* I've closed out the May books a couple of days early as I am done shopping. Anything bought in the next 3 days will come out of June's funds. *
Onward to May's food spending report.......
Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for MAY 2016.
I have posted May's totals on the Total Grocery Savings for 2016 Page located HERE and have updated the Yearly Totals there. I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in May. If you aren't interested in that much detail, just skip to the bottom for the Totals Sum. My spending includes Food, Toiletries/HBA, Cleaning Products, Paper Goods & tax where applicable. We are a family of 3(3 at home this month). No kids under 20.
******************
BAKERY OUTLET
OOP $7.00
Value $24.94
Savings 71.93%
RITE-AID
OOP $0.00
Qs/Ads/gift card $27.97
Value $27.97
Savings 100%
*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%, the Bakery Outlet at 71.93% and Weis at 48.17%. My WORST savings rate was what I bought on our trip at 27%. While I didn't use coupons or get deals necessarily on items bought on the trip I did buy things that were a good deal and/or I can't get here in PA. Although the savings rate wasn't very high for these items I am ok with that.
I shopped at 8 different stores this past month(counting my trip buys at Target, HEB, Walmart and World Market).
TOTAL Out of Pocket..........$304.32
Onward to May's food spending report.......
Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for MAY 2016.
I have posted May's totals on the Total Grocery Savings for 2016 Page located HERE and have updated the Yearly Totals there. I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in May. If you aren't interested in that much detail, just skip to the bottom for the Totals Sum. My spending includes Food, Toiletries/HBA, Cleaning Products, Paper Goods & tax where applicable. We are a family of 3(3 at home this month). No kids under 20.
******************
BAKERY OUTLET
OOP $7.00
Value $24.94
Savings 71.93%
RITE-AID
OOP $0.00
Qs/Ads/gift card $27.97
Value $27.97
Savings 100%
SHURSAVE MARKET
OOP $42.78
Qs/Ads $24.22
Value $67.00
Savings 36.15%
VACATION BUYS-Multiple stores but I am grouping all these purchases together.
OOP $93.29
Value $127.68
Savings 27%
OOP $42.78
Qs/Ads $24.22
Value $67.00
Savings 36.15%
VACATION BUYS-Multiple stores but I am grouping all these purchases together.
OOP $93.29
Value $127.68
Savings 27%
WEIS MARKETS
OOP $161.25
Qs/Ads $149.89
Value $311.14
Savings 48.17%
*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%, the Bakery Outlet at 71.93% and Weis at 48.17%. My WORST savings rate was what I bought on our trip at 27%. While I didn't use coupons or get deals necessarily on items bought on the trip I did buy things that were a good deal and/or I can't get here in PA. Although the savings rate wasn't very high for these items I am ok with that.
I shopped at 8 different stores this past month(counting my trip buys at Target, HEB, Walmart and World Market).
TOTAL Out of Pocket..........$304.32
TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$254.41
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$558.73
TOTAL Savings of...................................45.53%
TOTAL Savings without Rite-Aid...........42.66%
Value of items excluding Rite-Aid bought ones was $530.76
Rite-Aid goods brought home totaled $27.97.
This closes out the May food/toiletries spending.
THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....
I went into May wanting to do a $300 food budget for the month. I ended up going over by $4.32.
That's not bad.
I gave College Boy grocery money for while we were away but he ended up spending it on gas for his car to get to work and take-out food so I will tuck that spending under the trip expenses rather than the food budget.
The monthly food spending savings percentage went down by 14.97% in May to 45.53% compared to April's 60.50% savings average. Still an acceptable savings rate to me as we still over 40%.
We did end the month by emptying out more freezer space and a few pantry goods as well even though we were gone for half of May.
With 5 months accounted for, I have spent a total of $1494.54 on food/toiletries so far in 2016 which averages out to $298.91 per month spent. The average in April stood at $297.56 per month spent to that point in 2016 so we are up $1.35 spent per month from last month's year-to-date tally. Compared to this point in the year to 2015's totals we have spent $255.09 less on food and toiletries in 2016.
It would be so nice to continue this less spending trend back down below $4K for the year. Now that my daughter is moving back home for a couple of years I know this low amount of spending on food will not continue and we most probably won't get under $4K spent on it all for 2016.
And I am ok with that.
LOOKING AHEAD To June 2016.........
College Boy s home and eating and drinking up what I bring home faster than I can buy it.
sigh.
I will continue with my usual shopping ways in June....buy loss leaders or great deals which we can use. I will try to empty some more freezer space and eat down from the pantry as well this month.
As Daughter and BF arrive in early June, I can't even hazard a guess on what I'll end up spending on food this month. I'll just stick a number here of $400 in food spending for June and see where we end up. It will probably be North of that amount but I haven't a clue at this point just how far off the mark this number will be.
So be sure to come back at the end of June and see just how much of a disaster my Food Budget turns out to be.
TOTAL Savings without Rite-Aid...........42.66%
Value of items excluding Rite-Aid bought ones was $530.76
Rite-Aid goods brought home totaled $27.97.
This closes out the May food/toiletries spending.
THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....
I went into May wanting to do a $300 food budget for the month. I ended up going over by $4.32.
That's not bad.
I gave College Boy grocery money for while we were away but he ended up spending it on gas for his car to get to work and take-out food so I will tuck that spending under the trip expenses rather than the food budget.
The monthly food spending savings percentage went down by 14.97% in May to 45.53% compared to April's 60.50% savings average. Still an acceptable savings rate to me as we still over 40%.
We did end the month by emptying out more freezer space and a few pantry goods as well even though we were gone for half of May.
With 5 months accounted for, I have spent a total of $1494.54 on food/toiletries so far in 2016 which averages out to $298.91 per month spent. The average in April stood at $297.56 per month spent to that point in 2016 so we are up $1.35 spent per month from last month's year-to-date tally. Compared to this point in the year to 2015's totals we have spent $255.09 less on food and toiletries in 2016.
It would be so nice to continue this less spending trend back down below $4K for the year. Now that my daughter is moving back home for a couple of years I know this low amount of spending on food will not continue and we most probably won't get under $4K spent on it all for 2016.
And I am ok with that.
LOOKING AHEAD To June 2016.........
College Boy s home and eating and drinking up what I bring home faster than I can buy it.
sigh.
I will continue with my usual shopping ways in June....buy loss leaders or great deals which we can use. I will try to empty some more freezer space and eat down from the pantry as well this month.
As Daughter and BF arrive in early June, I can't even hazard a guess on what I'll end up spending on food this month. I'll just stick a number here of $400 in food spending for June and see where we end up. It will probably be North of that amount but I haven't a clue at this point just how far off the mark this number will be.
So be sure to come back at the end of June and see just how much of a disaster my Food Budget turns out to be.
If you have other ideas or guidelines you follow please leave a comment and share yours with us all.
* How much did you spend on food/toiletries in May?
* Do you track your yearly food spending?
* What was your savings percentage buying on sale and/or with coupons vs. buying at regular retail price last month, if you track that sort of thing?
* What are your methods for keeping your food spending in check?
Is anyone out there up for tracking expenditures and trying to spend less but still eat well?
Sluggy
* Do you track your yearly food spending?
* What was your savings percentage buying on sale and/or with coupons vs. buying at regular retail price last month, if you track that sort of thing?
* What are your methods for keeping your food spending in check?
Is anyone out there up for tracking expenditures and trying to spend less but still eat well?
Sluggy
I track my monthly and yearly spending keeping it at $550 CAD per month (approx $425 USD) but that includes all our over counter meds, toiletries and we eat in most of the time. Things are more expensive here in Canada although produce went up and then came back down, thank goodness. I can hardly use coupons, no doubling or stacking permitted. My strategies? Buy when absolute lowest and stock up, buy in bulk (I bought huge containers this year to do so) and work the point programs. I don't cash in my points for groceries however as am saving them for Christmas spending (which might include groceries, just waiting until November to see). The point programs in Canada are the best way for me to stretch the dollars. I do use checkout 51 but again, I try and buy few premade items so tend to only use it when buying a non-food item and try and stack that with a coupon too (like draino)
ReplyDeleteI am worried College Boy is eating so much take-out food.
ReplyDeleteShouldn't he be buying proper groceries?
Well he DID eat some groceries that were here besides the take-out pizza and burgers. And it was only 12 days before I came back and started making meals again. I believe he will survive. ;-)
DeleteHe will probably buy more groceries when he is paying for his own food. In the meantime.....
DeleteI keep all my receipts but don't do much with them but add them up! As for college boy, I would not buy any junk food for him and he'd eat what I served for meals. If he doesn't like it, oh well- I always had PB and bread. I was pretty strict with my 3 kids even when they were in college. I gave them so much money monthly and they had to budget it for gas, entertainment, food when living off campus. My girls both got part time jobs while in school to supplement their spending money.
ReplyDeleteI don't buy him junk food usually but since we were taking a vacation, he got money for food w/no stipulations on how he could use it. Seemed fair to me.
DeleteWe give CB no money at college, what he makes in the Summer is his college money for extras....if he spends it all during the Summer he's shitoutofluck.
Who knows how much we spend on groceries! I rarely coupon (and am in awe of you). I do load up on discount weeks. Just bought a bunch of the grand's popcorn for $1.00 a box.
ReplyDeleteDon't be in awe of me as I use very few coupons(and when I do it's mostly at Rite-Aid). I just shop strategically other ways.
Delete$1 popcorn is a good deal if you don't want to go the old fashioned way of kernels in a pot on the stove. ;-)
Things were getting a bit better with grocery spending witht he plan that we came up with and then DJ came home. One week, he will eat something and then next week, he hates it. I'm not even trying to keep food that he likes in the house anymore. Eat it or don't. KIDS!!!!! They make you nuts.
ReplyDeleteI am sure going to miss your RA posts. Have you heard when they will be closing?
No word on when R-A transitions to Wags yet. I don't need to buy toiletries for the rest of my life I think so I don't care. lolz
DeleteScrew the kids.....let me forage for nuts and berries for all I care anymore. ;-)