Onward to May's Food Spending Report.....
Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for May 2024.
I have posted May'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 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, Pet Food. We are a family of 2(and 2 dogs).
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ALDI
OOP $41.74
Sales $23.64
Value $65.38
Savings 36.16%
CVS
OOP $.98
Sales/Free CVS Script $13.00
Value $13.98
Savings 92.99%
KROGER
OOP $388.87
Qs/Gift Cards $702.55
Value $1,091.42
Savings 64.37%
WALMART
OOP $84.85
Qs/Gift Cards $46.12
Value $130.97
Savings 35.21%
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My best Store Savings Total was at CVS with a savings of 92.99%. My worse rate was at Walmart with 35.21%. Not a bad savings rate average overall.
I shopped at 4 different stores in MAY(if you can call what I did at CVS shopping lol).
TOTAL Spent in May......$516.44
TOTAL Coupons/Sales/Gift Cards....$785.31
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased.....$1,301.75
TOTAL Savings of........60.33%
This closes out the MAY food/toiletries/etc. spending.
THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month....
Well so much for my Grand Plan to NOT Grocery shop in May. lolol Sluggy plans and the shopping gods laugh, right? I did do well with my clearance finds and deals however in May. I got a lot of meat/seafood and fresh produce clearance deals in May.
The Monthly food spending savings percentage went UP! by 15.11% in May to 60.33% compared to April's 45.22% savings average. A substantial increase in savings rate and well over 40% which is what I like to see. 8-)
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-because I don't have to). 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 5 months accounted for, I have spent a Total of $3,282.38 on groceries/HBA/paper goods/etc. in 2024. Food prices have gotten to the ridiculous level, haven't they?
Let's Go Brandon!!!
2024 Yearly Grand Total Spent....................$3,282.38
2024 Yearly Grand Total Value of Items.....$6,658.25
2024 Grand Total Saved...............................$3,375.87
2024 Yearly Savings Total..............................50.70%
The average per month amount spent is $656.48 in 2024 so far but that's before all the rebate monies are added in.
Just a rough off-hand calculation of all the rebates I've gotten for the year is $1,876.40.
Remember that I withdraw all my cash rebate monies(Ibotta, Shopmium, TaDa, 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.
LOOKING AHEAD TO JUNE 2024.....The deals seem to be slowing down so I'll try to concentrate on using up what's in the freezer. If Kroger ever fixes my KCB account that will free up some script that should be in there to pay for about $70 worth of groceries. It's ridiculous that a major food corporation won't fix an obviously broken system and hold it's customers funds due them as hostage. If this keeps up, I'll be carting lots of items back to them(may need a truck)since I have every receipt from when I bought this stuff.
Anyway, I'm going to shoot for $400 as a budget this month. Can't grow anything here to supplement the food budget, except wasps, weeds, and mudbugs so it's pointless to try to garden...the ground goes from too wet and boggy to everything planted dies in the extreme heat and turns into crispy vegetation.
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 May?
* Do you track your yearly food spending? It's really not that hard or time consuming; just keep 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
I just spent $160 on grocery's that is for both the week ahead and some stick up. I'm just accepting that with my son here ( and he is helping to cover costs), dogs, the girls joining me, and the costs of everything just goes mg up, I'm going to average $500 for household basics and groceries. Like you, we can afford healthy and quality items, and my and my family's health is top priority. I buy loss leaders when it makes sense, and stick up on basic store brands that we enjoy noticed a quality difference. But, fish, chicken, lean pork and produce isn't going down in price.
ReplyDeleteYou did well. I used to keep track of everything I spent $ on. Not so much anymore. I had a relatively light month of May for groceries and hope to do that again in June. I just don't need much as everything is stocked well.
ReplyDeleteSluggy - can you explain to us, in all seriousness, how President Biden is responsible for the increased prices in the grocery stores? Seems these large corporations (P&G, Smuckers, etc.) are all seeing record profits. So how is he involved in that? To me, it appears to be Corporate Greed. They took advantage of the Covid years, when yes, there were supply chain issues, etc. and just decided to stay on that train & not let up on pricing when things cleared up & people were back to work.
ReplyDeleteOk, I am not getting into a pissing match with someone who doesn't have the balls to give their name when leaving a comment. And where the hell did my post above say anything about Biden and/or our government?? Your comment is inappropriate here.
DeleteBut since you brought it up, we have a President who floods our monetary system with money(not backed by anything)in a misguided attempt to tame "inflation". This just makes your hard earned money worth less. He gives social welfare monies to "undocumented" foreigners who he lets flood into our country. We don't have enough of a social security net for the poor already here legally. He enacts the 'American Rescue Plan' which further damages our economy. Yes, more jobs were added under his administration but they were not living wage jobs(especially after some states raised menial job pay rates to $20 per hour). Then he wants to forgive all student debt which is a slap in the face to everybody who pays their loans and/or paid them off. Our economy is in the toilet and big business AND big government are in cahoots together against us, the everyday working and retired people. Nobody is standing up for us against the elites who run every thing in most every country in the world. I'll leave this link to a speech given as part of the Oxford Debate Society in England, by Winston Marshall.(Previously of the singing group Mumford & Sons). He hits so many nails on the head in it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFmjgbdNNgw
Uh, maybe you need to re-read your post, Sluggy.
DeleteYou did put in there "Let's Go Brandon."
I've never kept track of expenses like that. I'm impressed with what you've done. We've spent the last few months eating down what we had in the house to supplement our grocery spending. We now three extra mouths to feed, so we're going through it quickly.
ReplyDelete