.98	$43.58			$43.58	$0.40	99.09%
02/07/10	Walgreens	$16.48	$16.40			$16.40	$0.08	99.51%
02/07/10	Walgreens	$16.48	$16.15			$16.15	$0.33	98.00%
02/07/10	Walgreens	$25.36	$23.40			$23.40	$1.96	92.27%	3RR
02/09/10	Walgreens	$6.38	$4.50			$4.50	$1.88	70.53%
02/09/10	Walgreens	$12.38	$11.00			$11.00	$1.38	88.85%	3RR
02/13/10	BiLo	$80.69	$59.85			$59.85	$20.84	74.17%
02/13/10	Publix	$190.61	$152.44			$152.44	$38.17	79.97%
02/14/10	Publix	$56.04	$48.75			$48.75	$7.29	86.99%
02/14/10	Walgreens	$20.97	$16.48			$16.48	$4.49	78.59%
02/14/10	Walgreens	$11.46	$11.27			$11.27	$0.19	98.34%
02/14/10	Walgreens	$13.96	$10.18			$10.18	$3.78	72.92%
02/14/10	CVS	$74.98	$74.98			$74.98	$-	100.00%	20ECB
02/17/10	RiteAid	$15.98	$14.00			$14.00	$1.98	87.61%
02/19/10	FoodLion	$11.64	$7.37			$7.37	$4.27	63.32%
02/19/10	BiLo	$54.88	$37.74			$37.74	$17.14	68.77%
02/19/10	Publix	$187.09	$142.07			$142.07	$45.02	75.94%
02/21/10	CVS	$37.71	$37.19			$37.19	$0.52	98.62%	9ECB
02/26/10	Target	$17.66	$17.00			$17.00	$0.66	96.26%
02/26/10	FoodLion	$21.61	$15.20			$15.20	$6.41	70.34%
02/26/10	BiLo	$71.60	$44.78			$44.78	$26.82	62.54%
02/26/10	Publix	$124.17	$87.60			$87.60	$36.57	70.55%
02/27/10	Walgreens	$12.98	$6.98			$6.98	$6.00	53.78%	5RR
02/28/10	CVS	$38.54	$38.09			$38.09	$0.45	98.83%	5.50ECB
02/28/10	Walgreens	$33.40	$20.90			$20.90	$12.50	62.57%
02/28/10	Walgreens	$17.97	$15.40			$15.40	$2.57	85.70%
02/28/10	Walgreens	$12.91	$8.60			$8.60	$4.31	66.62%	5RR

I am happy I was able to stick to my budget, but slightly disappointed.  Let me tell you why.  It was easy for me to stick to $75 per week.  I actually was fairly lazy about half this month with putting together my lists and really trying to keep my totals down.  I haven't really moved any closer to my ultimate goal.  What I would like to see happen is to stick to $50 at the groceries and around $10 max at the drugstores each week.  I know that I can do that.  It's just going to take some extra figuring.  The reason I'd like to get it down that far is that my allowed budget is $75 per week.  So if I only spend $60, that's $15 left over.  I'm thinking that $15 per week extra could really come in handy over time when I need to buy a gift or someone needs a meal or when I want to buy a bottle of wine to have with a special dinner or ???  It would be nice and less burden to the rest of our budget if I already had that money set aside.  I'm excited for the challenge and it makes me feel like a contributor to our family's finances.  I think the main obstacle to my success is that I say "yes" to too many good things!  I see this in other areas of my life too from time to time.  So I'm going to rein it in a bit, heighten my focus and push forward to the goal.  Hopefully March's savings tracker will be a lot closer to what I'm aiming for.