The curse of GREAT coupons

So you know, I wanted to start off the year with a very very limited budget for food. $70 a week. I had really allocated $600 a month in the budget but really said $100 would be more than generous, $70 would be ideal. I have YET to do it. I have still not set my mind to the task at hand. Wants vs Needs. The story of my life. The story of everyones life probably. The thing that is really really throwing me off my course is all these great coupons out there. Really, it should not be a problem, but it is. I feel like I HAVE to use these coupons, combined with a sale (regardless of whether it’s a great sale, and I really need it for stocking purposes). Here’s an example. I have a coupon that I printed off online for $1.00 off Pam. Publix also has a store coupon for $1.00 off Pam. Use the 2 together & I get $2 off. That leaves me 99 cents to pay. Honestly, a great deal. BUT if I do this for 20 things that I don’t NEED right now, then I’m $20 over on my $70 goal. This is what I’m dealing with. Gatorade. 32 oz bottle. I can pick it up for 45 cents a bottle with sale & store coupon. I’ve bought 10. $4.50 plus tax. Which of course, once the teens & hubby see 10 bottles sitting there, they drink it like water. HELLO?! This is to be used as NORMAL, not a free for all because there’s a lot of it!!! I got my American Express bill today. There were a few things on there that I had forgotten I put on to save the cash for taxes in December. I went from being confident and comfortable money wise this month to holy sh*t it’s going to be tight after all. Here I was all excited that my paycheck would have almost $100 a more per pay period (accountant discovered that I was not set up for correct twice monthly payroll but as a bi-weekly which made a huge difference) and I had planned on just moving that $200 a month right into savings. NOT THIS MONTH. Crap. Then I look at the stock market. And I look at the retail sales. And I start to feel a twinge because I contributed to the decline of holiday spending this year. Yeah. I know. Be proud. But it’s hard when the economy is tanking based on a few of these reports. Ok. Need to shake my head to clear it of all this clutter swirling around. Whew. Oh. There is some ‘good’ news. My office seems to be getting a little busier. Got 2 purchase contracts in yesterday and a refinance on Monday. 2 refinances also are pending. If I could get them all closed this month that would be an additional $375 (minus taxes) for the month. That would be nice. But I doubt it will happen that way.

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