SAVING is the whole intent of a coupon shopper. So figuring out what is a good deal, and how much you are actually saving is something that you need to figure out early on.
There are a few ways to look at spending and savings. It sure does feel great to see "you saved $42.61" at the bottom of your cash register tape. But, if you spend $236.66 to save that, you may want to reevaluate your shopping list. There are THREE classical ways to look at savings, and to figure out how much you are REALLY saving.
FIRST, the percentage. If you saved $50.00 using coupons and sale prices, on a bill that was originally $100.00... your percentage savings is 50%. This is an easy example. I checked out at Walmart the other day, my total before coupons and sales was $167.28, I paid just $3.84. This was ALL tax. I saved 100% on merchandise. This was a GREAT trip.
SECOND, the per item savings. A lot of people will split their savings down, by unit. Walmart is one store that helps by giving you the price per unit right on the shelf tag. But how does this work? I got a package of Huggies at WalMart for $8.97, there were 27 diapers in the package. My original ppu (price per unit) was just over $0.33. I had a coupon for $3.00 off, brining my total to $5.97 for 27 diapers, my ppu was now just over $0.22. Knowing that anything under $0.25 per diaper is a GREAT price, I decided to stock up and get more diapers. This is easily done with most food, beauty, and home good items. Laundry soap, shampoo, single serve oat meal... they can all be figured down to ppu. This really starts to give you an exact idea of what a day in your life costs. If I know that I pay $0.22 per diaper, and change 10 diapers per day (I have 2 little ones) I can easily see that in JUST DIAPERS I am spending $2.20 per day! That is going to be a HUGE savings... in a week that is $15.40, and in a month $68.20!
THIRD, simple dollars saved. A lot of beginners simply like to see that when they leave the store, they still have money left in their pockets. I always recommend that "newbies" go shopping with only a certain amount of CASH with them. If you are over budget, this will force you to put items back. This helps to keep you on track with buying only what is on your list. When you start with $50.00 in your pocket, and leave with $5.00 left, you will be happy. Week after week, that $5.00 can grow into more and more savings, while getting more and more for your money.
Figuring out what you saved is simple, but you have to always use the same measurement to see if you are finding the best deals or not. My personal favorite is using a price book, and while in the store using ppu (which is why many people carry calculators with them while shopping). When I get home and look over my savings, I prefer to use a percentage outlook. So... before/while shopping it's ppu, after I use percentage. For me, this works. I like knowing that each item I buy is a great deal, and then I love getting home and seeing my percentage savings!
