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

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for SEPTEMBER 2013.

I have posted September's totals on the Total Grocery Savings for 2013 Page located HERE and have updated the Yearly Totals there.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in September.  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(3 at home this month)& 2 dogs. No kids under 17.
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FARM STAND

OOP  $22.40

Value  $64.45

Savings  65.24%

FOOD LION
OOP  $22.54
Value  $30.31
Savings  25.63%
 

SHURSAVE STORES(small local independent affiliated stores)
OOP  $90.31

Qs/Ads  $111.71

Value  $202.02

Savings  55.30%

WALMART
OOP  $79.77
Qs/Ads  $37.03
Value  $116.80
Savings  31.70%

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $71.55

Qs/Ads  $47.44

Value  $118.99

Savings  39.87%

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 September.....$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  at  the Farm Stand 65.24%,  at  the Shursave Market at 55.30% and at the Weis Markets  at 39.87%.  I food/toiletries shopped at 5 different stores this past month.

TOTAL Out of Pocket........$316.01

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$216.56

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$532.57

TOTAL Savings of...................................40.66%

This closes out the September food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....

I went into September with my usual $400 budgeted for food/toiletries purchases.
I stayed under budget by about $80.  It might have been by a wider margin had I not had a problem with my foot.  Having to send Hubs out for groceries was both good and bad.....good in that, I was more apt to use stuff we already had at home and bad in that, when something was needed he didn't care to shop around for the best price or buy it when it was on sale. sigh.....
We did end up taking food to the Reunion and we spend more on eating out while on the trip, but the eating out $ comes out of Entertainment not the grocery kitty.
 

I did NO Rite-Aid shopping last month again.  As we approach the holidays I will be going back to Rite-Aid a bit for their awesome Holiday specials, if they appear this season.  Though I don't need any toothpaste, soap or shampoo for at least another year, I'll take some home if it's free or drastically discounted when I am there.  8-)

 

Looking ahead to October---We have our annual Ocean City October Get-Away coming up.  #2 Son and whoever stays here with him will have to be fed so while a few days most of us won't be here to eat groceries will still need to be provided.  I also have a couple of restaurant discount/freebie coupons that expire this month so Hubs and I will be going out to eat at least twice in October besides the OC trip.  I really want to keep the OC trip food purchases low but that's a post for another day. ;-)

There are no birthdays or other activities going on in October that should make our food purchases rise above our $400 allotment.
I am going to work on using up some freezer goods this month to get ready to restock it with fresh meats.
 

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

2013 Total Saved $2,249.36

2013 Yearly Total Value of Items  $5,522.65

2013 Yearly Total Spent $3,273.29

2013 Yearly Savings Total of  40.73%

 

In September, total savings percentage for the year has gone DOWN .01% over August's year-to-date total of 40.74%, to 40.73%.  So we saw a VERY slight decrease in our savings rate on food/toiletries spending for the year.
We are holding steady in the 40%s.
Works for me! 8-)

 

How much did you spend on food in September?
 

Sluggy

JUNE 2012 Budget Results.......Food and Toiletries Spending

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for JUNE 2012.

I have posted June's totals on the right side bar under Total Grocery Savings for 2012 and updated the Yearly Totals.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in June.  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(2-4 at home this month)& 2 dogs. No kids under 16.
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HOUSE OF NUTRITION(health food store)
OOP   $27.77

Value   $78.86

Savings 64.79 %

MAINE SOURCE(restaurant supply store)

OOP  $48.04

Value  $82.31

Savings  41.63%

RITE-AID

OOP  $1.97

Qs/Ads  $139.39

Value  $141.36

Savings   98.06%

SHURSAVE STORES(small local independent affiliated stores)
OOP  $10.95

Qs/Ads  $10.49

Value  $21.44

Savings  49%

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $270.12

Qs/Ads  $526.96

Value  $797.08

Savings  66.11%

I don't track Rite-Aid's +Ups here, nor 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' & will go into the Food/Toiletries budget, offsetting the Out of Pocket. Cash will go immediately into the Budget kitty, while Gift Cards will be calculated in when spent.

REBATE CHECKS RECEIVED IN June

Total...$0.00

GIFT CARDS and CERTIFICATES
Rite-Aid $10 Gift Card for +Ups that didn't print

TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received...$10.00

COUPONS and FREEBIES

1 Free Box of Cereal--giveaway winning

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My best 3 Store Savings Totals were the Rite-Aid at 98.06%,  Weis at 66.11% and  House of Nutrition at 64.79%.  l shopped at 5 different stores this past month.

TOTAL Out of Pocket........$358.85

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$762.20

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$1,121.05

TOTAL Savings of...................................68%

This closes out the June spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....

I went into June with $400 budgeted for food/toiletries for the month.  I was able to stay substantially below that amount.
Though I didn't actively coupon in June, by hitting up the Grand Opening deals at Weis and doing those Catalinas there and at Rite-Aid that gave me Free Money Coupons, I was still able to get close to my dream goal of a 75% savings rate.

This is much better than the 40% rate I've been tracking at for most of this year.

LOOKING AHEAD TO JULY.....

I will be setting my food budget at $300 for July.  #2 Son will be gone for at least another 2 weeks, maybe as long as the entire month.  This really cuts down on how much food gets consumed around here.

With the hot weather now, I plan to eat lighter and eat more fresh veggies as they come into season.  A new farmer's market has opened up here, one that is easier to get to and find parking near, so I'll be checking that out soon for prices.

I'll be on the look-out for meat deals but otherwise I plan to eat down the supplies in the freezer.

How did you do in June with your Food Budget?
Did you stick to it?
Did you find any good rock bottom prices to stock up on groceries?

Please leave a comment or link to your post and let us hear about your progress!  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

$70.59 Later.....

I just went hog wild at Weis Markets on Saturday!
They were celebrating their 150th year in business and had some deals I wanted to pick up.
I also wanted to stock up on a few things that were on sale this past week.
In addition, I got talked into buying junk food that was part of the Pepsico Spend $25, Get $5 OYNO Catalina.

Things that were part of the One Day Anniversary Sale.....
Meat Hot Dogs--$1  I bought 3 packs.
Asparagus--$1 lb.  I bought 1.03 lbs.
Tomatoes on the Vine--$1 lb.  I bought 1.02 lbs.
Potato Chips--$1  I bought 2 bags.
Cold Cereal--$1  I bought 2 boxes.
Pork Ribs--$1 lb.  I bought 7.26 lbs.

I bought up to the limit on all but the hot dogs.
This portion came to $16.31.

The Pepsico stuff I bought....
2 20-packs of soda @ $6 each
2 bags of Sun Chips @ $3 each
2 bags of Tostitos Chips @ $3.50 each

$25, used $4 in ManuQs, paid $21 for this portion and got a $5 OYNO CatQ.

My stock-ups were....
8 cans of green chiles at $1.25 each
4 boxes of taco shells at $1.25 each
2 cans of organic tomato paste .39¢ each after $1/2 StoreQ from Weis Healthy Bites magazine
1 bottle Weis Olive Oil for $2.99 after sale and $1 StoreQ from Weis Healthy Bites magazine
This portion came to $18.77.

Other things I bought that were on sale and I had Qs for....
2 DiGiorno Pizzas on sale $4.99(Must buy 2), used $1.50/2 IPQ making them $4.24 each.
2 2-ltr Polar Seltzer on sale .99¢, used $1/2 WinetagQ making them .49¢ each.
4 1-ltr Polar Mixers on sale .80¢, used $1/4 WinetagQ making them .55¢ each.
This portion came to $12.21.

Things I needed that were on sale.....
1 12-pack hot dog rolls for $1.50.

Add in .80¢ for tax and I'm OOP $70.59.
I got a $5 Catalina Q and I also got a $2.50 WYSpend $40 CatQ.  Both expire on 19 May.  I'll try to use them both if I can come up with a planned $40 order.

Here's why I bought what I bought.....
*  #1 son requested I make some barbecued meats when he comes home soon so the ribs are destined for dinner in the next 2 weeks.
*  The tomatoes are for a quick easy dinner of BLTs sometime this coming week. I've got the bacon and bread, just need some lettuce.
*  The frozen pizzas are for a quick easy dinner(just add salad)when all the kids are home in the next 2 weeks.
*  The asparagus are part of dinner for Monday.
*  I'll be needing the soda mixers when I start drinking again while the kids are home.lol
*  The hog dog rolls are needed for Sunday's dinner.
*  The hot dogs are for when #2 Son's friends descend and swarm in the kitchen this summer looking for food.(long range planning)
*  The cold cereal and all the junk food/soda are for the kids who are all coming home.(anticipating kitchen raiding at night)  This should last as long as they all will be home....crossing fingers since 1 of the bags of chips has already been hit hard. lol
*  All the stock-up items are things I stockpile.....tomato paste, olive oil, taco shells, green chiles.(long range planning) #2 Son, if he had HIS WAY, would eat tacos 3 x a week for dinner.  I can never have enough taco shells.lol

Even adding in my trip to the independent market earlier in the week, I spent only $93.79 for the week for food.  And that included quite a bit of stocking up so I'm happy with it.
I don't know.....psychologically if I can keep my food spending for our family size under $100 in any given week,  I feel like we are doing well to keep costs down.

How about you?....Is there an amount you like to stay under for food expenses per week, even if you know you have more than that to spend?

Sluggy

January Food Spending Week 4, Meal Plan February Week 1

*I am taking part in Precious' MONEY SAVING CHALLENGE again for 2012.  You can find her blog FRUGAL MAKES CENTS and a list of other participants and their blogs  HERE.

Check it out.  You might find some new ideas for incorporating frugality into your life there!*


I love searching around for old photos and advertisements featuring kitchens from years gone by.  These are mostly the kitchens from my youth in the 1960's or earlier.  

Today's kitchen......

This is from a 1953 KitchenAid magazine ad.  While it's before "my" time, my brothers were around during that year.  I seriously doubt this was anything like the kitchen in my parent's house at that time, seeing as my parents were very poor when my siblings were born and they didn't own a house until shortly before I made my appearance into the world.

 

But for 1953, this was cutting edge in kitchen technology--metal cabinets, a stove in the center of the room with a recessed range hood, a breakfast bar with stools, a stylish linoleum floor with a yellow accent stripe(which matched the formica countertops!).  The laundry room was right in the kitchen too, with built in ironing and drying racks.  And did you notice the little rolling dirty laundry hamper/bin with the yellow counter top on it, in front of the iron board?

Now the oven position & style is a little odd, the fridge is pretty ordinary for the era, but the television set sitting in the kitchen in 1953!?  This family was upper middle class for sure to even own a tv in 1953!lol

Enough of that, onward to the Meals and Food Spending. 8-)


Last week's meal plan is in the books.  Here is what actually happened....
SUNDAY--homemade Pizza, carrot & celery sticks w/dressing

MONDAY--Leftover Chili or Burritos or both

TUESDAY--Denny's for Birthday Grand Slam

WEDNESDAY--Soup and Sandwich or leftover Sloppy Joe

THURSDAY--Chicken & Dumplings with carrots

FRIDAY--Chinese take-out
SATURDAY---Red Robin for Birthday Burger

I used up the last of the frozen pizza dough.  I had some odd pieces of chicken getting old in the freezer so I made Chicken and Dumplings out of it.  I tried a different dumpling recipe(the one in the Joy of Cooking with calls for egg as an ingredient), which gave a lighter/airy dumpling.  I didn't care for it much, preferring my old recipe which makes a heavier/gummier dumpling.  

There wasn't much other cooking last week, just more using up leftovers, heating up canned soup, opening canned/jarred fruits and more Birthday eating out.

I also didn't step foot into a grocery store all week...AGAIN!.  Hubs picked up milk one evening and #2 and I went to the Ollie's closeout store and bought some foodstuffs on another night.   The weekly spending was $46.75.

4 Weeks in and I spent $207.68 of my $300 January food budget.  $92.32 leftover for the month. I'll roll this amount into February's food budget, giving me $392.32 for this month.

I don't plan on spending it all in February, the extra will cover if I go over my usual $300 in the coming month.  Any leftover amount at the end of February will get thrown into my Savings Challenge fund and I'll start at $300 going into March.

For February....

Going into February Week 1, we have a little bit of Chili leftover and a couple of helpings of Chicken & Dumplings from Week 4.

This week's menu.....

SUNDAY--Italian Sausage Sandwiches, Cauliflower

MONDAY--Taco Bell(I'm having leftover Chicken & Dumplings)

TUESDAY--Homemade Pizza, Fruit Salad

WEDNESDAY--Tacos, Corn

THURSDAY--Tilapia, Rice, Brussel Sprouts

FRIDAY--Lasagna, Tossed Salad
SATURDAY--Leftovers

This menu gives us I night of take-out(except for my dinner), 1 night of leftovers and 5 home cooked meals this week.

Items needed for this menu are...pizza dough(getting from Price Chopper tonight), fruit and salad greens. I've got all the proteins I'm serving and all the dairy and noodles for the Lasagna here already. 

I'll pick up extra salad greens this week, some fresh produce and fruit as well as any good deals I find this week.  I haven't checked the sales ads yet so I don't know what I'll be picking up, if anything in the way of good deals.

Before good deals, I'm figuring on $30 spending this week for immediate menu food 'needs'.

 

With my leftover cash, I'm starting February with $392.32 in the food budget.

So what is everyone else eating this week?  

Sluggy

Quick Trip to Price Chopper for Coupon Doublers and Edy's Catalina Deal

After getting a gold star this morning at the dentist.....8-))....I made a dash down to Price Chopper to roll my $5 Catalina Q from 2 weeks ago for buying all that Dove Men's Soap.
PC had 3 Coupon Doubler Qs in the ad here on Sunday and there is an Edy's Ice Cream Catalina Deal(Spend $12/Get $4 Cat Q)so I pulled a few Qs and went deal hunting.

4 x Texas Toast Croutons BOGO sale($2.29)=$4.58
2 x Edy's Fruit Bars on sale $3=$6.00
2 x Edy's Ice Cream on sale $3=$6.00
2 x Heluva Good Cheese on sale $2=$4.00
2 x Bic Comfort 3 Razors on sale $2.99=$5.98
SubTotal.....$26.56

Coupons Used
2 x $1/2 Texas Toast Croutons ManuQ(used 2 Doubler Qs)=$4.00
2 x $1/1 Edy's Fruit Bars IPQ=$2.00
1 x $1/2 Heluva Good items ManuQ(used 1 Doubler Q)=$2.00
2 x $3/1 Bic Comfort 3 Razor ManuQ(price modified down to $2.99 each)=$5.98
1 x $5 OYNO Cat Q=$5.00
Coupon Total.....$18.98

$26.56-$18.98=$7.58+.06¢tax=$7.64 OOP
And my Edy's Catalina didn't print!
Went to the counter and seems nobody's Cat for this is printing at this store, so the CSM gave me $4 cash instead.
Deduct that $4 and my OOP today was $3.64.
$37.68 worth of items gives me a savings rate of 90.34%.

Analysis.....


* The cheese was $1 a block after Qs.
* The croutons were 14&1/5 cents a bag after Qs.
* The razors were free.
* What's left OOP is $1.00(plus 6 cents for tax)for 4 containers of ice cream/popsicles which breaks down to 25 cents for each container.
 * In a way I'm glad I got cash today instead of a Catalina Q to roll.  I don't go to PC much in the summer so now I don't have a Cat that has to be used in 2 weeks hanging over my head.

This brings my food spending for July up to $78.37.  Half the month is over and we have $171.63 left in the budget.

How is your food spending, or NOT spending going so far in July?
Any great deals you had to have so far this month?
Or are you trying to eat down your pantry?

Sluggy