October 2013 Budget Results.....Food & Toiletries Spending

It's not the end of October yet but I am posting my month end totals since I am finished grocery shopping for this month.

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for OCTOBER 2013.

I have posted October's totals on the Total Grocery Savings for 2013 Page located HERE and have updated the Yearly Totals there.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in October.  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 17.
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FOOD LION
OOP  $40.17
Qs/Ads  $13.26
Value  $53.43
Savings  24.82%
 

SHURSAVE STORES(small local independent affiliated stores)
OOP  $203.89

Qs/Ads  $106.04

Value  $309.93

Savings  34.21%

PRICE CHOPPER
OOP  $25.04
Qs/Ads  $25.09
Value  $50.13
Savings  50%

RITE-AID
OOP  $7.97
Qs/Ads/+Ups  $49.61
Value  $57.58
Savings  86.16%

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $142.57

Qs/Ads  $80.04

Value  $222.61

Savings  36%

I am no longer adding my rebates received into my food budget directly. I will use them on food on occasion and will note that when used.  I will keep track of rebates/gift cards/certs received here as before however.

REBATE CHECKS RECEIVED IN October.....$8.00

GIFT CARDS and CERTIFICATES....$0

TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received...$8.00

COUPONS and FREEBIES

Zero

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My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 86.16%, Price Chopper at 50% and Weis at 36 %.  I shopped at 5 different stores this past month.

TOTAL Out of Pocket........$419.64

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$274.04

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$693.68

TOTAL Savings of...................................39.50%

This closes out the October food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....

I went into October with my usual $400 budgeted for food/toiletries purchases.
I went over by $19.64. 
Not too bad really and I'm not upset over it.  If I hadn't hurt my foot(and didn't have to send family to the store who don't worry about getting the best deal), who knows if I would have been able to stay under $400.
I did restart the Rite-Aid shopping this month and that spending is included in my totals.  I'll probably spend a bit more at Rite-Aid as we get closer to Christmas.
 

Looking ahead to November---Other than Thanksgiving, there are no special occasions coming up that require extra food spending this month for us.  Not sure about Thanksgiving at this point as #2 Son will be working that day(a restaurant), so it will just be me and Hubs at home.  Our Thanksgiving meal might be a tad unusual and it will definitely be a lot smaller than the norm for us.
As I buckle down and follow the pre-surgery eating plan this month, we may have less food spending.  But I'll keep the food budget for November at $400.

 

And here is the run down of my Food & Toiletries Spending for 2013 so far this year--
 

2013 Total Saved $2,523.40

2013 Yearly Total Value of Items  $6,216.33

2013 Yearly Total Spent $3,692.93

2013 Yearly Savings Total of  40.60%

 

In October, total savings percentage for the year has gone DOWN .13% over September's year-to-date total of 40.73%, to 40.60%. 
But we are holding steady in the 40%s.
I'd love to get to the end of the year with a 40% savings percentage for all of 2013.
We shall see if it happens. ;-)
The average monthly food/toiletries spending so far this year stands at $369.30.

 

How much did you spend on food in October?
 

Sluggy

This Week On the Dining Table

I have sat here staring at a blank post for about an hour now, waiting for meal planning inspiration to hit me.
No Luck.
Let's get to it anyway.....

 

Here's what was planned last week--

Sunday--Ravioli with homemade Sauce, Salad, Garlic Bread
Monday--Salmon, Corn OTC, Roasted Potatoes & Onions
Tuesday--Sloppy Joes on Kaiser Rolls, Roasted Asparagus
Wednesday--Quiche, Salad
Thursday--Roast Chicken, leftover Roasted Potatoes or Stuffing, Carrots
Friday--Mushroom Parmesan, Asparagus, leftover side dishes
Saturday--Leftovers

 

We stuck to this plan and I prepared it all, except for a couple of side dish substitutions.

Yah us!

 

Of course on Sat. which we were out and about, Hubs FORCED me to have lunch at Ret Lopster...sorry, Red Lobster.

It cost a whopping $14 including tip after we used the gift card I still had from Christmas.

I spent $121.49 on $168.62 worth of groceries at 2 different stores last week.  I bought ahead SB(aka store brand)Gatorade, 'good' hot dogs, sugar-free pudding cups, low salt ketchup, salad dressings, frozen burritos, chicken strips, 2 containers of shebert and bread products.  I also found those cartons of dehydrated hash browns Hungry Jack brand that #2 Son wants me to buy for $1.29 reg. price at Wegman's so I picked up 4 for him.(They are almost $2 at the local store in town and I refuse to buy them at that price!)

The rest was fresh produce, fruit, dairy, OJ, lunchmeat and hummus that was consumed that week.

 

Total spent so far in June on food is $260.49.

1 week left in June and I still have $139.51 left in my food budget.

 

Going into this week the leftovers that remain are--some rolls, half a container of half & half,  2 helpings of Sloppy Joe.   I also have a large amount of eggs in the fridge.  Either #2 Son or I will eat the leftover Sloppy Joes for lunches this week(and use up the rolls too).

 

It's going to be too hot to run the oven all this week, especially since we have no a/c yet. 8-(

 

(I've made bold the leftover items I've used in the menu below.)

 Here's this week's meal plan--
 

Sunday--Grilled Steak, Tossed Salad
Monday--Leftovers or BLTs
Tuesday--Crab cakes, stuffed clams, green beans
Wednesday--Breakfast for Dinner use eggs
Thursday--Grilled Hot Dogs on Rolls, Beans, Mixed Veggies
Friday-Something Chicken in the Crockpot with Veggies and Rice
Saturday--maybe Take-Out since #1 Son is due in that evening

On the shopping list so far--tomatoes, maybe hot dog rolls(have to check if I have enough), milk.

So that's where the food money stands now and what's appearing on the kitchen table this week here at Chez Sluggy.

 What's getting fixed and served at your house this week?

Sluggy

This Week On the Dining Table

I hope that sandwich has lots of BACON on it!!!

 

Here's what was planned last week--

Sunday--Grilled Pork Chop, Summer Squash Sauté, Macaroni Salad
Monday--Tacos, Corn
Tuesday--Ravioli, Salad, Garlic Bread
Wednesday--Sloppy Joes on Buns, Brussel Sprouts
Thursday--Quiche, Salad
Friday--No Clue
Saturday--No Clue

 We had the pork chop meal, the tacos meal, the quiche meal.  Sloppy joes and ravioli are on this week's menu. I made empanadas using up the previous week's fajita filling and we had leftovers or Fend For Yourself 2 nights.  I don't recall the 7th night what we had but we got NO take-out last week.

Go us!!

 I spent $92.54 on $148.26 worth of groceries at 2 different stores last week.  $60.17 spent was for items we ate last week so about $30 was stocking up and/or staples we were out of.  Most of the spending was for fresh produce, meats and a little dairy.

2 Weeks down in June and I still have $307.46 left in my food budget.

Going into this week the leftovers that remain are--1 whole quiche, kaiser rolls, half a container of half & half,  half a bag of carrots that need using. (I've made bold the leftover items I've used in the menu below.)

 Here's this week's meal plan--
 

Sunday--Ravioli with homemade Sauce, Salad, Garlic Bread
Monday--Salmon, Corn OTC, Roasted Potatoes & Onions
Tuesday--Sloppy Joes on Kaiser Rolls, Roasted Asparagus
Wednesday--Quiche, Salad
Thursday--Roast Chicken, Baked Sweet Potato, Green Beans
Friday--Mushroom Parmesan, Ginger Carrots, leftover side dishes
Saturday--Leftovers

 

Again this week, no Take-Out. 8-)

As for the leftover half&half, it will keep another week....

 

The night I run the oven for the roasted chicken is the night I do the sweet potatoes and I'll bake something chocolate at the same time in there.

 On the shopping list so far--corn OTC, asparagus, more salad greens, roasting chicken, portabella mushroom caps and lunchmeat for me.  Throw in seasonal fruits and the junk foods I didn't pick up last week for #2 Son because I didn't find them at a good/reasonable price.

 

So that's where the food money stands now and what's appearing on the kitchen table this week here at Chez Sluggy.

 What's getting fixed and served at your house this week?

Sluggy

Meal Planning Feb. Week 2 & Food Spending Week 1

What do the White Rabbit and Sluggy have in common?
It's dinnertime here already and I am just now getting around to my weekly meal planning.

                                                                      

And here is what actually got served last week......

Sunday--KFC chicken, sides, biscuits

Monday--Pizza or Leftover KFC or Beef Tips

Tuesday--Steak dinner out(birthday meal)

Wednesday--Italian dinner out(birthday freebie)

Thursday--Sloppy Joes, corn

Friday--Fend for Yourself

Saturday--Chinese take-out(I had Eggplant in Garlic Sauce) 

I actually "cooked" but once last week.....IF you can call Sloppy Joes cooking. lol

The food spending last week?

Well it's only a couple of days since most of last week was still January(so that spending went onto my Jan. spending totals), but I was able to spend a whopping $72.18 on Saturday.  Granted $2.12 of that was tax, I stocked up on Mexican items(tortillas, salsa $8.75)and $33.75 of the spending was on dog foods.  The rest, $27.56, was spent on milk, fruit, veggies, bread and chicken.  I also received $11 in Catalinas for buying the pet food so I have future savings.

I am left at this point with $327.82 in my food budget for February.

As for leftovers rolling into this week--not much beyond a helping of Sloppy Joes is left and some rolls.  Hard to have leftovers if you don't actually cook or eat at home much in a week. lol

I didn't serve 2 of the meals last week so they roll over into this week.

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Here is what is getting served this week.....

Sunday--Chicken Fajitas

Monday--Taco Bell or Fend for Yourself

Tuesday--Salmon, Green Bean Casserole

Wednesday--Ham and Bean Soup, homemade Bread

Thursday--Hot Dogs, Beans, Corn

Friday--Ravioli, Sausage Sauce, Caesar Salad

Saturday--Leftovers

Taco Bell for #2 Son this week but the rest of us are staying away from the fast food.

Needed at the store to serve the meals I am making this week?

Salad Greens and celery are needed.  I also need fruit and a few other things.   I haven't looked at the ads yet to see if there are any deals.  I'm looking to stay out of the stores so I'll try to keep the spending at $35 this week.

I'll be going to my 2 grocery stores this week to note prices for the new Price Book. 

What's on your menu for the week?  Any good deals at the grocers this week?
Did you have any food waste this week?

Sluggy

Meal Planning January Week 3, Food Spending Week 2

Well we had a rare FOOD WASTE situation last week.
Since I started being vigilant about FW a couple of years ago, this doesn't happen often.

I finally got the freezer defrosted and found a baggie of pork barbecue.....the real smoked stuff from this past Summer.  I had a small amount(3 sandwiches worth of meat?)but in the freezer for #1 Son to have when he came home.  Well, we couldn't find it when he was home at Christmas....figures, right? lol
It was a tad freezer burned when I dug it out and I couldn't give it to the dogs because it was sauced up North Carolina style(vinegar and hot sauce) and yah, I'm not chancing that running through the dogs gastrointestinal tracts, if you know what I mean. ;-)
So I had to throw out barbecue.....
Ugh!
I should have to turn in my Southerner badge for that.

                    (Not what I threw out.)

Onward to the Meal Plan!

Here is what actually got served last week....

Sunday--Corned Beef, Cabbage, Potatoes, Carrots

Monday--Chinese take-out(again!), teen had Taco Bell

Tuesday--Salmon, Potato Salad, Green Beans

Wednesday--Leftovers

Thursday--Lasagna(from freezer)

Friday--Leftovers or Fend For Yourself Night

Saturday--Roast Chicken, Roasted Potatoes, Onions, Carrots

I served about half of the meals I had planned, due to picking up some good deals at the store, and I had to take a pan of lasagna out of the freezer when I defrosted it, so that has to be used.  The meals that didn't get served get moved to next week.

The food spending last week?

Well I made up for spending nothing the first week in January!
In the end, I spent $148.95 of my $400 food budget in Week 2, plus I have a $10 Catalina to use in the next 2 weeks.

I got the freezer defrosted so I had room for some .78¢ lb. Roasters, $3 bacon and $2.28 lb. Ground Beef.  Then I went to Weis and hit on some meat reductions--like 2 Roaster Chicken Breasts at .99¢ lb., almost 3lbs. of Italian Sausage for $1.44 lb. and 4 small Pork Roasts for $1.55 lb.  These Pork Roasts are 2lb. each and perfect for popping into the crockpot for making Pulled Pork Sandwiches.  Each one cost me about $3 and should make enough for 1 meal of sammies. I grabbed 2 dozen cheap eggs and some fresh fruit and veg too.
There was also a Catalina Deal at Weis which included pet food so I picked up Dog Kibble too as we were low.

As for leftovers rolling into this week--Lasagna, 1 helping of Cabbage, Chicken, Roasted Pots/Onions/Carrots Mix.

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Here is what is getting served this week.....

Sunday--Steak, Asparagus, Potatoes & Onions

Monday--Leftovers

Tuesday--Rigatoni w/Meat Sauce, Brussel Sprouts, Rolls(made into Garlic bread)

Wednesday--Beef Tips in Gravy over Noodles, Asparagus

Thursday--Leftovers

Friday--Chicken Pot Pie

Saturday--Leftovers-if not enough then Cheese Steaks

I cooked enough steak on Sunday so we can have Beef Tips on Wednesday.  Daughter bought enough Asparagus for 2 meals. The Chicken dinner from last Saturday evening gets recreated into a Pot Pie on Friday.  If enough people can't find a leftover to eat on Saturday then I'll make the Cheese Steaks.....if not, the Cheese Steaks get put off until the following week's menu.

I have a container of homemade bechamel sauce left that has to get used, so on Monday evening I'll make a small pan of Mac and Cheese to augment that Leftovers night.

Needed at the store to serve this lot?

Daughter bought Asparagus and I bought Roasting Chicken and a bag of Carrots last week and we're using up bits and pieces of veggies so we don't need anything else this week to do this menu.

Last week's stocking up went much higher than the $50 I aimed for, as noted above.

I'll be going to my 2 grocery stores this week to note prices for the new Price Book but I hope to not have to buy but a few fresh produce items.

What's on your menu for the week?  Any good deals in the grocers this week?
Did you have any food waste this week?

Sluggy

Monday Food Spending/Meal Planning on Friday...Who Cares!?

 

 

Time to get back to the mundane tasks of my life, like food spending and meal planning.

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And here is what actually got served last week.... 

Sunday--Burger King Whoppers(BOGO 55cents Deal), Broccoli

Monday--Beef Pie leftovers

Tuesday--Salmon(Crab Cakes for #2 son),Green Beans

Wednesday--Stuffed Shells, Tossed Salad

Thursday--Hot Dogs, Beans, Potato Salad

Friday--Leftovers or Fend for Yourself Night

Saturday--Hubs bought take-out Pizza

 

I don't recall the Potato Salad happening tho.

Between the Bread/Bakery Outlet load up and 3 small trips to the local grocery stores, the food spending last week(through the 22nd)came in at $92.37 for 8 days.  The big honking rib roast trip will be on this coming Monday's post.

As of the 22nd, food spending for December was at $328.41, leaving $71.59 of my $400 food budget for the month.
As of 12/24, I am $11.66 over for December.

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Here is what got/is getting served this week.....

Sunday--Chicken Enchiladas

Monday--Christmas Eve dinner at Chinese Restaurant

Tuesday--Ravioli w/Marinara Sauce, Standing Rib Roast, Roasted Vegetables, Green Beans, Rolls, Pies

Wednesday--Leftovers

Thursday--Pork Chops, homemade Mac and Cheese, Broccoli

Friday--Pizza, a green veggie from the freezer

Saturday--Kielbasa on Rolls, Caramelized Onions, Beets

I had made up Sunday through Tuesday's meals beforehand. Add in that the day after Christmas is always Leftover Day here, so I was good through Wednesday.  The one item that didn't get mostly consumed on Christmas was a bowl of green beans, so I took the leftovers of that and made a green bean casserole on Wed. and we now have no more green beans. lol

#1 Son wanted Thursday's meal that was served and I was able to cobble the ingredients together from items I already had here.  I used a bunch of partial blocks, shredded bags of cheese that were opened for the mac and cheese and an opened can of evaporated milk from making pies got thrown in with the fresh milk too.  After making the mac/cheese I have a container of cheese/bechamel sauce extra for the freezer. That sauce will make a dinner for two of more mac/cheese, or pasta alfredo or carbonara style noodles.
I also boiled down the carcass/skin on Sunday when I made chicken filling for the Enchiladas and have 2 containers of chicken stock in the freezer ready for Chicken and Dumplings or Chicken Soup sometime this Winter.

I've spent $83.25 to get this menu pulled together, though not all of that spending was used for this menu.  There were some seasonal stock-ups included.  I've got a $5 voucher to spend before Jan 1 at the local market so I'll pick up a few things before the month is out like eggs, pineapple, milk.

#1 son left this morning so the food cooking/spending should return to the humdrum, boring stuff soon.

January will be belt-tightening time(like everyone else I see online!)so we will be cleaning out and using up stuff lurking in the dark corners of the pantry and freezer that have been hanging around much too long.
I'll also be re-evaluating, in the coming weeks, my food budget and what and how much I've been cooking(or not)this past year.

Is 2013 going to be the year you start planning your meals out ahead?  How about food budgeting.....are you going to put one into place and try to stick to the plan?

Sluggy

Food Spending DECEMBER Week 2, Meal Planning Week 3

 Yes, be sure to exercise your wine muscle this Holiday Season!

 

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And here is what actually got served last week.... 

Sunday--Rigatoni w/Meat Sauce, Salad

Monday--Chicken Parmesan, Mashed Potatoes, Beets

Tuesday--Halushki and/or Leftovers

Wednesday--Leftovers

Thursday--Daughter's Birthday Meal Out

Friday--Beef Pie with carrots, green beans and cornbread

Saturday--Leftovers or Breakfast for Dinner

 

 

Wednesday's fish didn't get served as well as Thursday's hot dogs.  Everything else was as planned.

The food spending last week was pretty average.  $70.66 in 4 trips to the grocery stores plus a trip to the Carvel store for an ice cream cake.  So $52.71 for groceries and $17.95 for the cake makes $70.66.

2 weeks and I have spent $236.04 of the month's $400  food budget. 

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Going into this week, I have leftover Beef Pie

This week's menu....

Sunday--Burger King Whoppers(BOGO 55cents Deal), Broccoli

Monday--Beef Pie leftovers

Tuesday--Salmon(Crab Cakes for #2 son),Green Beans

Wednesday--Stuffed Shells, Tossed Salad

Thursday--Hot Dogs, Beans, Potato Salad

Friday--?

Saturday--?

 

I've moved the 2 meals not served last week to this week.  Thursday has to be an easy meal as we have the Concert Band and Jazz Band concerts that evening.  The stuffed shells are in the freezer already.  Friday and Saturday I have no clue yet, but it will be something I have in the freezer already.  Since I'll be buying some of next week's goodies this week, I'm giving myself $70 for food shopping.  Daughter and I are baking later this week so that will have to include any supplies we need that I haven't already picked up.  We'll be doing fudge, maybe brownies, Hubs wants choc. chip cookies with butterscotch chips, and Daughter wants to make Cake Balls.  I'm not doing the large number of cookies this year because they end up sitting around too long.

What I need to buy for this menu so far?  Salad Greens.  Also some fresh fruit and milk.

I hope to get through this week cheaply.  I have $10 in free food vouchers for the Shursave market(from buying gift cards there last week) but there is little I want that's on sale this week there, so I'll hold them until next week's ad to use.

Not only can't I wrap my head around a menu plan for Fri. or Sat. but I can't seem to settle on what to serve on Christmas day.  Ya see, while we do the traditional turkey thing at Thanksgiving, we never really settled on a Christmas Day meal tradition.

Hubs grew up in NJ, in a family with a 1st Generation Italian father and a German/Dutch ancestored mother who only learned to cook after she married, so mostly she made Italian food.  Their holidays always involved pasta in some form....ravioli, lasagna, spaghetti mostly.  They never really did the 7 Fishes type meal.  That was probably due to the expense, as Hubs family was not well off when he was growing up.

I grew up in VA, with a Yankee father(with a very narrow food palate) and a Southern mother from a long line of Southern cooks who defined herself by her cooking ability, so we ate many traditional Southern specialties as well as a lot of meat(for my father).  Thanksgiving was all about the turkey(though it was surrounded by Southern dishes like Rutabaga and Tomato Bread Pudding, etc.) and Christmas was all about salt-cured Smithfield ham.

While Thanksgiving has been easy, It's been difficult marrying these differing Christmas traditions.  And after 30+ years together, we still don't have a routine down for Dec. 25th vittles.

 

We always go out to the Chinese Restaurant on Christmas Eve(our tradition)and family comes here on Christmas Day for dinner.  Many don't like ham, and I don't serve turkey again so close to Thanksgiving.  Hubs would be happy as a pig in mud if I just served Ravioli with Meatballs and Sausages(he grew up eating Italian food for every holiday), but I just don't find pasta "festive" enough. ;-)

I'm thinking about blowing out the food budget bigtime and serving a standing rib roast, seriously expensive carnivore fare!  $50 for a hunk of meat.  And I KNOW it will be devoured instantly. 8-))

If I do pasta and a hunk of meat it should cover all the bases.  And then I need to make Aunt Lula's rolls....pecan pie.....maybe pumpkin pie(again).....and I'll buy a cheesecake or cannoli.  This is turning into a production, isn't it?

A part of me is thinking maybe just serving snacks we can pick at all day.....platters of this and that--cheeses/deli meats, a fruit tray, deviled eggs, ham biscuits.

What are your menu plans for this week?

Heck, what are your menu plans for Christmas while we're at it?!

Sluggy

Food Spending NOVEMBER Week 2, Meal Planning Week 3

Doesn't that look yummy?

It's a picture from when I made French Onion Soup a few weeks ago for dinner.  I'll be sharing some more photos and the recipe I use after I get Thanksgiving out of the way here.


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And here is what actually got served last week....

This week's menu....

Sunday--Halushki with Bacon

Monday--Chicken Pot Pie

Tuesday--Tuna Casserole, Beets

Wednesday-Pizza for some, Leftovers for others

Thursday--Lasagna, Caesar Salad

Friday--Pizza for some, Leftovers for others

Saturday--Leftovers

The food spending last week was $.11 for $51.11 reg. retail worth of goods. And if you don't believe me, go look HERE.  I've spent a total of $202.65 so far in November on $396.59 retail price of food.  This isn't counting my Rite-Aid purchases.

Last week, I used all but $10 in free food certificates/gift cards/catalinas I had accumulated to spend only 11 cents this past week of groceries.  I'll be heading out to spend my last $10 free food chit today to pick up the last of what I need to prepare Thanksgiving Day's meal.  We are down to 5 for dinner since #2 Son's sometimes job called him into work on Thursday-it's a restaurant.
The Daughter also has to work Thanksgiving....her retail job, thanks to all you Black Friday people! 8-( ....but she gets to eat because she goes in late and works through the night so people can buy MORE tvs, small appliances, pajamas and electronics that they don't need to fill up their empty lives and their already overstuffed houses!
But hey!, who am I to judge, just because in order to keep her job she is forced to work when she should have the option of being home with her family on a National Holiday. ;-)

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Going into this week, I have leftover NOTHING!  Every blasted leftover got snarfed up. Ok, I misspoke...I have a bit of grilled chicken breast that wasn't used for the pot pie.  I made 2 lasagnas last week.  We ate one and the other went into the freezer for later.  So 1 single serving of a leftover item to use this week.

This week's menu....

Sunday--Chili, Cornbread

Monday--2 people Taco Bell, me that leftover chicken in a homemade Quesadilla, Corn

Tuesday--Spaghetti and Meatballs(stockpile and freezer), Green Beans(freezer)

Wednesday--Leftover Chili, Cornbread

Thursday--Turkey Dinner, Pie

Friday--Subway Sandwiches

Saturday--Leftovers

This week I want easy.  The big pot of chili they can eat on multiple meals.  I'll throw the leftover of that into the freezer after 2-3 meals.  Spaghetti meal items are all here and I'll only make enough for 1 full meal because between the chili and turkey leftovers, that's plenty!   I'll use up the leftover chicken for myself tonight and Hubs & #2 Son will get Taco Bell on the way home from son's music lesson.

Left to buy this week?.....4 items for Thursday's Thanksgiving feast and milk.  I'll be spending right around $10 this week but it won't cost me anything because of my $10 certificate.  But come Friday?....I'll be hitting some sales and the Bread Outlet and be back to spending the food monies!lol
I still think I'll end November with a surplus of $$ in the food budget.  That will be sweet....

Are you cooking the Turkey Day meal this year or are you lucky enough to have family/friends to visit and let them do the cooking?
How about the rest of the week.....are you cooking the whole week or making it a simple meal plan or eating out?


Sluggy

Food Spending Limit Until Thanksgiving...Can I Do It?

If you come here often, you know I operate on a Food Budget of $400 per month.  That amount includes pet foods and all toiletries and paper products too.
Well, most months that is what I strive for but we seem to have spent more than $400 on food in 4 out of the last 10 months. 8-(

For our family(size,habits, etc.)and income I think $400 is a good amount.  It's not so low that the only foods we can afford are highly processed and/or nutritionally questionable....though we do buy some processed and questionable foods on occasion.  I know others spend less on food but given the prices in my area and the dearth of competition between stores which keeps prices lower, this is about as far down in the budget I care to go on this expense.
Of course, should something in our lives change(job loss/income disruption/kids moving out//DEFLATION of prices...hahaha, had to throw that one in for a laugh since prices NEVER go down!), I would be re-evaluating the budget in a heartbeat.

As for November's Food Budget.....
I have just completed buying groceries at the local Shursave grocery to earn a food certificate for free food at their store in the next 12 days before Thanksgiving.
DID I JUST SAY THERE ARE ONLY 12 DAYS LEFT BEFORE THANKSGIVING???
Anyway, I have spent so far in November on groceries a total of $202.54 of my $400.  Along with the weekly items I needed to make the meals served, I have picked up loss leaders and meat & frozen veggie deals along the way this month to use on down the road.  And I earned $20 in free food certs for buying things now(or last week)that I would have bought anyway at the end of the month.  I have also been picking up Thanksgiving meal items as they have gone on sale.  I got a turkey earlier this week so I am set for most of what I need to throw the Thanksgiving meal together.
The only items left to buy are Celery, a small bag of Potatoes, a couple of Rutabagas and Parsnips.


I have between $35 and $40 in free food catalinas, certificates and gift cards to use.
I have $20 to spend at the Shursave Grocer and between $15 and $20 at Weis(PMITA)Markets.
(I have a $5 Weis Cat to use by 11/15, and 2 gift cards--1 is for $5 but I can't remember if the other one is also for $5 or $10.)
8-)

I am going to try to use these chits to cover our food expenses up to and including those 4 Thanksgiving meal items.  $35-$40 should cover anything I need to buy until the 22nd.
All meals the next 11 days will be from foods I already have here or we can use one of the pizza coupons I won at the Church Auction last month if we feel like eating take-out during that time frame.

I'm all excited now to see what kind of meals I come up with so I only use that $35 in chits and don't have to buy any food until after Thanksgiving.

Do you think I can do it?
Do you have enough food laid back that you could do this?

Sluggy