Food Spending....the February Edition

 Onward to February's Food Spending report......

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for FEBRUARY 2023.

I have posted February'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 February.  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. We are a family of 2(and 2 dogs).
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KROGER

OOP  $148.9

Qs/Ads  $86.90

Value  $235.88

Savings  36.84%

OLLIE'S

OOP  $10.49

Value  $22.73

Savings  53.85%

SHOPPER VALUE

OOP  $41.08

Qs/Ads  $9.63

Value  $50.71

Savings  19.99%

SUPER 1 FOODS 

OOP   $19.47

Qs/Ads  $22.97

Value  $42.44

Savings  54.12%

WALMART
OOP  $221.45

Qs/free Gift Cards  $108.71
Value  $330.16
Savings 32.93%

*********************
My best 2 Store Savings Totals were at Ollie's at 53.85% and Super 1 Foods at 54.12% .

I shopped at 5 different stores in February.   8-)

TOTAL Spent in February................$441.47

TOTAL Coupons/Sales/Gift Cards....$240.45

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased.....$681.92

TOTAL Savings of ............................35.26%

This closes out the February food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....another less than stellar month for food spending.  I'm ok with it given my physical limitations at the moment.

The monthly food spending savings percentage went UP by 1.47% in February 2023 to 35.26% compared to the January's 33.79% savings average.   A slight improvement even with having Hubs doing 90% of the food shopping.

With 2 months accounted for, I have spent a Total of $856.14 on groceries/HBA /paper goods in 2023.

2022 Yearly Grand Total Spent....................$856.14

2022 Yearly Grand Total Value of Items.....$1,308.20

2022 Grand Total Saved...............................$452.06

2022 Yearly Savings Total..............................34.56%

The average per month amount spent is $428.07 in 2023 so far.

LOOKING AHEAD to March 2023...

Still in recovery mode but looking to resume normal cooking activity later this month. 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 February?

*  Do you track your yearly food spending?  It's really not that hard or time consuming; just have your receipts and either track it in a notebook or on a spreadsheet.

*  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

Food Spending 2022....the May Report

 Onward to May's Food Spending report......

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for MAY 2022.

I have posted May'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 May.  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, Pet Food & tax where applicable. We are a family of 3(2-3 eating at home this month). No "kids" under 26. 
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MALACARI'S

OOP  $72.37

Value  $107.95

Savings  32.96%

OCEAN STATE

OOP  $10.99

Value  $29.34

Savings  62.54%

RITE-AID
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/BC/Gift Cards  $722.42

Value  $722.42
Savings  100%

WALMART
OOP  $129.46

Qs/free Gift Cards  $102.72
Value  $232.18
Savings 44.24%

WEIS

OOP  $44.76

Qs/Sales  $54.21
Value  $98.97
Savings  45.72%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%,  Ocean State at 62.54%, and Weis at 45.72%.

The worst rate was at Malacari's at 32.96%.  
I shopped at 5 different stores in May.

TOTAL Spent in May................$257.58

TOTAL Coupons/Sales/Gift Cards...$169.32

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased....$426.90

TOTAL Savings of .............................39.66%

TOTAL Out of Pocket for May w/R-A..............$257.58

TOTAL Coupons/Sales/Gift Cards w/................$891.74

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased w/Rite-Aid...$1,149.32
TOTAL Savings with Rite-Aid items....................77.59%

This closes out the May food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....As planned I stayed well un $350 for the month.

The monthly food spending savings percentage went UP by .34% in May 2021 to 77.59% compared to the April's 77.25% savings average.  A higher savings rate is always good. 8-)

With 5 months accounted for, I have spent a Grand Total of $1,175.05 on food/toiletries in 2022.

2021 Yearly Grand Total Spent....................$1,432.63

2021 Yearly Grand Total Value of Items.....$7,348.28

2021 Grand Total Saved...............................$5,915.65

2021 Yearly Savings Total..............................80.50%

The average per month amount spent is $286.53 in 2022.

LOOKING AHEAD To June 2022.......With the inflationary costs now I'll still try to keep the spending at or under $350.00.  Eating more from what is here and less Ibotta shopping I am hoping. ;-)

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 May?

*  Do you track your yearly food spending?  It's really not that hard or time consuming; just have your receipts and either track it in a notebook or on a spreadsheet.

*  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

Income & Spending 2021.....the August Report

Now that we are living on an annuity and 401K$ withdrawals(some months), I am still going to keep track of our monthly spending and income, and hopefully we'll still be able to live BELOW our means and I'll have some leftover monies each month to tuck aside.

I am trying to be as transparent as I can with how much is coming in and how much is going out.  8-)

On to the August report---

I had 2 goals for August.......
The 1st is to actually finish the month in the black and not the red.
The 2nd is to try to have a little cash leftover at the end of the previous month to tuck back into a slush fund.  This slush fun may be to apply toward unforeseen bills that are coming due in subsequent months, to spend on "extras/wants" during the year or to just sit there and grow until the end of 2021.

I can report that we finished up August in the Black(for a change).
The amount we ended the month of August with?....$36.38

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in August---

* Monthly annuity payment of $3,222.24(after tax withholding)
* RMSA(Healthcare account)reimbursement of $1,971.99
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $436.44

Total "Income" for August.....$5,630.67

Expenses in August---

* Healthcare Premium for August was $1,971.99(paid for with RMSA reimbursement)
* Irregular bills in August were $1,173.00(house insurance, trip cash, Oldest birthday check)

* Variable Expenses in August came to $2,449.30
Total Expenses....$5,594.29

$5,630.67-$5,594.29=$36.38

Slush into August of $39,033.52 in that Fund, add the $36.38 in overage and we get $39,069.90 going into September's Slush Fund.
The Slush Fund on it's Page(tab at the top of the blog)shows an addition of $36.38. rah.

Outgo

As for the variable expenses this August, here are the good and the bad side of things....

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  Internet was the same as in July.

*  The WAM was the same amount taken as last month.

*  The electric bill was $3.79 lower than in July.

*  The cell phone went down by $82.25 from last month.

*  The water bill was $5.15 lower than in July.

*  The MC c/c was $1,032.10 lower than last month.

*  My Amazon Visa was $2,716.60 lower than July.(Cruise related stuff all paid for in July.)

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The gas bill was $46.78 higher than last month.(Trip to MD accounts for most of that gas. Gas has been crazy expensive for here.)

*  3 irregular bills were due in August--annual home insurance, a birthday check for our oldest son and extra $$$ was taken for the trip to Alaska.

The Food Budget costs for August are in another post, which is located HERE.  Food costs are included in the credit card payment(mainly but sometimes our WAM cash too).

FINAL THOUGHTS on August---The only variable bill that went up rather than down in August was gas for the cars.  I'd call that a win.
 

THOUGHTS going forward into September 2021---Well the gas costs will be high again as I have a trip down to see my brother and his wife and a side trip on the way home to see my Sissie. ;-)  Groceries shouldn't be too high as I won't be here to shop and Hubs won't. lolz  I paid ahead on my Amazon card so all the crap I bought in Alaska and barely fit in my luggage home won't be haunting my credit card....just half of it.

We have 2 big irregular bills coming due in September--Long Term Care premiums and our School taxes(which of course, went up again).  There will be a money meeting later this money to see whether to tap the 401K or just withdraw for these from the non-retirement savings.  More in the next monthly report on that.

We also made a big money decision which kicked in during August but I'll talk about that another time as it really won't affect our income/spending until Hubs Medicare kicks in about 20 months from now.  This matter will get it's own blog post in time.

So how was your August financially? 

Did you spend less than the income you had in August?
Did you stay within your budget or not?
What did you do with any money leftover at the end of the month?
Did you pay off any debts or put extra toward your mortgage principle or into savings, in an emergency fund or a retirement account?
Or did you blow it on a want?

If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check out your progress too and celebrate or commiserate with you!


Sluggy

2021 Food Spending Report.....the January Edition

 Onward to January's Food Spending report......

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for JANUARY 2021.

I have posted January'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 January.  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 4(2-3 eating at home this month). No "kids" under 24.
*****************

BREAD OUTLET
OOP  $6.49
Value  $26.94
Savings  75.91%

CVS

OOP  $4.86
Qs/Ads/ECBs  $83.81

Value  $88.67

Savings 94.52%

DOLLAR GENERAL

OOP  $4.56

Qs/Ads  $30.20

Value  $34.76

Savings  86.88%

MALACARI'S
OOP  $5.95
Value  $948
Savings  37.24%

OLLIE'S
OOP  $5.06
Value  $9.84
Savings  48.57 %

OCEAN STATE

OOP  $0.00(used free gift card

Value  $13.99

Savings  100%

P and R DISCOUNTS
OOP  $47.44
Value  $116.06
Savings   59.12%

RITE-AID
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/BC  $1074.81
Value  $1074.81
Savings  100%

WALMART
OOP  $120.26
Value  $294.31
Savings  59.14%

WEIS

OOP  $87.14

Qs/Sales  $96.37
Value  $183.51
Savings  52.51%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%, Ocean State at 100% and CVS at 94.52%.   My worst savings rate was at Malacari's with 37.24%.
I shopped at 10 different stores in January.  

TOTAL Spent.........................................$295.22

TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales.................$482.34

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased........$777.56

TOTAL Savings of ................................62.03%

TOTAL Out of Pocket for January w/R-A........$295.22
TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales w/R-A....................$1557.15
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased w/Rite-Aid....$1852.37
TOTAL Savings with Rite-Aid items.....................84.06%

This closes out the January food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....

I went into January wanting to eat down the pantry/freezers a bit and not spend a bunch of $$ on food shopping.  I did still stock up on good deals that I found them.  We ended the month of January at  $104.78 UNDER my usual Food/Toiletries/HBA/Paper Goods monthly budget. 

I also had a very big month of cash rebates, which was just $49.69 Less than what I actually spent on groceries. (This doesn't count any ShopKicks, Fetch, Checkout51 or Swagbucks rebates I did.) I am happy with that.

The monthly food spending savings percentage went UP by 8.68% in January 2021 to 84.06% compared to the December's 75.38% savings average mostly due to a LOT of Rite-Aid shopping.  Usually I don't do so much R-A buying in January.


With 1 month accounted for, I have spent a Year-To-Date Total of $295.22 on food/toiletries in 2021.

2020 Yearly Grand Total Spent....................$295.22

2020 Yearly Grand Total Value of Items....$1852.37

2020 Grand Total Saved...............................$1557.15

2020 Yearly Savings Total............84.06%

The average per month amount spent is $295.22 in 2021 so far.

LOOKING AHEAD To February 2021...........

We have had some very bad Winter weather already and more is on the horizon for this weekend into next week.  February is generally our worst Winter weather month so other than spending/rolling my Bonus Cash at R-A I don't plan on hitting Walmart which is my main Ibotta store much in February.

Weis(PMITA)Markets hasn't been good for Ibotta lately so yeah.
We'll probably double down on eating from what we have at home in February and try to keep the spending to a minimum except for needs.

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 January?

*  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