2021 Food Spending....the April Report

 One more day until the month ends after today but I am finished food spending for April at this point so I am posting this a bit early.  Anything spent in these last two days on groceries will go onto May's tracking.

Onward to April's Food Spending report......

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for APRIL 2021.

I have posted April's totals on the Total Grocery Savings Page located HERE and have updated the Totals there.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in April.  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 4(2-3 eating at home this month). No "kids" under 25. (I don't count all the "freebies" I get at the Discount Outlet in my totals either.)
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BREAD OUTLET

OOP  $14.00

Value  $52.10

Savings 73.63%

DOLLAR TREE

OOP  $2.00

Value  $3.49

Savings  42.69%

MALACARI'S

OOP  $10.65

Value  $19.22

Savings  44.59%

OCEAN STATE JOB LOT
OOP  $0.00(used free gift card)
Value  $11.00
Savings  100%

P and R DISCOUNTS
OOP  $34.36
Value  $78.33
Savings  56.13%

RITE-AID
OOP  $2.52
Qs/Ads/BC  $1,999.95
Value  $2,002.47
Savings  99.87%

TARGET

OOP  $0.00(used free gift card)

Value  $76.61

Savings 100%

WALMART
OOP  $223.10
Value  $547.02
Savings  59.22%

WEIS

OOP  $139.80

Qs/Sales  $157.11
Value  $296.91
Savings  53.15%

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My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Target at 100%, Ocean State Job Lot at 100% and Rite-Aid at 99.87%.

The worst rate was at Dollar Tree at 42.69%  I'll take that all day long! ;-)
I shopped at 9 different stores in April.

TOTAL Spent in April.........................$423.91

TOTAL Coupons/Sales/Gift Cards......$731.26

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased....$1,155.17

TOTAL Savings of ...............................63.30%

TOTAL Out of Pocket for April w/R-A...............$426.43
TOTAL Coupons/Sales/Gift Cards w/................$2,731.21
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased w/Rite-Aid...$3,157.64
TOTAL Savings with Rite-Aid items....................86.50%

This closes out the April food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....

I went into April without a plan other than eating down some of the frozen assets and staying under $400 for the month.  Didn't quite stay under budget but we did eat down freezer/stockpile.  Spending was a bit high but my $360.55 in just the Ibotta cash rebates makes my "actual" spending almost nil for the month so there is that. 8-)))

The monthly food spending savings percentage went UP by 7.58% in April 2021 to 86.50% compared to the March's 78.92% savings average.  Any month I get a lot of items at Rite-Aid my savings percentage goes waaay up! ;-)

With 4 months accounted for, I have spent a Year-To-Date Total of $1,250.94 on food/toiletries in 2021.

2020 Yearly Grand Total Spent....................$1,250.94

2020 Yearly Grand Total Value of Items.....$7,922.58

2020 Grand Total Saved...............................$6,671.64

2020 Yearly Savings Total.............................84.21%

The average per month amount spent is $312.74 n 2021 so far.

LOOKING AHEAD To May 2021...........

I really haven't thought about May much yet.  I plan to take a break from Ibotta next month so there will be less shopping.  I will get the deals I find however as always.  I hope to be at around $300 spet for the month.

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 April?

*  Do you track your yearly food spending?  It's really not that hard or time consuming; just have your receipts and either track it in a notebook or on a spreadsheet.

*  What was your savings percentage buying on sale and/or with coupons 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?

Is anyone out there up for tracking expenditures and trying to spend less but still eat well?


Sluggy

APRIL Budget Results....Food & Toiletries Spending

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for APRIL 2010.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in April.
These Totals include Food, Toiletries/HBA, Pet Supplies, Cleaning Products & tax where applicable.We are a family of 5(4 at home) & 3 dogs. No kids under 14.


CARONE'S(small local independent store)
OOP $47.45
Qs/Ads $41.29
Value $88.74
Savings 46.53%

ENTENMANN'S OUTLET
OOP $16.67
Ads/Sales $33.33
Value $50.00
Savings  66.65%

PRICE CHOPPER Northeast
OOP $75.51
Qs/Ads $49.06
Value $124.57
Savings 29.40%

RITE AID
OOP $0.15 ($23.46 put on Rite-Aid Gift Card)
Qs/Ads $162.81
Value $162.96
Savings 99.91%

TURKEY HILL(convenience store)
OOP $4.80
Qs/Ads $0.00
Value $4.80
Savings 0%

WALMART
OOP $11.95
Qs/Ads $0.00
Value $11.95
Savings  0%

WEIS (local chain Grocery store that doesn't take IP Qs in my town)
OOP $41.66
Qs/Ads $27.21
Value $68.87
Savings  39%

I don't track 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 RECV'D. IN MARCH
Johnson & Johnson Beauty Rebate...$20.00
Olay 3 items Rebate....$15.00

Olay 2 Cleansers Rebate.....$15.00
Pinecone Research....$6.00
Renpure Shampoo....$3.00
Rite-Aid SCR....$100.33

Subtotal........$159.33

FREE ITEMS

5 Gum  Free Pack of Gum

Johnson & Johnson  $10 Item

Welch's Juice  Free Juice Voucher

COUPONS

None

GIFT CARDS and CERTIFICATES
Rite-Aid P&G SCR $10 Gift Card

Rite-Aid $5 Nivea Gift Card

Rite-Aid $25 Heart Healthy Gift Card

TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received..$100.33


My best 3 Store Savings Totals were from Rite-Aid at 100%, Entenmman's at 66.65% and Carone's at 46.53%.


TOTAL Out of Pocket...............................$198.19
TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$313.70
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased.............$511.89
TOTAL Savings of..........61.30%

TOTAL of CASH Rebates........................$159.33
TOTAL OOP After  Rebates....................$38.86
TOTAL Savings of..................................92.40%

This closes out the April spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month-
Starting with a $250 food/toiletries budget we not only kept under that amount before the rebates were figured in, but after rebates we spent a mere $38.86 of the budgeted amount for the month!  And that is with my infamous Lobster Splurge too. 

I spent most of the month staying out of the stores and had DH pick up items as needed since I was injured for part of the month and couldn't drive.  His shopping for me did NOT involve using sales and coupons for the most part, thus even though we spent almost $200 OOP initially, not alot of coupons were used or items bought on sale, thus the lower savings ratio overall. 

What's ahead for May 2010.....

The May 2010 Food/Toiletries Budget is set at $300 cash out of pocket.  Any rebates received this month will offset this OOP spending.  Since the rebating has slowed to a crawl I don't see much coming in for May to throw at the food bills. (IE; My Rite-Aid SCR check is going from $100 in April to $8 in May.) I have raised the budget by $50 because #1 son returns from college next wekend, so I'll have more mouths to feed=more food spending in May.  Even with that adjustment, it will take a lot of self-control to keep within budget this month!  I did very little shopping really in April and got out of the coupon groove so I have my work cut out for me for May.

With a quarter of the year behind us, we have averaged $165.60 per MONTH on food/toiletries spending for 2010 for a family of 4 adults/teens.

For someone who use to....
*spend $500 and up per MONTH before I stockpiled, shopped to the sales and used coupons on a regular basis
*had less food/toiletries to show for it
*we ate a lot more store brands
*we ate a lot more of unhealthier type foods
...this THRILLS ME!


How did you do in April with your Food Budget?  Leave a comment or link to your post and let us hear!  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