Savings Tracker Manual
Contents
1. PS 30 13 December 5 G 300 00 J 300 00 14 TOTALS 171 23 5184 8667 138 51 32 72 30 89 N 15 16 Note start by entering a monthly goal into the orange boxes This will automatically populate each monthly 17 tab There is nothing more you need to enter on this page it is all formula driven and will populate as you 18 enter your transaction activity on the monthly tabs For personal use only The Coupon Project 2010 Page 2 fa ARH tcr Working in your Monthly Tabs As previously mentioned there is a tab for each month of the year Let me show you how my January month looks with real data entered in Then I ll begin to break this down for you step by step Savings Rate Amount Paid exc Rebates 32 72 1 January at a Glance 2 Total Shelf Cost 171 23 Monthly Budget 3 Total Coupon Savings 51 84 Variance 267 28 4 Total Discounts 86 67 5 Total Savings 138 51 6 Amount Paid after rebates 32 72 Rebates Owed 7 8 9 Note you only need to enter data under the ORANGE column headers eer SPa amp Saving Dersis Savings Rate jEarn Credit Any comments a 12 4 Jan Albeitson S 3 S 4 57 60 50 Raincheck 13 4 Jan RiteAid 41 82 21 84 19 98 w 41 82 100 00 3 UP 14 4 Jan Safeway 33 10 3 50 17 69 21 19 11 91 64 02 3 OYNO 15 5 Jan Safeway 13 95 4 50 9 00 13 50 0 45 96 77 16 6 Ja2. 19 To determine shelf cost all I had to do was add 21 19 plus the amount I actually paid which was 11 91 like this Total Savings 21 19 Total Paid 11 91 Shelf Cost 33 10 Then I put 33 10 in the Shelf Cost figure For personal use only The Coupon Project 2010 Page 4 COWL or Other stores may be more challenging to determine My January 4 Rite Aid receipt for instance Here s how I determined the shelf cost of 41 82 Total Wellness Savings 19 98 Total Coupon Savings 12 00 Total Paid inc tax 9 84 Shelf Cost 41 82 Still other stores are just plain cheap to begin with They may not have sales but you know you re getting a discount Here in Western Washington Winco is a good example of this Depending on how picky I want to be I could estimate the shelf cost as compared to other area stores for the same items Or I could just assume that shopping at Winco is saving me at least 25 over area competitors Then I could simply add an extra 25 on top of what I paid to arrive at the shelf cost Bottom line there are a lot of variables here It s really up to you Most importantly be consistent If you decide to do the 25 markup for Winco s shelf prices make sure you do that on ALL Winco receipt entries Coupons I personally include ALL coupons in this category manufacturers stores and Catalina coupons I hope you just caught what I said Catalinas Register Rewards etc are trul
3. Explorer the 2007 version will want to download as a zip file To rememdy this either save it as a zip and reopen in Excel OR open using another browser such as Firefox or Chrome r like W 161 people like this Be the first of your friends Please note that if you are attempting to open the Excel 2007 version using Internet Explorer it will save it as a zip file You have two options at this point 1 Save as the zip file and then reopen as xlsx You may need appropriate software installed on your computer to open the zip file 2 Open the file using another browser such as Chrome or Firefox recommended How the Savings Tracker Works The Savings Tracker is a powerful Excel spreadsheet designed to give you an in depth picture of how your couponing is working for you All you need to do is 1 Set your monthly grocery budget for each month of 2011 2 Enter in key information from each related receipt grocery drugstore I have designed special formulas that will do all the rest for you In addition to seeing your monthly percentages you ll also get a year to date picture And more important you ll be able to see how much you re spending against your budget For personal use only The Coupon Project 2010 Page 1 fF AURRE ECT Setting your Grocery Budget The first most important step you will need to do is determine how much you want to set as your budget for each month in 2011 You will do this
4. by opening the Summary tab of your Savings Tracker To find the tab look at the very bottom of your spreadsheet Click on the tab that reads Summary 25 29 30 31 32 44 gt Dl oe Ready This tab is the place you will come when you want to get a quick picture of how you re performing year to date Enter your monthly goals in the orange column This will populate the monthly tabs in your spreadsheet This is the ONLY place you need to enter data on this page Everything else has been hard coded with a formula Repeat do NOT enter data into any of the other columns Here is how my spreadsheet looks As you can see I ve set a monthly goal of 300 a month for myself Don t worry so much if your goal is more or less than mine This is for illustration purposes only The other numbers that you see Those were automatically calculated for me as I began to enter data into my January tab A B C D E F G i IN J 1 UU Shelf Coupons Sales Rebates Savings My Price Savings Rate Goal Variance 2 January 6 171 23 51 84 86 67 13851 32 72 80 899 300 00 3 February 300 00 4 Marh E s j 300 00 5 April S 1 300 00 6 May Sa E s fg 300 00 7 June gt 300 00 8 July ai be S i 300 00 a August 8 3 3 1s 300 00 10 September E s j 300 00 11 October 300 C i 12 November
5. ve shared I personally just treat these as coupons Enter them when you redeem them You can either include them in your coupon totals as I do or in the discounts column Your overall savings rate will reflect how these have been working for you Can you help me with Excel Or my own personal tracker While I love Excel and love explaining how it works I simply don t have the time or ability to do this I hope you ll take the time to seek someone out that can provide in person one on one training What ts a good monthly budget to set I m new at this If you re not so sure what you should be spending start by figuring out what you already are spending Suppose you re spending 500 month but would like to reduce this to 300 month My suggestion is you graduate the goal down to avoid discouragement So for January March you might try to stick to 450 a month And then in April June shoot for 400 And so on The beauty of the Savings Tracker is you can update your budget numbers any time you wish from the Summary Page For personal use only The Coupon Project 2010 Page 10 CIUIN PROJECT Testimonials I love getting emails all the time about how you re using the Savings Tracker Here are a couple I got in my inbox recently I just wanted to say a great big THANK YOU for offering your Savings Tracker for us readers to download I downloaded this year to better my spending habits and really see how coupons ar
6. ARR 2011 Savings Tracker Manual The manual that follows is designed to help you make the most of your Savings Tracker To download a free version for Excel or Google Docs please visit www thecouponproject com Getting Started with your Savings Tracker You will need to save the version of choice to your computer by selecting the save button and then placing in the folder of your choice While I ve worked to make this as user friendly as possible please note simply o oin 5 for St do not have the resources AKA time to help provide personal Excel training 7 To search type and hit en Therefore do recommend a basic und File Download Do you want to open or save this file sa Name 2011SavingsTracker9703 xIs rl Type Microsoft Office Excel 97 2003 W et 1 05MB From thecouponproject com a V Always ask before opening this type of file Docs had a wonderful reader take th words can offer little to no support Once you ve clicked on the version ya location on your computer Feel free 2011 Savings Tracker Excel 2007 Versid While files from the Intemet can be useful some files can potentially Q harm your computer f you do not trust the source do not open or 2011 Savings Tracker Excel 97 03 Versi d savethis file What s the risk Savings Tracker 2011 for Googte Docs Please note that if you are using Internet
7. F G H January at a Glance 169 41 Monthly Budget 51 84 Variance S 267 28 S 86 67 138 51 IMPORTANT Make 32 72 Rebates Owed S sure you ve selected 81 76 Amount Paid exc Rebates 32 72 this cell before pasting the formula tta under the ORANGE column headers January Spending amp Saving Details Coupons Discounts Rebates Tax Total Savings Amt Paid Savings Rate Eag Edit S 60 S 200 S a S g S 7 00 4 57 60 50 Raincheck S 21 84 19 98 S 1 82 41 82 100 00 3 UP 6 Now that you have the corrected formula added all you need to do is auto drag it straight down to update all the formulas in the rows below it and across all the pages To do this hover your mouse in the lower right hand corner of the cell It will turn from a thick to a stick Alternately you can just hit copy on cell J12 and then paste on the cells below it Make sure to paste the formula down enough rows to cover all your transactions 7 Click on any tab other than a highlighted one to break the connection between all the tabs Now you should be able to enter data as usual and the correct info will display You re done Earn Credit The final column on the spreadsheet is earn credit This is more or less a note field So if you want to write that you earned a 5 Catalina or Gift Card and don t want to forget about it enter it There are no formulas tied to what
8. ROJECT Tax Back to our January tab you ll note there is a tax column I created this after receiving many requests for it Use it or not I personally do not need one more thing separated out so I simply include the tax in on my Shelf Cost column I figure I have to pay tax whether I pay full price or a Sale price so it s not something that particularly concerns me However if you would like to have your tax calculated enter it here You will need to make sure that you have NOT also included the tax in on your shelf cost total or the formula will not work correctly and the tax will be double counted Finally please note that on January 9 I caught an error in the Savings Rate that involved the tax column If you downloaded a version prior to January 10 and you use the tax field you will either need to download a correct version and copy and paste your to date January transactional data over or correct the formula yourself see Savings Rate section Total Savings This is a formula and you don t need to enter anything here This simply calculates your coupon discounts and rebates columns Savings Rate This is the percentage you saved on your trip Depending on how you enter your data it is possible your percentage may be a bit off from the savings rate that appears on your receipt if it does As stated above on January 9 I noticed that the tax column was throwing off the Savings Rate If you use that co
9. e helping my family My husband the critic of coupons was even amazed when I showed him that I d saved over 432 this month already spending 81 to purchase groceries medicines and even stock two shelving units of stockpiled groceries Not only has it been beneficial for me but it s helped my relationship with my husband because he can now see how my clipping and shopping sales is really helping our family I shared a link to your blog and the savings tracker on my site so that others can benefit from this great tool Thank you SO MUCH Samantha I just wanted to tell you a HUGE THANK YOU for the awesome google spreadsheet that you offered us on your blog OMG I love love love it I started using it this month and I am at a 75 44 savings so far for this month It s so easy to use I just enter in the receipt totals and it calculates everything for me It has helped me stay on track so far and not run after every single deal I find so that I can stay within my budget Thanks again for such a great tool Nanda For personal use only The Coupon Project 2010 Page 11
10. lumn and downloaded your copy prior to January 10 please either download a new version and simply copy and paste over the January information you d entered or simply correct the formula yourself If updating the formula I strongly recommend a decent understanding of Excel so I don t lose you To do this 1 Make sure to select all the January through December tabs This will make sure that you only have to make the correction ONCE To do this start at January s tab Then while holding your CTRL key click on each monthly tab Feb March April etc They should turn white as you press them 2 From any of the tabs head to the Savings Rate column aving Details Total Savings Amt Paid Savings Rate Earn Credit p S 7 00 4 57 Raincheck 82 41 82 100 00 3 UP S 21 19 11 91 64 02 3 OYNO 1250 Nn AS aA 77 For personal use only The Coupon Project 2010 Page 8 4 q COULLY PROJECT 3 Next copy the following formula IF C12 H12 SUM G12 C12 Mouse over to Savings Rate and click on cell J12 In the formula bar line up at the top paste the formula you just copied Because you have all months selected it does not matter which month you select and paste this to You will need to paste the formula into the formula bar and NOT the cell directly Here s how this looks Paste the formula into this bar at the top of the sheet oS D E
11. n QFC S 56 84 12 00 30 00 S 42 00 14 84 73 89 17 7 Jan Safeway 13 95 4 00 9 00 13 00 0 95 93 19 18 3 All the monthly tabs are identically designed and function in the same way All you need to do is make sure you are working in the correct tab for each month of the year Each sheet is divided into two sections At a Glance and Spending amp Saving Details At a Glance There is absolutely nothing you need to enter for this section I ve written formulas for each of the calculations If the 300 in the orange box looks familiar it s because it was automatically populated from the Summary tab When you entered your budget information there it sent that data directly to each of the monthly tabs In this section you ll quickly be able to see how much coupons and sales have saved you and how much money you have left in your budget for the month In addition you ll know what your overall percentage saved is so far for that month As of this writing I m right at 80 Not bad but then again all my trips have been stockpiling Once I add in some of my regular old grocery trips this number may drop a bit What I m more concerned with Staying within my budget Data from this section also feeds your Summary tab Click on that tab at any time to see how you re doing across months For personal use only The Coupon Project 2010 Page 3 yy ARH tor Spending amp Saving Details Here i
12. ons on regular retail prices may not yield the greatest possible savings rate Rebates This column is designed to be most effective if you simply enter any rebates you earn at the time you earn them Let s suppose my Rite Aid transaction had involved a rebate for 5 so I can illustrate how this would impact your Savings Tracker lt January at a Glance Total Shelf Cost 171 23 Monthly Budget Total Coupon Savings 51 84 Variance 272 28 Total Discounts 86 67 Total Savings 143 51 Amount Paid after rebates 27 72 Rebates Owed 5 00 Savings Rate 83 81 32 72 Amount Paid exc Rebates Note you only need to enter data under the ORANGE column headers January y penai amp eee Details 4 Jan Rite Aid s 41 82 2184 19 98 5 00 46 82 5 00 111 96 3 UP For personal use only The Coupon Project 2010 Page 6 yy AUELE ror Your total savings would now be increased by 5 And you see that the deal has turned into a money maker In the At a Glance section you ll see that you re owed 5 in rebates In the left hand column is a field for Amount Paid after rebates and in the right hand column is a field for Amount Paid exc Rebates so you can track both figures Please note that the variance field under your monthly budget includes rebates January at a Glance Total Shelf Cost 171 23 Monthl
13. s where the magic happens You will need your receipts handy to enter this information in First it s important to note you ONLY need to enter information where the column headers are orange date store shelf cost coupons discounts rebates tax earn credit Everything else is a formula Now you are going to enter your receipts in Each receipt gets its own line If you did 3 transactions at Walgreens you are going to enter each in on a separate line Note you only need to enter data under the ORANGE column headers January Spending amp Saving Details Store Cost Coupons Discounts R bates fax Total Savings Amt Paid Savings Rate Earn Credit 4 Jan Albertson 11 57 6 00 1 00 S S 7 00 4 57 60 50 Raincheck 4 Jan RiteAid 41 82 21 84 19 98 S e 41 82 100 00 3 UP 4 Jan Safeway 33 10 3 50 17 69 S S 21 19 11 91 64 02 3 OYNO 5 Jan Safeway 13 95 4 50 9 00 13 50 0 45 96 77 6 Jan QFC S 56 84 12 00 30 00 S 42 00 14 84 73 89 7 Jan Safeway 13 95 4 00 9 00 S 13 00 0 95 93 19 Date I hope that this should be pretty obvious It s the date on your receipt Store Where you made your purchase So far so good right Shelf Cost This is what you would ve paid had there been no sales or coupons Some stores make this easier than others to determine For instance at the bottom of my January AP Safeway receipt it reads total savings and then 21
14. t 2010 Page 5 yy AUELE ror Discounts Discounts is the broad sweeping category used to describe every sale promotion or savings other than coupons you may receive in a trip As mentioned above you might also wish to include in this category gift cards you ve earned from store promotions i e Target or Rite Aid Let s take a second look at my Safeway savings vote you only Neeg to enter gata unger tne URAINGE column neadgers ey ster amp sss DOLNA I 4 Jan Safeway 33 10 F ty Si Ss g 21 19 11 91 64 02 3 OYNO j 5 Jan Safeway 13 95 4 50 9 00 13 50 0 45 96 77 r 7 Jan Safeway 13 95 4 00 9 00 13 00 0 95 93 19 The second and third transactions involved buying fruit snacks that were priced on sale at 0 99 Normally these are 2 79 each The store was giving me a discount of 1 80 per box At 5 boxes that s a total savings of 9 In many instances as with Safeway that total discount amount might appear right on your receipt Look for words like Club Card Savings Store Discounts Wellness Savings etc Incidentally one of the things I noticed almost right away from tracking my spending and saving was how much more I was saving just by shopping sales Check it out clipping coupons saved me 12 on these three transactions but using them on store sales saved me an additional 35 69 This demonstrates why it s essential to combine sales with coupons Using coup
15. y Budget Total Coupon Savings 51 84 Variance 272 28 Total Discounts 86 67 Total Savings 143 51 Amount Paid after rebates G 27 72 Rebates Owed Savings Rate 83 81 Amount Paid exc Rebates EED Note you only need to enter data under the ORANGE column headers saten aoe amp eth Gerais 4 Jan Rite Aid 41 82 2184 19 98 5 00 46 82 5 00 111 96 3 UP As an added bonus to this spreadsheet you can find a Rebate Tracker tab at the bottom It s way to the right which means yovu ll have to scroll past December to find it annie Rebate Tracker This tab was created as a place for you to additionally track any rebates you may have submitted for You do not have to use it it s not an integral part to how the Savings Tracker functions It s just an extra feature available for your use All you need to do is enter the information in the Rebate Tracker box The At a Glance section will automatically populate with data for you Rebate Tracker At a Glance Total Number Rebates Submitted Total Amount Rebates Received Average Rebate Savings DIV 0 Note enter your information in the section below The above At a Glance data will automatically update for you Rebate Tracker Date Store Manufacturer or Store Rebate Amount Senton Received or Comments For personal use only The Coupon Project 2010 Page 7 OUAN P
16. y nothing more than coupons They have no value until you redeem them Unlike true rebate monies you cannot deposit them at your bank So when I redeem a Catalina I include it in that coupon total Let s look at my Safeway transactions in January vote you only Neeg to enter gata unger tne UAAINGE column neadgers Sibi Spending amp Saving Details Date Store Shelf Cost Ci Discounts Rebates Tax Total Savings Amt Paid Savings Rate Earn Credit L 4 Jan Safeway S 33 10 5 3 50 s 17 69 S S 21 19 11 91 64 02 3 OYNO 5 Jan Safeway 13 95 4 50 9 00 S 13 50 0 45 96 77 7 7 Jan Safeway 13 95 4 00 9 00 S 13 00 0 95 93 19 In the first transaction I earned a 3 Catalina coupon You ll notice I made note of it in the Earn Credit column at the far right more on this later But none of those savings were realized in that transaction In the second transaction I used 1 50 in manufacturer s coupons plus the 3 Catalina from the first transaction Therefore my coupon total for the second transaction is 4 50 In the third transaction I used 1 in manufacturer s coupons plus the 3 Catalina from the second transaction Why make this more complicated than it needs to be Treat Catalinas and Register Rewards as coupons and it suddenly becomes much simpler to track You could also treat store Gift Cards you earn this way or by entering them as a discount For personal use only The Coupon Projec
17. you enter here It s purely optional Beyond that column you could write notes about your transaction You can also make comments on individual cells by right clicking and then choosing Add a Comment All this is up to you For personal use only The Coupon Project 2010 Page 9 OUAEN PROJECT Information Regarding the Use of Savings Tracker Please understand that I have spent many many hours making the Savings Tracker as user friendly and robust as possible I also have intended it for personal use only I welcome and encourage you to share the Savings Tracker as you re able I would just ask you direct people to my site versus making the download available on yours If you teach coupon classes or have other ideas for how you might wish to share the Tracker please email me at thecouponproject hotmail com for permission first Finally I want you to know that the Savings Tracker is yours to modify however you wish If you wish to mess around with the formulas rename columns update colors etc you are completely welcome to do so once you ve saved it to your computer Frequently Asked Questions I regularly get emails about how to use the Savings Tracker Here are the questions that seem to come up quite a bit When I open the Tracker all I see is a Getting Started Page What s wrong You need to click on the tabs at the bottom of the spreadsheet How do I enter Register Rewards or Catalinas As I
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