DECEMBER 2012 Budget Results....Food & Toiletries Spending

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for DECEMBER 2012.

I have posted December'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 December.  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(4-5 at home this month)& 2 dogs. No kids under 16.
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BREAD OUTLET
OOP   $21.89

Value   $77.70

Savings  71.83%

CARVEL STORE

OOP   $17.95

Sale/Ads/Qs  $2.00

Value   $19.95

Savings   10.03%

KMART

OOP   $.10

Sale/Ads/Qs   $9.00

Value   $9.10

Savings   98.90%

OLLIE'S

OOP   $54.90

Value   $101.93

Savings   46.14%

RITE-AID

OOP  $0.00

Qs/Ads/+Ups/Gift Card  $785.79

Value  $785.79

Savings   100%

SHURSAVE STORES(small local independent affiliated stores)
OOP  $98.64

Qs/Ads  $85.94

Value  $184.58

Savings  46.56%

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $245.63

Qs/Ads  $165.34

Value  $410.97

Savings  40.23%

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 December....Nothing

GIFT CARDS and CERTIFICATES....Nothing
TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received...$0.00

COUPONS and FREEBIES

1 Giveaway win--Free Laundry Detergent Q

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My best 3 Store Savings Totals were the Rite-Aid at 100%,  KMart at 98.90%, and the Bread Outlet at 71.83%.  l shopped at 7 different stores this past month.

TOTAL Out of Pocket........$439.11

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$1,150.81

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$1,589.92

TOTAL Savings of...................................72.38%

TOTAL Out of Pocket after Rebates earned(but not received yet) this Month......$420.11

TOTAL Coupons & Store Savings....$1169.81

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased.....$1589.92
TOTAL Savings Rate after Rebates of..........................73.57%

This closes out the December spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....

I went into December with $400 budgeted for food/toiletries for the month.  I went over budget by $39.11.  Once I receive my $19.00 in rebates I earned in Dec., my overage gets cut to $20.11.

My grocery/toiletries savings were at 73.57% for December after rebates.  If you take the Rite-Aid purchases out of the equation, my savings percentage falls to 45.40%.  Almost 50% savings for just food is quite good.  I'm usually around 33% savings for just the food stores.

I continued to shop the loss leaders and sales and stocked up when things were at rock bottom price in the sales cycles. 

Speaking about ONLY the food stores, I redeemed 22 manufacturer's Coupons on 187 items bought in December.  I went through my receipts and counted exactly how many Qs were used in December to prove that just shopping the loss leaders and rock bottom price in the sales cycles at the food stores CAN give you a good savings rate WITHOUT using coupons!  Yes, I used a few Qs but you don't have to be like those crazy people on that TLC show to save money on what you feed your family!

 I also earned 4 Catalina Qs worth a combined amount of $21 that were redeemed in December for food items at my 2 main grocery stores and in the food aisle at KMart.

 

And here is the run down of my Food & Toiletries Spending for 2012--

2012 Total Saved $8,279.46

2012 Yearly Total Value of Items $12,475.82

2012 Yearly Total Spent $4,196.36

2012 Yearly Savings Total of 66.36%

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JANUARY

Out of Pocket $198.68
Value of Items $819.07
Amount Saved $615.72
Savings Percentage of 75.74% 

FEBRUARY

Out of Pocket $194.03
Value of Items $823.28
Amount Saved $629.25
Savings Percentage of 76.43%

MARCH

Out of Pocket $494.28
Value of Items $1127.03
Amount Saved $632.75
Savings Percentage of 54.64%

APRIL

Out of Pocket $225.03
Value of Items $451.13
Amount Saved $226.10
Savings Percentage of 50.12%

MAY

Out of Pocket $336.48
Value of Items $585.35
Amount Saved $228.10
Savings Percentage of 42.52%

JUNE

Out of Pocket $358.85
Value of Items $1,121.05
Amount Saved $762.20
Savings Percentage of 68%

JULY

Out of Pocket $236.43
Value of Items $823.59
Amount Saved $540.90
Savings Percentage of 71.30%

AUGUST

Out of Pocket $485.94
Value of Items $1503.43
Amount Saved $1017.49
Savings Percentage of 67.67%

SEPTEMBER

Out of Pocket $418.60
Value of Items $1233.55
Amount Saved $814.95
Savings Percentage of 65.58%

OCTOBER

Out of Pocket $459.36
Value of Items $1130.59
Amount Saved $658.23
Savings Percentage of 59.37%

NOVEMBER

Out of Pocket $368.57
Value of Items $1267.83
Amount Saved $899.26
Savings Percentage of 70.92%

DECEMBER

Out of Pocket  $420.11
Value of Items  $1589.92
Amount Saved  $1169.81
Savings Percentage of 73.57%

Sluggy

May Food Spending Week 4, Meal Plan Week 4+/Week 1

I hope everyone had a reflective Holiday. Let's open today's Food post/Meal plan with this clip I "lifted" off someone else's blog......

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

SUNDAY--Baked Tilapia, Stuffed Clams, Mixed Veggies
MONDAY--TV Dinners from the back of the freezer....uh, oh.....
TUESDAY--Sloppy Joes, Corn on Cob(or COC as it's known around here)
WEDNESDAY--London Broil and Pineapple on the grill
THURSDAY--Sausage or Chicken patty Sandwiches, Harvard Beets
FRIDAY--Chinese take-out
SATURDAY--Leftovers

We finally got those dreadful tv dinners outta here! Just 1 night of take-out. The weekly food spending was $129.85 this past week.
Again with the going over $100 in a week. ugh 4 times to the grocery stores this past week. I bought some London broils and chicken breast(BOGO deals)and then I spazed out and bought SIX BOXES of frozen fruit bars!lol It seemed like the most logically thing to do at the time and given the sale price and the heat the last few days, those suckers will be gone in no time.lol

Value of food bought was at $210.79 so my savings rate was 38.40% for the week. Total spending for the month to this point is $327.99. It's a good thing I 'upped' my food budget to $400 for May, huh?

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 In terms of leftovers, I'm going into this week with a little Sloppy Joe left, half of the London Broil I cooked last week. After Monday's cook-out I also have a large amount of baked beans and potato salad to use up this week.
The weather here is extremely hot for May, at least until Thursday so I'll be avoiding running the oven until then.

This week's menu.....
SUNDAY--Leftovers and/or Whoppers
MONDAY--Burgers/Dogs cookout, baked beans, potato salad
TUESDAY--Alfredo with veggies and steak slices, tossed salad
WEDNESDAY--Leftovers (crazy schedules night)
THURSDAY--Spaghetti and turkey meatballs, saute veggie mix
FRIDAY--Pizza
SATURDAY--BLTs or Cheese Steaks(diners choice)

This menu gives us 5 new meals and 2 nights of leftovers(or 1 night of leftovers and 1 night of fast food).
As for items I need to buy for this week......hot dog rolls, sauerkraut, meatballs, tomato, lettuce. We'll be buying milk as usual, along with some fresh fruit.

So what is everyone else eating this week?  

Sluggy