diff --git a/cmd/generate/codeowners/codeowners.go b/cmd/generate/codeowners/codeowners.go
index 2f4bbdc..f2ad82b 100644
--- a/cmd/generate/codeowners/codeowners.go
+++ b/cmd/generate/codeowners/codeowners.go
@@ -36,7 +36,8 @@ type Options struct {
 	// telemetry for capturing CLI events via PostHog
 	telemetry *utils.PosthogCliClient
 
-	config *config.Spec
+	config           *config.Spec
+	configLoadedPath string
 }
 
 const codeownersLongDesc string = `Generates a CODEOWNERS file for a given git repository. The generated file specifies up to 3 owners for EVERY file in the git tree based on the number of lines touched in that specific file over the specified range of time.
@@ -102,7 +103,11 @@ pizza generate codeowners . --config /path/to/.sauced.yaml
 			opts.telemetry = utils.NewPosthogCliClient(!disableTelem)
 
 			configPath, _ := cmd.Flags().GetString("config")
-			opts.config, err = config.LoadConfig(configPath)
+			if configPath == "" {
+				configPath = filepath.Join(opts.path, ".sauced.yaml")
+			}
+
+			opts.config, opts.configLoadedPath, err = config.LoadConfig(configPath)
 			if err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
@@ -148,6 +153,7 @@ func run(opts *Options, cmd *cobra.Command) error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("could not build logger: %w", err)
 	}
 	opts.logger.V(logging.LogDebug).Style(0, colors.FgBlue).Infof("Built logger with log level: %d\n", opts.loglevel)
+	opts.logger.V(logging.LogDebug).Style(0, colors.FgBlue).Infof("Loaded config from: %s\n", opts.configLoadedPath)
 
 	repo, err := git.PlainOpen(opts.path)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/cmd/root/root.go b/cmd/root/root.go
index 7b35e4a..bbf81ae 100644
--- a/cmd/root/root.go
+++ b/cmd/root/root.go
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ func NewRootCommand() (*cobra.Command, error) {
 	cmd.PersistentFlags().StringP(constants.FlagNameEndpoint, "e", constants.EndpointProd, "The API endpoint to send requests to")
 	cmd.PersistentFlags().Bool(constants.FlagNameBeta, false, fmt.Sprintf("Shorthand for using the beta OpenSauced API endpoint (\"%s\"). Supersedes the '--%s' flag", constants.EndpointBeta, constants.FlagNameEndpoint))
 	cmd.PersistentFlags().Bool(constants.FlagNameTelemetry, false, "Disable sending telemetry data to OpenSauced")
-	cmd.PersistentFlags().StringP("config", "c", "~/.sauced.yaml", "The codeowners config")
+	cmd.PersistentFlags().StringP("config", "c", "", "The codeowners config")
 	cmd.PersistentFlags().StringP("log-level", "l", "info", "The logging level. Options: error, warn, info, debug")
 	cmd.PersistentFlags().Bool("tty-disable", false, "Disable log stylization. Suitable for CI/CD and automation")
 
diff --git a/pkg/config/config.go b/pkg/config/config.go
index ed722c5..98ec6f6 100644
--- a/pkg/config/config.go
+++ b/pkg/config/config.go
@@ -9,55 +9,57 @@ import (
 	"gopkg.in/yaml.v3"
 )
 
-// LoadConfig loads a configuration file at a given path. It attempts to load
-// the default location of a ".sauced.yaml" in the current working directory if an
-// empty path is provided. If none is found, it tries to load
-// "~/.sauced.yaml" from the fallback path, which is the user's home directory.
-func LoadConfig(path string) (*Spec, error) {
-	println("Config path loading from -c flag", path)
+// LoadConfig loads a configuration file at a given path.
+// If the provided path does not exist or doesn't contain a ".sauced.yaml" file,
+// "~/.sauced.yaml" from the fallback path, which is the user's home directory, is used.
+//
+// This function returns the config Spec, the location the spec was loaded from, and an error
+func LoadConfig(path string) (*Spec, string, error) {
+	givenPathSpec, givenLoadedPath, givenPathErr := loadSpecAtPath(path)
+	if givenPathErr == nil {
+		return givenPathSpec, givenLoadedPath, nil
+	}
+
+	homePathSpec, homeLoadedPath, homePathErr := loadSpecAtHome()
+	if homePathErr == nil {
+		return homePathSpec, homeLoadedPath, nil
+	}
 
+	return nil, "", fmt.Errorf("could not load config at given path: %w - could not load config at home: %w", givenPathErr, homePathErr)
+}
+
+func loadSpecAtPath(path string) (*Spec, string, error) {
 	config := &Spec{}
 
 	absPath, err := filepath.Abs(path)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error resolving absolute path: %w", err)
+		return nil, "", fmt.Errorf("error resolving absolute path: %s - %w", path, err)
 	}
 
 	data, err := os.ReadFile(absPath)
 	if err != nil {
-		// If the file does not exist, check if the fallback path exists
-		if os.IsNotExist(err) {
-			// load the default file path under the user's home dir
-			usr, err := user.Current()
-
-			if err != nil {
-				return nil, fmt.Errorf("could not get user home directory: %w", err)
-			}
-
-			homeDirPathConfig, err := filepath.Abs(filepath.Join(usr.HomeDir, ".sauced.yaml"))
-
-			if err != nil {
-				return nil, fmt.Errorf("error home directory absolute path: %w", err)
-			}
-
-			_, err = os.Stat(homeDirPathConfig)
-			if err != nil {
-				return nil, fmt.Errorf("error reading config file from %s", homeDirPathConfig)
-			}
-
-			data, err = os.ReadFile(homeDirPathConfig)
-			if err != nil {
-				return nil, fmt.Errorf("error reading config file from %s or %s", absPath, homeDirPathConfig)
-			}
-		} else {
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf("error reading config file: %w", err)
-		}
+		return nil, "", fmt.Errorf("error reading config file from given absolute path: %s - %w", absPath, err)
 	}
 
 	err = yaml.Unmarshal(data, config)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error unmarshaling config: %w", err)
+		return nil, "", fmt.Errorf("error unmarshaling config at: %s - %w", absPath, err)
+	}
+
+	return config, absPath, nil
+}
+
+func loadSpecAtHome() (*Spec, string, error) {
+	usr, err := user.Current()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, "", fmt.Errorf("could not get user home directory: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	path := filepath.Join(usr.HomeDir, ".sauced.yaml")
+	conf, loadedPath, err := loadSpecAtPath(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, "", fmt.Errorf("could not load spec at home: %s - %w", path, err)
 	}
 
-	return config, nil
+	return conf, loadedPath, nil
 }
diff --git a/pkg/config/config_test.go b/pkg/config/config_test.go
index c0da2e6..8611f5e 100644
--- a/pkg/config/config_test.go
+++ b/pkg/config/config_test.go
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ attribution:
 
 		require.NoError(t, os.WriteFile(configFilePath, []byte(fileContents), 0600))
 
-		config, err := LoadConfig(configFilePath)
+		config, _, err := LoadConfig(configFilePath)
 		require.NoError(t, err)
 		assert.NotNil(t, config)
 
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ attribution:
 		tmpDir := t.TempDir()
 		nonExistentPath := filepath.Join(tmpDir, ".sauced.yaml")
 
-		config, err := LoadConfig(nonExistentPath)
+		config, _, err := LoadConfig(nonExistentPath)
 		require.Error(t, err)
 		assert.Nil(t, config)
 	})
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ attribution:
 		_, err := os.ReadFile(fallbackPath)
 		require.NoError(t, err)
 
-		config, err := LoadConfig(fallbackPath)
+		config, _, err := LoadConfig(fallbackPath)
 
 		require.NoError(t, err)
 		assert.NotNil(t, config)