Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for JULY 2012.
I have posted July'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 July. 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(2-4 at home this month)& 2 dogs. No kids under 16.
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BAKERY OUTLET
OOP $9.89
Value $33.92
Savings 70.84%
BIG LOTS
OOP $26.00
Value $47.39
Savings 45.14%
RITE-AID
OOP $17.71
Qs/Ads $423.33
Value $441.04
Savings 95.98%
SHURSAVE STORES(small local independent affiliated stores)
OOP $51.77
Value $85.94
Savings 39.76%
WALMART
OOP $13.67
Value $22.10
Savings 38.15%
WEIS MARKETS
OOP $117.39
Qs/Ads $75.81
Value $193.20
Savings 39.24%
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 July
Total...$0.00
GIFT CARDS and CERTIFICATES
TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received...$0.00
COUPONS and FREEBIES
1 Free Deodorant--giveaway winning
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My best 3 Store Savings Totals were the Rite-Aid at 95.98%, the Bakery Outlet at 70.84%, and Big Lots at 45.14%. l shopped at 6 different stores this past month.
TOTAL Out of Pocket........$236.43
TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$540.90
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$823.59
TOTAL Savings of...................................71.30%
This closes out the July spending.
THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....
I went into July with $300 budgeted for food/toiletries for the month. I was able to stay substantially below that amount.
Though I didn't actively coupon in July I was still able to get close to my dream goal of a 75% savings rate. This was mostly due to paying next to nothing for what I bought at Rite-Aid and for "buying" a substantial number of items at Rite-Aid in July. It's not the way I wanted to hit the mark but I'll take it. lol
I didn't buy many meats this month, mostly produce/fruit, bread products and some dairy. The only stocking up I did was on cream cheese, 100% juices and drinks for #2 Son for band camp.
This closes out the July spending.
THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....
I went into July with $300 budgeted for food/toiletries for the month. I was able to stay substantially below that amount.
Though I didn't actively coupon in July I was still able to get close to my dream goal of a 75% savings rate. This was mostly due to paying next to nothing for what I bought at Rite-Aid and for "buying" a substantial number of items at Rite-Aid in July. It's not the way I wanted to hit the mark but I'll take it. lol
I didn't buy many meats this month, mostly produce/fruit, bread products and some dairy. The only stocking up I did was on cream cheese, 100% juices and drinks for #2 Son for band camp.
LOOKING AHEAD TO AUGUST....
I will be setting my food budget back to $400 for August. #2 Son is home again. #1 Son will also be coming home mid month for a week or so. Between the 2 of them, I'll need to buy more groceries than last month. I also need to stock up on dog kibble and at the end of the month restock on meats and there will be fresh produce for cheap to be frozen.
I will be setting my food budget back to $400 for August. #2 Son is home again. #1 Son will also be coming home mid month for a week or so. Between the 2 of them, I'll need to buy more groceries than last month. I also need to stock up on dog kibble and at the end of the month restock on meats and there will be fresh produce for cheap to be frozen.
We ate down the freezer stock a good deal in July and I'll continue to eat it down in August so I can clean it out and restock later in August.
How did you do in July with your Food Budget?Did you stick to it?
Did you find any good rock bottom prices to stock up on groceries?
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
I really need to post something like this, but July was so crazy with spending, I really hate to see the totals. Maybe after lots of coffee and chocolate this weekend, I will have the guts to get one up.
ReplyDeleteI would really like to know if shopping at CVS, Rite-Aid and the like is really saving money. No company is going to be giving so many, so much free stuff. They would be out of business. You and I must to paying for it elsewhere. Nothing is free. Please enlighten me. I started doing the CVS thing back in 2008, but stopped due to all the time it cost me.
blessings, jill
Jill, knowing I have to disclose all of this at the end of the month helps me keep my spending in check. That's why, even though I've been doing frugal for so long, and it's a long standing habit now with me, I still post it.
DeleteAs for the drugstore games....I just concentrate on 1 chain(except for buying dishwasher tabs every Jan. at CVS as it's bar none the cheapest price then with the deal and the high value Q that is released each Jan.). Rite-Aid has slowly over the last 3 years changed and honed their "deals", to the point that it's very hard to get everything for free after you work all the angles. I've accepted that now and I know when this gift card is done, my zero OOP there will be a thing of the past. But I can still get good deals there, just not free. If I was buying this stuff at the grocery store it would cost more so I'll continue to haunt Rite-Aid.lol
I try not to spend much time of figuring out the deals myself....I check a few deal hunting blogs to get ideas and then modify for my needs and figure out my deals. It's so ingrained that while I'm doing other "busy" work(folding laundry, doing dishes, drifting off to sleep), I'm thinking up deals.lol
Back before the Recession and those ugly Extreme Couponer shows came about, couponing was a happy place.
And some day, when the "only frugal because we have to be" people go back to their spendy ways, we'll see better deals again. But I think the Good Old Days are gone for good.... 8-(
I was all excited and I was thinking of you! There was a huge bacon sale! It was $1.99/pound! I have a bunch of bacon. Yum!
ReplyDelete