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.
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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

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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

MAY Budget Results.....Food & Toiletries Spending TOTALS

Since I have finished my food shopping for the month I am posting my May Food Budget Totals today. I have also updated the Totals for the Year on the right sidebar.   It feels nice to be ahead of things for once... ;-)

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for MAY 2010.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in May.
These Totals include Food, Toiletries/HBA, Pet Supplies, Cleaning Products, Paper Goods & tax where applicable.We are a family of 5(5 at home this month) & 3 dogs. No kids under 14.

CARONE'S(small local independent store)
OOP $144.90
Qs/Ads $110.49
Value $255.39
Savings 43.25%

ENTENMANN'S OUTLET
OOP $22.34
Ads/Sales $52.45
Value $74.79
Savings  68.80%

GERRITY'S
OOP $23.46
Qs/Ads $42.09
Value $65.55
Savings 64.22%

KEYCO(restaurant supply store)
OOP  $47.09
Qs/Ads  $67.86
Value  $114.95
Savings  59.03%

REDNER'S(local chain grocery)
OOP  $40.48
Qs/Ads  $37.47
Value  $77.95
Savings  48.07%

RITE AID
OOP $18.54 ($18.19 put on Rite-Aid Gift Card)=$.35 actual OOP
Qs/Ads $407.69
Value $408.04
Savings 99.91%

WALMART
OOP $8.88
Qs/Ads $26.72
Value $35.60
Savings  75.06%

WEIS (local chain Grocery store that doesn't take IP Qs in my town)
OOP $29.54
Qs/Ads $125.55
Value $155.09
Savings  80.96%

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 MAY

Pinecone Research....$3.00
Prevacid....$24.99
Rite-Aid SCR....$74.84
Snapple.....$12.98

Subtotal........$115.81

GIFT CARDS and CERTIFICATES
Rite-Aid Allergy SCR $25 Gift Card

KMart $10 Gift Card(Reese's Pieces)
Staples $9 Ink/Paper Rewards Certificate

TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received..$159.81

FREE ITEMS

Kraft Mac & Cheese x 2

Neti Pot

Fresh Express Salad FREE ITEM Qs x 2(giveaway win)

Kraft

Wheat Thin Bags x 3

International Coffees x 3

Chavrie Goat Cheese FREE ITEM Q

COUPONS

$1/1 EOS Shave Gel x 2
$1.50/1 Better Than Ears

My best 3 Store Savings Totals were from Rite-Aid at 99.91%, Weis at 80.96% and Walmart at 75.06%.

TOTAL Out of Pocket...............................$318.04
TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$869.32
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased.............$1,187.36
TOTAL Savings of..........73.21%

TOTAL of CASH Rebates........................$115.81
TOTAL OOP After  Rebates....................$202.23
TOTAL Savings of..................................82.97%

This closes out the May spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month-
After rebates were figured in, I stayed under my $250 budgeted amount....$47.77 under.  While I didn't do a lot of stocking up, except 'good' hot dogs and dog food, I did do much more food buying without using coupons.  The restaurant supply store is a new venue I am trying and while they don't take coupons(as most of the food stuff is NOT personal consumer sized), there are deals to be had that that end up saving me more.  I'll have a post of this later in the week.  With #1 son home for the month, we ate down on much of the meat/fish/chicken stockpile and I have not replaced much of it.

You will notice that I only frequented 1 drug store this month.  I find that I can fulfill our toiletry/drug needs working the game at Rite-Aid alone, and for basically free.  Unless I feel the need to build up the excess supply of toiletries for another yard sale or flea market venture, I'll be staying out of CVS and Walgreens this summer.  I know I can get it for almost free there too but we don't need it now and Rite-Aid is closer so why bother? ;-)

What's ahead for June 2010.....

The June 2010 Food/Toiletries Budget is set at $250 cash out of pocket since #1 son is leaving for the summer shortly and the other teens will be gone for weeks at a time during June as well so we won't be doing much eating so no need for much spending, right?
  Any rebates received this month will offset this OOP spending. I have almost NO outstanding rebates due(except for Rite-Aid)so there will not be much extra cash to offset the food budget this month.  Even with that, I feel $250 will be a generous budget.

With 5 months of the year behind us, we have averaged $172.92 per MONTH after rebates on food/toiletries spending for 2010 for a family of 4-5 adults/teens.


How did you do in May 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