Food Spending....the March Edition

Onward to March's Food Spending Report.....

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for March 2025.

I have posted Maarch's totals on the Total Grocery Savings Page located  and have updated the Totals there. 
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in March.  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, Pet Food. We are a family of 2(and 2 dogs).
****************

BROOKSHIRE'S

OOP  $2.77

Sales  $1.52

Value  $4.29

Savings  35.43%

KROGER

OOP  $226.99

Qs/Gift Cards  $242.42

Value $469.41

Savings  51.64%

SHOPPER'S VALU

OOP  $1.21

Value  $3.15

Savings  87.81%

WALMART

OOP  $70.41

Qs/Gift Cards $51.39

Value  $121.80

Savings  42.19%

********************
My best Store Savings Total was at Shopper's Valu with a savings of 87.81% but most of the grocery dollars were spent at Kroger with a savings rate of 51.64%.  My worse rate was at Brookshire's with 35.43%.  Not a bad savings rate average overall though.

I shopped at 4 different stores in MARCH.  

TOTAL Spent in March.....$301.38

TOTAL Coupons/Sales/Gift Cards....$297.27

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased.....$598.65

TOTAL Savings of........49.66%

This closes out the March food/toiletries/etc. spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month....Nice job this month.  Didn't spend a lot, for us, in our situation, but got some good deals and lots of savings.  We are continuing to eat down the freezer and the pantry in preparation for the move.

The Monthly food spending savings percentage went DOWN by 49.66% in March to 6.25% compared to February's 43.41% savings average.  When savings percentage goes down it's a good thing.

Since we have an adequate income and food should be a pleasure in life(no way am I going to eat unseasoned rice and beans for my remaining days like some people-because I don't have to). I will buy quality food and pay the price at the register.  I may not like the price but I will deal with it.

With 3 months accounted for, I have spent a Total of $1,060.43 on groceries/HBA/paper goods/etc. in 2025.

2025 Yearly Total Value of Items  $1,931.05

2025 Total Saved   $870.62

2025 Yearly Total Spent  $1,060.43

2025 Yearly Savings Total of  45.08%

The average per month amount spent is $353.48 in 2025 so far but that's before all the rebate monies are added in.

Remember that I withdraw all my cash rebate monies(Ibotta, Shopmium, TaDa, Checkout 51, Swag Bucks, My Points and other miscellaneous rebates-Aisle, Tremendous, Sampoll  etc. and have it sent to my Paypal)at the end of the year and add it back into my food budget, so at the end of the year my food spending will go down.  I don't add in all the cashed out savings until the end of the year,

The other savings apps like Fetch, Shop Kick, Kroger Cash Back that let us get free gift cards(or $ off your grocery total-Kroger Cash Back), those are added back in when I cash those points in along the way.  Alexa app gave me Amazon credit onto my account but I don't buy food on Amazon(sometimes I buy dog food there)so I really don't know how to count that and it's defunct now so I won't worry about that bit.

Because I don't like to let money sit in these rebate accounts and Paypal, I send $$ to my bank account throughout the year.  So far I have sent $489.82 from various rebating programs and through Paypal to my bank.  If you add in all that my food spending at the 2 month point in 2025 comes in at $269.23 or $134.62 per month.

Besides all I sent to my bank account I have more $ sitting in these various rebating programs as well as in Paypal.  This is not counting Alexa, ShopKick or Fetch, which all comes out in gift cards or Amazon credit.

LOOKING AHEAD TO APRIL 2025....

I have just under 1 month to finish using up what we have in the freezer.  We can take canned goods with us but not the frozen/refrigerated food.

If you have other ideas or guidelines you follow please leave a comment and share your thoughts with us all.

*  How much did you spend on food/toiletries in March?

*  Do you track your yearly food spending?  It's really not that hard or time consuming; just keep your receipts and either track it in a notebook or on a spreadsheet.

*  What was your savings percentage buying on sale and/or with coupons versus 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....the November 2024 Edition

Onward to November's Food Spending Report.....

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for November 2024.

I have posted November's totals on the Total Grocery Savings Page located  and have updated the Totals there. 
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in Octohyhhber.  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, Pet Food. We are a family of 2(and 2 dogs).
****************

BROOKSHIRE'S 

OOP  $1.47

Sales  $2.02

Value  $3.49

Savings  57.88%

BROOKSHIRE'S

OOP  $21.40

Sales  $12.23

Value  $33.63

Savings  36.37%

KROGER

OOP  $174.24

Qs/Gift Cards  $207.90

Value $382.14

Savings  54.40%

SUPER 1 FOOD

OOP  $15.86

Value  $19.00

Savings  16.53%

WALMART

OOP  $189.02

Qs/Gift Cards $88.54

Value  $277.56

Savings  31.90%

********************
My best Store Savings Total was at Brookshire's with a savings of 57.88%.  My worse rate was at Super 1 Food with 16.53%.  Not a bad savings rate average overall though.

I shopped at 5 different stores in NOVEMBER.  

TOTAL Spent in November......$401.99

TOTAL Coupons/Sales/Gift Cards....$301.58

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased.....$703.57

TOTAL Savings of........41.19%

This closes out the November food/toiletries/etc. spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month....Nice job this month.  Spent a lot but got some good deals and lots of savings.

The Monthly food spending savings percentage went DOWN by 3.14% in November to 41.19% compared to October's 44.33% savings average.  

Since we have an adequate income and food should be a pleasure in life(no way am I going to eat unseasoned rice and beans for my remaining days like some people-because I don't have to). I will buy quality food and pay the price at the register.  I may not like the price but I will deal with it.

With 11 months accounted for, I have spent a Total of $5,984.68 on groceries/HBA/paper goods/etc. in 2024.  Food prices have gotten to the ridiculous level, haven't they?

2024 Yearly Total Value of Items  $12,533.45

2024 Total Saved   $6,146.78

2024 Yearly Total Spent  $6,146.78

2024 Yearly Savings Total of  49.04%

The average per month amount spent is $558.80 in 2024 so far but that's before all the rebate monies are added in.

Remember that I withdraw all my cash rebate monies(Ibotta, Shopmium, TaDa, Checkout 51, Swag Bucks, My Points and other miscellaneous rebates-Aisle, Tremendous, Sampoll  etc. and have it sent to my Paypal)at the end of the year and add it back into my food budget, so at the end of the year my food spending will go down.  I don't add in all the cashed out savings until the end of the year,

The other savings apps like Fetch, Shop Kick, Kroger Cash Back that let us get free gift cards(or $ off your grocery total-Kroger Cash Back), those are added back in when I cash those points in along the way.  Alexa app gave me Amazon credit onto my account but I don't buy food on Amazon(sometimes I buy dog food there)so I really don't know how to count that and it's defunct now so I won't worry about that bit.

Because I don't like to let money sit in these rebate accounts and Paypal, I send $$ to my bank account throughout the year.  So far I have sent $4,202.65 from various rebating programs and through Paypal to my bank.  If you add in all that my food spending at the 11 month point in 2024 comes in at $1,944.13 or $176.74 per month.

Besides all I sent to my bank account I have more $ sitting in these various rebating programs as well as in Paypal.  This is not counting Alexa, ShopKick or Fetch, which all comes out in gift cards or Amazon credit.

LOOKING AHEAD TO DECEMBER 2024.....

After we went through and organized the freezer, I am trying to eat down freezer/pantry in December  Inflation is still crazy high so spending is more than I'd like it to be.

Gone are the days of a $350 grocery budget.

If you have other ideas or guidelines you follow please leave a comment and share your thoughts with us all.

*  How much did you spend on food/toiletries in November?

*  Do you track your yearly food spending?  It's really not that hard or time consuming; just keep your receipts and either track it in a notebook or on a spreadsheet.

*  What was your savings percentage buying on sale and/or with coupons versus 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

 

2019 Food & Toiletries Spending......the August Edition

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

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for AUGUST 2019.

I have posted August's totals on the Total Grocery Savings Page located HERE and have updated the Totals there.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in August.  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 5(3 at home this month). No "kids" under 23.
*****************

BREAD OUTLET
OOP  $14.00
Value  $51.49
Savings  72.81%

MALACARI'S
OOP  $75.39
Value  $157.36
Savings  52.09%

OCEAN STATE JOB LOT
OOP  $16.77
Value  $29.14
Savings  42.45%

OLLIE'S
OOP  $5.17
Value  $10.47
Savings  50.62%

RITE-AID
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/BC  $331.67
Value  $331.67
Savings  100%

SHURSAVE MARKETS

OOP  $26.54
Qs/Ads $25.25

Value  $51.79

Savings  48.75%

WALMART
OOP  $19.57
Value  $36.50
Savings  46.38%

WEIS
OOP  $146.72
Qs/Ads  $152.26
Value  $298.98
Savings  50.93%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%, the Bread Outlet at 72.81% and Malacari's at 52.09%.  My worst savings rate was at Ocean State Job Lot with 42.45%.  Having a worst rate of over 40% is still awesome. 8-)))

I shopped at 8 different stores this past month.  

TOTAL Out of Pocket for August.........$304.16

TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales.................$331.57

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased.........$635.73

TOTAL Savings of ................................52.16%

TOTAL Out of Pocket for August w/R-A.............$304.16
TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales w/R-A...................$663.24
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased w/Rite-Aid....$967.40
TOTAL Savings with Rite-Aid items.....................68.56%

This closes out the August food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....
We spent well UNDER my $400 budgeted amount for food/toiletries in August(almost $100 less!).  I put fewer things into the freezer in August and I spent less money.

The monthly food spending savings percentage went UP by 4.11% in August 2019 to 68.56% compared to the July 64.45% savings average.



With 8 months accounted for, I have spent a Year-To-Date Total of $3,051.44 on food/toiletries in 2018.


2019 Yearly Total Spent To Date....................$3,051.44

2019 Yearly Total Value of Items To Date....$12,136.40

2019 Total Saved To Date...............................$9,084.96

2019 Yearly Savings Total To Date of............74.86%

The average per month amount spent so far is $381.43 in 2019 which went down $11.04+ per month due to less spending in August.
The yearly rate went down .54% from July's percentage for the year-to-date mainly due to "buying" less items at Rite-Aid in August compared to July's haul.
May was a lower than usual savings percentage and it's been slowly rising every month since that.

LOOKING AHEAD To September 2019.......
No trips, no company coming so a usual food/cooking month.  I have a $15 prepaid debit card earned at R-A but I'll put it toward food spending in September.
I might venture into Target at some point in September which will mean lower OOP spending on food as I'll use discounted gift cards.

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 August?

*  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

This Week on the Dining Table

It's the "Not Home and Not Cooking This Week" Edition.............

Well the photos aren't loading in blogger this morning so I'll try again to put one on later.
I am in Virginia visiting family and it's hot as hell here(Summer in the South, duh!?)so I am trying to stay cool as I can.

Maybe I'll revise the menu for the week later when I get home......and maybe I won't. ;-)

Moving on......

Onward to the meal planning!

Here's what was planned last week--

1. Sunday--Chicken Spaghetti(don't ask!lol), Sugar Snap Peas
2. Monday--Breakfast for Dinner(Daughter is cooking)
3. Tuesday--Reuben Sandwiches
4. Wednesday--Lemon Pepper Chicken, Rice, Zucchini
5. Thursday--Shrimp Scampi, Salad, Garlic Bread
6. Friday--TBD
7. Saturday--TBD

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Chicken Spaghetti(don't ask!lol), Sugar Snap Peas
2. Monday--Breakfast for Dinner(Daughter is cooking)
3. Tuesday--Reuben Sandwiches
4. Wednesday--Lemon Pepper Chicken, Rice, Zucchini
5. Thursday--Shrimp Scampi, Siciliam Tomato/Onion Salad, Garlic Bread
6. Friday--Chicken Spaghetti, Veggie
7. Saturday--No Clue what they had, I wasn't home

5-6 meals cooked at home, 1 of them nights of leftovers.
Most every meal was cooked on the day planned last week until I left town.  The Scampi came out well and was so quick and easy once the shrimp was peeled.  This is the first time I've ever made scampi with linguine but it's going on the warm weather rotation from now on.

As for my grocery spending..... I spent a total of $111.54 on 4 trips to 4 different stores. I have $33.50 left of my $450 food budget with 13 days to go in the month.


Leftovers going into this week........Chicken Spaghetti, Corned Beef, Sauerkraut, Rye Bread,Lemon Pepper Chicken, Shrimp Scampi, Garlic Bread.

Here is this week's "food plan"--

1. Sunday--No Clue
2. Monday--No Clue
3. Tuesday--No Clue
4. Wednesday--No Clue
5. Thursday--No Clue
6. Friday--No Clue
7. Saturday--No Clue

This week will see ? new meals cooked and 7 nights of NO CLUE yet.

What I need to buy for this menu.....again, No clue, as I am not home and am not cooking until the end of the week when I get home.  It will be interesting to see what Hubs comes up with while I cam gone. lolz

What is getting fixed and served at your house this week?

Was last week's plan successful, did you go off plan or did you not even plan what was going to be eaten last week?

Any great deals on food at your stores this week?

Sluggy

Tracking My Food Spending Over the Long Term

I've kept track of my food spending for the last three full years.  I started in 2009 but don't have the full year's spending for that year.
Call me anal, that's ok.  I'm a bit nerdy when it comes to money stuff.

Here are my numbers.  This includes all food spending, as well as toiletries, pet food, all household paper products.  It does not include "eating out" monies.  And let me tell you.....we can do some bigtime eating out! lol
Keep in mind that these numbers are for a family of 5-3(number of people being fed varied as 2 kids came and went to college)and 2 dogs.  It's not more scientific than taking my receipts and writing my totals down every week in a notebook, a year at a time, and then dragging out a calculator and adding it all up.

2010--$2,291.67
2011--$3,080.59   Up $788.92 from 2010
2012--$4,196.36   Up $1,115.77 from 2011

I am trying to make sense of these numbers so bear with me.

On the face of it, it appears that I spent increasingly and substantially more each year on food spending.

Between the increasing inflation rate on the cost of food and the decrease in the amount of couponing from one year to the next(I've been on a downward trend with the volume of coupons I use)you could argue that these 2 conditions accounted for the rise in food spending from 2010 to 2012.

Now let's look at my Rebating Totals during these same years.
I use to send away for a fair amount of rebates, both for cash ones and others that gave back gift cards(or prepaid credit cards). 

2010--$841.73 rebate checks/ $563.99 gift cards
2011--$433.22 rebate checks/ $76.00 gift cards
2012--$67.48 rebate checks/ $5.00 gift cards

Sometimes the gift cards were used to pay for food and toiletries, sometimes not, so if we just plug in the cash rebates which were all added back into my food kitty,  my food "spending" totals after these checks looks like this.....

2010--$3,133.40  
2011--$3,513.81    Up $380.41
2012--$4,263.84    Up $750.03

After the cash rebates, the increases from year to year in spending are much lower and easily explained away by inflation and the decrease in couponing.

It saddens me though to see how few cash rebates I was able to partake in last year, down from a high in 2010 of $841.73.    And most of that $67.48 in cash rebates in 2012 was from Rite-Aid! ;-)

Since the Recession of 2008 I am finding fewer and fewer manufacturer's offering worthwhile rebate offers in my state for products we want/need.
Given this sad state of affairs, if I continue to purchase roughly the same products in 2013, with food inflation and a continued less than stellar crop of coupon deals combined with a stingy few cash rebate offerings, I guesstimate that my Food Spending Totals for 2013 might reach $5,000+.

This increase is even more reason to redouble my efforts to keep our food costs down in any way I can.
Food spending is one of those items that can very quickly get out of hand.
It's something you can't NOT spend on, but what you buy, where and when you buy it and how much you buy can sink your budget quickly.

It's an item in your budget that can sneak up on you......buying a little better quality food or an item that's a "treat"(not something you buy every day) or buying a food even though it's not a good deal because you just want to eat it now anyway.....these are all the ways that add a few pennies here, a dollar there to your food costs, and before you know it, you are $30 over your food budget for the week or month.  And if you keep on that path from month to month, you'll be looking up a year later to see that you've overspent on the food category without a clue how.

It's important for all of us to at least consider all the tricks in the food shoppers' arsenal.

Even if you've never taken a list to shop from to the store before, or made your own convenience mixes, or meal planned, or gone in with some neighbors and started your own food co-op, or grown a garden, or used a coupon, or bought from a farmer and froze or canned inexpensive veggies, or stockpiled in good quantity something your family eats when it's on a great sale, or bought a new item and gotten a full price cash rebate back so basically you've gotten the item for free(minus postage), maybe you should consider trying one or more of these methods of bringing down your food and toiletries bill.

Don't dismiss any of these techniques out of hand!  You might just find that something you never considered before might be a great way to make your food dollar go further.
Some of these are simple ways to stretch your food dollars, some take much time and effort, and some may seem like they are difficult but once you figure it out, you'll wonder why you never tried them before.

What about you?
Do you budget your food spending?
How do you figure out what to spend?
What do you do to reduce the amount you have to spend to feed your family?
What has worked best for you in the past to keep your spending in line with your income?

Sluggy

Food Spending June Week 3 & Meal Planning?.....Maybe Not

One way to save money is to plan a menu and buy what you need, shopping from a list.  Planning your meals and food purchases also aids in eliminating food waste.
We had no food waste last week.

This is what we actually ate last week......

SUNDAY--Spaghetti with Sausage and Vegetable Pasta
MONDAY--Taco Bell

TUESDAY--Burgers on Roll, COC

WEDNESDAY--Barbecue Chicken, Grilled Asparagus
THURSDAY--Domino's Pizza, Tossed Salad
FRIDAY--Leftover COC, Chinese Food, Spaghetti, Pizza
SATURDAY--More Leftovers COC, Salad, Hot Dogs with Sauerkraut

Thursday's dinner was changed to Pizza, due to the 50% off code for Domino's.

I must say I REALLY don't like Domino's pizza now.  This is the first time we'd had it since they changed it.

It is TOO GARLICKY!

And somebody told me it's "spray on garlic??"  yuck.

I scrapped Friday and Saturday's menus as we had so many leftovers from earlier in the week.

I think it's because the teens weren't here for some meals, so we just ate the leftovers.  Hubs could have heavier food and I could eat lighter since it was hot and I didn't feel like pasta and hot dogs.

And I got a break from cooking.....go me! ;-)

Food Budget matters....
I've been a shopping fool this past week, doing the deals at the Weis Grand Opening Sale in my town.
I spent on food/toiletries this week....$179.02
(That includes a couple receipts from last week I just found, $14.39 worth.)
I did buy 3 Lysol toilet cleaners on Saturday's trip to Weis, which I will submit for a $3 rebate(making those $1 each after rebate).  That purchase/rebate brings my weekly spending total down to $176.02.

Reg. shelf price for what I bought....$520.46
That's a 65.60% savings rate.


Now granted I DID buy 12 12-packs of soda, 4 6-packs of vitamin water, 6 bags of cookies, 6 bags of chips, muffins and pizza rolls at the Grand Opening Sale at Weis over the course of the week.
But last week, I also got....6 lbs.of local honey, flax seeds, quinoa, 6 loaves of bread, 12 lbs. of coffee, asparagus, toilet cleaner, laundry detergent, corn, potatoes, other produce, 6 lbs. of ground beef, 2 lbs. of shrimp, a 3lb. bag of potstickers, seltzer and a box of cereal.

I just have to take all that junk food and hide it before #2 Son comes home and figure out how I am going to dole it out to him.  If you've been reading here for some time, you KNOW #2 Son has little self-control when it comes to soda and cookies.  I have to limit it or he'd have it all consumed in days.  I'm going to see if I can make the soda last until October.  The cookies?....I'll be lucky to get through August before the only thing left are crumbs.

I've given myself $400 for food this month. I have spent to date $306.91, so I have $93.09 left for June.

The Human Eating Machine(#2 Son has left the building for the rest of June so I should be able to keep the spending on target.

************************

This week's menu.....

No Menu this Week

Me and Scarlett will think about that another day.

Fiddle-dee-dee.

So what is everyone else eating this week?
C'mon.....make me jealous with your awesome cooking and food choices!


Sluggy

May Food Spending Week 1, Meal Plan Week 2

 

 

Onward to the meal plans!

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

SUNDAY--Stuffed Shells

MONDAY--Chicken Fajitas

TUESDAY--Leftover Eggplant/Fajitas

WEDNESDAY--Pizza
THURSDAY--Taco Bell, Salad
FRIDAY--Fish, Rice, Veg.(Son can have leftover Shells)
SATURDAY--Leftovers or Burritos

 

3 nights of new meals and 2 nights of leftovers and take-out for #2 Son the nights Hubs was out of town.

I'm happy we stuck with the plan.

The weekly food spending was $93.79 this past week.  A bit high than what I like to be at but there was a good deal of stocking up on things.

Value of food bought was at $168.25 so my savings rate was 44.26% for the week.

************************

In terms of leftovers, I'm going into this week with no leftovers.

This week, it gets crazy around here as the kids return home from school.

This week's menu.....

SUNDAY--Kielbasa on rolls, Roasted Corn

MONDAY--Chicken Parmesan, Grilled Asparagus

TUESDAY--Bacon Lettuce & Tomato Sandwiches

WEDNESDAY--Not sure, scrounge what is here Night

THURSDAY--Chinese take-out
FRIDAY--Roast Chicken, Carrots, Potatoes, Stuffing, Cranberry Sauce
SATURDAY--Chicken Enchiladas, Spanish Rice

This menu gives us 5 new meals and 1 night of leftovers and 1 night of Take-Out.

This week we have a varied number of diners depending on the night.
 
As for items I need to buy for this week.....lettuce, carrots, potatoes, onions.

We'll be buying milk as usual, along with some fruit and ice cream.
The restaurant supply store has some deals I want to get this week, like 40lb. of chicken breast for $1.45 lb($58 total) and 5lb. of cheese for $7.99.   If I can get my freezer straightened out before the week is over, I'll get the chicken.  My freezer is pretty empty(after I get that whole chicken out of there on Wed.)but it needs tidying up before I put that much chicken back in there!lol  I might attempt a defrosting this week.

If I get the chicken I'll spend upwards of $100 this week, if not, then $40.

So what is everyone else eating this week?

Sluggy

April 2012 Budget Results.......Food and Toiletries Spending

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for APRIL 2012.

I have posted April'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 April.  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 16.
******************

BAKERY OUTLET
OOP   $9.89

Value   $38.41

Savings  74.25%

SHURSAVE STORES(small local independent affiliated stores)
OOP  $78.54

Qs/Ads  $47.11

Value  $125.65

Savings  37.50%

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $142.60

Qs/Ads  $144.47

Value  $287.07

Savings  50.33%

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 APRIL

Rite-Aid SCR....$6.00
Subtotal........$6.00

GIFT CARDS and CERTIFICATES
Nothing

TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received...$6.00

COUPONS and FREEBIES
Nothing

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were the Bakery Outlet at 74.25%, Weis at 50.33% and Shursave Grocer at 37.50%.  Ok, so I only shopped at THREE STORES all MONTH!lol

TOTAL Out of Pocket........$231.03

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$220.10

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$451.13

TOTAL Savings of...................................48.80%


TOTAL of CASH Rebates........................$6.00
TOTAL Out of Pocket After Rebates........$225.03
TOTAL Savings including Rebates...........$226.10
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$451.13
TOTAL Savings After Rebates...................50.12%

This closes out the April spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....
I went into April with $300 budgeted for food/toiletries for the month.  I was able to stay well below my budgeted amount, even with hosting an Easter dinner for what turned into a Feast for 7 at the last minute.
I used very few coupons in April, though I did buy many meat items.   Using those store clearance meat dept. coupons assisted my budget there.  I didn't shop at any drug stores this month, especially Rite-Aid where I have or have close to 100% savings rate.  That is why my overall savings percentage is only 48.80% in April instead of 60-80%.  But even though the rate is much lower this month, I'll gladly take it.  Besides the paper products I bought this month, I bought no other HBA or non-food items.  An almost 50% savings rate on just food items is wonderful!  Especially when I only used 3 ManuCoupons, 2 PeelieCoupons and 2 CatalinaCoupons.

As for the discounts I used in April....
*3 ManuQs
*2 Catalina WYB Qs
*2 PeelieQs
*12 Meat discount Qs
*16 Store Qs(4 of which were Free item Qs)

Besides the few coupons I used, utilizing UTOF meats, in season produce, buying at lowest sale price in the cycle in the stores and finding alternate sources for groceries(outlets), helped me spend less of my cash in the grocery store than my neighbor on identical items this month.

LOOKING AHEAD TO MAY.....My Daughter will be coming home to stay in another week.  My oldest Son will be coming home for 10 days or so with his girlfriend in tow next week.  So we will be a family of 6 for 1/3rd of the month and then a family of 4 for the remainder of the May.  More people means more food spending.  My oldest has already asked me to make him some favorite foods while he is home and of course they are not cheap foods.  Most of them involve smoked meats so I'll be firing up the smoker soon. ;-)

I will be increasing my food budget to $400 for May.  As for the meats I'll need for the smoker, I'll be going to the restaurant supply store this month for the best deals locally.  I'll continue to seek out in-season produce, store loss leaders/lowest priced in the store cycle goods and keep my eyes peeled while in the store for instant discount Deals.

How did you do in April with your Food Budget? 

Please leave a comment or link to your post and let us hear about your progress!  By sharing our struggles and efforts we can help each other stick to our budgets and learn to be better guardians of our resources.

Sluggy

January 2012 Budget Results.......Food and Toiletries Spending

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for JANUARY 2012.

I have posted January'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 January.  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 15.
******************

BIG LOTS
OOP  $22.67

Value  $42.91

Savings  47.17%

CVS

OOP  $19.15

Qs/Ads  $77.74

Value  $96.89

Savings   80.24%  *Not counting the $11.77 in CVS gift cards I have left.

OLLIE'S

OOP  $43.01

Value  $71.08

Savings  39.50%

PRICE CHOPPER

OOP  $2.89

Qs/Ads  $0

Value  $2.80

Savings  0%

RITE-AID DRUG STORE
OOP  $10.58(put on my free Rite-Aid gift card), so ZERO cash spent
Qs/Ads/+Ups  $431.88

Value  $442.46

Savings  97.60% before gift cards OR 100% after gift cards

SAVE-A-LOT

OOP  $55.40

Value  $75.86

Savings   27% *And that's basically all on meats.

SHURSAVE STORES(small local independent affiliated stores)
OOP  $43.85

Qs/Ads  $19.14

Value  $62.99

Savings  30.39%

WEIS (local chain Grocery store in my town/doubles up to $1 total)
OOP  $20.71

Qs/Ads  $3.28

Value  $23.99

Savings  13.68% 

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 JANUARY
Pinecone...$9.00
Subtotal........$9.00

GIFT CARDS and CERTIFICATES
Nothing

TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received...$9.00

COUPONS and FREEBIES

Progresso.....free can of soup

Pinecone....product to test

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%, CVS at 80.24% and Big Lots at 47.17%.

Hmmm, not a single grocery store in the lot. lol
I shopped at 8 different stores in January.


TOTAL Out of Pocket........$207.68

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$611.39

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$819.07

TOTAL Savings of...................................74.64%


TOTAL of CASH Rebates........................$9.00
TOTAL Out of Pocket After Rebates........$198.68
TOTAL Savings including Rebates...........$615.72
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$819.07
TOTAL Savings After Rebates...................75.74%

This closes out the January spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....
Even though I only spent 2/3 of my food budget money for January, we still ate well.  We ate down a large piece on what was in the freezer and stockpile.  Plus there were leftovers from December still for part of the month.  Having assorted members of the family sick for part of the month lowered the grocery spending as well since nobody wants to eat when they are sick. ;-)

LOOKING AHEAD TO FEBRUARY.....

I plan on eating down the freezer again this month.  I need to defrost it so we need to empty it.  I hope to get into meal planning again after letting it lag in January(due partly to illness around here).  I don't plan any stock-ups in the coming month, but I do plan on purchasing more fresh produce and greens so I'll keep the budget at $300 for the month.

How did you do in January with your Food Budget? 


Please leave a comment or link to your post and let us hear about your progress!  By sharing our struggles and efforts we can help each other stick to our budgets and learn to be better guardians of our resources.

Sluggy

September Budget Results.....Food and Toiletries Spending

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for SEPTEMBER 2011.

I have posted September's totals on the right side bar under Total Grocery Savings for 2011 and updated the Yearly Totals.
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 15.
******************

BAKERY OUTLET
OOP  $8.78
Value  $38.11
Savings  77%

CARONE'S(small local independent store)
OOP  $89.28

Qs/Ads  $81.70
Value  $170.98
Savings  47.78%

RITE AID
OOP  $.50 (whole amount put on free Rite-Aid Gift Cards)=$.00 actual OOP
Qs/Ads/+Ups  $3.79
Value  $4.29
Savings  88.35% before gift cards/ 100% savings after free gift cards

WEIS (local chain Grocery store in my town/doubles up to $1 total)
OOP  $174.05
Qs/Ads  $93.89
Value  $267.94
Savings  35.05% 

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 SEPTEMBER
Rite-Aid SCR...$22.99
Subtotal........$22.99

GIFT CARDS and CERTIFICATES
$0.00
TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received...$22.99

COUPONS and FREEBIES

Nothing.
Nada.
Zilch.
*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were from Rite-Aid at 100%,  the Bakery Outlet at 77% and Carone's at 47.78%.  I shopped at 4 whole different stores in September.....wow. lol


TOTAL Out of Pocket...............................$272.11
TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$209.21
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$481.32
TOTAL Savings of...................................43.46%


TOTAL of CASH Rebates........................$22.99
TOTAL Out of Pocket After Rebates........$249.12
TOTAL Savings including Rebates...........$232.20
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$481.32
TOTAL Savings After Rebates...................48.25%

Since my Rite-Aid shopping(which contains No OOP)always skews my savings percentages, I like to figure my Totals without the Rite-Aid numbers also.
TOTAL OOP after Rebates.....$249.12
TOTAL Value of Items Purchases(w/out Rite-Aid items)....$477.03
TOTAL Savings After Rebates(w/out Rite-Aid items).....47.78%

My food savings percentage seems to run about 50%-60% for the strictly food items only.
Those Rite-Aid purchases always boost up my savings total about 20% points.  This month Rite-Aid purchases only boosted my Savings Percentage a half of a percentage, since I only bought 1 item from there in September.lol
This closes out the September spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month-
With my rebate check added into my food budget I came in at right on my $250 target.
Yay me!lol

I confess that a lot of what I bought was junk this month, mostly bought for #2 son's after-school snacks and for his sleepover.  It I had held strong and not succumbed to his pleadings I would have only spent about half of my $250 budget.
Soda, pies, chips, pizzas......bleh!
What can I say?
He is my last one left at home and I am an old softee. 8-))

What's ahead for October.....
No big holidays this month, no birthdays either.  Daughter is coming home for 1 weekend though so more mouths to feed temporarily.
Yes, I have a COLLEGZILLA on the way home this coming weekend!lol

I am thinking about giving myself $300 per month going forward until the end of 2011 instead of $250.
Why?
First we can afford another $50 per month for food.
Second I plan to use the extra to stock up for Thansgiving/Christmas Holiday essentials since I don't think I can do that and my regular monthly foods for $250.  Somebody has to pay for the cost of remodeling at Weis Markets so it might as well be me! ;-)
Besides, I am just tired of keeping such a tight rein on the food expenses after the last 9 months of doing so.

Heck, I might just say to heck with the food budget for the rest of the year and just spend what I want but with an eye toward frugality.

What do y'all think?
Should I stick to the food budget?....but make it a bit larger?....or just go on a 3 month long binge?
I need help here people!!

With 3 months left in the year, we have spent a total of $1,907.69 of our income on food/HBA in 2011.
That comes out to $211.96 per month.
We brought home items with a reg. retail value of $11,198.72.
That's a savings of $9,291.03 or 83%.

How did you do in September with your Food Budget?
What are your challenges for October?  Any family coming to stay....Holiday Celebrations?.....or is your school/work schedule too busy to shop/cook/eat as a family?

Please leave a comment or link to your post and let us hear about your progress!  By sharing our struggles and efforts we can help each other stick to our budgets and learn to be better guardians of our resources.

Sluggy

Week 1 Food Spending for August & When Momma Ain't Happy....

Saturday marks the last day of the 1st week of food spending for August.(I'll add an extra day to each of the rest of the weeks to account for those 3 additional days this month beyond the 28th.)
I did quite a lot of food shopping this week....3 trips to the grocery store and a trip on Saturday to Big Lots.
At the local independent market I finally picked up some pie crust on sale and made my quiches.  I also picked up some plain yogurt to make tzatziki sauce for my ersatz Gyros.
While I was there I picked up on sale....4 bags of frozen veggies, whack biscuits, carrots, potatoes and strawberries for a total of $23.34.

Then at Weis Markets, along with more Swiss cheese for my quiches and the ground pork I got to make my DIY breakfast patties HERE, I found some other deals.....battered fish for half off(#2 son eats this), breakfast link sausage, some boneless pork chops and swiss steak on discount and store packaged feta cheese(for the Gyros).
I splurged and bought a container of hummus(on sale)and some store bakery garlic crustini rounds for a snack for me.
I picked up 16 bottles of gatorade on sale with hangtag Qs on them as well.  These are a donation for the Marching Band Camp next week.  The total was $55.16 at Weis.

Then on Saturday Hubs wanted to go out so we checked out Big Lots.  I got some quart sized canning jars I needed, Ocean Spray 100% juices for $2(my buy price for 100% juice other than apple), Oreos(for #2 son), a box of chocolate chip pancake mix(for #2 son to make), a Xmas stocking stuffer(it's a secret!), and 2 jars of mayonnaise on clearance.  I was very happy about the mayo since I was down to my last jar for a stock-up 2 summers ago at Acme where I got it for free.  And yes, mayo does last 2 yrs. past the sell by date on the jar. ;-)  We left that store $27.72 poorer....

Then it was off to Weis again, for more Gatorade for the Marching Band, Power-Ade for #2 son's use at Band Camp and a bunch of bags of chips.  #2 son talked me into all that snacking stuff since the house was bare and it was on sale so I don't feel as bad.  Plus he'll take a bag or two to band camp next week.  I do feel bad about the $34.78 I spent.  bleh.

In total I spent $141.00 of my $250 food budget for August in this 1st week of the month.
Ugh.
Ugh.
Ugh.
And I haven't even gotten any produce to put up for winter yet!

My savings percentages ran from just under 34% at the local market to 45% for one of the Weis Markets trips.   I had a 40% savings for all trips combined.

We ate the Meal Plan that I had made last week as posted already.
This week?
All bets are off on the menu.

Hubs is on vacation but we are staying home.
So he gets a staycation.
Saturday he bought more books.  I wish he'd go to the library or read what he has already!
Today he's at the local amusement park with #2 son and his friend.
Later this week he's going to go play chess.  This costs money and a ton in gas as it's 2+ hours away.

I get business as usual.
Can you tell I am not happy?


But I'd like to at least not have to cook this week.
If I don't cook, it's not like he will fix meals instead.
He'll just go buy fast food and spend unnecessary money.
If that happens, I won't spend any food budget money this week(as eating out comes out of a different kitty).
But I think a large scale amount of crappy fast food all week, along with being bad for us, is just a wasteful frittering away of our cash when good food is here in the house and he can't be bothered to throw a meal together if I am busy and he isn't.

Maybe I'm just in a bad mood today.
I am feeling overwhelmed and unappreciated by my children.
Why am I still having to deal with buying college books for the 20 yr. old student after 2 years of college?  It's bad enough I have to do their tax returns for them and now I have to find deals for Daughter, the incoming college student. Why can't he handle his book order now?
Both kids are in a state school(within the same system)yet their schools handled Everything so differently!  Instead of being easy, they make it so complicated.  One hasn't even posted the bill for this semester.....the bill that needs to be paid before Aug. 24th.  And they only let you pay online using a credit card and they make YOU pay the processing fee they are charged by the cc company.  You can't mail them a check or hand them cash in person. 
Just ridiculous....

And #1 son chooses to come home from his summer job for 3 whole days before he has to leave again for college.  And he expects me to get him 2 dr. appts., dentist appt. and an optometrist appt. AND fill an eye glass prescription within this time frame.  He could come home sooner and he could schedule all this his bad self, right?
I think 20 yrs. old is time to start handling your own shit....


Sluggy

I Have Sunk The Food Budget for June

Yes, it's official.
I have sunk my food budget for June.
With 4 more days to go, I have spent $374.77.

I was doing ok until I decided to buy fresh lobsters for Hubs and I as a belated Happy Father's Day present last week.  $42.98 later and my budget was officially shot to heck.

After that I figured I might as well do some more damage....what could it hurt, right?lol

I had 2 $7 Catalina Qs for Weis Markets that were expiring on July 2nd.  As there were 2 Catalina Promotions last week(ended 6/25)at Weis, I went ahead and rolled them instead of waiting until this week and hoping there would be a Catalina Promotion this week.
I'm glad I didn't wait as there are no Cat Deals at Weis this week! 8-)

I took advantage of a few good deals while I was there, so here is what I bought on Saturday....

One Cat Deal was Buy $20/Get $7 Cat Q.
I bought 2 large bags of charcoal(not pictured)and the Clorox Clean-Up Spray.
After the $7 Cat Q I used I spent $11.98 on these items(plus tax)and received another $7 Cat Q.

The other Cat Deal was GM products, Buy $35/Get $10 Cat Q.
I bought--2 Chex cereal, 5 Chicken/Tuna Helper, 4 Suddenly Salad, 3 Totino's pizzas, 2 Froot by Foot.
After the other $7 Cat Q and other Qs, I spent $11.50 and received a $10 Cat Q.
There was a double dip as well on the Helper....buy 5 and get a $2 OYNO off of meat Cat Q.


I also picked up 3 blocks of Helavu Good cheese on sale for $2 each.  My .50/1 IPQs doubled to $1/1, so my cheese was $1 a block after Qs.
The muffins had a 50% off sticker so were $2.25 a pack.
The bags of salad and strawberries were both BOGO.
The Perdue ground chicken was on sale for $3 and each package had an instant $1.50 discount meat sticker making them $1.50 each.
I picked up 2 bags of frozen mushrooms on sale for $1 each.  This price made them a better deal than fresh or the canned ones.

The only item I paid reg. retail for was the bag of bagels for $2.99, but by the bag they were less than buying them individually. ;-)

Reg. retail on all would have been $105.17 and I paid $47.88 after sales and Qs.
The Catalina items cost me $23.48 and I received $19 in Catalina Qs back.

Now I'm going to try to stay out of the grocery store for 4 more days.
Wish me luck!lol

Sluggy

The Weekend Here

Well Saturday I spent running around grocery and HBA shopping.  I hit some Rite-Aids(well, that's a given!lol), and did a Cat Deal at Weis Markets(to roll my $8 cat from last week), and did some Instant Savings Deals(like a Cat Deal but you get the amount off that transaction instead of a Cat to roll)at 2 of the local independent markets here.  I have stocked up on food for the Graduation Party, as well as lots of food items for when #2 son is home from school this summer and I am feeding him and his bottomless pit friends for days on end.lol

Rolling the Weis Cat I saved 68.25%.
The one Instant Savings receipt I saved 57.80% and the average of the other 2 trips to the other Instant Savings store gave me a savings rate of 55.41%.
That's the good news.
The bad news is that I have blown my food budget out of the water to the tune of $325.18.....and May is only HALF OVER!
Ugh.ugh.ugh.

Sunday I spent catching up on my bookkeeping, cooking, digging through the freezer and meal planning.  I still have a ton of bags littering my kitchen floor from the shopathon that need emptying and the contents need to be organized and put into the stockpile.

Between what I've stocked up on and the veggies I'm hoping to get from the garden, my summer food bill should be well under my monthly budgeted amount.
At least that is the fantasy I am holding onto in my head. lol


#2 son was on his Marching Band trip to Disney this weekend.  2 full nights sleeping on a bus, 2 nights in a motel and 3 days at various parks.  They had to drag him back onto the bus to go home.  He is exhausted and fell asleep before 8pm Sunday night.  Of course, he spent every penny of the $100 his father gave him for 'necessities'.
You know.....all those 'necessary' sodas and bags of food-like substances to drop by his gullet.

Daughter spent the weekend working her last 2 shifts at her job before she became an ex-employee there.  Now she has more free time for avoiding chores and school work. And she has no source of money so this will put a damper on her constantly wanting to go out with her friends because she knows better than to ask me for money for this.lol
One more month until I can relax when she walks across that stage and actually gets her diploma.

And Hubs spent Saturday driving across the state and back to retrieve #1 son from college.  I might add that #1 son got a 3.8 GPA this past semester......2 years down, 2 more to go until he can go out into the big, bag world and support himself. ;-)
He has a serious girlfriend now and stays up most of the night on Skype talking to her.  He either has to call her earlier or start using his "inside voice".  We don't have cement dorm walls here and I need my sleep. 8-(

Here is my Meal Plan for the week....
Sunday--Meatloaf, Collards(the last from the garden last summer), Dinner Rolls
Monday--Beef Stroganoff, Rice, Rutabaga
Tuesday--Chicken Fettucine Alfredo, Salad
Wednesday--Probably leftovers since we have a school function to attend that evening
Thursday--Enchiladas, Corn, Squash Casserole
Friday--Lasagna with Collards
Saturday--Chili with beans, Cornbread

The only items I need to buy are the squash and some ricotta cheese for the lasagna....and some milk for the week.  I'll probably buy some lunchmeat for #1 son for sandwiches this week as well.

I'm off to go figure out what I want to get done for the next 14 days since I have a strong teen at my beck and call  24/7 for the next couple of weeks.

Sluggy

Here's the Plan....Meal Plan, that is....and Food Spending so Far in March

Here is what is on the menu this week at Chez Sluggy....

SUNDAY--Corned Beef, Cabbage, Carrots, Biscuits *Using a corned beef from the freezer so I can fit the 2 new CBs I got for $1.29lb. on Sat. into the freezer.
MONDAY--Chicken Parmesan/Chicken Tenders, Salad *Using old chicken cutlets from the freezer.  Salad fixings I bought on Sat.
TUESDAY--? *The only ones home for dinner this night are #2 son and I so we'll be creative with something here. 
WEDNESDAY--Lasagna, Spinach  *Using the ricotta I got awhile back and the lasagna noodles from the Dollar Store last week...spinach from freezer.
THURSDAY--Beef and Bean Enchiladas, Corn, Rice  *Using tortillas I got in Jan. and ground beef for $1.33lb. I got on Sat.
FRIDAY--Macaroni and Cheese, Broccoli  *I cleaned out the fridge last weekend and found lots of odds and ends of cheese blocks I need to use up.  Mac and cheese is perfect for this!  Broccoli from the freezer.
SATURDAY--Leftovers  *Since Hubs was out of town the beginning of the week and Daughter wasn't home much for dinner, we'll have lots of leftovers.  Sunday may also become a leftover dinner night as well.


I spent $26.39 at Weis last Saturday on 2 rolls of biscuits, 2 marked down tubs of lunchmeat(.99¢), a gallon of milk, 2 marked down 50% bakery items(muffins and scones), a head of lettuce, a tub of marked down organic mixed greens, 3lb. of ground beef for $1.33lb. and 2 corned beef briskets for $1.29lb.  I wouldn't have gotten the bakery items and the biscuits except that you had to spend $25 to get the sale price on the corned beef briskets.  I saved 44% over reg. retail on the order.

Add this trip to the Dollar Store and Bakery Outlet trips earlier in the week and I spent a total of $51.80 on groceries last week.

We are at the halfway mark for March today and my total grocery spending is right at $89.63 for the month.
Not sure if I'll break out and spend a big hunk of grocery money in the next 2 weeks or not.  If I want to stock up on something I have $160 left this month to play with.

What is everyone else's grocery spending looking like so far this month?

Sluggy

January Budget Results.......Food and Toiletries Spending

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for JANUARY 2011.

I have posted January's totals on the right side bar under Total Grocery Savings for 2011 and updated the Yearly Totals.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in January.  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 at home this month)& 2 dogs. No kids under 14.
******************
AMELIA'S FOOD OUTLET
OOP  $32.80
Savings  over Reg. Retail $26.85
Value  $59.65
Savings  45%

BAKERY OUTLET
OOP $24.67
Savings over Reg. Retail   $53.57
Value $78.24
Savings  68.47%

CARONE'S(small local independent store)
OOP  $75.53

Qs/Ads  $37.93
Value  $113.46
Savings  33.43%

CVS
OOP $42.00
Qs/Ads  $211.93
Value $253.93
Savings  83.46%

DOLLAR GENERAL
OOP  $3.85
Qs/Ads  $8.02
Value  $11.87
Savings  67.56%

GERRITY'S
OOP  $20.36
Qs/Ads  $38.10
Value  $58.46
Savings  65.17%

KEYCO(Restaurant Supply Store)
OOP  $23.60
Savings over Reg. Retail  $28.40
Value  $52.00
Savings  54.61%

PRICE CHOPPER
OOP  $17.03
Qs/Ads  $25.42
Value  $42.45
Savings  59.82%

REDNER'S(does not double coupons)
OOP  $45.96
Qs/Ads  $37.35
Value  $83.31
Savings  44.83%

RITE AID
OOP  $19.62 (whole amount put on free Rite-Aid Gift Cards)=$.00 actual OOP
Qs/Ads  $1,445.55
Value  $1,465.17
Savings  98.66% before gift cards/ 100% savings after free gift cards

WALGREENS
OOP  $4.36
Qs/Ads  $19.37
Value  $23.73
Savings  81.62%

WEIS (local chain Grocery store that doesn't take IP Qs in my town/doubles up to $1 total)
OOP  $67.43
Qs/Ads  $124.15
Value  $191.58
Savings   64.80%

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 RECV'D. IN JANUARY
Heartguard Dog Meds....$18.00
Pepperidge Farm TMF Rolls...$6.00
Rite-Aid SCR...$48.98
Sure Deo RMF...$2.63
TENA TMF...$11.99

Subtotal........$87.60

GIFT CARDS and CERTIFICATES
Office Depot Online win...$30.00

Staples Ink Rewards Credit...$6.00

Subtotal....$36.00

TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received...$123.60

COUPONS and FREEBIES

Coke Rewards....Free bottle

Coke Rewards....Free 12 pack

Excedrin....Free Bottle ManuQ x2

Garnier....Sample and $1/1 ManuQ x2

Lowe's....Assorted Qs

McNeil....2 x $1/1 Motrin ManuQs

Purina...Free bag of Dog Food ManuQ

Ruffles....Free bag of Chips ManuQ

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were from Rite-Aid at 100%, CVS at 83.46% and Walgreen's at 81.62%.
Yep....a drug store clean sweep...lol

TOTAL Out of Pocket...............................$357.59
TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$2,076.26
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased.............$2,433.85
TOTAL Savings of...................................85.30%

TOTAL of CASH Rebates........................$87.60

TOTAL Out of Pocket After Rebates........$269.99
TOTAL Savings including Rebates...........$2163.86
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$2433.85
TOTAL Savings After Rebates...................88.90%

This closes out the January spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month-

I went over my budget of $250 per month.  The month I take part in a Money Diet I bust the budget bigtime!
Go figure.....
But I can take solace in the fact that after rebates were figured in I broke budget but a mere Andy Jackson!
I found a few nice stockpile opportunities in January along with some really good deals on meats so I am not gnashing my teeth over what I spent.  It's not like I overspent on crap like chips and soda....ok, maybe a teeny tiny bit.lol

What's ahead for February.....
I would really like to eat down some things we have here this month.  I am taking this week to eat from the pantry and not go grocery shopping(unless it's a bit of free food from Rite-Aid)beyond milk and a couple of needed items.....all totaled about $10 worth of stuff.
The weather is facilitating me staying out of the grocery stores most of this week.  I am going to try for a second week of no shopping later this month as well.
I'll shoot for spending half of my usual budget, or $125.00 for February.


How did you do in January with your Food Budget?
What are your challenges for February?
Please leave a comment or link to your post and let us hear about your progress!  By sharing our struggles and efforts we can help each other stick to our budgets and learn to be better guardians of our resources.


Sluggy

Meal Plan Not-Monday

I am just having a devil of a time coming up with dinners this week.  I'm on Day Three of mulling it over and I just give up.
I think I'll just call it "Surprise Meal Plan", come down and throw the freezer door open each morning and see what strikes my fancy or just close my eyes and grab something out of the ol' Chill Chest.

I made a big pot of homemade Boston Baked Beans and Cornbread on Sunday.  Either my eyes are going and I can't read the recipe clearly anymore or I grabbed the wrong measuring spoon because well, those beans were like eating a salt lick to me!
Ugh....

I guess I'll have to dilute them with some canned beans before we eat them again later this week.

Monday night I just invented something from what I had on hand.  I had a big container of leftover enchilada sauce from the other week that needed using up.  So I grabbed a roll of ground turkey(that was pre-seasoned for taco filling), a can of refried beans and a small can of no beans chili.  I dumped that all together(after cooking the turkey of course!lol), thawed some cheese and made chili enchiladas.  Served it with salad and sour cream.

I've been considering all my usual meals and nothing is striking me as appetizing.  Maybe something with fish tonight?
Perhaps if I go stand out in the stockpile inspiration will hit me....if the bags of flour falling off the shelf don't first. lol

Since I am trying to keep up with ANNIE JONES this month with her No Spending/Eating from The Pantry Challenge, I'll report in here that last week I spent $35.08 on groceries.  Well, some of that was a receipt I lost & didn't find until it was too late to add to November's spending and $12.78 of it was a trip to the local market that I really didn't need, but I spent because I had to take BIL to the grocery store because he totaled his car....I was there so I spent. ugh
Some of it was for fruit and lettuce but I also bought panko on sale and deli meat.

So far this week I've spent $4.09.  I ran out of eggs so Hubs picked up a dozen and then he picked up some tortillas for last night's dinner.

So I'm off to contemplate the stockpile/freezer.....I'm thinking fish but I might do a veggie quiche of some kind....or hamburgers since I have the rolls and the ground beef.
At any rate with these 3 ideas plus a leftover night I am set until Saturday for meals now!

Sluggy

Saturday at the Grocery Stores....Meat & Menus

I hit Weis Markets on Sat. to check for clearanced meats and found a few good buys.....

2 packages of marked down chicken breast(bone-in but very little bone actually)with $3 Store Coupons on the packages.
2 packages of ground beef with $3 Store Coupons on the packages.
2+lbs. of frozen Catfish for $3.99lb.  A good price that got even better after another shopper asked me, while I was contemplating the meat counter, if I could use her $3 off a $15 purchase of fresh meat coupon, since she wasn't going to use it.
Heck yeah!!lol

All totaled I bought 13.63lbs. of meats.
Regular retail on all was $45.94
The chicken had an additional markdown of $9.91.
Made it $36.03.
The $15 in Store Coupons/Catalinas brought the price down to....
$21.03.
My per lb. avg. price ended up being under $1.50 per lb.
Nice!

I had Hubs pick me up a Pork Loin Tenderloin at Price Chopper as well on Saturday.  They were $1.99lb. so my $17.81 bought us a 9+lb. hunk which I'll cut into boneless pork medallions and freeze.  I've been holding out for a deal on boneless pork chops for ages and this looks like as low as it's going to get around here, now that inflation has started to take hold on the commodities markets.
Ugh.

As noted in a previous post, I went to the local independent grocer & spent $39.96 on staples and sale items and fell way short of spending $300 to get a $15 gift certificate.  I also hit the Bakery Outlet and Ollie's(a regional discounter) for a grand total spent last week of $100.94 from the food budget. Not counting Rite-Aid purchases because, well....I don't actually spend money there.lol
All totaled I have spent $127.63 so far in November on food/toiletries.  12 days to go and I have $122.37 left to spend this month.

So far this week I have stayed out of the grocery stores, but that will end later today or tomorrow, since I do need to pick up a few things for the Thanksgiving meal.  I don't plan on making a ton of food since there will only be 6 of us for that meal, and 3 of those 6 are teens who have mercurial appetites.  I do need celery, bread or dried stuffing mix(unless I decide to bake my own bread to use), eggs and sweet potatoes.  Oh, and a turkey....almost forgot that....duh!lol
And I may pick up a rutabaga for Hubs since he loves it and never gets that veg. since nobody else here eats it. 8-P

Does everyone have their Turkey Day menu set yet?
I am still tinkering around with mine.
I probably won't settle on a menu until Thanksgiving morning.
Turkey of course, stuffing, rolls, cranberry glop, 2 veggies but to do reg. taters and sweet taters both?
We'll see....
And pumpkin pie but what other pie?....or will it be cake?
Only the shadow knows at this point.....
And do I put out appetitzers.....cruditees?.....chips and dip?.....deviled eggs?......a relish tray?.....cheese and crackers?
Decisions, decisions....

I have stuff in the stockpile and freezer so I can just go with what I feel like, depending on how I feel and how ambitious(or not!lol)I want to be in the kitchen.
I do like to make some things from scratch but trying to make it all from scratch is just too exhausting for me because nobody helps out.
I am making the pies from scratch(even the filling)so I'll not make the rolls from scratch and use all those frozen and refrigerated ones I have because......because that's just how I roll......Oh, you KNOW I had to say that, didn't you? ;-)

Sluggy

October Budget Results.....Food and Toiletries Spending

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for OCTOBER 2010.
I have posted October's totals on the right side bar under Total Grocery Savings for 2010.

I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in October.  If you aren't interested in that much detail, just skip to the bottom Totals information.

These Totals include Food, Toiletries/HBA, Pet Supplies, Cleaning Products, Paper Goods & tax where applicable.We are a family of 5(4 at home this month)& 2 dogs. No kids under 14.

BAKERY OUTLET
OOP $11.89
Value $64.66

Savings  81.61%

BIG LOTS
OOP  $33.46
Value  $57.00
Savings  41.30%

CARONE'S(small local independent store)
OOP  $75.47

Qs/Ads  $51.91

Value  $124.42

Savings  39.35%

FAMILY DOLLAR
OOP  $10.00
Value  $19.00
Savings  47.40%

FARMSTAND
OOP  $32.70
Value  $84.60
Savings  61.35%

FOOD LION
OOP  $16.88
Qs/Ads  $11.07
Value   $27.95
Savings  39.60%

PRICE CHOPPER(Northeast)

OOP  $77.85

Qs/Ads  $207.06

Value    $284.91

Savings  72.68%

REDNER'S

OOP  $83.92
Qs/Ads  $115.20

Value  $199.12

Savings  57.86%

RITE AID
OOP $9.30 after cash refunds(whole amount put on Rite-Aid Gift Cards)=$.00 actual OOP
Qs/Ads  $1,094.06

Value  $1,103.36

Savings  99.16% before gift cards/ 100% savings after free gift cards

SAV-ALOT
OOP  $25.97
Qs/Ads  $20.29
Value  $46.26
Savings  43.86%

TURKEY HILL MINIMART
OOP   $2.96
Value  $2.96
Savings  0%

WEIS (local chain Grocery store that doesn't take IP Qs in my town)
OOP  $31.60

Qs/Ads  $10.65

Value  $42.25

Savings   35.21%


I don't track 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 RECV'D. IN SEPTEMBER
Home Depot/Behr Paint Rebate....$20.00

P&G/Back-to-School Olay Rebate....$10.00
Pinecone Research....$6.00
Rite-Aid SCR....$30.99
Visine Maximum Redness TMF Rebate...$5.83
Subtotal........$72.82

GIFT CARDS and CERTIFICATES

Rite-Aid Oral Care.....$10.00
Rite-Aid Kimberly/Clark....$10.00
Staples (Giveaway win)...$25.00
Subtotal....$45.00

TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received...$117.82

COUPONS and FREEBIES
Advil.....Free Item Q
Cottonelle Wipes....Free Item Q
Greeting Cards(Giveaway win)...50 Free Cards
Kleenex.....Free Box
Pringles Chips.....Free Item Q x 2


My best 3 Store Savings Totals were from Rite-Aid at 100%, The Bakery Outlet at 81.61% and Price Chopper at 72.68%.

TOTAL Out of Pocket...............................$402.70

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$1,653.79

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased.............$2,056.49

TOTAL Savings of..........80.42%

TOTAL of CASH Rebates........................$72.82

TOTAL OOP After  Rebates....................$329.88
TOTAL Savings of..................................84%

This closes out the October spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month-

I went waaaaay over on the budgeted $250 amount for the month, even after you add on the rebates received to offset the spending total.  Just so many good Catalina deals so I stocked up(think bacon).  It's nice to have 'wiggle room' in your monthly spending to take advantage of sales when they come around, without having to worry about being able to meet all your other bills.  Being frugal in other areas and living well below your monthly income gives you that freedom.

What's ahead for November 2010.....

Seeing as the freezer is stocked to the gills at the moment, we'll be eating down on the frozen items here this month.  Beyond onions, pumpkin, apples and peppers I didn't get to the farm early in October for more veggies to preserve and now it's too late.  Oh well....

I am keeping the November food budget at $250.  Though we won't need to spend the full budget amount, I will still pick up non-perishables if deals present themselves in November.  While we are good on flour and nuts, sugar is low so I'm looking for those baking sales to start.  I also might pick up items on sale now from the store that is running the gift certificate deal if you spend X amount by Nov. 14th.  Presently we are only 1/3 of the way to the $300 amount we need to get the certificate.  All other things being even(price this month or in Dec.)I'll buy it in Nov. to qualify toward the cert. instead of buying it in Dec.

As always, any rebates received in November will be added to the food budget to offset what we spend.

With ten months of the year behind us, we have averaged $194.27 per MONTH after rebates on food/toiletries spending for 2010 for a family of 4-5 adults/teens + 2-3 pets.

How did you do in October with your Food Budget?  Leave a comment or link to your post and let us hear!  By sharing our struggles and efforts we can help each other stick to our budgets and learn to be better guardians of our resources.

Sluggy