2015 Food & Toiletries Spending.....March Update

*I am posting this a day early since I am done shopping for the month.*

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

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for MARCH 2015.

I have posted March'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 March.  If you aren't interested in that much detail, just skip to the bottom for the Totals SumMy 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.

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BAKERY OUTLET
OOP  $8.50
Value  $40.72
Savings  79.13%

RITE-AID *(see below)
OOP  $6.33
Qs/Ads/+UPs  $421.39
Value  $427.72
Savings  98.52%

 

SHURSAVE STORES(small local independent affiliated stores)
OOP  $33.74

Qs/Ads  $18.86

Value  $52.60

Savings  35.85%

SURPLUS OUTLET
OOP  $39.48
Value  $63.45
Savings  37.18%
 

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $180.83

Qs/Ads  $124.01

Value  $304.84

Savings  40.68%
 

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My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 98.52%, the Bakery Outlet at 79.13% and Weis Markets at 40.68%.  My WORST savings rate was the Shursave affiliate at 35.85%.

My Bakery Outlet savings rate increased over last month's trip because they lowered their prices so my $8.50 went a whole lot further.  The had increased their prices awhile back but I guess that was the tipping point for bread products in this area, as they sold too few.  Last month my same $8.50 outlay only bought $17.66 worth of products.  I, as a consumer, am glad to see the prices lowered for a change.

I shopped at 5 different stores this past month. 

TOTAL Out of Pocket........ $268.88

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$620.45

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$889.33

TOTAL Savings of...................................69.76%
TOTAL Savings WITHOUT Rite-Aid.............43.12%

This closes out the March food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....
I went into March wanting to do a $300 monthly spending and actually accomplished that goal for a change.
Yay me! 8-)

The monthly savings percentage went up by 9.46% in March to 69.76% compared to February's 60.30% average.
Next month, without all that low OOP at Rite-Aid shopping, will most probably affect my average and it will plummet like a rock into the 30-40 percentile.
sigh

The savings rate for the year so far now stands at 68.70%.  That's a .46% increase in savings over February's YTD total.   It's quite high all things considered but I fear it will be the highest savings percentage I see in 2015 now that the "Salad Days" of Rite-Aid are over.

LOOKING AHEAD To APRIL.........

I want to continue to eat down some of our stockpiles of food and empty out the freezer a bit more. It's just 2 adults for April but we are going to host Easter dinner and invite 2 from the family here to eat.  I have two large shops coming up this week(totaling about $100) so April will start off with a shopping bang!
The rest of the month will mostly be eating all the stocks up and reigning in the spending on food.  I don't forsee any toiletries spending(once my +Ups are used up by 4/11).
 

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 March?
*  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