Tuesday, October 2, 2012

SEPTEMBER 2012 Budget Results....Food & Toiletries Spending




Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for SEPTEMBER 2012.

I have posted September'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 September.  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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BREAD OUTLET
OOP   $20.89
Value   $73.21
Savings  71.46%

BIG LOTS
OOP   $15.12
Value   $21.79
Savings   30.61%

GERRITY'S
OOP   $7.00
Qs/Ads  $2.45
Value  $9.45
Savings  25.92%

RITE-AID
OOP  $38.65
Qs/Ads/+Ups/Gift Card  $523.23
Value  $561.88
Savings   93.12%

SHURSAVE STORES(small local independent affiliated stores)
OOP  $138.18
Qs/Ads  $93.06
Value  $231.24
Savings  40.25%

WEIS MARKETS
OOP  $204.76
Qs/Ads  $158.14
Value  $362.90
Savings  43.58%

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 September
Rite-Aid Single Check Rebate for July
Total...$6.00

GIFT CARDS and CERTIFICATES
TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received...$0.00

COUPONS and FREEBIES
Nothing.

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My best 3 Store Savings Totals were the Rite-Aid at 93.12%,  the Bread Outlet at 71.46%, and Weis at 43.58%.  l shopped at 6 different stores this past month.


TOTAL Out of Pocket........$424.60
TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$808.95
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$1,233.55
TOTAL Savings of...................................65.58%

TOTAL Out of Pocket after Rebates received this Month......$418.60
TOTAL Savings after Rebates of..........................66.07%

This closes out the September spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....

I went into September with $400 budgeted for food/toiletries for the month.  I obviously blew through that mark plus another $18.60.   I know I did a bit too much stocking up on a few things and I bought a few too many snack foods for #2 son.  It's nothing I can't live with though.
My grocery savings hovered at below 45% for September.  I used very few Qs this month.  This lack of coupon usage seems to be a theme with me lately.  I do still buy on rock bottom price(or at least very good sale price) but don't find Qs much here for food items I want/need to buy.

 
LOOKING AHEAD TO OCTOBER......

I will be keeping my food budget at $400 for October.  We don't have any special dinners or holiday food spending this month.  I've already bought the Halloween candy to give out, but that came out of another pile of money that isn't the Food Budget anyway.
I'm going to try to cut back on spending a little this month but I'll leave the $400 budget in place since I now give Daughter a portion of the food Budget each month for her to buy convenience foods to take to work for her meal there.  The portion she spends is unpredictable so far.  I'll try to keep track the next few months to see if I can pin down how much it needs to be monthly and adjust my spending accordingly.
Hopefully I'll have a little leftover from my budget when the month is over but it is not guaranteed.

How did you do in September 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

6 comments:

  1. I did find rock bottom prices for Quaker Whole Grain Oats and now have found a coupon for the same. I will not feed my 2 hens from the feed store. So, they get 1/2 cup of dry oats each day from the Quaker box.

    .99/lb--stock up prices. They breast were so huge that the edible meat to scrap ratio (bones and skin) was so low, it was well worth the buying of inedible products. Besides, my hens love chicken. They are very good at stripping bones of every shred what I leave.

    There were other items, but these two stand out in my mind.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wish my kids were more like your hens and ate everything I serve 'em. lol

      Delete
  2. I am impressed with your savings! It has been awhile since I have used coupons and stockpiled. I have tried to seek out the best deals but still I am spending too much on groceries.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Welcome Lisa and thanks for leaving a comment. I think we are all spending too much on groceries, whether you try not to or not. Mmmm, that was an awkward sentence.....

      Inflation is on the rise, again and product packages are shrinking again. My Dawn dish soap is now down to 9 oz. I noticed the shrinkage because I set it down next to an older bottle of Gain dish soap, which was 9 oz. YIKES! 2 oz. less but still the price rises?

      Delete
  3. No money saving tips from me... But as always I'm impressed as heck at your savings!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks McVal but if you put the effort into tracking this stuff you could be Super Savings Lady too and wear a cool cape! It all starts with saying NO...."No, you can't buy those cantaloupes this week, but we can buy them next week when they are on sale."
      Etc. Yes, I had to go there....lol
      Love ya!

      Delete

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