December Food Spending for 2023

Onward to December's Food Spending Report.....

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for December 2023.

I have posted December's totals on the Total Grocery Savings Page located HERE and have updated the Totals there.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in December.  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. We are a family of 2(and 2 dogs).
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ALDI

OOP  $21.97

Sales  $9.01

Value  $30.98

Savings  29.08%

DOLLAR GENERAL

OOP  $35.97

Qs Saving $16.73

Value  $54.70

Savings   30.59%

KROGER

OOP  $104.79

Qs/Gift Cards $110.74(cashed in some KCB)

Value $215.53

Savings  51.38%

OCEAN STATE JOB LOT

OOP $21.64

Sales  $18.29

Value $39.93

Savings  45.81%

TRADER JOES

OOP  $7.47

Sales  $3.22

Value  $10.69

Savings  30.12%

WALMART

OOP  $139.64

Qs/Gift Cards $171.27

Value  $310.91

Savings  55.09%

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My best Store Savings Total was at Walmart with a savings of 55.09%.  My worse rate was at Aldi with 29.08%.  

I shopped at 6 different stores in DECEMBER.

TOTAL Spent in December......$331.48

TOTAL Coupons/Sales/Gift Cards....$331.26

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased.....$662.74

TOTAL Savings of........49.98%

This closes out the DECEMBER food/toiletries/etc. spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month....

The Monthly food spending savings percentage went DOWN by 14.43% in December to 49.98% compared to November's 64.41% savings average.  Since we have an adequate income and food should be a pleasure in life(no way am I going to eat unseasoned rice and beans for my remaining days like some people)I will buy quality food and pay the price at the register.  I may not like the price but I will deal with it.

With 12 months accounted for, I have spent a Total of $4,791.83 on groceries/HBA/paper goods/etc. in 2023.

2023 Yearly Grand Total Spent....................$4,791.83

2023 Yearly Grand Total Value of Items.....$8,420.62

2023 Grand Total Saved...............................$3,628.79

2023 Yearly Savings Total..............................43.09%

The average per month amount spent is $399.32 in 2023 but that's before all the rebate monies are added in.

Remember that I withdraw all my cash rebate monies(Ibotta, Coupons dotcom, Shopmium, Checkout 51 and other miscellaneous rebates sent to my Paypal)at the end of the year and add it back into my food budget, so at the end of the year my food spending will go down.  The other savings apps like Fetch, Shop Kick, Kroger Cash Back that let us get free gift cards(or $ off your grocery total-Kroger), those are added back in when I cash those points in along the way.  Alexa app gives me Amazon credit onto my account but I don't buy food on Amazon(sometimes I buy dog food there)so I really don't know how to count that.

At the end of 2023, I'd accumulated---

* $1,449.22 from Ibotta

* $195.84 from the old Coupons dotcom

* $183.49 from Shopmium

* $93.14 from TaDa

* $32.15 from Checkout 51

* $18.95 from Aisle

* $10.13 from Sampoll

* $2.18 from Inmar

* $29.74 from Alexa 

That's $1,985.10 in cash and $29.74 in Amazon gift cards.

(I also have $79.93 worth of points in SwagBucks I can't access so until I can get my hands on that I am not counting it.)

This doesn't count any Kroger Cash Back $$, Fetch or Shop Kick as I cash those points out for gift cards to the grocery store I use directly.

So my actual Grocery Spending ends up thusly---

2023 Yearly Grand Total Spent....................$2,806.73

2023 Yearly Grand Total Value of Items.....$8,420.62

2023 Grand Total Saved...............................$5,613.89

2023 Yearly Savings Total..............................66.67%

Now my monthly grocery spending comes to $233.90.

LOOKING AHEAD TO JANUARY 2024.....who knowns what inflation actually is for food as the Federal Government lies and rejiggers the numbers for the most basic needs of it's citizens-food and energy.  These are not included in their CPI.

I just know that if I am paying more for the same products(or companies are shrinking the sizes of their packaging)then yes, food and other consumables are costing more.  This is why I track our spending like I do, so we have a handle on where our money is going.  We are not the Federal Government and can't just print money when our supply runs short.

If you have other ideas or guidelines you follow please leave a comment and share your thoughts with us all.

*  How much did you spend on food/toiletries in December?

*  Do you track your yearly food spending?  It's really not that hard or time consuming; just have your receipts and either track it in a notebook or on a spreadsheet.

*  What was your savings percentage buying on sale and/or with coupons versus 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