Frugal Friday....the Jan. 10th Edition on Saturday

Here are our frugal wins for this past week....

*  I love finding marked down foods at Kroger(this really doesn't happen at Walmart). I found some salads this past week. And I did a little Ibotta shopping for the food bank too. 8-)

*  We also had no food waste last week.   

* I cashed out a total of $75.00 from ShopKick.  Don't even ask about the massive Old Spice Deodorant debacle over there.

*  We bought gas at Kroger, using my points, when possible.

*  Entertainment last week was free tv, doing genealogy or reading.

* I changed Part D providers for 2025 since I was getting raped by United Healthcare with their insanely high premiums.  On a similar note I filled my Humira Rx so I am now in the Catastrophic Phase and now all my drugs will be free for the remainder of 2025.(It's truly sad that this one drug is so expensive that 1 fill puts you in the Catastropohic Phase.)

*  I found money! 

I found a dime at Kroger on 1/3/25.

Then we went to Walmart later that same day, 1/3/25, and I found another dime.

I guess having to bend over and pick up money keeps me limber. lol

We are off to a good start.

Grand Total Found this Year....... .20¢

That's all I got.

Any frugal wins in your neck of the woods?  Let's hear all about them!

Sluggy 

Grocery Hacks

 Tips on how to save $$$ on groceries............

Let us hear what you do to save on groceries,

Sluggy

Can't Finish Right Now

Here's my sister in-law wearing a turkey hat.

And here's my brother with his ginormous NC Tarheels Game Day Finger.  Bonus points because it's pink. lol  He was born in NC so we call his a Tar Heel. 

I try to give a gag gift at Xmas among the real presents,

                                                         

I want to get my Income & Spending Report done for December and for the end of the Year 2024.

Except I can't right now.  I still have an outstanding bill for December so I can't close out the monthly or the yearly spending.

I'll give them another week and then I'll go ahead and close out the month and year and then that bill will be applied to the January 2025 spreadsheet.

I'll see what else I can do in the meantime.

Sluggy

Food Spending.....the December 2024 Report

Onward to December's Food Spending Report.....

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for December 2024.

I have posted December's totals on the Total Grocery Savings Page located  and have updated the Totals there. 
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in December.  If you aren't interested in that much detail, just skip to the bottom for the Totals Sum.  My spending includes Food, Toiletries/HBA, Cleaning Products, Paper Goods, Pet Food. We are a family of 2(and 2 dogs).
****************

ALDI

OOP  $65.18

Sales  $

Value  $98.97

Savings  44.14%

DOLLAR GENERAL

OOP  $18.75

Value  $38.55

Savings  51.36%

KROGER

OOP  $201.90

Qs/Gift Cards  $217.20

Value $419.10

Savings  51.83%

PUBLIX

OOP  $29.74

Value  $54.84

Savings  45.77%

WALMART

OOP  $189.02

Qs/Gift Cards $88.54

Value  $277.56

Savings  31.90%

********************
My best Store Savings Total was at Brookshire's with a savings of 57.88%.  My worse rate was at Super 1 Food with 16.53%.  Not a bad savings rate average overall though.

I shopped at 5 different stores in DECEMBER.  

TOTAL Spent in December......$432.66

TOTAL Coupons/Sales/Gift Cards....$424.52

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased.....$856.88

TOTAL Savings of........50.49%

This closes out the December food/toiletries/etc. spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month....Nice job this month.  Spent a lot but got some good deals and lots of savings.

The Monthly food spending savings percentage went UP by 18.33% in December to 50.49% compared to November's 32.16% savings average.  

Since we have an adequate income and food should be a pleasure in life(no way am I going to eat unseasoned rice and beans for my remaining days like some people-because I don't have to). I will buy quality food and pay the price at the register.  I may not like the price but I will deal with it.

With 12 months accounted for, I have spent a Total of $6,579.44 on groceries/HBA/paper goods/etc. in 2024.  Food prices have gotten to the ridiculous level, haven't they?

2024 Yearly Total Value of Items  $13,390.33

2024 Total Saved   $6,571.30

2024 Yearly Total Spent  $6,579.44

2024 Yearly Savings Total of  50.86%

The average per month amount spent is $548.29 in 2024 but that's before all the rebate monies are added in.

Remember that I withdraw all my cash rebate monies(Ibotta, Shopmium, TaDa, Checkout 51, Swag Bucks, My Points and other miscellaneous rebates-Aisle, Tremendous, Sampoll  etc. and have it sent to my Paypal)at the end of the year and add it back into my food budget, so at the end of the year my food spending will go down.  I don't add in all the cashed out savings until the end of the year,

The other savings apps like Fetch, Shop Kick, Kroger Cash Back that let us get free gift cards(or $ off your grocery total-Kroger Cash Back), those are added back in when I cash those points in along the way.  Alexa app gave me Amazon credit onto my account but I don't buy food on Amazon(sometimes I buy dog food there)so I really don't know how to count that and it's defunct now so I won't worry about that one bit.

Because I don't like to let money sit in these rebate accounts and Paypal, I send $$ to my bank account throughout the year.  I have sent $4,232.20 from various rebating programs and through Paypal to my bank.  If you add in all that my food spending at the 12 month point in 2024 comes in at $2,347.24 or $195.60 per month.

Besides all I sent to my bank account I have more $ sitting in these various rebating programs as well as in Paypal.  This is not counting Alexa, ShopKick or Fetch, which all comes out in gift cards or Amazon credit.

LOOKING AHEAD TO JANUARY 2025....

After we went through and organized the freezer, I am trying to eat down freezer/pantry in 2025 in preparation for our move away from here.

If you have other ideas or guidelines you follow please leave a comment and share your thoughts with us all.

*  How much did you spend on food/toiletries in December?

*  Do you track your yearly food spending?  It's really not that hard or time consuming; just keep your receipts and either track it in a notebook or on a spreadsheet.

*  What was your savings percentage buying on sale and/or with coupons versus buying at regular retail price last month, if you track that sort of thing?

*  What are your methods for keeping your food spending in check?

*  Is anyone out there up for tracking expenditures and trying to spend less but still eat well?

Sluggy

 

This Week + on The Dining Table....Dec. 15th to Dec. 29th

 The "Christmas Ornament" Edition........

Here is one of the splurge purchased I made during the After Christmas sales.  It's a Cheetos bag ornament.  When I was a kid I loved Cheetos.  Recently, Flavorwiki had me taste test Flamin' Hot Cheetos.  I have never been one for "hot" food so I don't know why they picked me to do that survey.  Do you want to guess whether I gave them the thumbs up or down? lol

Onward to the meal planning!

Here is what was planned for the last week I did a meal plan.....

1. Sunday--Cod, Squash and Onions

2. Monday--Cheeseburgers(bun optional), Leftover Green Beans

3. Tuesday--Whatever needs using up(soup, squash, green beans, etc.)

4. Wednesday--Whatever else needs using up

5. Thursday--?

6. Friday--?

7. Saturday--?

8. Sunday--?

9. Monday--?

10. Tuesday--Fajita Bar at friend's house

11. Wednesday--Turkey

12. Thursday--?

13. Friday--Cracker Barrel

14. Saturday--Chili's

15. Sunday--?

And here's what actually happened....

1. Sunday--Cod, Squash and Onions

2. Monday--Cheeseburger(no bun), Leftover 

Green Beans

3. Tuesday--Don't Remember

4. Wednesday--Used by what was left

5. Thursday--Cracker Barrel

6. Friday--Cracker Barrel

7. Saturday--Golden Corral

8. Sunday--Chick fil-A

9. Monday--Don't remember

10. Tuesday--Fajita Bar at friend's house

11. Wednesday--Turkey and lots of sides

12. Thursday--Standing Prime 

Rib, Salad

13. Friday--Cracker Barrel

14. Saturday--Chili's

15. Sunday--McDonald's

What got taken out of the freezer last week....

*  2 pieces of Cod

*  Hamburger Meat

*  2 Chicken Biscuits(breakfast)

What got put into the freezer last week....

*  Nothing  

                   

Last week we spent $227.37 grocery shopping.

There are 0 shopping days left in December.

Rebate monies earned in December.....

I've earned $201.96 on Ibotta in December.

I've earned $9.50 on Checkout51 in December.

I've earned $190.72 on Aisle, TaDa, SwagBucks, Flavorwiki, etc. in December. 

I've earned 7,760 points on Fetch from food shopping in December.

I've earned 17,925 points from food shopping on Shop Kick in December.($71.70)

I've earned 865 points on My Points in December.(not sure what the conversion rate is here)

That is $402.18 in rebates(not counting Shop Kick/Fetch/MyPoints where I earn gift cards or send $$ to my Paypal account and count it at the end of the year)on $432.66 of grocery spending so in reality it's $40.38 in food spending after the rebate apps I count. I now separate out the Food Bank donations and don't count those in the grocery spending(but I do count any rebates on those items) so it's a win/win--the food bank gets a large donation of goods and I get a lower grocery bill.

My savings percentage for the last week was 42.48% and the monthly savings total for 50.49%.

Leftovers going into next week.....nothing

Here is this week's food plan.....

1. Sunday--Zalads from Zaxby's(using gift card)

2. Monday--Cheeseburgers, saute Cabbage

3. Tuesday--Shrimp, Baked Sweet Potato Fries

4. Wednesday--TV dinners

5. Thursday--Pasta, Salad

6. Friday--Chicken Tenders, Veg TBD

7. Saturday--Pork Tenderloin Sandwich, Saute Yellow Squash

Nothing inspiring here.  Just trying to eat what is here,

What is getting fixed and served at your house this week?

Was last week's plan successful, did you go off plan or did you not even plan what was going to be eaten last week? 

Sluggy