HAPPY SPRING! & This Just In.....Spending Update

Most people would say that this picture is their image of Spring.

But here in PA, this is what we see in our mind's eye when we think Spring.....

 Every year on the 1st Day of Spring, Rita's Italian Ice locations give away FREE Italian Ice!
Now how cool is that?!

I remember one year after we moved here, #2 son was in Kindergarten, which was a half day affair at that time.  I took him down to one of the local Rita's after school for our free Italian ice.  It was rainy/sleety and cold as a debutante's stare, but we had to get our ice!  Heck, we could have stood in the parking lot and held our cups up and gotten our own ice thanks to Mother Nature, if you know what I mean.lol

That year even sitting in the car shivering with the heater on, we still had to get our ices.
Unfortunately, today we missed out on the free ice.  And it was the most beautiful 1st Day of Spring on which to eat an ice.  Warm as puppy dog kisses it was....


So how is everyone doing staying on budget this month?

Since we are 2/3 of the way through March, I sat down and subtotaled my receipts for food/toiletries spending for the month.
I'm at $202.59 as of 3/20.
The rebates that have come in this month so far total $150.60.....goooood rebate month!!

After the rebate money is deducted, my spending total so far for March is $51.99.
Woot!

10 more days to go.....

 Sluggy

November BUDGET RESULTS-Food & Toiletries Spending

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for NOVEMBER 2009.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in November.
These Totals include Food, Toiletries/HBA, Pet Supplies, Cleaning Products & tax where applicable.We are a family of 5(4 at home)& 3 dogs. No kids under 13.

ACME
OOP $62.75
Qs/Ads $1072.07
Value $1134.82
Savings  94.47%

CARONE'S(local Independent Grocery that doesn't take IP Qs)
OOP $58.65
Qs/Ads $57.64
Value $116.29
Savings   50%

ENTENMANN'S OUTLET
OOP $14.00
Ads/Sales $55.00
Value $69.00
Savings  79.70%


KMART
OOP $0.00
Qs/Ads $38.99
Value $38.99
Savings  100%

OLLIE'S (local Discount chain Store that doesn't take coupons)
OOP $.97
Qs/Ads $1.02
Value $1.99
Savings  50%

PRICE CHOPPER
OOP $73.17
Qs/Ads $179.77
Value $252.94
Savings  71%

RITE AID
OOP $132.77before rebates/$.47 after rebates
Qs/Ads $619.83
Value $752.60
Savings 82.35%( 99.03% after rebates of $132.30 due)

SHOP-RITE
OOP $4.32
Qs/Ads $.77
Value $5.09
Savings  15%

TARGET
OOP $15.00
Qs/Ads $18.11
Value $33.11
Savings  54.70%

WALGREEN'S
OOP $1.22
Qs/Ads $38.99
Value $40.21
Savings  97%

WALMART
OOP $15.87
Qs/Ads $17.74
Value $33.61
Savings  52.80%

WEIS (local chain Grocery store that doesn't take IP Qs in my town)
OOP $163.40
Qs/Ads $350.99
Value $514.39
Savings  68.25%

I've decided NOT to 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' & go toward Food/Toiletries budget purchases, 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 NOVEMBER

Kellogg's Fuel for School...$40.00
Olay/Pantene......$20.00
Palmolive Dish Liquid....$2.79
Pinecone Research....6.00
Rite-Aid SCR........$229.13
SC Johnson......$30.00
Suave Lotion/Body Wash...$3.98
Venus Razor....$7.99
Subtotal........$339.89

FREE ITEMS

Almond Tin(no nuts tho....boo hiss!)

2 x Coupons for Old El Paso Taco Shells & $10 GC from contest I won

Herbal Essence Shampoo Free Item Coupon

Book I won

Kashi Granola Bar yum!

Coffee Samples

COUPONS

Del Monte Fruit-Vocalpoint
Jolly Time Popcorn

GIFT CARDS & STORE CHECKS

Rite Aid  $10.00
Staples  $94.00 Store Check
SubTotal...$104.00

TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received..$443.89

My best 3 Store Savings Totals were from  KMart at 100%,  Walgreen's at 97% and Acme at 94.47%.

TOTAL Out of Pocket...............................$542.12
TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$2450.92
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased.............$2993.04
TOTAL Savings of......81.90%

TOTAL of CASH Rebates........................$339.89
TOTAL OOP After  Rebates....................$202.23
TOTAL Savings of..................................93.25%

This closes out the November spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month-
With the high amount of income from Rebates received I was able to have a low out of pocket for this month considering I spent over $500 OOP on groceries/toiletries.  After rebates, just over $200 for $3 thousand in products is very good.
Having gotten so much at that Acme sale I was able to give over $350 of food/OTC meds to the Food Bank this month, as well as send 4 bags of food to family without even noticing a dent in my pantry supplies here.
Outside of Rite-Aid, where they now know me by name, I made only 1 other trip to a drugstore....1 trip to WAGS after I went to the Oral Surgeon since I was out that way, and no trips to CVS.

What's ahead for December.....
I have an overstuffed freezer at this point that needs defrosting and my stockpile shelves are groaning under the weight of all the boxed/canned foods on them.  Unless some grocery store sabotages me by running a great Catalina Deal, I am going to institute a USE IT UP Challenge for myself.  No buying unless we absolutely need it, which means only fresh produce/fruit & fresh dairy.
#1 son will be home from school mid-month so this will help me use up some of our stores, as the boy likes to eat!lol

I am NOT going to set a budgeted amount for Food.  If I do while I am trying to spend ZERO, it will just give me license to spend up to that budgeted amount in my head.  I am better off at telling myself I can't spend anything and see how many times I veer off of not spending by the end of the month.

How did you do in November 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