2018 Income & Spending Report.....May Edition

Now that we are living on an annuity(like a pension) and 401K$ withdrawals(retirement savings), 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.

But this money leftover at the end of each month, at least for now(as we find our new financial "normal")won't be saved toward a yearly Savings Challenge.  This leftover cash will go into a "Slush Fund" for now to be used if we have any emergencies come up during the year.  If we still have Slush Funds at the end of the year we'll decide then what to do with them.

  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 May 2018 report--

I had 2 goals for May......
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 2018.

I have to report that we finished up May in the black.
The extra amount we ended the month of May with?.......$2903.35

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in May---

* Monthly annuity payment of $3218.16(after tax withholding)
* RMSA(Healthcare account)reimbursement of $1813.48
* One third of 401K withdrawal balance(after funding Sinking Fund)for May of $1255.65 #
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $333.00

Total "Income" for May......$6620.29

# We made a 2nd quarter 401K withdrawal in April of $6K.  After withholding for taxes due we got $5170.70 net.  $1383.24 of that gets put into the Sinking Fund to cover irregular bills coming due this quarter(long term care insurance due in April, car insurance due in May). $3766.95 is the balance of the 2nd quarter 401K withdrawal.  This got divided by 3 and gives us $1255.65 extra in April to add to the income for the month(May and June will also get $1255.65)for general expenses.


Expenses in May---

* Healthcare Premium for May was $1813.48.(paid with RMSA reimbursement)
* Variable Expenses in May came to $3716.94.
* 6 mos. car insurance came to $911.74.(paid for from Sinking Fund)##


## 6 mo. car insurance premium expenses are due in May.  The carryover in the Sinking Fund coming into May was $1989.49.  $911.74 in car insurance paid leaves us $1077.75 in the Sinking Fund going into June.


We went into May with $10,362.43 in the Slush Fund.
Add in May's overage of $2903.35 to the Slush Fund and it stands at $13,265.78 going into June.

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  Phone charges and internet were approximately the same as last month(Within $1 or so).
*  The electric bill was $101.14 lower than last month.
*  The credit card bill was $842.76 lower than in April.
*  The cash WAM withdrawals were the same as last month.
*  The LA house electric bill wasn't paid in May. The amount of that bill will be deducted from the refund of our deposit with the electric co-op there(that refund should arrive later in June).
*  The health insurance premium was the same as in April.

HERE are the BAD THING

*  The water bill was $6.12 higher than April.
*  The gas card charges were $41.46 higher than last month.
*  The medical payments were $64.92 higher than in April(a dentist bill).
*  Semi-annual car insurance was due this month. This irregular bills is paid out of the Sinking Fund account.
*  We had a private c/c bill of $110.44 due in May(clothing).
*  Hubs used his Discover card and the bill was $38.14.

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

So we end May in the black with $2903.35 in new general overage so once it goes into the Slush Fund that Fund goes into June standing at $13,265.78. ($10,362.43+ $2,903.35=$13,265.78).
The Sinking Fund goes into June standing at $1,077.75

FINAL THOUGHTS on May---
While we did have a dentist bill due in May, that $200+ in charges turned out to be just $94.60 because the dentist wrote off a good piece of what our insurance didn't pay. 8-)
I was glad to see that the credit card bill was over $800 less compared to April.  The lower I can get it the better.  The credit card bill is a lot of miscellaneous spending here.  Besides the food spending which is how we almost always pay for groceries/toiletry spending, we had Chester's meds, a trip to Lowe's for some house stuff, gasoline purchases, a $100 Amazon bill(reloaded that account with funds and paid for it on our c/c), a 3 month phone service card for me, eating out spending, Hubs bought some home brewing supplies and $47.70 to Fedex as we had to pay to overnight papers for the LA house sale(which in hindsight was money wasted as we didn't have to overnight them because the freaking realtors delayed the closing! grrrr).

THOUGHTS going forward into June 2018----This month there is 1 irregular bills due, Long Term Care Insurance Premiums, so that will come out of the $1077.75 balance in the Sinking Fund.
Depending on the weather, electricity usage may stay about the same or go up a bit if the a/c is needed in June.  There are no big excursions planned for June so gas usage won't go up but the price per gallon has risen so our costs on that item may be higher.  Our eldest son may make a trip here for a few days once school is over(he teaches)so there may be beer outings or such.  He is a big spender when someone else is paying. lolz
The WAM withdrawal will be the same in June, $200.
I am going to make more of an effort in June to sell some things around the house by utilizing the FB yard sale group I am on since I really don't have enough to declutter/sell to have a physical yard sale.

Once June is done and dusted Hubs and I will probably sit down for a mid-year review of the finances and especially revisit the 401K withdrawals as we don't seem to really need them at this point since we do end up with extra money left at the end of each month.  But that's a discussion for another time.   ;-)

So how was your May financially?
  

Did you spend less than the income you had in May?
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!

Make this year was the one were you clean up your finances and pay off your debts.
Plan to set something aside if you didn't already or increase what you have banked now for your future self.
Or pay extra on the principle of your mortgage if your house isn't already paid off.

Live below your means and keep some change for a rainy day....because no matter how sunny it is in your life now, dark clouds come along and you'll be glad you have that umbrella to keep you dry.

Sluggy

Income & Spending Report.....January 2018

Now that we are living on an annuity(like a pension) and 401K$ withdrawals(retirement savings), 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.
But this money leftover at the end of each month, at least for now(as we find our new financial "normal")won't be saved toward a yearly Savings Challenge.

The issue now is to cover all the bills with these two sources of income and not have to dip into the regular savings(that I built over the last 10 years)to pay our month to month expenses.

Got it?
OK, let's move on.

On to the January 2018 report--
I had 2 goals for January......
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 2018.

I have to report that we finished up January in the black.
The extra amount we ended the month of January with?.......$7169.65

Income

The income in January---
* Monthly annuity payment of $3173.13(after tax withholding)
* RMSA(Healthcare account)reimbursement of $1813.48
* December overage of $4754.49 that carried over into Jan. 2018
* Sinking Fund(carryover from Dec. + $2600 from 401K withdrawal)of $3616.74#
* One third of 401K withdrawal balance for Jan. of $851.10 ##
* Blogging Revenue of $129.14
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $334.95

Total Income for January......$14,673.03

# $2600 was pulled out from that quarterly 401K withdrawal(withdrawal was $5153.31 after tax withholding)for irregular expenses due during the 1st quarter of 2018 and add it to the Sinking Fund amount that carried over from December of $1016.74, raising the Sinking Fund to $3616.74
## The balance of the 401K withdrawal($2553.31)got divided by 3 and gives us $851.10 in January to add to the income for the month(Feb. and Mar. will also get $851.10/$851.11 respectively)for general expenses.


Expenses in January---
* Healthcare Premium for January was $1813.48.
* Variable Expenses in January came to $4931.92.  This also included some tuition for College Boy(and that's the last time we have to pay that...yay!)
* Irregular expenses paid were Garbage(paying in full for the year got us a $28 discount) of $308.00 and quarterly Long Term Care Policy Premiums of $449.98, so a total of  $757.98 paid.

Total Expenses for January......$7503.38

$14,673.03-$7503.38=$7169.65

That $7169.65 gets broken down thus----$2858.76 of that overage is the Sinking Fund and $4310.89 into general Jan. overage.

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  Phone charges and internet were approximately the same as last month(Within $1 or so).
*  The LA house electric bill was $2.78 lower.
*  The medical payments were $30.22 less than in December

HERE are the BAD THING

*  The water bill was $16.94 higher than in December.
*  The electric bill was $157.77 higher than last month's bill.(Brutal negative temps here in Jan.)
*  The gas card charges were $15.90 higher than in December.
*  The credit card bill was $1008.66 higher than last month. Some of the unusual charges that made this one higher were--$180 for cargo van rental to move CB home from school, high Xmas meal out charge, windshield replacement deductible, $$208 for 2 new tires for Hubs car, $330 for medical charges, $70 for computer antivirus renewal, $86 for car repairs on Hubs car, $74 for Daughter birthday dinner, $65 for my car registration/inspection, 100 stamps were purchased before the rate increased--over $1336 in total for unusual charges)
*  The cash WAM withdrawals were $50.00  higher than in December.(Due to Hubs wanting an extra $50 emergency cash.)
*  $223.47 was due on store cards for Hubs charges in December.
*  We paid CB's last tuition bill.
*  The health insurance premium went up for 2018 by $41.54 per month.

The Food Budget costs for January are in another post, which is located HERE.

So we end January in the black with $4310.89 in general overage.
The Sinking Fund goes into February standing at $2858.76.
Added together that gives us a cushion of $7169.65 for February.

FINAL THOUGHTS on January---It was an ok month financially.  Had we not had a tuition bill to pay we would have had enough in the Annuity and about $300 of the 401K withdrawal in January to pay what needed to be paid this month.  What can I say?.....Bills were high this month.

THOUGHTS going forward into February 2018----

On the bad side of things-Electric usage will rise this month.  Feb. is typically our highest electric bill here(due to electric heating).
On the good side of things-Food spending shouldn't be over $250 if we can eat down the freezer, there are no irregular bills due in February and we have no plans to travel(there is a trip to LA in the works for Hubs but those c/c bills won't show up until March)so it looks to be a quiet month, financially speaking.
I would like a boring financial month. ;-)

So how was your January financially?
  

Did you spend less than the income you had in January?
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!

Make this year was the one were you clean up your finances and pay off your debts.
Plan to set something aside if you didn't already or increased what you have banked now for your future self.
Or pay extra on the principle of your mortgage if your house isn't already paid off.

Live below your means and keep some change for a rainy day....because no matter how sunny it is in your life now, dark clouds come along and you'll be glad you have that umbrella to keep you dry.

Sluggy

Christmas 2011 Budget/Spending Autopsy

Do you like this picture?  It's a Renaissance era painting of a medical autopsy.  I thought it was quite Christmas-y due to the red and green colors used.

Ok, so calling this an Autopsy is not very festive or cheerful.
So call it "The Post where I talk about what I was Going to Spend for Christmas and what I Actually Spent for Christmas".

I budgeted $1300 for Christmas spending.
$1300 in money we HAD already, so no putting Christmas spending on Credit Cards to pay off sometime next year.

Here is where the funds were allocated at the start.....

Shipping gifts/mailing Holiday Cards  $50.00
Gifts for family  $600
Cash for Kids  $300
Secret Santa Gift  $20
Charity  $100
Electricity for lights  $5
Alcohol  $100
A Christmas eve meal and show or movie  $125


And here is where the money actually went.....


Shipping gifts/mailing Holiday Cards  $39.43
Gifts for family  $452.24
Cash for Kids  $150
Secret Santa Gift  $17.94
Charity  $0
Electricity for lights  $5
Alcohol  $64.21
A Christmas eve meal and show or movie  $122.50

TOTAL SPENT...$851.32


Here are the Spending Details....


$39.43  *Shipping/Mailing Holiday Cards & Gifts----
We sent out 5 cards.  2 were mailed and 3 shipped inside of gifts that were mailed so the cost of 2 stamps.  We mailed 3 gifts(and I paid shipping for part of my Secret Santa gift bought on eBay)so that covers the bulk of our shipping expenses.  I knew we'd have a substantial amount to spend on shipping as we weren't traveling anywhere to visit family this Christmas, so we couldn't hand deliver any presents.

$452.24  *Gifts for family----
Last year I spent $369.70 on gifts for family.  I budgeted a much larger figure for this Christmas($600)but I still came in under that amount.  I know that my kids basically at their ages just want cash or gift cards, but I still have a hard time with nothing to wrap under the tree.  Plus it's one of the few times a year I get to shop since I really don't buy things anymore except for food.
Just having a pile of envelopes under the tree just doesn't do it for me...what can I say!lolol  But I do shop carefully and thoughtfully when I buy the kids 'things'.  I no longer buy silly or useless or things they don't want.  Heck, this year, I took #1 son shopping and let him pick out all his 'things' I bought him and then wrapped them up for him to open Christmas morning.  Since I don't see him but a few weeks every year now, this was the only way I could do it and make sure things fit him and were his 'style'. The money and gift card were still a surprise for him.

While I spent $452.24 on gifts, the regular retail on the gifts I bought was $1036.73.
Now how did I save over 56% on the cost of my gifts?

*First I used my credit card points to purchase $175 in Gift Cards, which were given to 4 of my recipients.  Next year, I may give these gift cards again AND 'buy' more cards and use them to pay for gifts I give as well.
*Second, I utilized 'social coupon' sites to locate great deals.  I got cheap movie tickets, free item coupons for fast food, cheap gift cards and used a wine deal to purchase wine for 2 of my recipients.
*Third, I shopped online on certain days to get % off deals on items and/or free shipping.  I shopped brick & mortar stores only 4 times.....1 trip to Kmart, 2 trips to Kohl's and 1 trip to Rite-Aid.  Just a few items(mostly for #1 son and he was with me)and I was totally done by last Wednesday.
*The Fourth way I spend so little on so much, was to pick up items all year long.  This works for both larger items and small stuff, the filler stuff.  By hitting sales, clearance racks and outlets you can save a lot of money over the course of the year by buying ahead strategically.  If you are dealing with growing kids or teens, I don't recommend buying clothing ahead because it may not fit and/or it might not be in style according to the whims and fancies of your teen.  But you can buy ahead staples like underwear, socks, gloves, hats, etc., or things like pens, notebooks, backpacks, gadgets, favorite snacks, etc.  #1 son loves fruitcake so when we go to Ocean City, MD in Oct/Nov, I get him a fruitcake at Rose's for $3-$4 then, instead of ordering the same item from the manufacturer's website in Dec. from GA at double the cost plus $6 shipping.  Daughter loves peaches so when I found peach flavored throat drops for $1 at the Dollar Store instead of the $3 they charge at the grocery store(IF I can find this flavor!), I bought them ahead for Christmas.  When I found a ginormous can of MONSTER drink for $1.50 at Big Lots I bought it for #2 son because he loves this stuff and I don't buy it normally.  Many of the toiletries I get for free at Rite-Aid(after sales/coupons/+Up Rewards/rebates)end up under the tree or in someone's stocking.
All these strategies help me spend less out of pocket and put goodies under the Christmas Tree for less.



$150  *Cash for Kids----
Last year, the first year I actually tallied up what we spent on each kid at Christmas, I was aghast to see $200+ on average spent on each kid.  I had given them each $100 cash(since they like to spend the money themselves)but I had also bought each kid over $100 worth of stuff.  I hadn't realized we had spent this much until I tallied up all the "little stuff" too.....like stocking stuffers and filler items and those 'darn cute things nobody needs but they are irresistible' things.  Believe me when I say Stockings are KILLERS!   Even if you shop for them at the Dollar Store, stocking stuffers can add up quickly to big money.  Each kid needs to be stuffed and then times it by 3 and it gets to be substantial money!
I've decided to go totally with 'necessaries' next year in the Stockings.  Things my kids need and I would have to buy anyway and things I can get for free at the Drug Stores....like socks(we already do socks in the stockings), underwear, batteries(Hubs got D batteries since he is always looking for them for his flashlights), pens/pencils, earphones, toiletries(daughter got shaving cream in her stocking this year), candy bars/gum.
So I reduced the cash given by half, to $50 per kid.  With an average spending of $80 on actual gifts of things/experiences/gift cards, $50 in cash kept the spending per kid to under $150.  I am happier with that figure than the $200+ of years past.

$17.94  *Secret Santa Gift----
I had #2 son's name.  I found a t-shirt he wanted on eBay I won for $7.99 and I had picked up a nice $25 leather wallet he wanted while down in Ocean City MD for $9.95.  We try to keep the Secret Santa gift spending around $20-$25 so I did well this year with 2 items he liked while spending below average.

$0  *Charity----
Before you call me the Grinch, I did something different this Christmas to help those in need.  I am on a YahooGroups help list.  It operates year round and is only for those physically located in PA.  Every year at Christmas time people who are in need of help providing for their families at the Holidays can post for help.  And then those who are in a position to help, the Angels they are called, either adopt a family or persons in that family and buy them gifts or food or whatever they ask for.  Other Angels who aren't in a position to do an adoption will offer items they have-mostly these are gently used items-to whomever can use them.
Since I still have eBay inventory items to downsize here, mostly of the toy variety, I took a large load of them and offered them up on this List for Christmas to anyone local to my area in PA, instead of selling them or donating them to Salvation Army for a tax write-off.  A little direct charity for a change, if you will. ;-)
I was able to put some smiles on kids' faces for Christmas and get some more items out of my house.
A win/win with no actual cash involved!

Ok, so maybe I AM a grinch since I didn't throw money in the kettles or send a check to the food bank or such.  Hubs just informed me he threw money in the bell-ringers' kettles when he was out Christmas shopping, so my no-money-spent guilt is assuaged....I think.lol
Seriously though, AM I grinchy this year for not giving cash somewhere at Christmas?....Even though I gave over $500 worth of food to the local food bank over the course of 2011?.....I gave about $4K worth of stuff to Salvation Army?....Hubs had about $600 taken from his paychecks for AFAA(a charity we have monetarily supported since 1986).  Tell me if I am a big old Bah-Humbug, I can take it. ;-)

$5  *Electricity for Lights----
Hubs strung 2 strings of lights outside and lit the Wreath on the door.  They were only up 2 full weeks and lit for a few hours each night. 


$64.21  *Alcohol----
I generally don't buy liquor at Christmas but felt the need this year.  Don't judge. ;-)  I bought 2 bottles of champagne(1 for NYE, 1 for Christmas dinner), a couple of small half bottle of JD and Kahlua, 2 bottles of Vodka and a bottle of Grenadine.  The vodka was a spur of the moment decision because it was on sale(and there was a rebate.lol).  I thought I'd make some martinis but if I didn't like the brand of vodka I could always use it to make some Vanilla Extract. 8-)

$122.50  *A Christmas eve meal and show or movie----
We had our immediate family and daughter's boyfriend for our traditional Chinese restaurant meal.  We sprung for sushi as well so the bill was a bit high, but whattheheckitschristmas!lol



Yay us.....

So looking forward to Christmas 2012 for me--
* I'm basically happy with what I ended up spending.  I came in under budget but there was still enough bought and spent on everyone.
* With our schedules(and 2 kids away at college)it's difficult trying to find activities to do as a family(plus the kids don't want to 'hang' with the 'rents), but I'm going to try to find 1 thing to do as a family, besides eating out.  I'd love to find a concert for free or cheap here that we can attend.
* I'm happy with using some of my inventory to give directly to those who needed it.  Next year I am going to make an effort to get involved in a local Santa organization and give the gift of my time too.
* I cooked/bakes a LOT less this Holiday season and the world didn't end.  I think I'll plan on spending about the same reduced amount of time in the kitchen for Christmas 2012.

If you kept track of your spending for Christmas, how did you do?
Did you spend more. less or right about what you planned on spending?
Did you have any money epiphanies(epiphany? epiphani?)when you looked back at the Holiday plan?
Do you see anything you'll change about your spending for Christmas 2012?

Leave a comment and let us know how ya did and what you learned about yourself & money this year!!

Sluggy

Yearly Spending Post Mortem 2009....Why Should You Do One?

I am a 'numbers gal'.....yep, the OCDness in me shows up as me being pretty anal about money and the accounting of it.  Hey, my father and one of my brothers were/are CPAs....I come by this naturally.lol

Every year in January I do a Post-Morten of our spending for the previous year.  I get out all the check registers and canceled checks, the bill receipts and invoices and even the cash register receipts if need be.  Yes, I save all that stuff in the short term to be able to do this.

I go through and add up what we spent our money on for the year.  I break it down into categories and then after I have the yearly total for each category, I find the average monthly amount spent.  It takes about 3 hours to complete if everyone leaves me alone for that long.lol

So I can tell you that in 2009, we spent $336 on garbage pick-up or $28 per month.  (No, this isn't included in the municipal taxes we pay here.)
And our landline phone bill was $266.98 or an average of $22.25 per month.

Why do I do this?
Besides satisfying my OCD, we can analyze where the $ went and maybe find where we spent too much or find places where we can change things up and spend less this year.

For instance....hubby and I looked at the post-mortem and saw that we spent a whopping $525.43 on long distance phone service for our landline in 2009.  We don't have a cell phone plan so we had signed up a couple of years ago for an AT&T flat rate long distance plan for the landline.  At the time we found we were making alot of long distance calls(between hubby's sibs and my sick brother in VA)and #1 son had friends who lived in OH he wished to talk to for HOURS on end.lol
At the time, that flat rate plan was very cost effective for us.

Now, we don't make all those long distance calls and #1 son is at college so we are overpaying for this service for the few calls we do make a year.  I had kept the service during #1 son's 1st semester since we thought he would get a landline phone there so we could call him if he needed us for something.  He never got the landline and he finds that emailing us is just as good as calling when he needs something.

So we are dropping this long distance plan.  For the little long distance we use, we will get phone cards to use with our landline.  I am figuring that should cost us approximately $100-$200 a year.  This will give us an extra $425-$325 a year to spend elsewhere in our budget or to drop into savings.

It's also interesting to see from month to month how spending changed or didn't in some categories.

I also found that I stopped using checks to pay for groceries altogether in June 2009 and began using cash only.  I found writing checks to cash and using that money to buy groceries/toiletries and keeping the receipts so I knew how much I spent of it on those items each month worked well for me.  Now and again though I do slip up and use the credit card to pay for groceries.  And when I do, it highly annoys me.lol

I wrote checks totaling $5,950 to cash and $1,224.91 in checks to specific grocery stores for a total of $7,174.91 in 2009.  As I spent a total of $6,254.84 on food/toiletries in 2009, that means I had $920.07 of miscellaneous personal spending last year.  This would be things like a tiny bit of gas(most gets put on the credit card tho), buying a drink or lunch out, money for the kids for movies or such, ice cream in the summer at the ice cream place, newspapers, parking fees, etc.  I didn't keep track of each little thing I spent it on, but it shows that those little incidentals DO add up!

For me, $920.07 on these types of purchases is NOT acceptable!
This year I am going to put a notebook in my car and try to keep track of all these little miscellaneous expenses in hopes of trying to cut some of it or at least have a more detailed list of where every penny goes.

Keeping a spending jouranl isn't for everyone, but if you are having a hard time getting a handle on where your money goes, it's a good idea/tool for at least a month or so to keep one to see where you are spending and how much.  It may surprise you to see what you actually spend on and how much over time!

Now to revisit my Grocery spending for 2009, it totaled $6,254.84. Averaged out over the course of the year, that's $568.62 per MONTH(for 11 months).
WOW!
That's quite high.

DECEMBER     $101.55
NOVEMBER    $202.23
OCTOBER         $48.20
SEPTEMBER   $170.93
AUGUST          $446.50
JULY                $520.69
JUNE                $699.91
MAY              $1019.36
APRIL            $1104.32
MARCH           $855.39
FEBRUARY  $1085.76

But if you look at it per month you will see that I was able to bring it down consistently from month to month until I started to get it under control in July.  By being a bit smarter with my spending, getting the stockpiling method going and upping my income with rebating we did much better by the second half of the year.  The 1st 5 months of 2009 we spent an average of $952.95 per month of food/toiletries.
The last 6 months of 2009, that average cost dropped to $248.35 a month!
Whatever I am doing here seems to be working.....

If you are serious about reigning in your spending, especially on food/toiletires, try tracking your day-to-day expenses for 2 months. 
It may be eye opening!

Sluggy