2016 Food & Toiletries Spending....January Update

**I am posting this a few days early as I am done with my food spending.  The mayo I am picking up on special later today is for the food bank so not coming out of the food budget $.

Onward to January's food spending report.......

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for JANUARY 2016.

I have posted January'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 January.  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(2-3 at home this month). No kids under 19.

******************

BAKERY OUTLET
OOP  $9.00
Value  $31.64
Savings  71.55%

BOYER'S
OOP  $40.36
Qs/Sales  $28.72
Value  $69.08
Savings 42%

CVS
OOP  $11.96
Sales/Qs  $12.38
Value  $24.34
Savings 50.86%

MAINE SOURCE
OOP  $60.82
Sales  $36.71
Value  $97.53
Savings 37.64%

RITE-AID
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/gift card  $717,24
Value  $717.24
Savings  100%

SHURSAVE MARKET
OOP  $18.54
Qs/Ads $6.48
Value  $25.02
Savings  25.90%

WALMART
OOP  $19.01
Value  $26.61
Savings 28.56%

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $202.24

Qs/Ads  $260.56

Value  $462.80

Savings  56.30%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%, the Bakery Outlet at 71.55% and Weis at 56.30%.  My WORST savings rate was Shursave Market at 25.90%.

I shopped at 8 different stores this past month.

** My TOTAL out of pocket for January food/toiletries was $373.30.
After I deduct the items I paid for that I am donating to the local Food Bank my OOP spending stands at $349.97.

TOTAL Out of Pocket........ **$349.97

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$1079.95

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$1,429.92

TOTAL Savings of...................................75.52%
TOTAL Savings without Rite-Aid...........50.89%

Value of items excluding Rite-Aid bought ones was $712.68.
Rite-Aid goods brought home totaled $717.24

This closes out the January food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....
I went into January wanting to do a $300 food budget for the month($200 for family spending and $100 to restock College Boy on food to take back to school with him).
After deducting what was spent on food bank purchases I spent $349.97 this month.
I didn't meet that $300 goal this month.  There were just too many deals and after the Holidays markdowns to stick to only $300 in January.  Approximately $50 over isn't terrible so I am happy with how things turned out.

The monthly savings percentage went down by 2.47% in January to 75.52% compared to December's 77.99% savings average.
While saving 3/4 on food every month is unsustainable I'll take it while it lasts. lolz

I have spent a total of $349.97 on food/toiletries so far in 2016.

LOOKING AHEAD To February 2016.........
Ok, since College Boy won't be home this month and we have no traveling plans and are hunkered down for the duration of this Winter and the freezer is still pretty full,  I will try for a $250 food month for February.  If deals on food come around this month I'll give myself an extra $50 and try to come in under $300.  This seems like the right amount as I tend to end up around $300 most months with food purchases.

If you have other ideas or guidelines you follow please leave a comment and share yours with us all.
Here's hoping y'all had a great year for spending less on food in 2015.

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

Now let's start 2016 off right by tracking where your money goes on food/toiletries/HBA/paper goods/pet needs.
Is anyone out there up for tracking expenditures and trying to spend less but still eat well?


Sluggy

Food & Toiletries Spending.......January Totals

Onward to January's food spending report.......

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for JANUARY 2014.

I have posted January's totals on the Total Grocery Savings for 2014 Page located HERE and have updated the Yearly Totals there.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in January.  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 4(3 at home this month)& 1 dog. No kids under 17.
******************

RITE-AID
OOP  $1.71
Qs/Ads/+Ups  $75.37
Value  $77.08
Savings  97.78%
 

SHURSAVE STORES(small local independent affiliated stores)
OOP  $106.10

Qs/Ads  $68.24

Value  $174.34

Savings  39.14%

WALMART
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/Gift Card  $86.90
Value  $86.90
Savings  100%

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $189.56

Qs/Ads  $147.66

Value  $337.22

Savings  43.78%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Walmart at 100%, Rite-Aid at 97.78%, and Weis at 43.78%.  My WORST savings rate was 39.14% so I think I did exceptionally well in January on the value of what I got!
I shopped at 4 different stores this past month.

TOTAL Out of Pocket........$297.37

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$298.17

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$595.54

TOTAL Savings of...................................50%

This closes out the January food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....

I went into January wanting to cut my food/toiletries budget by $100, to $300 budgeted for ALL purchases.  I accomplished that feat in December so I wanted to try again this month.
I met that challenge.
Go me! 8-))

That $100 on a long ago paid for gift card I spent at Walmart went a good ways toward achieving a 50% savings rate in January.  Don't be expecting me to have more months as good as this one! lol

(Of course I DID withdraw some Feb. food spending funds the last few days and used it to get some deals on the February tab that weren't going to be around to get in Feb.  But that spending will be accounted for in the February Spending post.)

LOOKING AHEAD TO FEBRUARY......

Of course, I doubt I can sustain a $300 monthly food budget long term. 
I am going to try to come in under $300 on food for February but if I go over into the $400 range I won't be too upset, since $400 is my normal spending set point.

I will say that I found eating relatively healthy AND still keeping your food spending under $300 is HARD WORK!
It takes more planning, comparing and getting to certain stores, it takes changing your eating habits at times(having the same thing over and over or something you didn't really want to eat).  If I had to keep on a strict regiment of $300 a month due to income restraints it would wear on me.
To have to do it in the short term is interesting and a challenge and something I can get "into".

I don't know......am I just plain crazy to want to try to reduce our food spending by 25% of our usual budgeted amount....and amount which seems fairly LOW to begin with?
I have always been up for a money challenge I guess.

I figured with spending under $300 on food/toiletries this month, my Entertainment/Eating out spending would have been proportionately higher, right?

I tallied up our Eating Out spending for January and it came in at $96.86.
We ate out 3 times this month and had take-out twice, plus there was $ I gave to #2 Son for a run to McDonalds accounted for in that total.

Much of our meals out was paid for with free birthday certificates and one whole meal for 2 was comped at Lone Star.  Even with me eating for free at 3 restaurants plus a free pizza at one of those 3 restaurants, we still spent $55.93 at those 3 places.  That amount was for tip & drinks at one, just the tip where the meals were comped, and tip, salads and drinks at the third location.  Then $7.93 for #2 Son at Mickey D's.
$96.86 is not a lot to spend for 11 individual adult sized meals out + tips, but if it hadn't been for birthday meals we probably wouldn't have gone out/ordered in 6 times.

We have substantially cut down on our eating out spending for January.  That is a good thing..... 8-)

Without the Rite-Aid totals added in, my January Savings Rate is 43%.  Achieving a savings rate in the 40's is what I shoot for, with or without shopping at Rite-Aid.
 

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

 

The average monthly food/toiletries spending this year so far is $297.37.

 

How much did you spend on food/toiletries in January?
Do you track your yearly food spending?
 

Sluggy

January 2012 Budget Results.......Food and Toiletries Spending

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for JANUARY 2012.

I have posted January'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 January.  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 15.
******************

BIG LOTS
OOP  $22.67

Value  $42.91

Savings  47.17%

CVS

OOP  $19.15

Qs/Ads  $77.74

Value  $96.89

Savings   80.24%  *Not counting the $11.77 in CVS gift cards I have left.

OLLIE'S

OOP  $43.01

Value  $71.08

Savings  39.50%

PRICE CHOPPER

OOP  $2.89

Qs/Ads  $0

Value  $2.80

Savings  0%

RITE-AID DRUG STORE
OOP  $10.58(put on my free Rite-Aid gift card), so ZERO cash spent
Qs/Ads/+Ups  $431.88

Value  $442.46

Savings  97.60% before gift cards OR 100% after gift cards

SAVE-A-LOT

OOP  $55.40

Value  $75.86

Savings   27% *And that's basically all on meats.

SHURSAVE STORES(small local independent affiliated stores)
OOP  $43.85

Qs/Ads  $19.14

Value  $62.99

Savings  30.39%

WEIS (local chain Grocery store in my town/doubles up to $1 total)
OOP  $20.71

Qs/Ads  $3.28

Value  $23.99

Savings  13.68% 

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 JANUARY
Pinecone...$9.00
Subtotal........$9.00

GIFT CARDS and CERTIFICATES
Nothing

TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received...$9.00

COUPONS and FREEBIES

Progresso.....free can of soup

Pinecone....product to test

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%, CVS at 80.24% and Big Lots at 47.17%.

Hmmm, not a single grocery store in the lot. lol
I shopped at 8 different stores in January.


TOTAL Out of Pocket........$207.68

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$611.39

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$819.07

TOTAL Savings of...................................74.64%


TOTAL of CASH Rebates........................$9.00
TOTAL Out of Pocket After Rebates........$198.68
TOTAL Savings including Rebates...........$615.72
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$819.07
TOTAL Savings After Rebates...................75.74%

This closes out the January spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....
Even though I only spent 2/3 of my food budget money for January, we still ate well.  We ate down a large piece on what was in the freezer and stockpile.  Plus there were leftovers from December still for part of the month.  Having assorted members of the family sick for part of the month lowered the grocery spending as well since nobody wants to eat when they are sick. ;-)

LOOKING AHEAD TO FEBRUARY.....

I plan on eating down the freezer again this month.  I need to defrost it so we need to empty it.  I hope to get into meal planning again after letting it lag in January(due partly to illness around here).  I don't plan any stock-ups in the coming month, but I do plan on purchasing more fresh produce and greens so I'll keep the budget at $300 for the month.

How did you do in January with your Food Budget? 


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

January Food Spending Week 3, Meal Plan January Week 4

*I am taking part in Precious' MONEY SAVING CHALLENGE again for 2012.  You can find her blog FRUGAL MAKES CENTS and a list of other participants and their blogs  HERE.

Check it out.  You might find some new ideas for incorporating frugality into your life there!*


I love searching around for old photos and advertisements featuring kitchens from years gone by.  These are mostly the kitchens from my youth in the 1960's or earlier.  

Today's kitchen......

Here's a 1960's beauty!  The rustic country americana kitchen look.  Wooden cabinets with those black iron handles that allude to a barn door and the requisite RED wallpaper.  I'm surprised there is no chicken motif going on as well!
While the '60s saw the end of metal cabinetry in the American kitchen in favor of wood, the colorific appliances were still  hanging on.
And those lovely yellow appliances....just makes your mouth water, or would that be your EYES WATER?!?lol

Enough of that, onward to the Meals and Food Spending. 8-)


Last week's meal plan is in the books.  Here is what actually happened....

SUNDAY--Chinese Take-out *I wasn't feeling too well

MONDAY--Sloppy Joes(with ground turkey or chicken), Rolls, Green Beans

TUESDAY--homemade Chili, Cornbread

WEDNESDAY--?

THURSDAY-- ?

FRIDAY-- ?
SATURDAY--homemade Chicken Pot Pie-Daughter made this and it was good!

Yes, those are question marks for 4 days of my menu.  I was sick all week with sinus problems.  I hung in there for 2 days and made a couple of crockpot meals(just throw the main components all in the pot and make the rest of the family sort it all out)but I didn't eat any of it.  I had soup and applesauce and bagels or Hubs got me some Egg Drop Wonton Soup at the Chinese place.  The family fended for themselves with leftovers and whatever they wanted to fix the rest of the week.

I was beyond caring what they ate by Tuesday. lol

Since I wasn't on top of my food waste game last week(and no one else here seems capable of dealing with this issue), we lost some items while I was indisposed.

I also didn't step foot into a grocery store all week.  Hubs and daughter picked up some rolls, milk and eggs along the way as needed and threw the receipts on my desk.....how thoughtful.  The weekly spending was $8.31.

3 Weeks in and I've spent $160.93 of my January food budget.  $139.07 left for the month.  There isn't much in the sales ads that is thrilling me, so I may not be venturing into the stores again this week.  You'll see better why I don't need to shop below.

Going into Week 4, we have Sloppy Joes and Chili leftover from Week 3.

This week's menu.....

SUNDAY--homemade Pizza, carrot & celery sticks w/dressing

MONDAY--Leftovers or Burritos

TUESDAY--Denny's for Birthday Grand Slam

WEDNESDAY--Red Robin for Birthday Burger

THURSDAY--Baked Potatoes with Toppings, Mixed Veg.

FRIDAY--Lone Star for Birthday meal
SATURDAY--Chicken & Dumplings with carrots

Items needed for this menu are nothing.  2 of the meals planned but not fixed last week are here and a whole bunch of free birthday meals so not much cooking this week.  The only new item this week is chicken & dumplings
While my meals will be FREE, the Hubs and son's meals will come out of the Entertainment funds for the month, not the grocery funds.

So what is everyone else eating this week?  

Sluggy

January Food Spending Week 2, Meal Plan January Week 3

*I am taking part in Precious' MONEY SAVING CHALLENGE again for 2012.  You can find her blog FRUGAL MAKES CENTS and a list of other participants and their blogs  HERE.

Check it out.  You might find some new ideas for incorporating frugality into your life there!*


I love searching around for old photos and advertisements featuring kitchens from years gone by.  These are mostly the kitchens from my youth in the 1960's or earlier.  

Today's kitchen......or rather today's appliance in honor of my Birthday, a 1959 Electric Range!

Ok....this ad is actually a 1958 Range.....here's the 1959 one.....

Now I don't think I could stomach a Pepto-Bismol pink kitchen but I truly would have loved to have had a TURQUOISE one!  Not blue, not sea green but true up turquoise.  Like this yummy GE range.  And notice Mrs. Tweed Jacked Pencil Skirt Suit also has those cutting edge metal cabinet doors in matching turquoise!

Back the year I was born they touted these new fangled Electric ranges/ovens as so space age and modern.  No more open flames of gas.  "Keyboard Cooking" was the buzz word. Dials and push buttons with numbers for accurate temperatures.  Automatic timers that were easier to set than a clock.  The oven door was removable for easy cleaning.....well, that was a nice feature but who the heck cleans their oven anymore??lol

This fashionable Cooking Machine's cost started at $149.00 in 1959.
Gulp.....that wold be $1,130 in today's dollars! 

Enough of that, onward to the Meals and Food Spending. 8-)


Last week's meal plan is in the books.  Here is what actually happened....

SUNDAY--bucket of KFC *weekend special for $11*, coleslaw, mashed potatoes, biscuits

MONDAY--Mac and Cheese, Broccoli

TUESDAY--Subway sammies

WEDNESDAY--Kielbasa on rolls, Onions, Ginger Carrots

THURSDAY--Grilled Pork Chops, Beets(leftover), Mac and Cheese(leftover)

FRIDAY--Breakfast for Dinner(Eggs, Pancakes, Meats)
SATURDAY--Fish, Wild Rice, Peach Salad

Except for the bucket of chicken we bought on Sunday and the Subway sandwiches for 3 of us(Hubs was sick), the rest of the food served was already here.  The only thing we needed last week was milk.
Therefore, the food spending was low last week.  1 trip to Weis for Juice and Nestle's Quik where my Catalina didn't print.  Then there were my trips to CVS stores to stockpile Finish dishwasher detergent.
Trips to Rite-Aid also but no actual money was used. ;-)

In all, I spent $39.86 last week at the grocery/drug stores.

I used 26 coupons(25 at CVS on non-food items, 1 at Weis on a food item).

2 Weeks in and I've spent $149.73 of my January food budget.  $150.27 left for the month.

Going into Week 3, we have 1 piece each of kielbasa and salmon leftover.  Since everyone is off of work/school and home today, I am counting on these to be scarfed down for lunch.

This week's menu.....

SUNDAY--Chinese Take-out *I wasn't feeling too well

MONDAY--homemade Pizza, carrot & celery sticks w/dressing

TUESDAY--homemade Chili, Cornbread

WEDNESDAY-- Sloppy Joes(with ground turkey or chicken), Rolls, Green Beans

THURSDAY--Baked Potatoes with Toppings, Mixed Veg.

FRIDAY--Chicken Divan
SATURDAY--Spaghetti Carbonara, Salad

Items needed for this menu are rolls and salad greens.  I have everything else on hand.
The grocery store ads look pretty pitiful this week as well, since it's the "store brand" week here.
I might stock up on salmon this week as somebody had a good deal on it....can't for the life of me remember which store it was.lol  I'll pretty much be staying out of the stores this week at any rate.

My menu might change if A-Daughter want's me to fix a favorite food since she is leaving to go back to school next weekend(yay!lol) or if B-I feel worse than I do now......I think I'm getting the flu or it might just be a cold.
bleh.

So what is everyone else eating this week?  

Sluggy