2016 Food & Toiletries Spending.........February Update

Onward to February's food spending report.......

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for FEBRUARY 2016.

I have posted February's totals on the Total Grocery Savings for 2016 Page located HERE and have updated the Yearly Totals there.  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 Sum.  My spending includes Food, Toiletries/HBA, Cleaning Products, Paper Goods & tax where applicable. We are a family of 3(2 at home this month). No kids under 19.

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BAKERY OUTLET
OOP  $5.00
Value  $20.95
Savings  76.13%

CVS
OOP  $4.55
Sales/Qs  $28.69
Value  $33.24
Savings 86.31%

RITE-AID
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/gift card  $521.87
Value  $521.87
Savings 100%

SHURSAVE MARKET
OOP  $54.57
Qs/Ads $41.78
Value  $96.35
Savings  43.36%

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $294.97

Qs/Ads  $379.86

Value  $674.83

Savings  55.74%

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My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%, CVS at 86.31% and the Bakery Outlet at 76.13%.  My WORST savings rate was The local Shursave grocery at 43.36%.

I shopped at 5 different stores this past month.

TOTAL Out of Pocket..........$359.09

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$988.15

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$1347.24

TOTAL Savings of...................................73.35%
TOTAL Savings without Rite-Aid...........56.49%

Value of items excluding Rite-Aid bought ones was $825.37.
Rite-Aid goods brought home totaled $521.87

This closes out the February food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....
I went into February wanting to do a $250 to $300 food budget for the month($250 for family spending and $50 for deals).  I also separated out monies spent on food bank donations from my food budget for Feb.
I didn't meet that $250-$300 goal this month, going over by $59.09.

The monthly savings percentage went down by 2.17% in February to 73.35% compared to January's 75.52% savings average.
So we are still well above a 40% savings rate on groceries for 2016.
While saving 3/4 on food every month is unsustainable I'll take it while it lasts. lolz

With 2 months accounted for, I have spent a total of $709.06 on food/toiletries so far in 2016 which averages out to $354.53

LOOKING AHEAD To March 2016.........
Ok, since College Boy will be home for a week this month, I can't do a super tight budget for March.
I'll shoot for a $250-$300 month in March.  I won't be buying much extra this month for CB as I already did some stocking up for his needs in February(compleats and coffee).
I will continue to anticipate our needs and buy them while on sale instead of paying full regular retail for these items(except for milk as that doesn't do on sale here in PA).

If you have other ideas or guidelines you follow please leave a comment and share yours with us all.
Here's hoping y'all had a great year for spending less on food in 2016.

*  How much did you spend on food/toiletries in February?
*  Do you track your yearly food spending?
*  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

Food Spending August Week 2 & Meal Planning Week 3

Repeating the picture above again this week.  I got to thinking and the caption is all wrong!

It should read, "If Looks could kill women wouldn't need CAST IRON SKILLETS.

Am I right? ;-)

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

Sunday--Chicken Parmesan, Spaghetti, Green Beans

Monday--Meatloaf, Squash Casserole 

Then things went haywire.....

Tuesday--Leftovers

Wednesday--Steak, COC

Thursday--Rigatoni with Mushrooms in Sauce

Friday--More Leftovers + mixed veggies

Saturday--Leftovers Yet Again(plus a big tossed salad)

I only made 2 of the original meals I planned.  Wed and Thurs we changed plans due to a store sale on steak, corn of cob and mushrooms(I had the sauce and pasta already.).  The 2 meatloaves and leftover pasta left us with many leftovers.

 

The weekly food spending was $188.09.  This is waaaay high for me in just 1 week.

I hadn't counted on the local Shursave market having their semi-annual MEAT SALE last week.  About $150 of that spending was pure meat.  I got a large Pork Shoulder(for smoking and barbecue), 7 lbs. of ribeye steaks and 2 large eye round tenderloins which I hacked up into smallish sirloin steaks and cubed the ends into stewing beef chunks.

Only about $40 of what I spent last week was on non-meat necessities.

I have $91.93 left of my $400 food budget for August. 

And it's just the 13th of the month.

A.C.K.

I do have $12 in Cats and a $10 gift card to help get me through the rest of August without going over my $91.93 left.   That gives me around $113 for the rest of the month.  Just keep any deals and sales away from my eyes!lol

Going into the new week I have the following leftovers to use up......meatloaf, rigatoni in sauce.

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This week's menu.....

Sunday--salmon with maple glaze, Stir-fried mixed veg, mashed potatoes

Monday--BLT sandwiches with tomato from our garden...slurp!

Tuesday--tuna helper, caesar salad

Wednesday--Leftovers

Thursday--tacos or taco salad

Friday--burgers, baked beans, cucumber salad

Saturday--Leftovers

 

 

I'm going for easy peasy this week on the stovetop or outside on the grill and no running the oven.

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

I bought bread, carrots, rolls, lunchmeat for lunches and lots of lettuce last week so it's just cukes and milk.  I'm going to try to keep the spending under $20 this week.....I have to use the $12 in Cats this week, so actual $ spending of $8 or less.

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

Sluggy