Food Spending Week 2.5-3.5 & Meal Plan

So here is what I planned on serving for dinner last week....

Sunday--Spaghetti and Meatballs
Monday--Chicken Biscuits, Corn
Tuesday--Trout, Fries, Pan Roasted Summer Veggies
Wednesday--Pork Chops w/Apricot Glaze, Potato Salad, Brussel Sprouts
Thursday--Meatloaf, Roasted Potatoes and Carrots
Friday--Leftovers
Saturday--Hot Dogs, Leftover Veggies/Potato Salad

And here is what actually happened....

Sunday--Spaghetti and Meatballs, Salad
Monday--Chicken Biscuits, Corn
Tuesday--Trout, Fries, Brussel Sprouts
Wednesday--Leftovers
Thursday--Meatloaf, Potato Salad, leftover Corn
Friday--Chinese take-out, Pizza(sleepover night)
Saturday--Hot Dogs on rolls, leftover side dishes

We got takeout on Friday since there was a surprise Teen Sleepover & I didn't have enough Pork Chops thawed to feed everyone.

Groceries bought last week....
$33.87
And most of that($25.09)was crap/snacks bought on Friday for the sleepover....ice cream, chips, soda and pies.  I never went grocery shopping last week. The only 'real food' I did buy were a container of ricotta cheese, a gallon of milk and a dozen eggs.

This week I want to stock up on some salmon which is on sale.  This hasn't been a good price in ages so I'm spending what I have left in the budget for September on fish for the freezer.  I should have enough for about 5 lbs. worth.

So here is what I am planning on serving this week for meals, working solely on what I have already.

Sunday--Pork Chops, California veg. medley, leftover Potato Salad, Applesauce
Monday--Lasagna(using crumbled leftover meatloaf from last week in the sauce)
Tuesday--Fried Mac & Cheese(using up leftover mac/cheese), Mixed Veggies
Wednesday--Chicken Fried Steak, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Broccoli
Thursday--Beef Pie Casserole w/carrots and green beans
Friday--Chicken Cheese Quesadillas, Green Salad
Saturday--Leftovers

No take-out this week.  And I know that Tues. meal is lame but it's the only thing I can think of to get them to eat the leftover mac and cheese!lol  I look at this unhealthy choice this way....the Fair they hold this week is canceled this year due to the flooding....and they ate far worse stuff at the Fair so Tues. meal is my homage to fair food.lol

I've got most everything to accomplish this meal plan except I will have to buy carrots and salad greens along with our usual milk purchases for the week.
And some fresh fruit as we are all out.

I'm at $215.34 spent for September so far.
I've got $34.66 left in the food budget with 5 days left to go.

Sluggy

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly of June's Food Budget

Even with the Catalina stock-ups(hello 12 cartons of ice cream!)at Weis and buying the ginormous jar of local honey AND the specialty salts at the local Health Food store this month I could have stayed on or just under budget for June.

And then the Graduation Party for 12 family members happened.

* And even with the buying some stuff a month ahead for it, the store bought cake(who was I to say no to this request and make a homemade cake?) and the bags of ice for the coolers/drinks just pushed the spending over $200 by the 10th of the month.  UGLY

Ugh. 
But your kid doesn't graduate from high school more than once so I am not beating myself up over spending money for this party.  I still think I did it fairly on the frugal side.

* And at least I didn't put the expenses on a credit card.  ;-)  GOOD

I am standing at food spending of $265.61 at this moment.
I have $48.96 in cash rebates received so far this month to add to my $250 food budget, for a total of $298.96 in the food kitty(so far).
* This means I have $33.35 left before I go over my allotted June budget for food.  UGLY


* All that Graduation party food meant massive leftovers to eat all of last week, so no food shopping happened....until the 18th.  GOOD

* I had a Weis Catalina Q expiring on the 18th, so I rolled it into a newer one.....

Assorted paper products(Kimberly-Clark brand I believe)were Buy $21/Get $7 Catalina.
I bought the 2 MEGA roll packs of toilet paper above, using 2 x $1/1 Scott ManuQs and my expiring $7 CatQ, for a grand total of $4.98 OOP for both.
And I received another $7 CatalinaQ.
$2.49 each for bigass packages of TP & $7 more in Cats?  Yes please!!  GOOD


* While I was in the store rolling that CatQ, I spent another $27.21 on blocks of cheese($1.67 each)and chicken(40% off Tyson convenience chicken for when #2 son returns from camp), plus big bags of tortilla chips(BOGO) for Hubs tv-time snacking pleasure.  My Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese stores were almost depleted and at my stock-up price so I had to get them now. UGLY

* Buying the chips and the chicken in that transaction?  BAD

I haven't had a chance to check the grocery ads for this week, but I already know that unless we need it immediately or it's an amazing price, I won't be buying it......and next week is looking that way as well.
* I have $33.35 to get us through the next 2 weeks.  UGLY

* Looking on the bright side, it's down to just Hubs and I to feed for the next 2 weeks so no teens pestering me to spend on junk. GOOD
 
* I'm going to dig into the freezer and come up with meals using up what we have to put a tourniquet onto the food budget hemorrhage happening this month at Chez Sluggy. GOOD

So how is your food spending/shopping going for June?
Are you projected to stay on/under budget?
Or are you a wanton spendthrift like me this month? ;-)

Sluggy

May Budget Results......Food and Toiletries Spending

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for MAY 2011.

I have posted May'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 May.  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 15.
******************

CARONE'S(small local independent store)
OOP  $102.08

Qs/Ads  $89.40
Value  $191.48
Savings  46.69%

CVS
OOP  $.99
Qs/Ads $3.49
Value  $4.48
Savings  78%

DOLLAR TREE
OOP  $2.00
Value  $3.98
Savings  49.75%

GERRITY'S
OOP  $32.30
Qs/Ads $44.22
Value  $76.52
Savings  57.80%

KEYCO(restaurant supply store)
OOP  $37.80

Value  $70.36
Savings  46.28%

REDNER'S
OOP  $34.39
Qs/Ads $18.53
Value  $52.92
Savings  35%

RITE AID
OOP  $10.77 (whole amount put on free Rite-Aid Gift Cards)=$.00 actual OOP
Qs/Ads/+Ups  $729.89
Value  $740.66
Savings  98.55% before gift cards/ 100% savings after free gift cards

WEIS (local chain Grocery store that doesn't take IP Qs in my town/doubles up to $1 total)
OOP  $230.70
Qs/Ads  $274.24
Value  $504.94
Savings   54.31% & ended the month with $12 in Catalina Qs

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 MAY

Phillips Toothbrush....$10.00
Pinecone Research....$6.00
Rite-Aid SCR...$59.96
Subtotal........$75.96

GIFT CARDS and CERTIFICATES

Walmart Gift Card(from Giveaway)....$15.00

Subtotal....$15.00

TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received...$90.96

COUPONS and FREEBIES

Cottonelle....Free Item Q
Hard Rock Hotel...Water Bottle(from giveaway)
Suave....Free Item Q
Vocal Point....Cereal sample and Qs

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were from Rite-Aid at 100%,  CVS at 78% and Gerrity's at 57.80%.  I shopped at 8 stores in May.


TOTAL Out of Pocket...............................$440.26
TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$1,205.08
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$1,645.34 with Rite-Aid figured in
TOTAL Savings of...................................73.25%

TOTAL of CASH Rebates........................$75.96

TOTAL Out of Pocket After Rebates........$364.30
TOTAL Savings including Rebates...........$1,281.04
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$1,645.34
TOTAL Savings After Rebates...................77.86%

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.....$364.30
TOTAL Value of Items Purchases(w/out Rite-Aid items)....$904.68
TOTAL Savings After Rebates(w/out Rite-Aid items).....59.74%
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 closes out the May spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month-
Obviously I went way over my $250 budgeted amount for food spending in May, even with the rebate checks added to my budget. I did the Weis Catalina deals as planned and stocked up at the restaurant supply store.  Plus some buying ahead for the graduation party in June(hamburger patties, chips, soda).

What's ahead for June.....
The relatives begin showing up on Sunday for the graduation.  I'll have more party buying to do and I'll be using lots from the freezer otherwise to feed them all.  The back end of the month will only have Hubs and I here to prepare meals for, so low spending those weeks will help balance the food budget out this month and I should be able to stay within or close to my self-imposed $250 limit.


How did you do in May with your Food Budget?
What are your challenges for June?  Any family coming to stay....or are you trying to figure out a food budget for a vacation?
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

No Spend February.....Not Going as Planned

Well I was doing fairly well on trying to only spend HALF of my usual $250 Food/Toiletries Budget in February.

The 1st week of Feb. I did great until I took the BIL to the grocery store and went inside.lol  I only spent about $83 that week total.
The 2nd week of Feb. I did GREAT!  I didn't spend a penny of the budgeted $!!
The 3rd week the funeral happened so I broke down and bought some hot foods and baked goods at the grocery store to serve while Hub's family was here.  I consider this week unusual circumstances but I still spent about $60 on food.
For the 4th week I am trying to stay out of the grocery store again to salvage my $125 goal.  At the moment I am at $115.27 spent on food in February.  So I have just over $9 left in the budget.
Saturday we are eating out for #2 son's Birthday so I only have 6 days to meal plan.

MEAL PLAN  Feb. 20th-Feb. 26th

Sunday--BAKED ZITI & SALAD  *This used up stockpiled cheese, pasta, sauce and sour cream I had gotten on dairy dept. clearance a few weeks ago.  I also added some ground beef(stockpiled in the freezer)to the sauce. I make a double batch so we'll be eating this another meal too.
Monday--LEFTOVERS  *We finished up some Chili, some had more of last night's meal, and some leftover Chinese take-out from the weekend
Tuesday--CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS   *I'll be using up the leftover Baked Chicken Hubs bought at WeisMarkets that we served on Wednesday to the relatives before the funeral.  I'll add some more stockpiled chicken to make this dish and make the Dumplings from scratch.  We'll have enough for another meal or for leftovers.
Wednesday--BOSTON BAKED BEANS AND CORNBREAD  *One of my crockpot meals that makes more than 1 meal's worth.
Thursday--LEFTOVERS
Friday--FISH, FRIED ZUCCHINI, FRENCH FRIES  *Using up some potatoes, stockpiled frozen fish and digging into a large bag of breaded zuke rounds.
Saturday--Birthday meal out for #2 son

Lots of filling, hearty comfort foods due to the weather here and the apres funeral comforting needs of my family. ;-)
The only item that I need to buy for these meals is some carrots for the Chicken and Dumplings.  I'll probably buy some salad greens as I like to have them on hand and some lunch meat for sandwiches.
That will take care of my $9 that is left.

As for not spending on non-food items, all the toiletries have been free from Rite-Aid, as I've been using my +Up Rewards and free gift cards there.
I am not one to shop for non food/toiletries much so I don't have a problem staying out of those kinds of stores.  Except, with the funeral we had to buy #1 son some dress slacks and #2 son some slacks and a dress shirt, since they didn't have anything appropriate to wear to the service.  We did do some shoe borrowing so nothing was spent on footwear, but we did spend $60 on the clothes.  If I had had more time to find the stuff, I would have hit the thrift store and saved money of these things.  Oh well.....sometimes you have to spend in an emergency.

So are you doing a No Spend or Low Spend February?
How is it working out for you?
Has it been easy or difficult to stay the course?
Leave a comment and let us know!

Sluggy