I can’t tell you how many emails I get from all of you asking me how you should start saving money. Obviously I have tons of ideas for you. But here is the thing – before you start really saving money, you have to evaluate where you have been and where you want to go. I know that examing our past financial situations choices is sometimes a bit discouraging. Once you honestly examine your situation and assess what led you to that situation (be it job loss, overspending on credit cards, lack of budgeting, etc) your situation can only improve. I promise! If you really focus on what brought you to the place you are in right now, and once you start to change your habits and financial choices, you will see improvements!
I’m a big fan of setting goals. Many of you know that I’m a runner. I’ve run two full marathons, over 10 half marathons and countless 5 and 10ks. Knowing this, you probably assume that I’ve been an athlete all my life. Truth is, I was never an athlete until three years ago. Three years ago, I realized that I needed to make some serious changes to my life. The combination of overeating, a slowing metabolism and zero exercise was wrecking havoc on my life. So, I made some drastic changes. It started with signing up to do the 3 Day Walk for Breast Cancer with my mom. I trained for that walk during the balmy and humid Florida summer. Have you ever tried walking 16 miles in the middle of August? That would take 4 hours – it was horrible! But I trained because I had a goal set forth in front of me and I wanted to meet it. After the 3 Day Walk, I realized that if my body was capable of walking 60 miles in 3 days it could probably run a full marathon. So, I immediately signed up for a full marathon (not ever running) and started training for the full marathon. What is the common theme here? Before setting my goal of doing the 3 Day Walk or of running a marathon, I had to assess where I was. Once I started making positive changes and seeing improvements, I realized the sky was the limit towards what I could accomplish. Same thing for couponing and saving money.
So, here are my steps to really start saving:
1) Honestly assess your situation. Determine what led you to the financial situation you are in? Start evaluating how you can make changes to your situation (cancel your cable tv, eat out less, start couponing, etc etc)?
2) Set goals. Why do you want to save money? Are you looking to put more money in savings, pay off debt, give more money to charities, set a good example for your children, get more groceries for your money, save for a vacation, etc? Determine what your goals are and write them down.
For myself and my husband, we had to start saving money out of a necessity – I was unemployed and my husband was self-employed. The combination led to a lack of secure paychecks. I would go to Publix and buy 2 bags of groceries and spend $100. We couldn’t afford to pay for the groceries we needed and I knew that I had to make radical changes in my shopping habits in order to feed us.
3) Once you set a goal, take baby steps to reach it. Don’t start trying to coupon and save money at each and every store. Instead, focus on one store. Then, once you master that store, add in another store. With baby steps, you won’t get overwhelmed and you won’t get burnt out.
Reader Feedback:
What goals do you give yourself for couponing? Why do you use coupons? Do you find that giving yourself goals are helpful?
Thanks for coming to Addicted to Saving! Here’s a little bit about me so you can know who’s behind all these posts!
My name is Liza and I began my money-saving journey in the Spring of 2009 as a way to stretch a limited household income. I had lost my job and my hubby was self-employed. I launched Addicted to Saving in November of 2009 and it has grown by leaps and bounds. Since then, my hubby and I have struggled with the ups and downs of two failed adoptions and are now LOVING being parents to our little man Asher who we brought home from Ethiopia in August of 2013. I feel incredibly blessed to be able to help you save money. My goal is that you will have FUN and become empowered to save more and more money each week..
My family has a set budget for EVERYTHING we buy. Half way through 2010 I realized we were spending $50-100 more than allocated EVERY month on groceries and it had to stop! Diapers were the #1 issue, but we needed a total overhaul since we couldn’t afford it to begin with AND were expecting another child.
My goal for 2010 was to save 50% on groceries by couponing. I could save more if I didn’t have to buy milk, formula and diapers. So far I have been saving 50-75%. I could also save more if I had my own car (I am not always able to make it to the store before a coupon expires that is a great match up with a sale). SO, my goal for 2011 is to buy more papers and create a larger stockpile so I can start putting money aside for a downpayment on a car. 🙂
I started using coupons when I used to work as a cashier at a supermarket that ever so often would offer triple coupons. Even though I was in my late teens to early 20s I still appreciated being able to save money!
I became a couponer approximately 10 months ago after discovering this site. What drew me to Addicted to Saving is the fact that Liza shopped at my local stores (Publix etc). I was amazed at the deals she got and realized that I was able to get these deals too.
I never really thought about having a goal but I would say that my main goal is just to save money and spend as little as I can on the things I need. Couponing has enabled me to sample new products that were free (or almost free)and build a stockpile of food and toiletries.
Thank you so much for all the trouble you go through to post the deals and links for coupons!!
So inspiring!! I assumed you had been a runner all your life, and it was nice to see you were not. I just started running a few years ago, and i’m currently training for a marathon. Have you ever done the Disney Marathon? That’s the one I’m going to do.
Anyway, truly inspiring story, thanks for sharing!
Amye! Sorry that I never responded to your question 🙂 The first full marathon I ran was the Sarasota Marathon and the second was the Disney. The Disney is a blast.. I actually ran the Disney half the year after because I had so much fun! I highly recommend it! Are you planning on running the 2012 marathon?