Saturday, December 31, 2011

December Budget Results.......Food and Toiletries Spending



Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for DECEMBER 2011.

I have posted December's totals on the right side bar under Total Grocery Savings for 2011 and updated the Yearly Totals.
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 Summary.

My spending includes Food, Toiletries/HBA, Pet Supplies, Cleaning Products, Paper Goods & tax where applicable.We are a family of 5(3-5 at home this month)& 2 dogs. No kids under 15.
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BAKERY OUTLET
OOP  $22.45
Value  $106.19
Savings  78.86%

PRICE CHOPPER
OOP  $9.98
Qs/Ads  $
Value  $23.94
Savings  58.30%

RESTAURANT SUPPLY STORE
OOP  $78.03
Value  $119.77
Savings 34.85%

RITE-AID DRUG STORE
OOP  $27.35(with an additional $17.04 put on my free Rite-Aid gift card)
Qs/Ads/+Ups $341.26
Value  $368.61
Savings  92.59%

SHURSAVE STORES(small local independent affiliated stores)
OOP  $109.26
Qs/Ads  $93.10
Value  $202.36
Savings  46%

TURKEY HILL
OOP  $3.66
Value  $3.66
Savings  0%

WALMART 
OOP  $8.98
Qs/Ads  $0
Value  $10.99
Savings  18.30%

WEIS (local chain Grocery store in my town/doubles up to $1 total)
OOP  $50.56
Qs/Ads  $53.65
Value  $104.21
Savings  51.50% 

I don't track Rite-Aid's +Ups here, nor 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 RECEIVED IN DECEMBER
Pinecone...$6.00
Toluna.....$20.00
Subtotal........$26.00

GIFT CARDS and CERTIFICATES
Burger King(giveaway I won)......$25.00
TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received...$26.00 cash/$25 food

COUPONS and FREEBIES
Zero  *pathetic*

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My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 92.59%, the Bakery Outlet at 78.86% and Price Chopper at 58.30%.
I shopped at 9 different stores in December.


TOTAL Out of Pocket........$313.74
TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$632.76
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$946.50
TOTAL Savings of...................................66.85%


TOTAL of CASH Rebates........................$6.00 *I don't use my Toluna $ for food budget.
TOTAL Out of Pocket After Rebates........$307.74
TOTAL Savings including Rebates...........$638.76
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$946.50
TOTAL Savings After Rebates...................67.49%

This closes out the December spending AND the YEARLY Spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month & the Year.....
I went back into Rite-Aid in December and did some of the better deals there.  While I did spend cash there in December(as I had NO +Up Rewards to start with), I still had a 92% savings rate over regular retail!  And I still have +Up Rewards and FREE Gift Card money going into 2012.

I was able to stay close to my $300 food budget limit.  While I didn't really stock up at all in December on anything, we were able to eat well and do a good sized Christmas dinner.  I had to spend a bit more on the Hunk of Meat to barbecue but we are still eating on that a week later.  1 more meal with the Christmas ham tomorrow and then I'll divide up what is left and freeze it for later.
In Total, we have spent $3,080.59 Out of Pocket on food/HBA in 2011.
That comes out to $256.71 per month for our family of 5.
We brought home items with a reg. retail value of $14,234.09 for the year.
That's a savings of $11,153.50 or 78.36% for all of 2011.

Before you think I've done something remarkable, remember that my food budget does Not include eating out $.  And we do our fair share of eating out around here. ;-)

This closes the books on Food Spending for 2011.  I think we did pretty well sticking to a budget overall without having to live on ramen noodles. lol

How did you do in December with your Food Budget?  Did the Holidays drive you over the edge with food spending?  Or were you able to celebrate within your means?


Please leave a comment or link to your post and let us hear about your progress!  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

1 comment:

  1. You did great! I recently made it to the beginning of your blog and found your first couponing post. You have come such a long way from those first few weeks of deal chasing. Good job!

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