This Week on the Dining Table

The "We Drove to Berwick on Sunday" Edition--

Same companion, different drinks...lol

We had lunch at the Greek place we like(using up a $15 gift certificate I had)and then had some brewskis at the brewpub down the road.  No new pictures to share because I brought my old camera by mistake(it has been behaving lately but on Sunday it was back to it's old broken self), so I'm re-sharing the photos I took in June when we went.


What was planned last week--

1.  Zucchini Casserole

2.  Hamburgers(from freezer)and Tomato and Feta Salad

3.  Cream of Potato Soup w/Chicken and Carrots(made from leftover roast chicken/veg)

4.  Leftover Pot Roast Sammies w/Carrots

5.  Brats on rolls, leftover zuke casserole
6.  Spinach Salad(will make pasta and sauce also for Hubs, not for me)
7.  Take-out
  

And this is what actually happened--

 

1.  Zucchini Casserole

2.  Hamburgers(from freeze), Baked Beans

3.  Cream of Potato Soup w/Chicken and Carrots(made from leftover roast chicken/veg)

4.  Leftover Pot Roast Sammies w/Carrots

5.  Salmon grilled, leftover Zuke Casserole
6.  Spinach Salad(no pasta for Hubs too, he was fine with just the salad)
7.  Take-out

 

Everything but the Brats happened and we had salmon that night instead.  Brats moving to this week.
   

Last week I made 2 trips to the grocery stores on my grocery shopping day.

I spent $45.86 on food last week.  It's a bit less than I actually spent because the cashier forgot to take the 50% sticker/price off my collards so I got that free.  Hey, $3 is $3.....


 Going into this week, in leftovers we have.........1 helping of each the zuke casserole, the potato/chicken soup and the baked beans.  There is a bit of fresh spinach leftover as well.

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

1.  BLT sammies, side spinach salad

2.  Ravioli(freezer), tossed salad

3.  Brats(freezer) on rolls, leftover baked beans, collard greens

4.  Duck breast(freezer) Risotto, sauted Veggies of some kind(depending on what's fresh at the market)

5.  Leftover Chinese take-out from last Saturday
6.  Grilled pork chop(freezer), leftover Collards, fried apples
7.  Leftovers or No Clue Yet(something in the freezer)


Food Waste--nothing went bad last week.

What I need to buy this week......some fresh produce, bread and milk. 

We stopped at Giant because we were over by one in Berwick and stocked up on canned chili, G2 and a couple more things totaling $26.87. And we went and joined Sam's Club on Saturday and dropped another $54.74 on flounder, pecans, peroxide, lunchmeat, muffins, good hot dogs and 10# sugar(for making my pepper relish). Yes, we got out of there without spending $100.....everyone tells me $100 is your baseline spending anytime you walk through those doors. lolz

Since we've already spent $81.61 this past weekend I'll try to keep it to a minimum of food spending for the rest of the week.
I'm already up to $127.47 spent for September and we are only 8 days in.
Eek!

   

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?
How much did you spend on food so far in September?

 

Sluggy

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

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for JULY 2012.

I have posted July'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 July.  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(2-4 at home this month)& 2 dogs. No kids under 16.
******************

BAKERY OUTLET
OOP   $9.89

Value   $33.92

Savings 70.84%

BIG LOTS

OOP  $26.00

Value  $47.39

Savings  45.14%

RITE-AID

OOP  $17.71

Qs/Ads  $423.33

Value  $441.04

Savings   95.98%

SHURSAVE STORES(small local independent affiliated stores)
OOP  $51.77

Qs/Ads  $34.17

Value  $85.94

Savings  39.76%

WALMART

OOP  $13.67

Value  $22.10

Savings  38.15%

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $117.39

Qs/Ads  $75.81

Value  $193.20

Savings  39.24%

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 July

Total...$0.00

GIFT CARDS and CERTIFICATES
TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received...$0.00

COUPONS and FREEBIES

1 Free Deodorant--giveaway winning

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were the Rite-Aid at 95.98%,  the Bakery Outlet at 70.84%, and Big Lots at 45.14%.  l shopped at 6 different stores this past month.

TOTAL Out of Pocket........$236.43

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$540.90

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$823.59

TOTAL Savings of...................................71.30%

This closes out the July spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....

I went into July with $300 budgeted for food/toiletries for the month.  I was able to stay substantially below that amount.
Though I didn't actively coupon in July I was still able to get close to my dream goal of a 75% savings rate.  This was mostly due to paying next to nothing for what I bought at Rite-Aid and for "buying" a substantial number of items at Rite-Aid in July. It's not the way I wanted to hit the mark but I'll take it. lol

I didn't buy many meats this month, mostly produce/fruit, bread products and some dairy.  The only stocking up I did was on cream cheese, 100% juices and drinks for #2 Son for band camp. 

LOOKING AHEAD TO AUGUST....

I will be setting my food budget back to $400 for August.  #2 Son is home again.  #1 Son will also be coming home mid month for a week or so.  Between the 2 of them, I'll need to buy more groceries than last month.  I also need to stock up on dog kibble and at the end of the month restock on meats and there will be fresh produce for cheap to be frozen.

We ate down the freezer stock a good deal in July and I'll continue to eat it down in August so I can clean it out and restock later in August. 

How did you do in July with your Food Budget?
Did you stick to it?
Did you find any good rock bottom prices to stock up on groceries?

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

Food Spending July Week 3 & Meal Planning Week 4

Well my mouse seems to be the culprit(ie-my keyboard possession of last week), so I'll be going out to get a new mouse later today.  I know that was worrying all of you.....


I actually went to the store last week!  Well I didn't go to the grocery store but I bought food at Rite-Aid and Big Lots.


*****************************
And here is the "meal plan" that actually happened last week.....

SUNDAY--Leftover Chinese(from our Dinner Out)
MONDAY--Marin Joe's Special

TUESDAY--Lemon Pepper Chicken w/Zucchini

WEDNESDAY--Hamburger Helper type casserole, leftover Squash casserole

THURSDAY--Kielbasa on Rolls, homemade Pickles, Green Beans

FRIDAY--Take-out Italian

SATURDAY--Leftovers
Everything was cooked/served as planned except for the Quiche on Friday.  I didn't get out for a pie crust so we got Italian from the local joint.  I had Lasagna and Hubs had an Italian Sub.  That was all the eating out/take-out we did all week. 

The weekly food spending was $42.36 done in 2 trips to Rite-Aid and 1 trip to Big Lots.  A large chunk of that($33+) was stocking up on Gatorade for #2 Son and Juice.   I didn't darken the door of a grocery store at all last week.  ;-)

 

The regular retail value for all was $132.59 so I had a 68.05% savings rate. 

As I reset my July Food Budget to $300, I now have $158.97 left to spend on food/toiletries this month.  8 shopping days left in July.  I think I can make it! 8-)

Going into the new week I have the following leftovers to use up......1 piece of cornbread.

The garden has decided to finally produce something other than radishes, so I have a big pile of green beans and 4 yellow squash going into this week.

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

This week's menu.....Hubs has vacation this week, so I am not going to designate which meals for which days.  He might want to be spontaneous(imagine that!lol)and go or do something with little notice so I am keeping my plan loose & flexible this week.

MEAL 1--Dinner out at Ruby Tuesdays(did this already on Sunday)

MEAL 2--Corned Beef and Cabbage

MEAL 3--Grilled  Squash, Hamburgers

MEAL 4--KFC chicken, Green Beans

MEAL 5--Tacos or Taco Salads

MEAL 6--Fried Fish and Squash, Pickles

MEAL 7--?? Leaving open/probably take-out or eating out

What I need to buy this week to serve this menu?.....
Cabbage, Salad Greens and other fresh produce to put into salads.  We also need milk, fruit, lunch meat for Daughter.

So what's on deck for your menu this week?

Sluggy

Food Spending July Week 1 & Meal Planning July Week 2

Now is a great time to be eating seasonally in the Northern Hemisphere!  The fresh veggies and fruits are beginning to come in to your local market and/or farm stand.  And while they are fresh and found locally, deals on those lovely veggies can be found!  It shouldn't cost you a fortune in the coming month or two to eat well for a reasonable amount of cash.

So be sure to get out there and find some deals on fresh produce.

***********************
And here is the "meal plan" that actually happened last week.....

SUNDAY--Steak, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Salad
MONDAY--Baked Potatoes and toppings

TUESDAY--Salad, Grilled Cheese, Watermelon

WEDNESDAY--BBQ Ribs, Macaroni Salad, Baked Beans, Watermelon

THURSDAY--Chinese Take-Out

FRIDAY--Smoked Chicken, leftover sides

SATURDAY--Ribs, Mac Salad, Raw veggies and dip

Since the daughter was working nights at the store, she wasn't home to eat much, so after the big smoker/grill-out on Wednesday we basically just ate leftovers, except for Thursday when we took a break and had Chinese take-out.  It's Monday and we are STILL working on leftovers!lol

You may notice that my planned LOBSTER DINNER didn't happen.  Hubs stopped at Price Chopper on his way home Tuesday and they had no $5.88lb. sized lobsters.....didn't seem like they ever got them either!  The fishmonger was trying to upsell to the $7.99lb sized ones they did have.  You KNOW I don't play that....so we cobbled together some foods to eat instead.  I have grilled cheese and a salad, Hubs opted for burritos I believe.  Maybe next time I'll actually get my lobster.

Last week was wickedly hot!  Running the oven was NOT an option!!  We got around that by using the grill(steak), the smoker(ribs,chicken), the crockpot(crockpot, beans) and the microwave.  And I used the stovetop to make a grilled cheese sammie.

The weekly food spending was $7.62 for mostly produce and milk.  We made 2 trips to the ShurSave affiliated market.  I sent Hubs or daughter and I didn't even go to the store last week.  It was too hot to go for me!
The regular retail value was $18.83 so I had a 59.53% savings rate.  Well, if you count the $65.53 worth of stuff I got at Rite-Aid last week for no $ OOP, the rate goes way higher!lol

As I reset my July Food Budget to $300, I now have $292.38 left to spend on food/toiletries this month.

Going into the new week I have the following leftovers to use up......some steak, 2 servings of ribs, 2 servings of baked beans, a LOT of macaroni salad, half a smoked chicken.

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

This week's menu.....
SUNDAY--Smoked Chicken, Cornbread, mixed Veggies in Chinese Sauce
MONDAY--using up the leftover steak....steak sandwiches, steak salad-not sure yet

TUESDAY--Ribs, Beans, Macaroni Salad(yet again!lol)

WEDNESDAY--Fajitas with smoked Chicken

THURSDAY--Stuffed Shells, Salad

FRIDAY--Squash Casserole, Grilled Salmon

SATURDAY--Marin Joe's Special, Glass of wine

 

What I need to buy this week to serve this menu?.....

Well, I have everything through Tuesday to make those dishes, since it's mostly leftovers anyway.lol

After that I need.....mushrooms, peppers, onions(maybe), salad greens, yellow squash, frozen spinach.

Add in some seasonal fruit and we are all good.  There will be more spending though for Daughter's needs, which will be mostly breakfast type items(bagels), milk(for her protein drinks)and other things she hadn't told me about yet.

 

I have premade shells and shredded cheese in the freezer as well as raw salmon and ground beef for Friday's and Saturday's meal. 

 

I'm figuring about $30 for this week, besides any stocking up opportunities I may find.


So what's on deck for your menu this week?

Sluggy

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

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for APRIL 2012.

I have posted April'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 April.  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 at home this month)& 2 dogs. No kids under 16.
******************

BAKERY OUTLET
OOP   $9.89

Value   $38.41

Savings  74.25%

SHURSAVE STORES(small local independent affiliated stores)
OOP  $78.54

Qs/Ads  $47.11

Value  $125.65

Savings  37.50%

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $142.60

Qs/Ads  $144.47

Value  $287.07

Savings  50.33%

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 APRIL

Rite-Aid SCR....$6.00
Subtotal........$6.00

GIFT CARDS and CERTIFICATES
Nothing

TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received...$6.00

COUPONS and FREEBIES
Nothing

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were the Bakery Outlet at 74.25%, Weis at 50.33% and Shursave Grocer at 37.50%.  Ok, so I only shopped at THREE STORES all MONTH!lol

TOTAL Out of Pocket........$231.03

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$220.10

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$451.13

TOTAL Savings of...................................48.80%


TOTAL of CASH Rebates........................$6.00
TOTAL Out of Pocket After Rebates........$225.03
TOTAL Savings including Rebates...........$226.10
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$451.13
TOTAL Savings After Rebates...................50.12%

This closes out the April spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....
I went into April with $300 budgeted for food/toiletries for the month.  I was able to stay well below my budgeted amount, even with hosting an Easter dinner for what turned into a Feast for 7 at the last minute.
I used very few coupons in April, though I did buy many meat items.   Using those store clearance meat dept. coupons assisted my budget there.  I didn't shop at any drug stores this month, especially Rite-Aid where I have or have close to 100% savings rate.  That is why my overall savings percentage is only 48.80% in April instead of 60-80%.  But even though the rate is much lower this month, I'll gladly take it.  Besides the paper products I bought this month, I bought no other HBA or non-food items.  An almost 50% savings rate on just food items is wonderful!  Especially when I only used 3 ManuCoupons, 2 PeelieCoupons and 2 CatalinaCoupons.

As for the discounts I used in April....
*3 ManuQs
*2 Catalina WYB Qs
*2 PeelieQs
*12 Meat discount Qs
*16 Store Qs(4 of which were Free item Qs)

Besides the few coupons I used, utilizing UTOF meats, in season produce, buying at lowest sale price in the cycle in the stores and finding alternate sources for groceries(outlets), helped me spend less of my cash in the grocery store than my neighbor on identical items this month.

LOOKING AHEAD TO MAY.....My Daughter will be coming home to stay in another week.  My oldest Son will be coming home for 10 days or so with his girlfriend in tow next week.  So we will be a family of 6 for 1/3rd of the month and then a family of 4 for the remainder of the May.  More people means more food spending.  My oldest has already asked me to make him some favorite foods while he is home and of course they are not cheap foods.  Most of them involve smoked meats so I'll be firing up the smoker soon. ;-)

I will be increasing my food budget to $400 for May.  As for the meats I'll need for the smoker, I'll be going to the restaurant supply store this month for the best deals locally.  I'll continue to seek out in-season produce, store loss leaders/lowest priced in the store cycle goods and keep my eyes peeled while in the store for instant discount Deals.

How did you do in April 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

February/March Food Spending Week 4 &1, Meal Plan March Week 1

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-1970's or earlier.
This week I give you the "kitchen of tomorrow" from 1945......

This post-war kitchen of the future was thunk up by the Western Pines Co of Oregon.  If you can't make out the copy of the ad, they refer to this as a "Living Center", not a kitchen.  They predict that the mechanical innovations that would free women up from the drudgery of kitchen work would be air conditioning, a quick freeze unit and no splash sink with sliding grill.  They referred to the desk and hutch as a "dish secretary and food budgeteer".  And get a load of the flat screen TV! mounted above the combination "fireplace incinerator heating unit".  Take note of the Venetian blind type separator curtain/blind over the peninsula.  They say this will be "electrically operated" and when closed will separate the cooking area from the dining area.  What crazy thinking for the 1940's!lol

Up til this point, natural wood finishes were not what was done in a kitchen.  Wooden cabinets(more in freestanding furniture or furniture cabinet forms like Hoosier cabinets)were standard, but mostly this furniture sported painted finishes.  
Before the metal built-in cabinetry that was "modern" in the 1930's, wood in the kitchen was standard, but this wood concept and finish, while a return to the previous era was also new in it's form and treatments.
This ad didn't actually show the kitchen prep areas so I don't know how I feel about this kitchen.  I do think all that Ponderosa pine reminds me of wood paneling from my childhood that everyone had in their finished basements.  This ad also reminds me of old camper photos. 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--Hubs/#2 Son had Burger King, I had a big salad with nuts and fruit
MONDAY--Ravioli, Salad
TUESDAY--Pecan Chicken, Sweet Potatoes, Cauliflower/Carrot blend
WEDNESDAY--Meatloaf, Green Beans, Smashed Potatoes
THURSDAY--Fish, Rice, Teriyaki Veggie Melange
FRIDAY--homemade Pizza, Salad
SATURDAY--Leftovers

Everything was served as planned.  Since I had a whole chicken to roast, instead of doing my traditional preparation for the Pecan Chicken, I roasted the bird, then sliced off the breast meat and prepared the sauce and put those slices under the broiler with the sauce and nuts for those who wanted their bird sauced.  Me?....I had my bird roasted and plain and Hubs ate the dark meat parts.  #2 Son is the only one who wanted the sauced version so this worked out for everyone.

The weekly food spending was $159.20.  I already speechified about spending $121.53 in ONE shopping trip HERE.  The next day, Saturday, Hubs and I went to the other local grocery store and dropped another $37.67.  That trip was to pick up tomato products, 2 lbs. of fish fillets, OJ, 1/2lb of deli meats and 6 bags of salad greens.  This was the shopping trip I had planned to make last week.

It's the 5th day of the month and I've already spent more than HALF my food budget for the month!  I have $140.80 left from my original $300 kitty for food.  I do have $176.80 leftover from Jan. and Feb.'s kitties which I will dip into if I need it, but I'll try my hardest to avoid spending that.


Going into March Week 1+ I have a few leftovers.  Mostly it's just one helping of something and not enough for an entire meal.  We ate some leftovers on Sunday so there is little left now.  The only exception is leftover chicken from the roasted bird.  I am planning to use that in a casserole type dish this week.

This week's menu.....

SUNDAY--Leftovers
MONDAY--Tacos or Taco Salad, Corn
TUESDAY--Veal Parmesan, Pasta, Salad
WEDNESDAY--Birthday Meal out
THURSDAY--Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole
FRIDAY--Chinese take-out
SATURDAY--Breakfast for Dinner

This menu gives us 4 new meals, 1 eating out, 1 take-out(at Daughter's request) and 1 night of leftovers.The veal is Hubs request, the tacos are #2 son's request and I need something easy to fix on Sat.

Items needed to buy for this menu are...veal patties. I've got everything else here already in the freezer or the pantry.  The tacos, parmesan and chicken casserole will use the last of the shredded cheeses.  The tacos will also use up the last of my ground beef stash.
We'll be buying milk as usual.

So what is everyone else eating this week?

Sluggy

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

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for FEBRUARY 2012.

I have posted February'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 February.  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(3-5 at home this month)& 2 dogs. No kids under 16.
******************

BIG LOTS
OOP  $19.35

Value  $35.50

Savings  45.50%

BAKERY OUTLET
OOP   $7.45
Value   $38.92
Savings  80.86%

PRICE CHOPPER

OOP  $5.98

Qs/Ads  $9.14

Value  $15.12

Savings  60.45%

RITE-AID DRUG STORE
OOP  $9.05 in cash($24.92 with $15.87 put on my free Rite-Aid gift card)
Qs/Ads/+Ups  $412.71

Value  $437.63

Savings  97.93%

SHURSAVE STORES(small local independent affiliated stores)
OOP  $173.69

Qs/Ads  $122.42

Value  $296.11

Savings  41.35%

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 FEBRUARY

Mondavi Wine.....$1.00
Pinecone...$6.00

Rite-Aid SCR....$14.49
Subtotal........$21.49

GIFT CARDS and CERTIFICATES
Nothing

TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received...$21.49

COUPONS and FREEBIES

2 Knives--Giveaway win
2 x Coca-Cola 12-pack Q

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 97.93%, the Bakery Outlet at 80.86%, and Price Chopper at 60.45%.

I shopped at 5 different stores in February.


TOTAL Out of Pocket........$215.52

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$607.76

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$823.28

TOTAL Savings of...................................73.82%


TOTAL of CASH Rebates........................$21.49
TOTAL Out of Pocket After Rebates........$194.03
TOTAL Savings including Rebates...........$629.25
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$823.28
TOTAL Savings After Rebates...................76.43%

This closes out the February spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....
We continued to eat down the freezer and didn't do any restocking on frozen foods....except for those whole roasters I bought.  We spent well below our budgeted amount for food again in February.  I think this was in part due to consistent meal planning and sticking with the menu, cutting down on our eating and sticking to simpler foods(not buying much processed or prepared foods and buying items closer to their natural state and buying a narrower range of items).  A simpler diet will help to keep your food costs down.

I want to note something here.....while I used quite a few Qs at Rite-Aid, no Qs were used at Big Lots, Price Chopper and the Bakery Outlet, and I hardly used any Qs at the Shursave grocery store(since they don't accept internet printed ones).  With most of the items I purchased, either they didn't have a Q available or the store didn't allow Q redemption.  Even without using Qs, by just buying on sale, I was able to realize a savings rate of at least 40%.  So if you arranger your purchasing so that you don't pay regular retail price, you can still save a very nice amount!
Of course everyone wants to save 70% or 80% off of their food bill.  But even if you don't use Qs you can still save 40% if you shop strategically by buying items when they are at the lowest price point in the supermarket sales cycles.

LOOKING AHEAD TO MARCH.....
We'll have an extra mouth or two to feed for 1/3 of the month.  No Birthdays or special  food occasions, except for St. Patrick's Day.
I'll try to pick up some corned beef briskets on sale for stockpiling.  I like to get briskets and slice my own for corned beef sandwiches.  Much less expensive than buying corned beef at the deli counter....it's about $9 a lb. around here these days!  I can buy a 4+lb. brisket on sale in March for what they charge for 1 lb. of it sliced at the deli counter.

I will be keeping my food budget at $300 for March.  I will hold the excess from Jan.($92.32) and Feb.($84.48)that I did not spend in reserve, which gives me an extra $176.80, should a great food deal come around this month.

How did you do in February 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

December Food Spending Week 5, Meal Plan January Week 1

*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.  Some I look at surely stand up to being innovative and attractive even by today's standards, some are very "kitchy" lol now and then there are those that fall under the heading of "It SEEMED like a great idea at the time!".
With that I give you the Pepto-Bismol Nightmare Kitchen....

What was FORMICA thinking?lol
I guess the he-men who obviously ran that company in the 1950's were trying to appeal to the women's feminine side?
Egads!!
It's a cute novelty but imagine having to walk into that room every morning at 7 am and fix your family breakfast(not to mention having to spend more time in there throughout the day).  No wonder our mothers drank and took up prescription sedatives.....

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--Ham, Rolls from scratch, Deviled Eggs, Rutabaga, Green Beans, Cranberry Glop, assorted pies

MONDAY--Leftovers

TUESDAY--Leftovers

WEDNESDAY--Date Night-I have a free dinner for 2 to Applebee's

THURSDAY--Leftovers

FRIDAY--Cheese Steaks

SATURDAY--Crudites and chips with dip, homemade Pizza-using dough Hubs picked up last week for cheap

Instead of 2 meals to prepare, I made 3 meals. The ONLY explanation for making myself do more work than I wanted/had to was yes, I got tired of eating leftovers. lol

We still have a substantial amount of ham leftover to use this coming week.  I used the hunk of bulk bought roast beef deli meat #1 son wanted me to buy before Christmas(and then he didn't eat)to make the cheese steaks the night #2 had a sleepover.  Whatever meat was left after that was frozen.  We still have some barbecue pork and homemade rolls left to use up this week.

The food spending was fairly low last week.

In all, we spent $72.82 last week at the grocery/drug stores.....well not really, we actually only spent about $45 last week.  But this $72.82 amount includes $27.35 I spent the 2nd and 3rd week in December at Rite-Aid.  I forgot to add this amount in earlier this month, so I just tagged it onto my spending at the end of December.
I made 4 trips to various stores.   Reg. retail of $475.08(including the Rite-Aid items)so I saved 84.61% last week(mostly due to the Rite-Aid savings)....without R-A items it would have been about 60%.

My Dec. food spending total was $307.74.  Just over my budgeted amount of $300 for the month.

This week's menu.....

SUNDAY--Leftovers-Pizzas, BBQ

MONDAY--Ham, Harvard Beets, Mashed Potatoes, another green Veggie

TUESDAY--Fish, Wild Rice, Apple Salad

WEDNESDAY--Mac and Cheese, Broccoli

THURSDAY--Omelets,Fruit Salad, Toast or E. Muffins

FRIDAY--Rigatoni and Meat Sauce, Salad, Garlic Bread
SATURDAY--Kielbasa on rolls, Onions, Ginger Carrots

Items needed for this menu.....Salad Greens, Eggs, Rigatoni, Fruit, Milk.  There are some fish deals locally so I make do a little stocking up on that item.  No other plans for food shopping this week at the moment.
For January I am going to keep the $300 Food Budget since the daughter will be home for almost all of this month.  February's budget will go down to $250 since it will just be 3 of us again.

So what is everyone else eating this week?  

Sluggy

December Food Spending Week 4, Meal Plan Week 5

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

SUNDAY--Lone Star for steaks(holiday treat out)

MONDAY--Daughter's Bday Meal out, Mom Sake binge

TUESDAY--Leftovers

WEDNESDAY--Beef Stroganov, Rice, Broccoli
THURSDAY--frozen Pizzas, Salad(nobody ate the Salad tho)

FRIDAY--BBQ pulled Pork Sammies, Coleslaw, Corn
SATURDAY--Chinese food out(Xmas Eve tradition)

3, count 'em 3 Dinners out last week!  It's the Holidays, what else can I say?lol

I cooked 2 actual meals last week, we had leftovers 1 night and the frozen pizzas(lazy dinner)was the night of the Band Concerts since there was no time for a sit-down dinner.

As predicted, the food spending was high last week.

In all, we spent $139.35 last week at the grocery stores.  8 trips to various stores, lots of small trips to pick up a thing or two while someone was already out nearby and 1 big trip to the restaurant supply store(where I bought the hunk of meat to BBQ among other things).   Reg. retail of $250.53 so I saved 44.38% last week.

I find this hysterical that I spent just over $100 for 3 WEEKS of meals earlier this month and I cooked a large number of those meals.

Then I cook 2 meals total in Week 4 and I spend $139+ in 1 WEEK!!lol

My spending is in reverse proportion to my cooking.  Hmmmmm......

I also did something sneaky last week.  I got these for free!

$40 in Weis gift cards.  

I had gotten a Catalina about a transfer or bring a new Rx to their Pharmacy deal at my local store.  As part of the remodel(and price hike)this Weis closed up the Pharmacy/DrugStore down at the end of the strip mall and put it inside the Grocery Store.  They are offering this move your prescriptions/get gift cards deal to drum up business.  So I moved 3 Rxs and filled a new Rx last week and got $40 in gift cards for free.

Now if only Rite-Aid would bring back their 'move your Rx gift card' deal in January so I can move them all back there, I'll be all set!lol

I had planned to use all $40 this month to bring my OOP food spending down, but I ended up using $20 when I had Hubs pick up the Ham for Christmas dinner and I gave the other $20 one to BIL for Christmas.

My Dec. food spending total so far through 12/25 is $240.92.  That leaves $59.08 with 6 days left in the month.

This week's menu.....

SUNDAY--Ham, Rolls from scratch, Deviled Eggs, Rutabaga, Green Beans, Cranberry Glop, assorted pies

MONDAY--Leftovers

TUESDAY--Leftovers

WEDNESDAY--Date Night-I have a free dinner for 2 to Applebee's to use

THURSDAY--Leftovers

FRIDAY--Leftovers
SATURDAY--Appetizers, homemade Pizza-using dough Hubs picked up last week for cheap

We have tons of leftovers in the fridge for this week, so I plan on doing little actual cooking.

Huge container of leftover Stroganoff & Rice, half a Ham left from Christmas, pulled Pork, Coleslaw, 2 lbs. of Roast Beef coldcuts(that #1 didn't polish off)and 2 bags of homemade rolls.

I see Stoganoff, Pork Sammies, Cheese Steaks and Ham & Cheese Omelets in our future.  Fill in with some fresh veggies and we are set for the week.  Heck, we have enough pie and cake to get us through an Ice Age!lol

Items needed for this menu.....except for the ever present milk, a little bit of cheese for cheesesteaks, some veg. and Hub's herring in cream sauce(for NYE celebrating), there is nothing else I can think of to buy this week.  I may actually stay under $300 spent on food for the month.  (Again, our eating out budget is a separate pile of money.)

So what is everyone else doing this week between Christmas and New Year's Day?  Just grazing on all the food that piled up at your house for Christmas?  Or are you cooking up a storm?  Or are you swearing off of food altogether, fasting and/or changing up your diet in anticipation of the new year? ;-)

Sluggy