Sunday, December 31, 2017

Food & Toiletries Spending.....December and YEAR END Update

* I am done food shopping for December so am posting this a day early.*

Onward to December's food spending report.......



Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for DECEMBER 2017.

I have posted December's totals on the Total Grocery Savings Page located HERE 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 & tax where applicable. We are a family of 3-5(3-5 at home this month). No kids under 21.

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BREAD OUTLET
OOP  $13.00
Value  $57.38
Savings  77.34%

DOLLAR GENERAL
OOP  $10.94
Value  $18.00
Savings  39.23%

MAINES
OOP  $85.93
Value  $153.13
Savings  43.89%

RITE-AID
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/PPs  $446.97
Value  $446.97
Savings  100%

WEIS MARKETS
OOP  $406.61
Qs/Ads  $551.51
Value  $958.12
Savings  57.56%

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My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%, the Bread Outlet at 77.34% and Weis at 57.56%.  My WORST savings rate was at Dollar General at 39.23%.

I shopped at 4 different stores this past month.  

TOTAL Out of Pocket..........$516.48
TOTAL Cash Rebates(applied in Dec)...$343.96
TOTAL Out of Pocket for Dec.....$172.52
TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales/Rebate Savings...$942.36
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$1186.63
TOTAL Savings of ..................................85.46%

TOTAL Out of Pocket for Dec.....$172.52
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased w/Rite-Aid....$1633.60
TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales/Rebate Savings....$1461.08
TOTAL Savings with Rite-Aid items..........89.44%

This closes out the December food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....
I went into December wanting to spend $400 on food/toiletries but went over by $116.48.

But I also have the following rebates/post Qs(otherwise known as the "free money")to apply toward the food bill in December---
SavingStar.......$31.05
Checkout51.....$79.25
Ibotta...............$27.25
Other Rebates/Post Qs....$134.91
Rolled Coins....$71.50
Grand TOTAL...$343.96

So I have $343.96 in checks on their way/cash here to put into the checking account to offset that much of our income spending toward groceries, so I "spent" $172.52 of our regular income on food in December.
This brings my savings rate to 87.58% for the month.

The monthly food spending savings percentage went UP by 8.49% in December to 82.42% compared to November's 73.93% savings average.  Over a 82% savings rate is great no matter how you slice it. ;-)

With 12 months accounted for, I have spent a Grand Total of $4126.25 on food/toiletries in 2017 which is a 70.76% savings rate for the year and averages out to $343.85 spent per month in 2017.

Grand Total Grocery/Toiletries Savings 2107


2017 Yearly Total Value of Items  $14111.24
2017 Total Saved  $9984.99
2017 Yearly Total Spent  $4126.25
2017 Yearly Savings Total of   70.76%

Average Spending per Month-to-Date  $343.85


LOOKING AHEAD To 2018........
I need to sit down with Hubs and see what we want to set as a food budget for the year.  I'll do this in the next week or so.  Personally I'd love to keep the food spending at $4K for 2018.  But this means I have to be the primary food shopper for the year as no one else here wants to/or will try to get the best deal possible when food purchasing like I do.

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

*  How much did you spend on food/toiletries in December?
*  Do you track your yearly food spending?
*  What was your savings percentage buying on sale and/or with coupons vs. 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

9 comments:

  1. My goal is $4800, or $400 per month, food household, and toiletries. I too will need to be the chief planner and shopper, but also plan that the hubs will go rogue-like yesterday wehn I had him stop on his way home with a simple list. He ended up with stuff not on my list, but were "good deals." It won't change so I need to work his shopping into my game plan. Best price, stock up, and use it up is my 2018 motto.

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  2. I went over in 2017 so am upping my grocery budget to $575 CAD ($457 USD). Groceries are just more expensive here..that includes OTCs/cleaning supplies/personal products. I have gotten a bit lazy though so need to address that and keep hubby out of the store, he is one of the causes of overage as just the same as your family, won't do the hunting I do for bargains

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  3. I plan on really eating down the food stock and only shopping for what I need, well unless a really, really good deal pops up. By the way I think you are amazing, I love you and I miss you, I need me a Sluggy fix bad, and a diet coke and a pastry.

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  4. I don't know what I hit to get rid of the comment I started. I said I don't officially track my spending, but I should. There will be lifestyle changes since I caught sight of my butt in Belk's. That's a game changer, a horrifying sight.

    You wrote "I shopped at 4 different stores this past month. Then, you have two different "total out of pocket" figures. Then, you repeat on of the figures in the next set of figures/paragraph. I don't understand. Yes, I do pay close attention so this can soak in my osmosis.

    I read your post sometimes to exbf who pays close attention and is impressed with your successes. I will read this one to him. I am sure he would like me to be you...lol.

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  5. Well done! I want to be like you!!! :D

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  6. I went way over my $500 grocery budget. My bad. Better next month!!

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  7. Always enjoy reading your posts. You are such an inspiration, shopping wise, for me. Wish that I had followed the retirement plans that you and your husband did in my preretirement days! You all did really good in that department. Wishing you a very Happy New Year. Penny S.

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  8. I will keep better track this year. I intend to spend as little as possible for the next few months. Tracking will keep me in line. We have no major stores in our small town so finding great deals is difficult. (That’s why I travel with coolers! ha!)
    Happy new year to you and your fabulous family!
    Debbie

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  9. I'm going to track my food/grocery spending like this for the coming year. I like the way you track the savings as well.
    I use points from supermarkets to get discounts & vouchers from surveys - I always shop the for specials to build my stockpile.
    At the moment we need to eat out our freezer & stockpile to get it down a bit so thats what we are focused on in January.

    ReplyDelete

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