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

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

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for JULY 2019.

I have posted July'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 July.  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.
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BIG LOTS
OOP  $60.16
Value  $96.24
Savings  37.49%

BREAD OUTLET
OOP  $18.28
Disc.  $45.88
Value  $64.16
Savings  71.51%

MAINES
OOP  $79.55
Value  $146.57
Savings 45.72 %

MALACARI'S
OOP  $53.97
Value  $93.63
Savings  42.36%

P&R DISCOUNTERS
OOP  $33.98
Value  $103.10
Savings  67.04%

PRICE CHOPPER
OOP  $41.01
Qs/Sales  $19.88
Value  $60.89
Savings  32.65%

RITE-AID
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/BC  $346.91
Value  $346.91
Savings  100%

SHURSAVE MARKETS

OOP  $17.58
Qs/Ads $20.99

Value  $38.57

Savings  54.42%

TARGET
OOP  $4.41
Qs/Ads/Gift Card  $56.65
Value  $61.06
Savings  92.78%

WEIS
OOP  $140.70
Qs/Ads  $133.82
Value  $274.52
Savings  48.75%

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My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%,  Target at  92.78% and the Bread Outlet at 71.51%.  My worst savings rate was at Price Chopper with 32.65%.

I shopped at 10 different stores this past month.  

TOTAL Out of Pocket for July.........$469.99

TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales.................$504.98

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased.........$974.97

TOTAL Savings of ................................51.79%

TOTAL Out of Pocket for July w/R-A.............$469.99
TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales w/R-A...................$851.89
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased w/Rite-Aid....$1321.88
TOTAL Savings with Rite-Aid items.....................64.45%

This closes out the July food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....
We spent well OVER my $400 budgeted amount for food/toiletries in July.  Lots of extra trips to food sources I mostly only visit in the warm weather months and lots of good deals.  Hopefully this leads to less food spending in the cooler months.

The monthly food spending savings percentage went UP by 2.71% in July 2019 to 64.45% compared to the June 61.74% savings average.
While I spent more overall on food in July the percentage rate also went up because of all the awesome deals I got.


With 7 months accounted for, I have spent a Year-To-Date Total of $2747.28 on food/toiletries in 2018.


2019 Yearly Total Spent To Date....................$2747.28

2019 Yearly Total Value of Items To Date....$11,169.00

2019 Total Saved To Date...............................$8421.72

2019 Yearly Savings Total To Date of............75.40%

The average per month amount spent so far is $392.47 in 2019 which went up $12+ per month due to July's high spending amount.

LOOKING AHEAD To August 2019.......

Let's see....no trips, no company, just puttering around the house and trying to eat down some stocks.  I want to reign in the food spending a bit.
$400 is the grocery budget for August in case I find good fresh produce deals I can can/freeze.  Otherwise I want to stay closer to $300 this month. 

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 July?

*  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

My Food Spending/Tracking Method

Reader Linda asked earlier this week in a comment my method of keeping track of my food budget spending so I am here to reveal my secrets.
Secrets, riiiiiight!

Nothing hi-tech here as you can see.
Here is my secret weapon......

A good old notebook.
It sits on the bookshelf by my desk.

When I get home from the store my receipt(s) go into this notebook.........

I put all grocery/food/toiletries spending receipts in the front cover of said notebook.
When a new month rolls around and I get receipts, those receipts go into the back cover, and at some point in that next month, I purge the last month's receipts out of the front cover when I am done calculating or sending for refunds/rebates in which I need those ones.
And the process starts all over again.

The secret is to have a place to gather all your shopping receipts so you don't misplace them.  You aren't always going to have the time to immediately record your receipts(or the energy after putting all your spoils away).  When you can't get to it right away, have the receipts somewhere handy you can access them when you do have the time to record them.

When you are ready to record your spending, pull out your receipt(s) and do so.
I use a new page each month(and any overflow if I have a lot of shopping trips that month go onto the facing page.
I put the month at the top of the page, then list the date of each trip and which store I shopped at.
Across the page goes my OOP spending, the reg. retail value of that trip, how much $ was saved and then if I am not rushed for time(and feel like it)I calculate out the percentage of savings for the trip.
The only other tools you need are a pen or pencil and a calculator. 8-)

At the end of a week I will add up the columns to get a weekly Total of my spending/savings.  Then(if it isn't the first week)I pull forward the spending total to do a Month To Date entry so I can keep an eye on how much has been spent so far that month and how much I have left in the budget.

By the end of the month there is a lot of writing on those pages as you can see from the photo of the September 2016 pages.

When the month has finished I add up all my individual stores entries and get subtotals of how much was spent/saved/% at each store and then what was spent/save/% overall for the month.
From this information I can do my monthly spending total post as well as update my Food/Toiletries webpage for the year(accessed from the top tab on the site).

It's important to know how much you spend, period.  Sure, not everyone wants this much detail so do what works for you.

It's not rocket science.  Just get a system down that works for you and track that spending!

Sluggy

My Weis & Target Scores + Gift Cards for Xmas

I hit the meat department at Weis(PMITA)Markets on Thursday and found some good deals.
The actual cost per pound/per piece after sale/stickers is in parentheses.

1.24 lbs. Angus Bottom Round Steak for 6.19-$2 Instant Sticker=$4.19 ($3.38 lb.)
2 x Marinated Chicken Breasts(4.62 lbs.)for $6.14 total-2 x $2 Instant Stickers=$2.14 (.46¢ lb.)
.84 lb. Angus Cube Steaks on sale for $4.52=$2 Instant Sticker=$2.52 ($3 lb.)
2 x packages Uncured/No Preservatives Hot Dogs on sale for $8 total- 2 x $2 Instant Stickers=$4 (.25¢ per hot dog)

$12.85 spent OOP on $24.85 worth of meats.
Savings rate of 48.29%.
8-)


I don't go to Target very often, maybe twice a year, but Hubs and I went on Monday.
Target had a Spend $50 on Food/Get a $10 Gift Card Deal that was only for Sunday or Monday of Labor Day Weekend and I wanted to see the damage I could do. ;-)

I used sales, coupons, instant meat discount stickers, rebates and a free(cashed in credit card points)$50 Target gift card and bought what's pictured below.......

4 x Tyson Chicken Tenders(on sale $4.99)=$19.96
2 x State Fair Corn Dogs(on sale $6.69)=$13.38
2 x Market Pantry Apple Juice(after 5% off Cartwheel $1.70 ea.)=$3.40
2 x Crunch Master Crackers(on sale $2.50)=$5.00
3 x 8 oz. Cheese Chunks(on sale $2 ea.)=$6.00
2 x 1 lb. 73% Ground Beef($3.79 ea.)=$7.58
1 x 2 lb. 93% Ground Beef=$10.49
1 x 1.5 lb. Stew Beef Cubes=$8.99
Sub Total..........$74.80

Coupons and Discount Stickers
4 x $1/1 Tyson Chicken product IPQ=$4.00
2 x .55¢/1 State Fair product IPQ=$1.10
2 x $1/1 CrunchMaster product IPQ=$2.00
2 x $1 Instant Meat Sticker=$2.00
1 x $5 Instant Meat Sticker=$5.00
1 x $4 Instant Meat Sticker=$4.00
Total........$18.10

$74.80-$18.10=$56.70

I used my free $50 Target gift card and paid $6.70 OOP.  8-)))

Total saved was $46.23 + $50 on free gift card turns this into $96.23 saved, or a 94.60% savings rate.


I earned $25 in new Target gift cards--1 x $10 for Buying $50 of food in one transaction, 3 x $5 for buying 2 frozen meat products(4 x Tyson, 2 x State Fair).

Plus I earned a $1.50 Checkout51 cash Rebate for buying 2 boxes of Crunch Master crackers.

So in the end I brought home all that food and am out $5.20 cash and have $25 in new Target gift cards for later.

The breaded chicken was for the BF(and for emergency meals when I can't cook), the corn dogs and apple juice also for the BF.  The cheese was because, well, you can't live without cheeses, the crackers to pair with cheese, and all that meat-I'll blend the 73% and 93% and make meatballs to put into the freezer for later and the stewing beef will become chili one night soon when the weather cools off some more.

After meat sticker discounts, the 73% Ground Beef came to $2.79 lb., the 93% GB came to $2.25 lb. and the Stewing Beef came to $3.32 lb.  Of course I paid with a free gift card so the whole lot cost me pennies in the end. 8-)

I bring a calculator when food shopping and regularly calculate the cost per oz./lb. for meats/seafood.  It can help your food budget to have clear limits on how much you willingly pay for things(this is why you keep a price book too).   A hunk of meat may seem like a good deal on the surface, even with an instant meat discount sticker on it, but until you know exactly how much you are paying, you really don't know if in fact it IS a deal.  The 93% was an amazing deal at $2.25 lb. while the Stewing Beef was an ok deal at $3.32 lb.

As for the gift cards earned....
I'll add this $25 in new gift cards to the $30 in Target gift cards I have stashed at home(that were earned for deals while spending other Target gift cards earned with c/c points)and that's $55 in free gift cards I currently have tucked away for Christmas.

Since it's past Labor Day I need to drag out the Xmas box and go through to assess where I am at in the "acquiring process" for Holiday gifties.  After buying a few things while on vacation in August I should be mostly done with gifts.  Now it's a question of where to find the cash component without pulling from regular income for that.
More on all that later.......

I just had to share these Weis and Targets trip as I thought I did so well. ;-)

Sluggy