September BUDGET RESULTS-Food & Toiletries Spending

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for SEPTEMBER 2009.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in September.
These Totals include Food, Toiletries/HBA, Pet Supplies, Cleaning Products & tax where applicable.We are a family of 5(4 at home)& 3 dogs. No kids under 13.

BIG LOTS
OOP $19.72
Ads/Sales $15.30
Value $35.02
Savings 44%

CARONE'S
OOP $32.41
Qs/Ads $18.51
Value $50.92
Savings  36%

CVS
OOP $.63
Qs/Ads $93.68
Value $94.31
Savings 99.3%

ENTENMANN'S OUTLET
OOP $15.00
Ads/Sales $30.00
Value $45
Savings 33.3%

FAMILY DOLLAR(forgotten receipt-carryover from last month)
OOP $11.22
Qs/Ads $6.43
Value $17.65
Savings 36.50%

KMART(2 partial round of double coupons this month)
OOP $66.18
Qs/Ads $908.82
Value $975.00
Savings 93.12%

PRICE CHOPPER
OOP $9.35
Qs/Ads $6.19
Value $15.54
Savings 40%

REDNER'S
OOP $36.40
Qs/Ads $12.85
Value $49.25
Savings 26%

RITE AID
OOP $92.22(before rebates)
Qs/Ads $265.40
Value $357.62
Savings 74.22%(88.20% after rebates)

SHOP-RITE
OOP $61.13
Qs/Ads $80.75
Value $141.88
Savings 57%

TARGET
OOP $2.30
Qs/Ads $63.87
Value $66.17
Savings 96.50%

TURKEY HILL-convenience store
OOP $4.45
Qs/Ads $0.00
Value $4.45
Savings  0%

WALGREEN'S
OOP $9.18
Qs/Ads $169.59
Value $178.77
Savings 94.85%

WEIS
OOP $96.30
Qs/Ads $
Value $252.73
Savings 62%

I've decided NOT to 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' & go toward Food/Toiletries budget purchases.

REBATE CHECKS RECV'D. IN SEPTEMBER

Rite-Aid SCR........$166.67
Reynolds Foil........$4.89
Zantac........$5.00
Kellogg's Fuel for School...$10.00
Kraft/Super Valu....$20.00
Pinecone Research....$9.00

Subtotal........$215.56

FREE ITEMS
Gorilla Glue Sample

Gorilla Glue T-Shirt

Venom Sample

Rite-Aid Oral Care Booklet w/5 Free Items inside x2

Rite-Aid/Kellogg's $5 Certificate

COUPONS
Star Foods

GIFT CARDS & STORE CHECKS
Rite Aid  $50.00
Weis  $20.00
SubTotal...$58.96

TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received..$285.56

My best 3 Store Savings Totals were from CVS at 99.3%, Target 96.50% and Walgreen's at 94.85%.
Kmart just got beat out by Wags but deserves a mention at a very good 93.12% savings rate.

TOTAL Out of Pocket...............................$456.49
TOTAL of Rebates...................................$285.56

TOTAL OOP After  Rebates....................$170.93

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$2113.38
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased.............$2284.31
TOTAL Savings % for SEPTEMBER....................92.50%

This closes out the September spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month-
With the high amount of income from Rebates/Gift Cards received I was able to have a tremendously low out of pocket for this month.  I set out to keep it at $250 for spending this month and I succeeded!
I was able to stay out of the stores more this month, as I had wanted to.

I spread out my shopping dollars amongst quite a few store this month with only 1 or 2 trips to most.  I tried out some new stores for me...Family Dollar & the Entenmann's Bakery Outlet.  KMart saw me alot as the month started off with a Double Coupon Event and ended with one as well.
I stayed out of the drugstore mostly in September(even Rite-Aid compared to previous months)as you can see in my very low spending for CVS & WAGS.

What's ahead for October.....
I have fully stocked up the freezer with meats as of Oct. 1st.  I have a fair amount of seafood as well.
I do want to hit the farmer's market this week and grab some local produce to freezer as this is the tale end of the growing season here.

As for the organizing I wanted to do last month....I began going through all the toiletries/food stockpile about a week before Sept. ended.  I will finish this organizing in October. I know I'm going to have excess items, things we just won't/can't use before it goes bad so I'll be concentrating on getting rid of stuff via selling, giving away to friends and family & donating to charity.  I'm going to concentrate on getting "my house in order" and not on shopping for food/toiletries.  We have enough(and in some cases too much)of both.

I'm going to keep the Food/Toiletries Budget at $250 for October & try to stay out of the grocery & drug stores this month.  Well, right after KMart double coupons is over this week....lol
I just have this feeling in my bones that Price Chopper will be running a good Catalina Deal soon.  In my book, they are waaaaay overdue for one.  I hope they don't have one as it will torpedo my Oct. "stay out of the store" efforts, but I'm just sayin..... ;-)
The only stocking up I forsee outside of the farmer's market produce may be some baking supplies(flour, sugar, etc.).  The Holidays are coming and these types of items do go on special at this time of year.  Part of my $250 may be used for laying in these types of foodstuffs.

How did you do in September 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