Saturday, November 6, 2010

October Budget Results.....Food and Toiletries Spending



Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for OCTOBER 2010.
I have posted October's totals on the right side bar under Total Grocery Savings for 2010.

I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in October.  If you aren't interested in that much detail, just skip to the bottom Totals information.

These Totals include Food, Toiletries/HBA, Pet Supplies, Cleaning Products, Paper Goods & tax where applicable.We are a family of 5(4 at home this month)& 2 dogs. No kids under 14.

BAKERY OUTLET
OOP $11.89
Value $64.66
Savings  81.61%

BIG LOTS
OOP  $33.46
Value  $57.00
Savings  41.30%

CARONE'S(small local independent store)
OOP  $75.47
Qs/Ads  $51.91
Value  $124.42
Savings  39.35%

FAMILY DOLLAR
OOP  $10.00
Value  $19.00
Savings  47.40%

FARMSTAND
OOP  $32.70
Value  $84.60
Savings  61.35%

FOOD LION
OOP  $16.88
Qs/Ads  $11.07
Value   $27.95
Savings  39.60%
PRICE CHOPPER(Northeast)
OOP  $77.85
Qs/Ads  $207.06
Value    $284.91
Savings  72.68%

REDNER'S
OOP  $83.92
Qs/Ads  $115.20
Value  $199.12
Savings  57.86%

RITE AID
OOP $9.30 after cash refunds(whole amount put on Rite-Aid Gift Cards)=$.00 actual OOP
Qs/Ads  $1,094.06
Value  $1,103.36
Savings  99.16% before gift cards/ 100% savings after free gift cards

SAV-ALOT
OOP  $25.97
Qs/Ads  $20.29
Value  $46.26
Savings  43.86%

TURKEY HILL MINIMART
OOP   $2.96
Value  $2.96
Savings  0%

WEIS (local chain Grocery store that doesn't take IP Qs in my town)
OOP  $31.60
Qs/Ads  $10.65
Value  $42.25
Savings   35.21%


I don't track CVS's ECBs & Walgreen's RRs. They will be included when used on purchases under "Coupons".   I'll keep track of what rebates are received monthly.  Rebate money/gift cards will be considered 'income' & will go into the Food/Toiletries budget, offsetting the Out of Pocket. Cash will go immediately into the Budget kitty, while Gift Cards will be calculated in when spent.

REBATE CHECKS RECV'D. IN SEPTEMBER
Home Depot/Behr Paint Rebate....$20.00
P&G/Back-to-School Olay Rebate....$10.00
Pinecone Research....$6.00
Rite-Aid SCR....$30.99
Visine Maximum Redness TMF Rebate...$5.83
Subtotal........$72.82


GIFT CARDS and CERTIFICATES
Rite-Aid Oral Care.....$10.00
Rite-Aid Kimberly/Clark....$10.00
Staples (Giveaway win)...$25.00
Subtotal....$45.00

TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received...$117.82

COUPONS and FREEBIES
Advil.....Free Item Q
Cottonelle Wipes....Free Item Q
Greeting Cards(Giveaway win)...50 Free Cards
Kleenex.....Free Box
Pringles Chips.....Free Item Q x 2


My best 3 Store Savings Totals were from Rite-Aid at 100%, The Bakery Outlet at 81.61% and Price Chopper at 72.68%.

TOTAL Out of Pocket...............................$402.70
TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$1,653.79
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased.............$2,056.49
TOTAL Savings of..........80.42%

TOTAL of CASH Rebates........................$72.82
TOTAL OOP After  Rebates....................$329.88
TOTAL Savings of..................................84%

This closes out the October spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month-
I went waaaaay over on the budgeted $250 amount for the month, even after you add on the rebates received to offset the spending total.  Just so many good Catalina deals so I stocked up(think bacon).  It's nice to have 'wiggle room' in your monthly spending to take advantage of sales when they come around, without having to worry about being able to meet all your other bills.  Being frugal in other areas and living well below your monthly income gives you that freedom.
What's ahead for November 2010.....
Seeing as the freezer is stocked to the gills at the moment, we'll be eating down on the frozen items here this month.  Beyond onions, pumpkin, apples and peppers I didn't get to the farm early in October for more veggies to preserve and now it's too late.  Oh well....

I am keeping the November food budget at $250.  Though we won't need to spend the full budget amount, I will still pick up non-perishables if deals present themselves in November.  While we are good on flour and nuts, sugar is low so I'm looking for those baking sales to start.  I also might pick up items on sale now from the store that is running the gift certificate deal if you spend X amount by Nov. 14th.  Presently we are only 1/3 of the way to the $300 amount we need to get the certificate.  All other things being even(price this month or in Dec.)I'll buy it in Nov. to qualify toward the cert. instead of buying it in Dec.

As always, any rebates received in November will be added to the food budget to offset what we spend.

With ten months of the year behind us, we have averaged $194.27 per MONTH after rebates on food/toiletries spending for 2010 for a family of 4-5 adults/teens + 2-3 pets.

How did you do in October with your Food Budget?  Leave a comment or link to your post and let us hear!  By sharing our struggles and efforts we can help each other stick to our budgets and learn to be better guardians of our resources.

Sluggy

4 comments:

  1. I got 19.15 SCR back from Rite Aid and it is waiting in my purse to get to the credit union. I am giving up on Rite Aid for the month of November since I lost my recipt with my 10% off coupon and am mad at myself. For groceries I spent 5.99 at Tops and 210.43 at Aldi.

    ReplyDelete
  2. April--I still feel bad about you losing your receipt. Maybe you'll feel better about by Dec. I am not feeling much love for Rite-Aid myself lately.....and the sales don't look very promising in the coming weeks either so it's a good time to not Rite-Aid.
    $216.42 for groceries in Oct. is very good!
    I can't believe I use to spend $400 a month EASY on groceries, and that was just on basics for the month(no extras for stocking up!)back before I changed the way I shop and use coupons.
    Good job!!

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  3. I didn't spend much money in October but I will be making up for that in November. Too many good deals on baking items and turkeys to keep me out of the stores.

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  4. I haven't been tracking my specifics and I know that's dangerous. Me, personally, I think I've been doing well, but that's often offset by when DH and I go shopping for what he needs (read: wants). He will tolerate me whipping out a coupon for something he's already going to buy, but beyond that, his favorite slogan comes into play - he wants what he wants. So I bite my tongue and try to get what I figure he'll need whenever I can get them on sale/deal. So he "shops" here at the house pantry first, then we go to WallyWorld for everything else. Let's just say that my Diet Coke and microwave lunches cost significantly less than his :)

    The plan is for him to move home by the end of this month (before Thanksgiving, hopefully), then be all out of the other place by mid-December, which will mean a lot of things, but a couple biggies - more monthly cash we get to keep since he won't be renting another house, and me being able to buy for us again and hopefully keep all the grocery costs down as a result.

    You had another fantastic month - you're really an inspiration!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete

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