2015 Food & Toiletries Spending.....August Update

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

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for AUGUST 2015.

I have posted August'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 August.  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(2-3 at home this month). No kids under 19. 
Remember too that youngest son's friend often stays over at our house during the school break and eats here sometimes so I was feeding an additional person sporadically in August.

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BAKERY OUTLET
OOP  $3.75
Value  $15.36
Savings  75.58%

FOOD LION
OOP  $35.72
Qs/Ads  $17.03
Value  $52.75
Savings  32.28%

MAINE SOURCE
OOP  $81.09
Value $143.19
Savings  43.37%

PRODUCE STAND
OOP  $26.00
Value  $34.00
Savings  23.52%

RITE-AID
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/gift card $104.95
Value  $104.95
Savings  100%

 

SAM'S CLUB
OOP  $187.01
Value  $580.33
Savings  67.77%
 

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $136.39

Qs/Ads  $241.70

Value  $378.09

Savings  63.93%
 

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My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%, the Bakery Outlet at 75.58% and Sam's Club at 67.77%.  My WORST savings rate was the Produce Stand at 23.52%(but what I got was the freshest).

I shopped at 7 different places this past month.   Lots of single transactions at lots of stores, 2 transactions at Maine Source and Sam's Club and 7 transactions at Weis Markets.

TOTAL Out of Pocket........ $469.96

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$838.72

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$1308.68

TOTAL Savings of...................................64.09%
TOTAL Savings without Rite-Aid...........60.96%

This closes out the August food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....
I went into August wanting to do a $350 food budget for the month and I overshot that goal by $119.96.

The monthly savings percentage went up by 16.08% in August to 64.96% compared to July's 48.88% average.

The savings rate for the whole year so far now stands at 59.09%.  That's a .97 increase in savings over July's YTD total(58.12%).  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 $3273.52 on food/toiletries in 2015 so far at this point in the year. That averages out to $409.19 per month so just over $400 average per month.  Not a bad thing but I can do better.

A little overspending on the grocery budget in August meant a slight increase in the monthly averge so far for this year.  Let's see if I can bring it back down under $400 avg. per month for September.

LOOKING AHEAD To SEPTEMBER.........

We'll try for a $350 food budget for SEPTEMBER since it's just Hubs and I at home now.  We have the potential for 2 separate visits from friends/family in September(not sure yet how the month will shape up)so there could be some extra food spending.  I am not going to sweat it however.  If I go over some I'll try to cut back in October.  It's not like I don't have the money for a little extra, right?  8-)
 

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 August?
*  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?
 

Sluggy

MAY 2013 Budget Results....Food & Toiletries Spending

 

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for MAY 2013.

I have posted May's totals on the right side bar under Total Grocery Savings for 2013 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 17.
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BREAT OUTLET

OOP  $17.24

Value  $42.09

Savings  59.04%

MAINE SOURCE(restaurant supply)

OOP  $75.86

Value  $137.58

Savings   44.86%

SHURSAVE STORES(small local independent affiliated stores)
OOP  $107.74

Qs/Ads  $45.14

Value  $152.88

Savings  29.53%

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $299.51

Qs/Ads  $190.82

Value  $490.33

Savings  39%

I am no longer adding my rebates received into my food budget directly. I will use them on food on occasion and will note that when used.  I will keep track of rebates/gift cards/certs received here as before however.

REBATE CHECKS RECEIVED IN May.....$0.00

GIFT CARDS and CERTIFICATES....$0

TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received...$0.00

COUPONS and FREEBIES

Zero

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My best 3 Store Savings Totals were the Bread Outlet at 59.04%, Maine Source at 44.86% and Weis Market at 39%.  l only shopped at 4 different stores this past month.

TOTAL Out of Pocket........$500.35

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$322.53

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$822.88

TOTAL Savings of...................................39.20%

This closes out the May food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....

I went into May with my usual $400 budgeted for food/toiletries for the month.  Overshot the budget by $100.35.  Not a great month so I'll try to do better in June.

I did NO Rite-Aid shopping in last month either.

I'm still trying to figure out what my baseline for food costs is since the dietary change in April.  I suspect it will be more like $500 per month now, but I'm going to keep shooting for $400 for the next few months.

Looking ahead to June---We'll stick to our $400 food budget again this month.  I'm hoping for some better sales on fresh produce since it's almost Summer.

 

And here is the run down of my Food & Toiletries Spending for 2013 so far--

2013 Total Saved $1,432.51

2013 Yearly Total Value of Items  $3,350.33

2013 Yearly Total Spent $1,926.82

2013 Yearly Savings Total of 42.50%

 

My total savings percentage for the year has gone down just over 1%.  The month of May was over 30% saved and the yearly total so far is still over 40% so I am good with that.

 

How much did you spend on food in May?
 

Sluggy