2010 Savings Tracker :: Southern Savers

2010 Savings Tracker

Posted on Dec 31 2009 | By Jenny · Comments

Many of you have asked for a way to track your savings in 2010. I use a spreadsheet that I found on a coupon site that is no longer maintained. It is very overwhelming at first to look at, but it is very simple. All you need to do is plug in how much spent and how much you saved for the week and it does everything else for you. (Just mess with the boxes that are green).

Click here to download. (It’s in an Excel spreadsheet).

For those of you that aren’t spread sheet or math folks here’s how to quickly calculate your savings each week:

1. Add together the amount that you spent for all receipts
2. Add together the total amount saved (usually at the bottom of all receipts)

3. Add Total Spent and Total Saved together to get the total Value
4. Divide Total Saved by the Total Value, multiply that by 100.

You have the percentage saved for the week!

Share and Enjoy:

Categories : Extreme Couponer 101, General

Kimgrich

Awesome, thanks!

chele17

Hi, I have never kept track of my spending and thought I would this year! I have a question , if i could record ALL my receipts instead of adding them up for the week. I go to different stores. Any comments would be great!!TIA

Chris

I am so thankful for your site. I just saw this spreadsheet tonight and will use it immediately! I have been recording each transaction separately! There are other sites which charge for the services you provide for free, so congratulations to you....

Chris

Patti

Q. With the spreadsheet, what day of the week is it supposed to end on? a Friday? a Sunday?

Emory Tetter

that was actually a KO...he just came to real quickly after...

Maranda

I must be totally dumb, I have Open Office and it works fine for other things. I clicked on Jenny's link for the tracker. It downloaded I opened it and it is stuck in Read Only, I can't do anything. What did I do wrong because I don't see any options

Anne-Marie

Would it be fair to calculate my savings from one store vs another store?

For example: McCormick Salad Toppings are $1.42 at Walmart & they are approx. $2.42 at Publix. When they are not on sale at Publix & I do not have a coupon (haven't found one for them yet), and I buy them at Walmart, would it be fair to log my savings between those two prices?

I'm probably over thinking this, but I want to track and present my savings accurately over this next year.

Sue

I would not count this because it has nothing to do with sales or coupons. It is simply comparison shopping.

Michelle

Jenny,

How do you account for rebates in this tool? I just spent 11.91 at Publix and my savings was 17.17. I am getting a $15 rebate.

Thanks!

PS I am tempted to just wait until the end of the week and subtract the $15 from the total spent.

Jenny

That's excetly what I do. I account for them that week. Mainly because when the rebate does come in I have no idea what week the items were purchased in!! So going back and entering is impossible. I know it's counting your chickens before they hatch but I only mess with the rebates I know I'm getting back!

Ashley

I just love you more and more each day Jenny! This is fabulous! I love it!

kathi

Does anyone have any idea on how to construct a spreadsheet to show "actual $ spent" and fuelperks earned? I "think" I earned between $8 and 20 worth of gas just from my buying turkeys, coupons and shopping on "double fuel perks" last month (plus the others that were earned through cash $ spent). It was really cool to see the look on dh's face when he went to fuel up the minivan (which was running on fumes) for our holiday trip to visit out of state relatives and it cost $13 to fill it!

My New Year's goal is to spend the majority of our grocery $ when we can get double (or otherwise spare--like when they were offering .10 for purchasing a turkey) fuelperks. But I haven't figured how to track that.

heather

Kathi/
where are you getting fuel points?

Cynthia

Bi-Lo has a fuelperks program, which is what I'm sure she's talking about.

Allison

This is great! Thank you so much for putting this together!

Tambry

Jenny,
I have a question for you. Regarding drugstores, when do you apply the RR or ECB? For example if I purchase the free electrasol this Sunday at Walgreens and spent out of pocket $1 and earned $1 in RR = FREE. But wouldn't the $1 register reward shown on a future reciept be a bookkeeping nightmare?? If I then applied the $1 RR to say a gallon of milk. Thank you for sharing your wisdom with all of us!

Heather

I would love to track my savings and most stores do put that at the bottom but what about Walmart? Their regular prices are similar to the store prices where I shop. I don't shop Walmart often, maybe about once a month, but I would like to be able to track this as well. Thanks!

Damien B

Just realized that when you change the date, it updates all the way down... did not even realize you could do that... though it is a simple enough of a formula.

I set my week ending to Tuesday because Publix and Winn-Dixie are my main grocery stores to shop and their flyers end on Tuesday... made sense to me anyway.

Lana

:-D I am smiling hugely. Ha! My hubby is "totally" in to spreadsheets for everything...so I figure I will give this a try. :-) We only started couponing a few months ago...and are still amazed at the difference it has made! :-) I will enjoy seeing how much I save.

Rachel

You are the bomb, Jenny!

Mindy

Ok well, I just downloaded this and I don't have Excel. I have Microsoft Works Spreadsheet. Do you know anyway for me to convert this so it will save? I've tried to copy and paste, but that's not working either. I'm bummed now!!!

LoveCouponsMoni

If you go to openoffice.org you can d/l a program that is similar to Word/Excel that you can use. The Open Office Program is free. I have friends who have it and swear by it (I have Word/Excel so I don't need it).

~Moni

Sue

Check out www.openoffice.org. It is a free software program that is compatible with Microsoft Office. I used to use it. You have to download the software, but then it works basically the same as Office.

Amy

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, SUE! I needed this program sooooooo bad! You are a blessing! : )

Sue

You're welcome! Glad that I culd help.

Mindy

Jenny, Thanks for all you do! I found your site a couple months ago and I can't wait to track this next year to see what I save. I hope you have a prosperous New Year!

Lauren

Love, love, love the spreadsheet! I tweaked it a bit to suite my needs, but that was soooo much easier than creating one from scratch. Can't wait to see the savings start adding up. Thanks so much for posting this.

LoveCouponsMoni

Am I the only one having issues opening this on my computer? I have d/l this file 6 times and tried different ways to open but I still can't get it. Can anyone email this to me? Thanks in advance.

Moni

Sue

Do you have Microsoft Office or equivalent software on your computer?

LoveCouponsMoni

Hi Sue, yes I do have Microsoft (Excel, Word etc) and cannot understand why it won't open. I can open up every other file. *frown* I want a neato spreadsheet too.... *smile*

Sue

When you download the file, are you clicking on "open" or "save"? I clicked on "open" and once it was opened, I saved it. I don't know what else you could try. HTH

LoveCouponsMoni

Thank you and I much appreciate. My email is stillsingleinnc@yahoo.com Thank you.!!!!

Moni

Sue

I will email it to you if you'd like to give me your address. Maybe you can open it that way.

LoveCouponsMoni

*sigh* I tried both ways each way I get a different error problem. When I save to my computer then try to open (from the location where it is saved) I get "cannot locate file verify location) when I open via the open I get "association file" issues (wanting me to find an alternate program to open the file.

Thanks for your help. I appreciate - Hope you have a fantastic Savings 2010.

jj

2009 was not a banner year for my household, but one bright spot was finding your website Jenny...

THANK YOU!!!!

And here's to a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2010 for us all!

Sue

I like this sheet, but added columns to the right to split my "card or sale savings" and my coupon savings. This way I know exactly what I saved with coupons and what I saved with store sales.

kathi

LOL I did the same!

Helen

YES...!!! Thanks so much, I've been racking my brain trying to find a method that will work since March. HAPPY NEW YEAR! Hope we all blessed greatly with amazing saving this next year. I know with your help Jenny we are well on our way. Thank you!

Debbie

I am new to couponing, and Excel, and looking forward to using this spreadsheet, but I have a question. When I downloaded it, it already had numbers filled in. Did I do something wrong? Thanks for any help, and thanks to Jenny, you are such a blessing to our family.

Sue

No, you did not do anything wrong. Replace the numbers with your own. You can delete them all at one time or do it as you go through the year. Make certain that you save it on your computer.

Sarah

And be sure not to delete the formulas!!

Damien B

Thank you so much for this. I always love a good spreadsheet... I have a simple one that I made up for my budget/ savings and now I can have one to track how much I am saving on my grocery bills so sweet! It will be nice to look back and see how much I have saved over the course of a year.

Peg

Thank you so much!! I was telling my husband yesterday that I needed to formulate a spreadsheet so I can track my savings for 2010. You saved me some time.....and money of course!

Chantelle

I like this spreadsheet and may try to use it this year. 2009 was the first year that my DH and I used Quicken instead of a spreadsheet for all of our finances....(he's an accountant and I guess my spreadsheet just wasn't high tech enough for him!) I was just looking over my grocery expenditures for 2009 compared to 2008 and I'm very pleased! in 2008 I spent $9237 for groceries, but in 2009 I spent $7477 for groceries! That is a $146 per month difference! I have always used coupons and sales, but not to the same degree since starting to follow SouthernSavers in April or May. I plan to make 2010 an even better year for my grocery spending and I'm starting out on the right foot b/c I'm really well stocked on many items that we eat regularly! Thank you, Jenny for all your efforts on this site to help us!

Tabitha

This really does look great Jenny!! I'm so looking foreward to using it and *trying* to keep up with my savings! :)
Thanks for everything!!

Traci M.

Thanks so much for letting us 'borrow' your spreadsheet ! Have a great new year 2010 ! I can't wait to show everyone our savings at the end of the year !!!!

Bridget

Thank You SO MUCH!! I have friends who want to know if the time I spend planning and clipping coupons really pays off. When I can show them how much I "get paid" for my time, I know I can convert them :)

Kim

This is great. I started one on my own - but didn't do so well. I also didn't do so well in the first week of shopping that ends 1/1/10 - but, it will be good to see it add up over the year. I figured I saved between $500 and $600 last year off of what we had been spending and I didn't start until late summer. I also didn't do as good of job at stockpiling as I should have - still figuring it all out, but oh so thankful for you and for this website.

Hey - any amount saved that we can put towards bills or in the savings or a treat for the family or others is well worth it!

Happy New Year and God bless you.

MiniMidgMom

Thanks, this will be fun to track!

frugalapolis

Thanks so much for your great site, and now this tracker. Have a great 2010.

Dena

This is fabulous! THanks a bunch! I look forward to seeing the fruits of my labor!!!!!

Amy

THANKS! I was going to do this anyway on my own. You gave me yet another great time-saver! WE LOVE SOUTHERN SAVERS!!!

Leigh Ann

Sa-weet!! Thanks! I think I will do 2 sheets. One for grocery stores and one for drugstores!

Damien B

You can do it in the same spreadsheet document if you want by copying and pasting to another tab.

Shelly

I actually made a separate page for each store I shop at!

Sarah

I'm thinking about doing that too... we'll see how long I keep that up, it may get too overwhelming. I really want to see where I'm saving the most money though!

Beth B

love this - thanks for sharing!!

Amanda

Thanks Jenny, that's awesome. I can't wait to keep track to see how much I save over the course of a year. I wish I had started tracking it this time last year to see the total we've saved!

Shelly

Thanks for posting! Was going to make hubby make one of these tomorrow! He will be happy!

Kristy

I am with everyone!! I can't wait to use this!! We are also doing Dave Ramseys program so this would be a great addition! Jenny you ROCK!!

Michelle

I just wanted to add in a big pat on the back for all of you trying to be debt free. My husband and I have a mortage and one car note....we were able to eliminate all other debt four years ago and have remained without debt (other than the two I mentioned) and it is AMAZING. We budget, budget, budget and now I am able to stay home with my 1 year old. GOOD LUCK!! it is so worth it in the end...

Malinda

Hey Kristy! My husband and I are doing the Dave Ramsey plan too. I will pray for you in your "Total Money Makeover."

Kristy

Thanks Malinda!! We are excited!! Good luck on yours! Its good to know that there are other people doing the same thing we are!

JC

Us too! We're going to try Dave's TMM and see if we can't knock out our debt. Good luck to you guys. Here's hoping for that "We're debt free!" scream from each of us.

Cherith

Best wishes to all of you who are working through the TMM. My husband and I just paid off our final student loan in November and being debt-free is an AMAZING feeling!! Once you are there I am certain you will never go back to any kind of debt! Keep it up, girls, it is WORTH IT!!! I wish I had found coupons (and JENNY) when we started! :-)

Carrie

Yeah! This is just what I needed. I was getting really frustrated trying to keep all my receipts. They weren't serving any good purpose but I felt like I should keep them for some type of tracking. I already use Excel so it's not overwhelming. I'm with Beth, I also can't wait to start my first full year and see what I save!

Tiffani

Do you include your drugstore purchasing in this spreadsheet or just groceries?

Damien B

I think I might create a separate spreadsheet for drugstore purchases so you can track your groceries in one and your drugstore purchases in the other. All you have to do is copy and paste the spreadsheet into the extra spreadsheet tab on the bottom... and if you know how to create a chart, then you can even create another chart for your drugstore stuff.

Jason P

You don't even have to copy the spreadsheet, just "save as" and name it something else.

Carrie

I think that would be up to you. I'm going to keep everything in it because it all comes out of the same funds allocated in my budget. If you have a separate category in your budget for drugstore items, you may want to keep a separate spreadsheet, but the items you buy there really do bleed over into grocery type items so it might be a bit confusing.