Christmas Funds....Yep, It's that Time Already

                          credit Investopedia dotcom

I thought it was a good time to update where I am in regard to Christmas monies.
After all, Christmas is only 103 days away and the shopping rush begins 75 days from now...yikes!

I don't DO Black Friday btw....ok, sometimes I DO do BF online but never in a store.  I try to do a good part of my shopping by early November or sooner anyway.
Heck Dec. 26th of 2013 was when I bought my first gifts for Christmas 2014. lolz
I pick up deals throughout the year when I see them.  Having extra cash in your budget throughout the year helps you get stuff when it's cheapest.

I try to avoid going into stores(other than Rite-Aid and the grocery stores)between Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

I went through the "gift acquisitions in my closet" yesterday too.  Everything is now in a big box labeled "Xmas gifts" and ready to be wrapped and/or shipped once December gets here.

So far I have in gifts.....

Hubs  Stocking Stuff Done
#2 Son  Stocking Stuff Done
Daughter  Stocking Stuff Done
#1 Son  Stocking Stuff Done(He got his main present already.)
#1 Son's GF Done
Hub's Sister  Done
Brother  Done
Sister In-law  Done
Brother In-law  Done


The left to buy List....
#2 Son
Daughter
Her BF
Hubs

This short list will run me about $400 and doesn't include all the other spending categories at Christmas-food, travel, outings, etc.

I have $146.50 in rolled coins to cash in and if I redeem all my c/c points as of now I would get back $875 in gift cards.

Now the problem I have with this arrangement(lots of gift cards, little cash)is that nowadays my kids want cash, not gift cards.  Cash doesn't limit them in where they get to spend it, gift cards do.
At their ages(at least the older two), they should be glad I still buy them stuff! 8-)

I thought about cashing in the c/c points for gift cards and then selling them on one of those sites where you can do this.
But I'd get less than what they are worth(and I'm already taking a "hit" as these are c/c points)and this would require "work" on my part and waiting to see if they sell.  Too big a hassle for me.

Instead I can just request the gift cards to places Hubs and I shop and purchase stuff we need instead of buying gifts.


In 2012 I made a $1,000 Christmas spending budget.  That's for everything Christmas related from electricity for running lights, to special outings to gifts to food.

In 2013 I made a $1,650 Christmas spending budget.  We spent more in 2013 because we traveled during the holidays to go visit #1 Son and we had to pay for gas, meals and motels.

In 2014 I plan to reduce the Christmas spending budget. I have $146.50 and as much of that $875 in gift cards I choose to use saved so far.

We NEVER go into debt for Holiday spending.  And neither should you! ;-)  The best way is to have a budget, plan ahead to save or decide where your Christmas funds will come from and keep what you spend on the low side and commensurate with your income.

I have plenty to cover gifts(with the gift cards)but I need to come up with more cash.

I can yank some of the funds from selling off my fabric stash on Etsy this year.  That would give me another $450 or so.

And there is also $209.18 from blog income for this year I can pull from as well.

That gives me $805.68 in cash(not counting the $875 in gift cards).
Adding up all these sources I can readily cover the Holiday expenses whatever they turn out to be this year.

And just in case we go over I still have a piece of Hub's bonus left that I can spend. 8-)

If we don't travel for the Holidays, I'm thinking of trying for an $800 budget.  If we travel it's going to look more like a $1300 budget.
At this point we don't have plans to travel during the Holidays but that could change. 

Gregory Karp, a personal finance expert, says you should only spend as much as 1.5% of your family's gross income on Christmas gifts.
Take note.....this is for Gifts only.

I think 1.5% of gross income for Christmas spending is a good measure, but I'd say this should be for ALL your Holiday associated spending, not just for gifts.  Gift giving is only 1 piece of the Christmas spending pie.
Mmmm......pie.......

You can see a set of statistics from American Research Group, Inc. for 2013 Christmas HERE.  Note that this just includes gift spending.

So how much do you plan on spending this year for the Holidays?

Do you budget a certain amount for your Christmas spending?
Or do you just spend whatever you feel like?

And if you budget, what categories do you spend on within that budget?

Do you save all year to cover your Holiday spending?

How do you save for it?

Sluggy

$32K Savings Challenge for 2011.....May Totals

I present to you May of the 2011 $32K Savings Challenge!

I have posted my MAY End of Month $32K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.

I have 2 goals really each month.....
The 1st is to actually finish each month in the black and not the red.
The 2nd is to hit the targeted savings amount of $2,666.67.

I have to report that we finished up May in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of May with.......$3,297.11.

Income
We had $3221.15 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
Add in $75.96 of Rebates applied against the food expenses and you have a deposit of $3,297.11  toward the Savings Challenge!

Our monthly target is an average of $2,666.67 to reach our Year End Goal.  We came in well over that amount for May.  This is only the second month so far this year that we have met or exceeded the monthly target amount for this challenge.

Outgo
As for the expenses in May....

HERE are the GOOD THINGS
*The electric bill went down another $141.
*We had NO car maintenance expenses in May.  But we did lose a car. 8-(
*We had no annual/bi-annual/quarterly payments to make.
*The WAM money was lower than usual.

HERE are the BAD THINGS
*The credit card bill was up again in the $1K range.
*Lots of Doctor visit co-pays, most of which were for camp physicals.
*$195 for annual dog vet check-ups and meds.


The Food Budget costs for May are in another post, which is located HERE.  The actual Food/Toiletries spending in May was more than $190.26 over budget or $114.30 when you take off my rebate check total which I use toward the food bill.

What's ahead for June.......
There are the usual suspects: electricity, water, phone, cable, credit card bill, food cash, etc.

Non-monthly bills include the summer camp payment for #2 son(ouch!), and the quarterly garbage pick-up payment.

So If I can keep the food spending on budget, we should be able to put away a good sized amount into savings this month.

YEAR-TO-DATE TOTAL.....
With 5 months behind us, our Savings total to-date for 2011 is $14,933.99.
We finally are ahead of schedule with the Savings goal for the year!


And if you need to start putting money into savings......What's that you say?  You don't have an emergency fund of 6-8 months worth of expenses!!??....consider playing along in 2011 with me and Challenging Yourself to Save Money each Month Toward a Realistic for YOU Savings Goal!
Not everyone can shoot for $32K, I fully get that!
But everyone can shoot for some number, right!?

Find a money goal that works for you and put that number out there for everyone to see.  It will help keep you accountable to your goal if other eyes are on you.
Ooo, that sounded kind of creepy didn't it? ;-)

So how was your May financially? 
Did you spend less than you made?
Did you stay within your budget or not?

Leave a comment and share with us what you did with your money, both the good and not-so good.   Do you have any tricks or tips that help you to end your month before the money runs out?    Let us know!
If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out too!

Sluggy

$30K Savings Challenge JUNE 2010 Totals.....Treading Water this Month!

I have posted my JUNE End of Month $30K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.

I have to report that we finished up June in the black....just BARELY!

The extra cash amount we ended the month of June with was.......$547.73.

Income
We had $260.53 left over of DH's salary after expenses were deducted. Add in some rolled coins amounting to $10.50, $44.00 in Rebates &, along with a $276.70 business expense voucher for Hubs and you have a deposit of $547.73 toward the Savings Challenge!

Seeing as our monthly target is $2,500.00 to reach our Year End Goal, we are waaaaay short again this month.

Outgo
As for the expenses in June.....it was our most expensive month so far this year!

The water bill almost doubled(extra showers/laundry/dishes for extra people here + the pool) and the electric bill went up about $12(extra hot June=a/c on a few days).

 The credit card bill(paid off each month)was over $1700. 
$750 of that was a car repair & car related expenses(besides gas). 
$200 of the $1700 was pool chemicals & $120 for assorted teens' clothing needs. 
$70 went for Hubs internet chess club dues.  
The rest was gas and some eating out charges and was within our normal range of expenses.

Out-of-the-ordinary expenses in June besides the CC Bill ones.....
There were people Dr. visits and follow-up dog Dr. visits for assorted people and dogs here, respectively.
There was another car repair to the tune of $775+. 
And then there was the camp payment for #2 son....2 weeks of fun doesn't come cheap at $945.
So basically we had $2600+/- in out-of-the-ordinary expenses this month.


The Food Budget costs for June are in another post, which is located HERE.  Food/Toiletries spending in June was $77.26 under the budgeted $250.00 amount and our Savings percentage was 89.30% which is awesome.

Looking Ahead to July....
I'll only be feeding 3 people for most of this month & the garden should start producing, so I am hoping for lower food spending.
The Credit Card bill is at $400 for the next statement period with 9 days left until it closes.  I'm hoping we can keep it around $500 and only put some gas purchases on it.
We'll try to lower the electric usage.  I don't have high hopes for containing the water costs since the pool is in operation.

I am determined to get through July frugally(barely some financial emergency)with only 1 child at home and to meet our monthly goal of $2,500 saved this month.

YTD Standings....
We have a Year To Date Total of $16,621.47 in Savings.  To save $30K for the year, we need to put away $2,500 per month average.  With our expensive June, we are now just barely ahead of schedule at this point in the year.

So how was your June financially?  Leave a comment and share with us what you did with your money, both the good and not-so good.   Do you have any tricks or tips that help you to end your month before the money runs out?    Let us know!
If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out too!


Sluggy

$30K Savings Challenge MAY 2010 Totals.....Not so Good but Still on Track!

I have posted my MAY End of Month $30K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.

I have to report that we finished up May in the black!

The extra cash amount we ended the month of May with was.......$1,183.24.

Income
We had $306.68 left over of DH's salary after expenses were deducted. Add in some rolled coins amounting to $16.00, a $115.81 in Rebates &, along with the flea market profits of $744.75 and you have a deposit of $1,183.24 toward the Savings Challenge!

Seeing as our monthly target is $2,500.00 to reach our Year End Goal, we are waaaaay short this month.

Outgo
As for the expenses in May.....it was a money gobbling month!

The electric bill went down $30+.  It should have gone down more because the heat was off....except we used extra hot water having an extra person here for the month, so more laundry(I use hot for my white loads) and showers plus DH started opening the pool up which uses more electricity as well as water.
The water bill went up too due to the increased water usage mentioned above.

 The credit card bill was up over $1100 due to DH's new glasses(2 pair) and the new cd player he had installed in his car.  There was also paying for daughter's SAT exam.  Those charges accounted for $900 on that bill.  The rest was gas and some eating out charges and was within our normal range of expenses.

Out-of-the-ordinary expenses in May besides the CC Bill ones.....yearly maintenance and repairs on the 3rd car for the teens' use, in the amount of $1,636.99.  Though this car is a workhorse it is very old and the teens are running it into the ground with driving all over the place.  This car needs to last through next school year as daughter is taking dual enrollment classes at a local college while in her last year of high school, and she needs wheels to get to the school  3 times a week.  If it goes, she has no transportation so we are putting a stop to the 'fun' use of this car.  It seems like she/this car has become the way for all the kids to travel places here and that's being ended.  It is going to be for getting to her job and very limited 'fun' travel from now on.  This car is costing us around $2K a yr. in repairs/maintenance at this point.  And then you add in registration, plates, inspections and insurance and it's becoming quite the suck hole.

There was also a yearly veterinarian check-up for the 3 dogs.  That blew a $454 hole in the budget as well this month.

The Food Budget costs for May are in another post, which is located HERE.  Food/Toiletries spending in May was $18.04 over the budgeted $300.00 for May, but by putting the rebate money that came in last month toward that expense I can say we came in under budget there.  After the rebate money we only spent $202.23 on food/toiletries and our Savings percentage was 82.97% which is quite respectable.

Looking Ahead to June....
We have a week long visit from a relative in June, but various teens will be leaving home for weeks at a time in June  so the food spending will probably go down overall.  I have lowered the food budget for June back to $250 but will try to do better than that.
The Credit Card bill as of June 1st is already over $1,300.  More than half of this is due to a car a/c repair.  The rest is just a bunch of smaller $40-$50 purchases like clothing for the kids, plants and manure for the gardens, hubby's internet chess subscription, out of the ordinary gas purchases from retrieving #1 son from college, associated eating out charges from the trip to his school, etc.
We also have another car repair that will showing up on this month's credit card bill.  No word yet on the amount but I am sure it won't be pretty!lol  At this rate, we are looking at a $2K or more cc bill for June.

Plus I put off paying the $1K for #2 son's weeks at camp until June since May was so hard on the budget.
So, that's $3K plus the ordinary utilities and food expenses coming up in June.  All the more reason to keep an extra sharp watch on spending this month.

I am hoping but not totally certain that we will be able to meet our monthly goal of $2,500 saved in June.

YTD Standings....
We have a Year To Date Total of $16,073.74 in Savings.  To save $30K for the year, we need to put away $2,500 per month average.  Even with our lackluster May total saved, we are still ahead at this point in the year of our final goal.

So how was your May financially?  Leave a comment and share with us what you did with your money, both the good and not-so good.   Do you have any tricks or tips that help you to end your month before the money runs out?    Let us know!
If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out too!


Sluggy

My 2010 Savings Goals

Ok, so it's a new year and I need a new set of Savings Goals for it.
But which goals.....and how much?

First, where we stand financially.

We have no mortgage, so no mortgage to pay toward or pay off.  We did that in March of 2006. 8-))
We have no car loans, so nothing to pay toward or pay off there either. 8-)
We have a credit card but it's paid off every month.  Nothing is put on it unless it can be paid that billing cycle.  We don't fritter the money away on making banks richer.  ;-)
We have a fully funded 6 month Emergency Fund(the reason we don't have to put emergency purchases on the credit card), so we don't need to throw money into that fund.  We could put some extra into that though and make it a 9 month or 1 year EF I suppose.

There are 3 Savings Goals I do see we should fund.

First is throwing additional money into the Kid's College Fund.  We have a plan that will allow us to Cash Flow each child's undergraduate college career(4 years to complete the degree). We have told each of them how much they are getting from us and they need to find a school that can be paid for with it or if they want to go somewhere more expensive, they need to come up with the money for the difference through either grants, scholarships, work study, loans or working while attending school.
Graduate school?....that's on their dime, not ours.
We had ESAs for each child but when the stock market fell, those took a hit.  I am hopeful they will recover enough in time before we need the cash so that I can take the money out without a net loss.
We had a cash flow plan with this College Fund but we may come up a bit short between how we are funding it and the exploding costs of schooling.  At any rate, this Fund could use a bit more moolah.

Second we are going to have to replace a car very soon.  Not a new car but a 'new to us' car.  And we will pay cash of course.

Third is paying for a new heating system for our house.  This house was built in the late 1980's.  At the time, the builder got a tax incentive to put a thermal storage heating unit in his homes here.  The electric company had a special lower off-peak/on-peak rate for these systems that helped homeowners have a lower electric bill than the regular electric customers.
This year, the electric company is phasing out this special rate(thank you cap and trade) and in 2011, they are doing away with it completely.  Also, these thermal storage systems were only expected to last 20-30 yrs.  2 of our heating receptables have already died, one at the beginning of last winter and the other at the end of it.  Replacing 1 electric thermal unit was in the ballpark of 5 Thousand Dollars!  There are 5 in the house, along with regular baseboard electrical units in the smaller rooms.   It makes no sense to replace the dead units since the special rate is going away and we'll be a totally electric home with incredibly high electric rates after this year.
So we need a new heating system before next fall when the heat gets turned on again!
Replacing your heating system is NOT cheap....especially if you aren't set up for gas and you have no ductwork in your house already.
Ugh.

I had wanted to put solar panels on the house but that will have to wait as the heating system is more critical.  And heating with solar just wouldn't be realistic at this location or within our financial scope.
At this point I am leaning toward a GeoThermal Heating System.  We may have a problem however, since you need to excavate and lay underground piping next to your house for this type of system and we have buried/underground utility lines here on the property.  We may not have the room for the pipes.

Since I was able to sock away $23K+ last year, I don't feel I should settle for less than that this year.
Tentatively, I am going to set a $30K Savings Goal for 2010.
That's $2500 a month.
I still need to go through the bills for last year and get some final numbers together so I can set a realistic Budget.
Then I need to research more on the heating system options and get some estimates.  How much this bill will cost may help determine what the Savings Goal will be for this year.....or then again, it might not.lol

More later on the Savings Goals after I get a final Budget together.
Have you set your family Budget for the year yet?
Do you have any savings goals for 2010?
Do you have a plan to reach those goals?
Please leave a comment and tell us!
 
Sluggy

60K SAVING$ CHALLENGE-APRIL Update

I have posted my April End of Month 60K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.

I am once again able to say that we finished up April in THE BLACK!
Yesssss!

The MasterCard bill(which is paid off each month-NO BALANCE EVER!)was just over the $1K mark(Feb. it was over $2.3K) in April, under $100 more than the previous month.

We had a bit of rolled coins as usual, but you will notice there is NO eBay income again for April. I have just been so busy with the kids and other things in April PLUS the selling prices on eBay have been abyssmal so I just didn't bother trying to sell there. I did close my eBay store for now, so at least I wasn't spending money on that. I do have to continue to pay the auction management fee however, or lose all my photo & listing storage. It is worth the $10/mo. NOT to have to reload all that data back into my file storage and then reload it onto the management site when I do go back to selling. Trust me....it's alot of work and would waste too much of my time. I'd rather pay the $10 for it to sit there.

Out of the ordinary expenses for April were low....A small State Income Tax bill due & a deposit for #1 son's upcoming College enrollment. I pay the private Garbage collection bill quarterly so it was paid this month as well.

We saw a reduction in the cost of the electric bill, while the water bill held steady. In May, we'll be able to turn off the heat totally, so that will help bring the electric bill down some more. The gasoline/fuel bills are lower thanks to a small reduction in cost at the pump and I've been consolidating trips out to save gas.

On the other hand, I anticipate a large VET BILL in May as the doggies are due for their yearly check-up/tests. Not only are kids expensive, but pets are also!

I'm still spending too much on the food/household budget. Well, we do have the money for it, but I had hoped to lower how much I spend in this category. I'll be updating the Food Budget costs for April in another post-which is located Here.

Four Months into this Challenge, & so far we have a Savings Total of $9150.44 for the year.

Hubby's car is starting to show it's age, so this money will come in handy next year, as we'll probably need to replace his vehicle then.
It's so nice to be able to sleep at night, not worrying about not having Money in the Bank to cover the costs of things we want or need to do/buy.

Now is the PERFECT time to start saving money if you aren't already. Get started today!
If you don't know where or how to start, email me. I'd be happy to give some advice or pointers on how to start putting money away.

Check out Money Saving Mom's Blog April Financial Update Post to see how others are saving money and living more frugally Here.

Sluggy

Hounding Ends, March Money Totaling Beings

Here's a pic of our 2 beagles:Peanut & Cherry. The one in the back in the photo(Peanut) often uses the other beagle as a pillow, like he's doing now. They love them some napping in the sunny spot in the living room. Oh, to be an actual hound and not just a human shopping hound.

Speaking of hounds....I think this last post(the WAGS Clearance one)gets me up-to-date on Hounding trips. I know those of you who aren't 'into' this are not-so-silently saying, "FINALLY! THANK HEAVENS!!....I NEVER Thought She's FINISH!!!", right about now.

You all are just soooo amusing. ;-)

Yah, I am kinda burnt out on the Deal Seeking for awhile. I seriously need to take some time this weekend and straighten the storage of the stockpile. My freezer is also so full STILL, that I am continuing my moratorium on buying any food product that needs refridgeration, outside of milk. The freezer in the garage needs a BIGTIME defrosting so we are going to eat down what's in there until I can transfer it all into the lil' freezer on the fridge and defrost the entire unit.

And it's almost the end of the Month, which means it's almost time for

my 60K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Update for March.

I can't wait to get out the ol' abacus and start crunching those numbers and see where we stand at the quarterly mark with our savings.

Offhand, I KNOW I went way over my $250 LIMIT on grocery & stocking-up Budget.

*sigh*

The most I can hope for is that it's nowhere near Feb.'s total.

It's shaping up to be a pretty nice weekend here. We are suppose to get rain so it will be messy but the temperatures are suppose to be mild(not freezing). And the ground has already thawed out, so I'm hoping I can get the clan outside at some point to do some marking, digging, compost moving, etc. prep work for the garden.

Adding to my good mood this Friday is also......

The Direct Deposit of our TAX REFUND into our bank account!

Yay!!!!!!!

I know, it was our money to start with anyway, but I still feel like a kid in a candy shop when our beloved government pries it out of their ever-reaching long, sharp-clawed talons and gives it back to us to use however WE see fit.

Stimulus this baby!

Without revealing the exact amount, I'll just say it's a substantial enough wad to buy something like a used car....or keep Paris Hilton in chewing gum for 3 days.

I'm not sure yet how much(if any)of this wad of cash will end up being part of the 60K Savings Challenge, as my better half has not taken up this Savings Challenge with me. This is my Savings idea, but the money in this household isn't mine alone. I'll be conversing with Hubby this weekend about how this wad of cash will be allocated. He's not one to take it and go out and buy some Boy Toy(ie-read blow the money)but he did mention the word 'VACATION' in the same sentence with Tax Refund Cash.

Will update when this situation unfolds.

Gotta go make some more newspaper seedling pots and ruminate over what Vacation entails this year in Hubby's mind.

Sluggy

FEBRUARY $AVING$ CHALLENGE TOTALS

If you look closely at my right sidebar, you will notice that I updated my 60K $aving$ Challenge Totals for February a couple of days ago. I had hoped to just sneak it in and not have to post about it, but alas, I was caught.

Like I mentioned before, this month is NOT pretty!

While I practically Doubled my eBay sales(thanks in part to that nice guy in The Netherlands), the loose change in the house seems to have dried up. Ok, of the two, I'd rather have more eBay sales than change.lol

We ended Feb. with a net Loss of $157.97.

Negative savings.

Not good.

EVER!

I knew mid-month when we received the Bill Trifecta-a 6 month car insurance premium notice, the unexpected auto repair & the bill for the kitchen countertops,
February would be a wash.

The last 2 items appeared on the MONSTER CREDIT CARD BILL.

Monster to the tune of $2902.85.

The countertops and the auto repair account for $2126.49 of that monster, so in reality, the normal expenditures on it were only $776.36. That includes some online paid bills, most of the gasoline purchases and some Birthdays eating out money. (Dec-Feb. is our Birthday Landmine Field for spending on eating out.)

So if you take off the unusual expenses, we 'could' have had $215.67 left at the end of the month to dump into the SCG.

But we had emergencies. That is why you have Emergency funds....the shock absorbers for buffering those monetary bumps in the road of your money.

Soooo....we deduct that negative $157.97 from our Grand Total Saved & we are down to $3216.67 Saved for the year.

The target goal for 2 months in:$10K.

We are more behinder than last month.

*sigh*

Looking at the bright side....

The credit card statement period closes on March 11th. We currently have $548.39 in purchases on it. If I can keep from buying gasoline for 7 more days, I can have a much lower Mastercard bill to pay this month.

I heart $548.39 bills alot more than $2902.85 bills.

And I have set a $150/250 Low Spend Food Budget for March(See my Food Budget Part II post). That should result in a much lower expenditure for groceries than last month's total of $863.42.

Please help me stick to this March grocery budget.

If you see me in the grocery store with a fist full of coupons and that food lust look in my eyes, throw me in a cart and wheel me out!

Looking on the Not-So-Bright side....

Coming up this month however is the yearly local tax bill and the sewage bill. The sewage bill is hardly a blip on the spending screen but the Tax Bill is significant. Even more reason to keep all other expenditures down. I like to pay it before April 1, as we get a discount if we do. And whenever any governmental entity offers you a discount, TAKE IT!

Always.

Sluggy

Food Budget Part II

Ok, here are my grocery spending totals for Feb. 2009. Please sit down before you read if large sums of money make you queasy.

This Monthly total includes Toiletries/HBAs/Paper Goods/Cleaning Products/Pet Food & Supplies....oh, and food too. We are a family of 5-2 parents & 3 eating machines, er....I mean teenagers(God help me).

Merchandise Value Total: $2524.90
Deduct....
Value of Coupons: $561.89
Store Sales Savings: $758.29
Rewards/Gift Cards/ECB's Used: $118.96
You get.....
Paid Out of Pocket: $1085.76

Savngs Total(Coupons/Sales/Rewards):$1439.14
Average % Saved: 56.9%

Rewards/ECB's Earned: $62.92
Rebates Sent For: $138.43
(ECB's & Gift Cards balance rolled over into next month: $20.99)

Total Cost to me (after rewards earned and rebates): $863.42

I found a Food Plan chart from the USDA that I am going to use to set a monthly food budget. The chart is located Here.
The dollar amounts of the Plans are based on food prices for Dec. 2008, which is the latest month for which the info. is available. There are 4 levels of food spending-Thrifty, Low Cost, Moderate Cost & Liberal. According to this governmental chart, my family should be spending anywhere from $784.30 a Month to eat on the cheap to $1542.40 a Month to dine on steak & caviar.....well, maybe NOT the caviar.
I am all about eating on the cheap but not so cheap that it has questionable nutritional value and/or it tastes bad. Yes, I let the kids eat their share of Pop Tarts and Kraft Mac & Cheese in the box but it's not an everyday thing and they get plenty of 'real' food most of the time. We eat well here and I'm not going to put the family on a ramen noodles and generic hot dog diet to save an extra buck or two.

But I just can't believe we spent that much on food for a month. Granted, I'd guesstimate that about $300-400 of what I spent was stocking up on things we use at incredibly LOW prices so that makes me feel a little better.

I guess I'm just shocked by the current cost of food. I read recently that food on avg. has gone up in price about 9-10% in the past year? Can that be right?!

I remember when husband & I were in college....back when dinosaurs roamed the earth as my kids say, but really it was the early 1980's/late 1970's. The two of us ate, albeit it WAS a meager menu, for $20 a week. Nowadays you can't even eat for 2 days on that! I use to wheel our little grocery handcart up the 6 short blocks to the big A&P on the main thoroughfare bordering the ghetto-esque part of the neighborhood in Baltimore. As starving students, we ate alot of Kraft Mac & Cheese with either hamburger or tuna fish mixed in, hot dogs & beans, hamburgers, pasta with sauce or for a special treat-Lasagna. You could buy a pound of mozzarella cheese for $1.99. Generic Kraft was 8 for $1., a can of tuna was 49 cents, pasta was 20 cents a box & spaghetti sauce was 89 cents a jar & a can of green beans was 29 cents. I'd love to go back to prices like that but not the quality of food it bought.

Except for the price of lobsters. I'd love to go back with my income TODAY to my 1st summer job in Maine in 1980. There was a guy selling lobsters out the back of his pick-up truck in the parking lot of the Stop & Shop. 1980 price for fresh just off the boat lobster in 1980 Maine?.....$2 lb.
To have a spare $20 and a Time Machine right about now.
I would eat myself into a lobster stupor.
Seriously.
In a heartbeat.

Back to the point.
I am going to try to stick to the "low cost" monthly food plan this year, the $1038.70 one.
That will include any stocking up I do too.
For Savings Challenge Goal Challenge purposes, I am going to put a Food Budget Limit of $250 for March however. I want to try to get through March with only buying milk, bread and fresh veggies/fruits, as I plan for us to eat down the pantry this month. I figure $150 and another $100 for any seriously low deals for stockpiling that may pop up later in the month.
Then for April, I'll go to the $1038.70 monthly budget.

So what do YOU spend for food a month at your house?
Do tell!

Sluggy