October BUDGET RESULTS-Food & Toiletries Spending

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for OCTOBER 2009.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in October.
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.

AMELIA'S (Discount Outlet)
OOP $32.32
Ads/Sales $37.18
Value $69.50
Savings 53.50%

CARONE'S(local Independent Grocery that doesn't take IP Qs)
OOP $23.42
Qs/Ads $13.13
Value $36.55
Savings  36%

CVS
OOP $1.06
Qs/Ads $80.94
Value $82.00
Savings 98.70%

ENTENMANN'S OUTLET
OOP $16.78
Ads/Sales $31.22
Value $32.00
Savings 47.50%

FARM STAND(I use local retail grocery prices to figure Value)
OOP $26.50
Qs/Ads $00
Value $70.00
Savings 62.15%

FLEA MARKET(items bought from farm vendor-figure Value same as Farm Stand entry)
OOP $17.25
Qs/Ads $00
Value $23.50
Savings 26.60%

KMART(1 round of double coupons this month)
OOP $81.28
Qs/Ads $470.60
Value $551.88
Savings 85.25%

OLLIE'S (local Discount chain Store that doesn't take coupons)
OOP $2.46
Qs/Ads $1.04
Value $3.50
Savings 29.70%

RITE AID
OOP $188.93(before rebates)
Qs/Ads $357.10
Value $546.03
Savings 65.40%(100% after rebates of $229.13 due)

TARGET
OOP $23.35
Qs/Ads $102.36
Value $125.71
Savings 81.50%

WALGREEN'S
OOP $13.76
Qs/Ads $111.95
Value $125.71
Savings 89.05%

WEIS (local chain Grocery store that doesn't take IP Qs in my town)
OOP $175.73
Qs/Ads $289.56
Value $465.29
Savings 62.24%

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, 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

CVS Lamp Rebates....$8.00
Dove Hair Repair...$5.00
Goody Headband...$3.99
Kellogg's Fuel for School...$10.00
Kraft/Super Valu....$20.00
Pinecone Research....$3.00
Rite-Aid SCR........$155.42(counting old rebate check lost in mail reissued)
Snapple......$11.98
Zantac........$5.00
Subtotal........$222.39

FREE ITEMS

Betty Crocker Garlic Mashed Potatoes(full sized!)
Chik-Fila Sandwich

Secret Deodorant Sample

COUPONS

Kashi Go Lean-Vocalpoint

GIFT CARDS & STORE CHECKS
Rite Aid  $40.00
Staples  $30.00 Visa Card
Staples  $24.00 (ink rewards)
SubTotal...$94.00

TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received..$316.39

My best 3 Store Savings Totals were from CVS at 98.70%, Walgreen's at 89.05% and K-Mart at 85.25%.

TOTAL Out of Pocket...............................$602.84
TOTAL of Rebates...................................$222.39

TOTAL OOP After  Rebates....................$380.45

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$1751.22
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased.............$2131.67

BUT....I have additional income this month to put into the Food Budget!
Remember I sold a bunch of stockpile items in Oct. at the flea market.  $600 of the $932.25 net made was put toward the $60K Savings Challenge and the rest, $332.25, was put into the Food Budget to offset any OOP spending in October.  So my OOP becomes.....

$380.45-$332.25=$48.20


$48.20 OOP
Value of Items remains at $2131.67

Amount of Savings becomes $2083.47
Bringing the TOTAL Savings % for OCTOBER to...............97.74% (71.70% before the flea market $)

This closes out the October spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month-
With the high amount of income from Rebates And the Flea Market income received I was able to have a tremendously low out of pocket for this month. Though I initially spent well above what I had planned for the Food Budget, having the extra income streams this month helped me take advantage of a lot of unexpected stock-up opportunities on in season farm produce to freeze and meat buys at the store and still come in under budget.
Outside of Rite-Aid, which I practically lived at in Oct. I was there so much this month, I made very few trips to drugstores.

What's ahead for November.....
I'm going to keep the Food/Toiletries Budget at $250 for November.  I may make 1 trip to the Discount Grocery Outlet this month for cheap dairy/frozen chicken and any special deals I may find.  There is nothing we need at the moment in the way of Toiletries.  The only Drugstore trips will be for any freebies at Rite-Aid and to roll ECBs and RRs at CVS & WAGS or to spend Gift Cards. I'll be picking up the seasonal cheap items this month.....cranberries, canned pumpkin, sugar, flour, etc.  The things I won't be buying are cold cereal, granola bars and pop-tarts...I don't care how cheap they are, I am overrun with those things!lol

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