This Week on the Dining Table

It's the "You Really Need All This Food?" Edition......

This is what College Boy "insisted" on taking back to school with him(well except for the baking trays and that pen).  All this extra food plus the case of water I dropped off in his room when I went to pick him up a week ago and 2 containers of peanut butter cookies and assorted sodas.....and the Easter candy I gave him before he left so I didn't have to mail it in a week's time.

This is the boy who we are paying for a full meal plan for as well, at the school!
He only has 6 weeks left until the semester ends.  I would have hated to see what he felt he needed if he had had to slog it out longer than that. lolz

I am just enjoying the relative peace and quiet reigning in the house now that he is safely ensconced back at school.  8-)

Onward to the meal planning!

Here's what was planned last week.......

1. Sunday--Roasted Chicken, Stuffing, Deviled Eggs and Roasted Carrots and Cauliflower
2. Monday--CB's Birthday Meal out
3. Tuesday--Philly Cheese Steaks(I'll have Halushki), leftover Veggies
4. Wednesday--White Chicken Chili, Biscuits, Salad
5. Thursday--Tacos or Taco Salads
6. Friday--Crab Cakes and Shrimp, Coleslaw, Steak Fries or add to leftover Roasted Potatoes(for Hubs and CB)
7. Saturday--Leftovers or Take-out

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Roasted Chicken, Stuffing, Deviled Eggs and Roasted Carrots and Cauliflower
2. Monday--Subway Sandwiches
3. Tuesday--CB's Birthday Meal out
4. Wednesday--CB made Tacos, I had Leftover Halushki
5. Thursday--Fend For Yourself(I had a spinach and cheese Hot Pocket, Hubs had leftover Lasagna, CB had Tacos, I think?)
6. Friday--Crab Cakes and Shrimp, Coleslaw, Leftover Roasted Potatoes(for Hubs and CB)
7. Saturday--Philly Cheese Steaks

5 meals cooked at home.
3 new meals and 2 nights of leftovers in some form or another and 2 nights of Take-Out/Eating Out.

As for my grocery spending......3 tiny  trips that came to $19.47 combined and a larger shop at Weis which was $64.65, making my weekly total $84.12.
I have spent $181.41 in all for March so far.
Between $68.59 and $118.59 of the potential $250-$300 March food budget left to spend with 17 days left in the month.

Leftovers going into this week......Halushki, Assorted Veggies, Breaded Fish, Taco filling(CB made this), Coleslaw, and Roasted Chicken meat.
I'll make Chicken soup from the leftover chicken and throw some of the leftover roasted veggies into that.  Fish will become a fish sandwich for 1 lunch.

Here is this week's "food plan"--

1. Sunday--Corned Beef, Cabbage/Halushki, Carrots
2. Monday--Tuna Casserole, Caesar Salad
3. Tuesday--Beef Bourguignon
4. Wednesday--BLT Sandwiches Tacos using leftover taco meat
5. Thursday---Salmon or Cod, Brussels Sprouts
6. Friday--Kielbasa on Rolls w/Onions, Corn
7. Saturday--Leftovers

This week will see 6 new meals cooked and 1 meal of leftovers(re-purposed into new dishes or not) and 0 meals Out.

What I need to buy for this menu?  Nothing at all. I bought the corned beef, mushrooms, cabbage, tomatoes last week.  Roast, tuna, bacon, fish and kielbasa are in the freezer or pantry, as are bread products, noodles and veggies.  I am going to try to NOT go to the grocery store this week.
Yah....famous last words. lolz

What is getting fixed and served at your house this week?

Was last week's plan successful, did you go off plan or did you not even plan what was going to be eaten last week?

Any great deals on food at your stores this week?

Sluggy

2015 Food & Toiletries Spending.....March Update

*I am posting this a day early since I am done shopping for the month.*

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

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for MARCH 2015.

I have posted March's totals on the Total Grocery Savings for 2015 Page located HERE and have updated the Yearly Totals there.  I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in March.  If you aren't interested in that much detail, just skip to the bottom for the Totals SumMy 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  $8.50
Value  $40.72
Savings  79.13%

RITE-AID *(see below)
OOP  $6.33
Qs/Ads/+UPs  $421.39
Value  $427.72
Savings  98.52%

 

SHURSAVE STORES(small local independent affiliated stores)
OOP  $33.74

Qs/Ads  $18.86

Value  $52.60

Savings  35.85%

SURPLUS OUTLET
OOP  $39.48
Value  $63.45
Savings  37.18%
 

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $180.83

Qs/Ads  $124.01

Value  $304.84

Savings  40.68%
 

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 98.52%, the Bakery Outlet at 79.13% and Weis Markets at 40.68%.  My WORST savings rate was the Shursave affiliate at 35.85%.

My Bakery Outlet savings rate increased over last month's trip because they lowered their prices so my $8.50 went a whole lot further.  The had increased their prices awhile back but I guess that was the tipping point for bread products in this area, as they sold too few.  Last month my same $8.50 outlay only bought $17.66 worth of products.  I, as a consumer, am glad to see the prices lowered for a change.

I shopped at 5 different stores this past month. 

TOTAL Out of Pocket........ $268.88

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$620.45

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$889.33

TOTAL Savings of...................................69.76%
TOTAL Savings WITHOUT Rite-Aid.............43.12%

This closes out the March food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....
I went into March wanting to do a $300 monthly spending and actually accomplished that goal for a change.
Yay me! 8-)

The monthly savings percentage went up by 9.46% in March to 69.76% compared to February's 60.30% average.
Next month, without all that low OOP at Rite-Aid shopping, will most probably affect my average and it will plummet like a rock into the 30-40 percentile.
sigh

The savings rate for the year so far now stands at 68.70%.  That's a .46% increase in savings over February's YTD total.   It's quite high all things considered but I fear it will be the highest savings percentage I see in 2015 now that the "Salad Days" of Rite-Aid are over.

LOOKING AHEAD To APRIL.........

I want to continue to eat down some of our stockpiles of food and empty out the freezer a bit more. It's just 2 adults for April but we are going to host Easter dinner and invite 2 from the family here to eat.  I have two large shops coming up this week(totaling about $100) so April will start off with a shopping bang!
The rest of the month will mostly be eating all the stocks up and reigning in the spending on food.  I don't forsee any toiletries spending(once my +Ups are used up by 4/11).
 

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 March?
*  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?
 

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

The "The Behemoth was Moved Edition".....

Woke up Sunday morning to find that the Behemoth across the street NOT in it's usual position blocking the sunlight.  It's usually parked here on a driveway that is not long enough for it.....

But it got moved overnight to here.......

Parallel to the street on their lawn past their driveway.
Hhhmmmm, I wonder what's going on here.........

Anyway, onward to the meal planning!

 

Here's what was planned last week.......

1.  Turkey, stuffing, corn, cranberry glop leftovers
2.  Lasagna, salad or collards leftovers

3.  Irish Stew leftovers

4.  Rueben Sandwiches using corned beef leftovers
5.  Sloppy Joe sandwiches, cole slaw

6.  Kielbasa on Rolls, cabbage leftovers
7.  Salmon, leftover assorted veggies, cole slaw

 

And this is what actually happened--

1.  Turkey, stuffing, corn, cranberry glop leftovers
2.  Lasagna, salad or collards leftovers(I had collards & a grilled cheese sammich, hubs had lasagna)

3.  Chinese Take-Out(I just couldn't face another night of leftovers on Friday. lolz)

4.  Rueben Sandwiches using corned beef leftovers
5.  Sloppy Joe sandwiches, cole slaw

6.  Kielbasa on Rolls, cabbage leftovers
7.  Salmon, Brussels sprouts, cole slaw

Everything went as planned except the assorted leftover veggies were gone by the time we had the Salmon so I made Brussels Sprouts that night.  I didn't have any lasagna so there is a helping of that left still.

Last week I made 2 trips to the grocery stores and spent $23.62 OOP on $41.84 worth of reg. retail groceries.

I had 6 transactions at Rite-Aid last week and spend $2.56 OOP on $171.24 worth of toiletries.
(If you take off the $1.15 I got back at SavingStar already, it's $1.41 OOP.)

For the week, $26.18 total spending on $213.08 worth of food/toiletries/HBA.

$268.88 spent of my $300 March food budget, leaving us $31.12 for the last 2 days of the month.  I won't be going shopping again until April 1st so this amount will roll over into April's food budget kitty.

Leftovers going into this week are--cabbage, lasagna, sloppy joe sauce and rolls, cole slaw and Irish stew.  I also made a pot of broccoli cheddar soup using some leftover broccoli on Friday. 

Here is the plan for this week.........

1.  Broccoli Soup, Salad(We had steak out for lunch so not so hungry at dinner time.)
2.  Irish Stew, leftover Cabbage

3.  Grilled Fish, Roasted Veggies, Coleslaw

4.  Mushroom Quiche, Salad
5.  Sloppy Joes(leftover),

6.  Coq au Vin, Potatoes, Carrots, Asparagus
7.  Easter Ham, Deviled Eggs, Mac & Cheese, Green Beans

I don't eat ham any longer(too much sodium!)but we are having company and if I make a meatloaf or something it won't go over well so I'll get a small ham, eat 1 slice and let Hubs make ham sandwiches for lunches and/or pack the rest of the ham off with the relatives when they leave.

3 nights of leftovers(soup, stew, sloppy joes) and 4 nights of new dishes.
I may need to shove the lasagna leftover in the freezer for later in the month.

 

What I need to buy for this menu......Asparagus, Mushrooms, Ham, Green Beans, Milk and maybe cheese for the Mac & Cheese but I'll wait until Wednesday and the new month to start to go shopping.

There is a deal at Target this week, buy $50 in Food/Beverage and get a $10 gift card.  I don't buy groceries at Target but I may go Wednesday and see if I can scare up $50 of food there.  I do need to buy a ham so that will help, plus I have $15 in Target gift cards to spend so I'll only have to be OOP $35 for this deal.

 

What is getting fixed and served at your house this week?    

Was last week's plan successful, did you go off plan or did you not even plan what was going to be eaten that week?

Any great deals on food at your stores this week?

Sluggy