I just received two questions from a Frugal Living reader and I thought it may be helpful to answer them on the site and also get your input. I will answer her second question in a later post.
photo by tj scenes
Rachael asks the question (paraphrased):
When do I know when to stop buying? It’s difficult to stop taking advantage of deals even when we don’t need the items. I especially enjoy giving our extra deals to others, but we need to get out of debt.
Great question! Here are my thoughts:
:: Set a monthly food & household budget and stick to it. I cannot stress this enough. Right now my budget is $265. My husband pulls that amount of cash from our bank account and I put it in the food & household envelope in my Dave Ramsey wallet. Once the money’s gone, I stop spending. If I have extra, I feel the freedom to stockpile a really great deal or to buy for other people or organizations.
When we first started spending money this way, it was difficult for me to know how to pace myself. If you’re just starting out with an envelope system, I suggest you split your monthly allotment into 4 weekly envelopes. This keeps you keep from spending it all in the first week and end up having no fresh food at the end of the month.
:: Cut your food & household budget back a little each month until you find a comfortable amount for your family. The longer you stockpile, the less money you will need to spend each month. This will help you keep your stockpile spending under control.
We started out at $400 a month and, as I stated, we’re at $265 now. We arrived at $265 over more than two years of budgeting, couponing and stockpiling. If I was still at $400, there would be WAY too much stuff in our pantry. That’s when stockpiling has the danger of turning into hoarding.
:: Set financial priorities and have these priorities guide every dollar you spend. I personally believe that giving to one’s local church comes first (if you’re a Christian) and then the next priority should be getting out of debt as quickly as possible. Cut your food & household budget as much as you can to free up money to pay down your debt. Once the debt is gone, reevaluate the budget and consider using extra money to give to others.
Until you are debt-free, take this challenge — only get the free stuff for a period of time (one month, three months, six months) and give those items away. You are still able to bless others while focusing on taking care of your family.
:: Realize that the honeymooon will be over soon. The first months of couponing and stockpiling is totally addicting. It’s so much fun to get as much for as little as possible. In the beginning, I used to go to Safeway and troll for clearance stickers three or four times a week.
After a while, I came down from the couponing high and now no longer feel the overwhelming compulsion to get every deal. There are some weeks that I don’t even go in a store. I let deals pass all the time.
The longer you’re in the game, the more confident you are in knowing which deals will come around again. Free toothpaste? That deal will be back soon. Free or cheap diapers? Oh, jump on that one immediately. You plan your week around free diapers.
What do the rest of you think? How do you “know when to say when?”
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I have taken my stockpiling a step further. I have donated so many items to charity because of the items I get for free or almost free. I now have a another stack of 200 plus boxes of cereal I got for free or almost free sitting in my office. I started selling my excess for $1.00 a box and have sold over 100 boxes in the past 3 weeks. The people buying the cereal feel they are getting a great bargain. If I keep this up, it will pay for all my monthly food budget.
I plan on stock piling and try selling my surplus in a garage sale for $1.00 each. I belive I can easily make $400 to $500. Couponing is my hobby and I think I can make a profit with it now.
Deborah
I have taken my stockpiling a step further. I have donated so many items to charity because of the items I get for free or almost free. I now have a another stack of 200 plus boxes of cereal I got for free or almost free sitting in my office. I started selling my excess for $1.00 a box and have sold over 100 boxes in the past 3 weeks. The people buying the cereal feel they are getting a great bargain. If I keep this up, it will pay for all my monthly food budget.
I plan on stock piling and try selling my surplus in a garage sale for $1.00 each. I belive I can easily make $400 to $500. Couponing is my hobby and I think I can make a profit with it now.
Deborah
I agree with you! I do the same thing in that i take the food money out and put it in an area of my purse and when it is gone it is gone. Because i am not spending as much i have some extra to spend when really good deals come around like the London Broil on sale at Safe way this week at $1.89 lb. I called ahead and asked them to grind 20 lbs into hamburger and then with the other few things i bought there i was able to use the $10 off $50 coupon and saved even more so the hamb was around $1.50 or so a lb!! Now i have a big upright freezer and can do that- i know not everyone has that. The hamburger is super lean too-the butcher told me it is around 5-6 % fat! Thanks for all you do to help everyone save money
I too was pretty addicted at the beginning, but I set a rule for myself: I’ll take anything for free, but I’ll only pay for something that my family would use. This helped me when I came across a great deal, but it wasn’t something my family would use. Even if it was only 25 cents, I wouldn’t do it. It has been hard at times, but I think it’s an important rule for me as I work at being a good steward of our money. And in the end, I still have a ton of extra stuff that I’ve been donating to various places!
Great post! I can totally agree with be addicted to getting Sweet deals at Albies/Safeway. I really work hard at sticking to my budget and negotiating with myself whether it’s worth getting or not or if I need it.
Christina
I can totally agree with what you’re saying! When I first started couponing I was going out right away to get all the great deals, but found I was buying stuff that was a bargain but not useful for me. I have recently become better at picking the ones I really can use and afford, and skipping the ones I don’t need. I really appreciate you guys continually reminding us to stick to our budget. Thank you!