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

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for SEPTEMBER 2013.

I have posted September's totals on the Total Grocery Savings for 2013 Page located HERE and have updated the Yearly Totals there.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in September.  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 at home this month)& 2 dogs. No kids under 17.
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FARM STAND

OOP  $22.40

Value  $64.45

Savings  65.24%

FOOD LION
OOP  $22.54
Value  $30.31
Savings  25.63%
 

SHURSAVE STORES(small local independent affiliated stores)
OOP  $90.31

Qs/Ads  $111.71

Value  $202.02

Savings  55.30%

WALMART
OOP  $79.77
Qs/Ads  $37.03
Value  $116.80
Savings  31.70%

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $71.55

Qs/Ads  $47.44

Value  $118.99

Savings  39.87%

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 September.....$0.00

GIFT CARDS and CERTIFICATES....$0

TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received...$0.00

COUPONS and FREEBIES

Zero

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My best 3 Store Savings Totals were  at  the Farm Stand 65.24%,  at  the Shursave Market at 55.30% and at the Weis Markets  at 39.87%.  I food/toiletries shopped at 5 different stores this past month.

TOTAL Out of Pocket........$316.01

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$216.56

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$532.57

TOTAL Savings of...................................40.66%

This closes out the September food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....

I went into September with my usual $400 budgeted for food/toiletries purchases.
I stayed under budget by about $80.  It might have been by a wider margin had I not had a problem with my foot.  Having to send Hubs out for groceries was both good and bad.....good in that, I was more apt to use stuff we already had at home and bad in that, when something was needed he didn't care to shop around for the best price or buy it when it was on sale. sigh.....
We did end up taking food to the Reunion and we spend more on eating out while on the trip, but the eating out $ comes out of Entertainment not the grocery kitty.
 

I did NO Rite-Aid shopping last month again.  As we approach the holidays I will be going back to Rite-Aid a bit for their awesome Holiday specials, if they appear this season.  Though I don't need any toothpaste, soap or shampoo for at least another year, I'll take some home if it's free or drastically discounted when I am there.  8-)

 

Looking ahead to October---We have our annual Ocean City October Get-Away coming up.  #2 Son and whoever stays here with him will have to be fed so while a few days most of us won't be here to eat groceries will still need to be provided.  I also have a couple of restaurant discount/freebie coupons that expire this month so Hubs and I will be going out to eat at least twice in October besides the OC trip.  I really want to keep the OC trip food purchases low but that's a post for another day. ;-)

There are no birthdays or other activities going on in October that should make our food purchases rise above our $400 allotment.
I am going to work on using up some freezer goods this month to get ready to restock it with fresh meats.
 

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

2013 Total Saved $2,249.36

2013 Yearly Total Value of Items  $5,522.65

2013 Yearly Total Spent $3,273.29

2013 Yearly Savings Total of  40.73%

 

In September, total savings percentage for the year has gone DOWN .01% over August's year-to-date total of 40.74%, to 40.73%.  So we saw a VERY slight decrease 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 September?
 

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

The "Still Hobbling Around" Edition......

 

Look at all those ripe tomatoes still on my plants!  I wish I could get out there and pick them so I can can them.....sigh.....

 Here's what was planned last week--

Sunday--Leftovers (I had my leftover Chinese Food.)
Monday--Leftover London Broil cut thin for beef hoagies(with caramelized onions and melted provolone cheese), stir fried Green Beans
Tuesday--Roasted Chicken with Onions & Carrots, Stuffing(for the menfolk), Cranberry "Glop"
Wednesday--Frozen Pizzas(I can have a small piece), Caprese Salad
Thursday--Broccoli Casserole, maybe Pork chops if I can dig them out, Applesauce
Friday--no clue but will probably involve tomatoes and/or green beans lolz
Saturday--ditto

And here's what actually got eaten--

Sunday--Leftovers (I had my leftover Chinese Food.)
Monday--Leftover London Broil cut thin for beef hoagies(with caramelized onions and melted provolone cheese), stir fried Green Beans
Tuesday--Roasted Chicken with Onions & Carrots, Stuffing(for the menfolk), Cranberry "Glop"
Wednesday--Frozen Pizzas(I can have a small piece)
Thursday--I was the only one home for dinner so I made a piece of fish, and green beans.
Friday--BLTs, yet again....lol and Broccoli Casserole
Saturday--Hubs had leftover chicken and broccoli casserole, I had a turkey sandwich and salad.

Through Wednesday was on plan and then the wheels flew off the bus. lol  We didn't get take-out or spend on more groceries at that point, deciding instead to work on eating some leftover and surplus tomatoes and beans and going to the freezer/stockpile to see what we could find.   It all worked out for the best. 8-)

  

As for food spending last week.....I spent $100.86 on $197.03 worth of groceries at 2 stores and the farm stand.  Actually Hubs spent the $ as I was in no shape to go shopping(except for riding out to the farm).  I have $193.67 remaining of my $400 September food budget with 6 days to go in the month.

As for food waste, nothing last week. 8-))

Leftovers going into this week--still more green beans and tomatoes from the garden.

Here's this week's meal plan---
 

Sunday--Pork Chops(freezer), Green Beans(garden), leftover Stuffing, Applesauce(from stockpile)
Monday--Dinner at TGIFridays(I had an appetizer and water, Hubs had a burger and iced tea.)
Tuesday--Roast Chicken(freezer), Brussel Sprouts(freezer), leftover Applesauce
Wednesday--Halushki(noodles from stockpile, cabbage from farm stand) with Bacon(freezer)
Thursday--Rigatoni w/Meat Sauce(meat from freezer/pasta from stockpile/sauce made from stockpile ingredients), some veggie from the freezer OR Fend for Yourself-not sure which yet
Friday--No plan yet, eating out
Saturday--My brother will probably want to eat at a pizza joint so not sure what I'll get there.

On the shopping list......I cooked a chicken breast for lunchmeat so no deli meat will be bought this week.  What I need to buy to prepare the meals above are a head of cabbage(picked up already at the farm stand).  That's it as I have everything else either in the stockpile or freezer.  I do need to pick up some staples we are out of like cornstarch, vinegar(on sale this week), yogurts for me(on sale this week), milk and a bag of dog kibble.  I'm still in no position to do a full-on grocery shop so I don't foresee spending more than $25 at the grocery store this week.

That's what's appearing on the kitchen table this week here at Chez Sluggy. 
  

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

Sluggy