March 2012 Budget Results.......Food and Toiletries Spending

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for MARCH 2012.

I have posted March's totals on the right side bar under Total Grocery Savings for 2012 and updated the Yearly Totals.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in March.  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(3-4 at home this month)& 2 dogs. No kids under 16.
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BAKERY OUTLET
OOP   $12.67

Value   $36.01

Savings  64.82%

RITE-AID DRUG STORE
OOP  $2.99 put on free R-A gift card so $0.00 OOP

Qs/Ads/+Ups $104.87

Value  $107.86

Savings  100%

SHURSAVE STORES(small local independent affiliated stores)
OOP  $230.24

Qs/Ads  $203.57

Value  $433.81

Savings  46.93%

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $268.36

Qs/Ads  $280.99

Value  $549.35

Savings  51.15%

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 MARCH
Brita Filters....$10.00

Rite-Aid SCR....$6.99
Subtotal........$16.99

GIFT CARDS and CERTIFICATES
Nothing

TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received...$16.99

COUPONS and FREEBIES

2 x Suave Shampoo FREE ITEM Q

1 x P&G  FREE Cover Girl Mascara

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My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%, the Bakery Outlet at 64.82%, and Weis at 51.15%.

I shopped at 4 different stores in March.


TOTAL Out of Pocket........$511.27

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$615.76

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$1127.03

TOTAL Savings of...................................54.64%


TOTAL of CASH Rebates........................$16.99
TOTAL Out of Pocket After Rebates........$494.28
TOTAL Savings including Rebates...........$632.75
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$1127.03
TOTAL Savings After Rebates...................56.14%

This closes out the March spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....
I went into March with $300 budgeted for food/toiletries for the month and $176.80 carried over from food monies I didn't spend in Jan. and Feb......so I had $476.80 potentially to spend this past month.

And spend it I did!lol

I spent that AND another $17.48.

But I am ok with spending what I did.  I used the extra cash to stock up on some good deals on meat. By combining annual sales on corned beef in March with clearance deals and store instant discount coupons on end of date items I could stick in the freezer, I got 12+lbs. of fresh ground meat, 12lbs. of Angus burgers, 6 lbs. of fish, 6 corned beef briskets and another roasting chicken too for great prices.

I also did some instant Catalina deals to stock up on "good" pancake syrup, pasta sauces and supply #2 son with quality junk food.lol
My freezer is once again packed to the gills.

LOOKING AHEAD TO APRIL.....
With Easter this week, I'll be doing a bit of shopping soon.  As for the other 3 weeks in April, I don't see me hitting the stores much at all, except for milk and an odd ingredient or two I might need. 

I will be keeping my food budget at $300 for March.  Hopefully no great deals appear so I won't spend so much in April.

How did you do in March with your Food Budget? 


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