2015 Food & Toiletries Spending.....September Update

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

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for SEPTEMBER 2015.

I have posted September's totals on the Total Grocery Savings for 2015 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 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 + 1 kid home for 1 week in Sept.). No kids under 19. 

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BAKERY OUTLET
OOP  $5.00
Value  $23.95
Savings  79.12%

FOOD LION
OOP  $2.36
Value  $2.36
Savings 0%

OLLIE'S
OOP  $13.61
Value  $33.70
Savings  59.61%

RITE-AID
OOP  $0.87
Qs/Ads/gift card $111.75
Value  $112.62
Savings  99.22%

 

SHURSAVE MARKET
OOP  $21.92
Qs/Ads $4.42
Value  $26.34
Savings  16.78%
 

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $168.49

Qs/Ads  $173.56

Value  $342.05

Savings  50.74%
 

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My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 99.22%, the Bakery Outlet at 79.12% and Ollie's at 59.61%.  My WORST savings rate was Food Lion at 0%.(I bought 1 thing and it wasn't on sale.)

I shopped at 6 different places this past month.  

TOTAL Out of Pocket........ $212.25

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$328.77

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$541.02

TOTAL Savings of...................................60.77%
TOTAL Savings without Rite-Aid...........50.66%

This closes out the September food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....
I went into September wanting to do a $350 food budget for the month and I only spent $212.25, leaving me with $137.75 still in the budget.  Not being able to walk and go to the grocery stores put a real crimp in my shopping activity.  ;-)

The monthly savings percentage went down by 4.19% in September to 60.77% compared to August's high 64.96% savings average.  Still a great savings rate though for September.

The savings rate for the whole year so far now stands at 59.20%.  That's a .12 increase in savings over August's YTD total(59.08%).  It's still hanging in well over a 40% savings rate for the year so it's all good. 

I have spent a total of $3,485.77 on food/toiletries in 2015 so far at this point in the year. That averages out to $387.31 per month.  I am finally back under $400 per month spent in 2015.
Yay!

LOOKING AHEAD To OCTOBER.........

We'll try for a $300 food budget for OCTOBER since it's just Hubs and I at home now, plus we have a trip planned this month so the food spending while on vacation will not come out of the food budget.
So we should be able to do the food shopping for less this month as it's not for a full 30/31 days of eating.
 

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 September?
*  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?
 

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.
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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

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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