2016 Food & Toiletries Spending.....April Update

* I've closed out the April books a couple of days early as I am done shopping.  Anything bought in the next 3 days will come out of May's funds. *

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

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for APRIL 2016.

I have posted April'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 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 3(2 at home this month). No kids under 20.

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BAKERY OUTLET
OOP  $4.75
Value  $20.45
Savings 76.77%

DOLLAR TREE
OOP  $20.00
Value  $54.64
Savings  63.40%


MAINE SOURCE
OOP  $62.56
Value  $84.00
Savings  25.52%


RITE-AID
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/gift card  $144.98
Value  $144.98
Savings 100%

SHURSAVE MARKET
OOP  $29.66
Qs/Ads $53.59
Value  $23.93
Savings  44.65%


TARGET
OOP  $.98
Qs/Ads  $3.00
Value  $3.98
Savings  75.38%

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $131.07

Qs/Ads  $137.64

Value  $268.71

Savings  51.22%

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My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%, the Bakery Outlet at 76.77% and Target at 75.78%.  My WORST savings rate was Maine Source at 25.52%.  Other than Maine Source, all other stores were at least 44.65% savings.
I'll take it. ;-)

I shopped at 7 different stores this past month.

TOTAL Out of Pocket..........$249.02

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$381.33

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$630.35

TOTAL Savings of...................................60.50%
TOTAL Savings without Rite-Aid...........48.70%

Value of items excluding Rite-Aid bought ones was $485.37
Rite-Aid goods brought home totaled $144.98.

This closes out the April food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....
I went into April wanting to do a $250 food budget for the month.  I ended up staying under my goal just barely.
Yay me! ;-)

If you look at our Eating-Out Totals for April they are down from March's so we weren't buying food less and eating out more this month, which means we really were paying less to eat.

The monthly food spending savings percentage went down by 15.98% in April to 60.50% compared to March's 76.48% savings average.  Yes, this level of savings, though down from March's savings level is still a good problem to have! lolz

If you delete the items bought at Rite-Aid in April our savings percentage goes down to 48.70% which is still well above the 40% savings rate threshold I like to stay over.  We "brought home" less things from Rite-Aid this month so the difference between all savings % for April and not including Rite-Aid savings % in the April total is less of a range than in March when we "brought home" a lot more from Rite-Aid.

We did empty some freezer space even though the salmon and chicken sausage deals meant adding a bit more to the freezer, more food got used up than got added.  Some pantry goods also got used up and not replaced and the only new pantry goods that were added were items we had used up.

With 4 months accounted for, I have spent a total of $1190.22 on food/toiletries so far in 2016 which averages out to $297.56 per month spent.  The average in March stood at $313.73 per month spent to that point in 2016 so we are down $16.17 spent per month from last month's year-to-date tally. Compared to this point in the year to 2015's totals we have spent $43.64 less on food and toiletries in 2016.

It would be so nice to continue this less spending trend back down below $4K for the year.  Now that my daughter is moving back home for a couple of years I know this low amount of spending on food will not continue and we most probably won't get under $4K spent on it all for 2016.
And I am ok with that.

LOOKING AHEAD To May 2016.........
College Boy returns home from college on Summer break 1 week into the month.  This means our food spending will increase in May.  But some of us will be out of town this month and not be eating at home, so that might counterbalance somewhat the increase in food spending that CB being home  will require.

I will continue with my usual shopping ways in May....buy loss leaders or great deals which we can use.  I will try to empty some more freezer space and eat down from the pantry as well this month.
I am going to try for a $300 food/toiletries spending month in May.  A slight $50 increase hopefully will be enough to cover 1 more mouth to feed and still be able to stay under budget.

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?
*  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

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

 

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for JULY 2013.

I have posted July's totals on the right side bar under Total Grocery Savings for 2013 and updated the Yearly Totals.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in July.  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(3-4+ at home this month)& 2 dogs. No kids under 17.
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BIG LOTS
OOP  $16.72
Value  $28.63
Savings  41.60%

BREAD OUTLET
OOP  $10.00
Value  $33.43
Savings  70.08%

MAINE SOURCE(restaurant supply)

OOP  $35.20

Value  $61.22

Savings  26.02 %

PRODUCE STAND
OOP  $10.00
Value  $12.00
Savings  16.66%
 

SHURSAVE STORES(small local independent affiliated stores)
OOP  $72.48

Qs/Ads  $42.51

Value  $114.99

Savings  36.96%

SURPLUS OUTLET
OOP  $66.72
Value  $133.62
Savings  50.07%

WEGMAN'S
OOP  $46.47
Qs/Ads  $19.40
Value  $65.87
Savings  29.45%

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $100.27

Qs/Ads  $75.06

Value  $175.33

Savings  42.81%

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 July.....$35.00

GIFT CARDS and CERTIFICATES....$0

TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received...$35.00

COUPONS and FREEBIES

Zero

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My best 3 Store Savings Totals were the Bread Outlet 70.08%, Surplus Outlet at 50.07%, Weis at 42.81%.  I food/toiletries shopped at 8 different stores this past month.

TOTAL Out of Pocket........$357.86

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$267.23

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$625.09

TOTAL Savings of...................................42.75%

This closes out the July food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....

I went into July with $400 budgeted for food/toiletries for the month.  Ended the month $42.14 leftover.  It's a good thing I reconsidered lowering the food budget to $300 in July, huh?  Otherwise I would have been in the red.  ;-)

While I didn't stock up on any meats(other than some chicken)or frozen items, due to not having a big freezer at the moment(let's NOT get into all that again right now tho!lol), I did do some stocking up on shelf stable items like no salt ketchup, canned tomatoes, etc.

I did NO Rite-Aid shopping last month again.  We are still good on the whole range of toiletry items.
The garbage bag supply is dwindling so I did pick up a couple boxes of those in June at the Surplus Outlet as they were a good price.

 

Looking ahead to August---We are going to have company at the house, which will necessitate a little more food purchasing.  Then we have our road trip later this month which means about 10 days of eating will go onto the Entertainment/Vacation budget instead of the Food budget.  With all that in mind, I am going to reduce the Food budget to $300 for August and shift the last $100 of the $400 I usually spend into the Entertainment budget.  This will give us a little extra money cushion for the Road Trip of Summer 2013 and who doesn't want a little extra spending money on vacation? 8-))

 

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

2013 Total Saved $1,830.11

2013 Yearly Total Value of Items  $4,395.53

2013 Yearly Total Spent $2,565.42

2013 Yearly Savings Total of  41.63%

 

In July, total savings percentage for the year has gone UP .18% over June's total of 41.45%.  So we saw a slight increase in our savings rate on food/toiletries spending for the year.
We are holding steady in the 40%s.
Works for me! 8-)

 

How much did you spend on food in July?
 

Sluggy

This Week On The Dining Table

This is the "Not Doing Much Cooking" Week.

 

Here's what was planned last week--

Sunday--Potato Crusted Flounder, Roasted Potatoes and Onions, Brussel Sprouts
Monday--Tacos, Corn
Tuesday--Lasagna, Garlic Bread, Salad
Wednesday--Chicken medallions, Spinach, Squash or Zucchini
Thursday--Pork Chops, Green Beans(from last Summer's garden), Mashed taters, Applesauce
Friday--homemade Pizza-maybe barbeque chicken pizza(using more of that mozzarella cheese & cooked chicken), Green Salad
Saturday--Leftovers

 

We were good with this plan until Wednesday.

Thursday and Saturday we had Sausage Sandwiches(one night w/Coleslaw, the other night w/Corn on the Cob).  The local market had a new brand from NJ on special for $1.99 lb. so I picked up a few packages.  Making those was quick and easy and didn't involve the oven and I jammed 2 pkgs. in the freezer for later.  Friday I took the rest of the chicken breast meat from that 8.5lbs. I got for less than .99¢ lb.(After using some for fresh chicken sandwiches for lunches....), and made chicken and dumplings.  I threw in baby carrots that were getting old that needed using up.

 So Pork Chops and Pizza are moving to this week's menu....again. lolz

 

 I spent more anticipated last week because of the sausage patties on sale, the son wanted a frozen pizza and I hit the produce stand in town on Saturday morning and spend an additional $10 on fresh produce.  So last week,  I spent  $56.36 on  $83.78 worth of groceries at 1 store & 1 produce stand.

If I don't buy any more groceries until Thursday, August 1st, I will have spent $357.86 for food in July.

 

**We did have some food waste this week.......Sluggy hangs her head in shame.......

We hardly ever have food waster anymore here so I'm not too broken up over this happening.  I just don't want it to become a regular thing, ya know?

A small portion of Coleslaw and a bigger portion(2 maybe?)of Fajita filling mix went to Food Waste Heaven last week.
  

Leftovers, that are still aok, going into this week's plan......1 portion of Lasagna, 2 sausage patties, 3 helping of Chicken & Dumplings.

 

This week is Band Camp so #2 Son won't be here for dinner all week.

I can't eat Thursday, due to Colonoscopy prep(yuck!)so I am not cooking and Hubs is on his own.

(I told him to get fast food because I don't even want to smell food cooking that day. lol)

 

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

 Here's this week's meal plan--
 

Sunday--Leftovers or Whatever you can Find in the Fridge
Monday--Leftover Lasagna for me, Sausage Sammies for Hubs
Tuesday--Chicken & Dumplings
Wednesday--Pork Chops, Green Beans, Roasted Taters
Thursday--Fend for Yourself night, I can't eat. eek!
Friday--Probably Chinese Take-Out as I won't feel like cooking but will be ravenous lol
Saturday--No Clue yet....maybe that grilled Pizza I never made ?

On the shopping list for these meals--turkey deli meat(for my lunches), bread and possibly more fruit.

There are a few Catalina deals at Weis PMITA Markets this week I might be tempted to do(Unilever and Purina)but I'm not sure yet if I will.  I might hit up the bread outlet this week as we are low on all bread products.

 

I'm figuring about $20 for the list above.....more if I do the Catalina deals.

That's what's appearing on the kitchen table this week here at Chez Sluggy.  Not much cooking or shopping going into August.

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

Sluggy