60%

This post will be about couponing: a new and developing hobby.

Different people say different things about savings. Everyone has their own system of math to explain what they're doing.

Some people speak in terms of how much they save  a month. "Last month, I saved $540!"
Some determine the average prices. If they had a buy 3, get 1 and the three were $4 each, they see it as getting 4 items for $12 and say, "I got them for $3 each!"
Some refer to entire prices. "I got all this for $20!"
Some speak in freebies. "Of the 34 items, I got 18 FREE!"
Some people add in the ONYO (On Your Next Order). For example, if you buy 5 salad dressings for $1 each and get a printout at the register for $1 ONYO, they say, "I got the dressings for $0.80 each!" because they calculate the future savings.

There's no right or wrong way to describe savings. Truth be told, we are all excited when we get a deal! However, I've been calculating my savings by percentages. The stores do the hard part that way. For every receipt, there's a total that you pay. Most companies also have a line of: "You Saved: $X.XX Today!" Meijer breaks it down further with store savings, coupon savings, etc.

Last night, we did 6 orders at Krogers/Scotts. We are fortunate to have three stores within five or so minutes of one another. So, the hubs did one order and I did another at each store. Of the five receipts I could find, we spent $80 and saved $145. That gives a savings of about 64% provided my math is correct. I also got $30 in ONYOs to spend next shopping trip.

Today, I went to Target and Meijer with Merri. I did one order at each store. Target's savings were 57%. (From what I can tell, Target does not calculate pre-sale prices in it's savings calculation.) Meijer's savings were 61%. At Meijer, I got a $5 ONYO.

So, I'm right around 60% in savings. I'm okay with that. And, as we are starting to stockpile, we're spending the same amounts as before, or maybe a little more, but as we get to the place where we're buying simply for sales, not for necessity, I forsee the spending decreasing.

But for now, I'm going to refer to savings by percentages. It makes the most sense to me.