2016 Food and Toiletries Spending......June Update

* I've closed out the June books a couple of days early as I am done shopping.  Anything bought in the next 2 days will come out of July's funds. *

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

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for JUNE 2016.

I have posted June's totals on the Total Grocery Savings for 2016 Page located HERE and have updated the Yearly Totals there.  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 Sum.  My spending includes Food, Toiletries/HBA, Cleaning Products, Paper Goods & tax where applicable. We are a family of 5(3-5 at home this month). No kids under 20.

******************

BAKERY OUTLET
OOP  $11.00
Value  $39.51
Savings 72.16%

MAINE SOURCE
OOP  $65.52
Value  $111.64
Savings  41.31%

SHURSAVE MARKET
OOP  $40.63
Qs/Ads $16.32
Value  $56.95
Savings  28.65%

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $292.96

Qs/Ads  $180.15

Value  $473.11

Savings  38.07%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Bakery Outlet at 72.16%, Maine Source at 41.31% and Weis at 38.07%.  My WORST savings rate was at the Shursave Market at 28.65%.

I shopped at 4 different stores this past month.

TOTAL Out of Pocket..........$410.11

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$271.10

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$681.21

TOTAL Savings of...................................39.80%
As I did no Rite-Aid shopping this month 39.80% is also my total w/out Rite-Aid.


This closes out the June food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....
I went into June wanting to do a $400 food budget for the month.  I ended up going over by $10.11.
That's not bad considering we have 5 eating/living here(for 3 weeks out of 4 weeks of June)and I have no clue what my grocery/toiletries budget needs to be yet.
I am still feeling my way to what I need to put toward these bills each month going forward.

It's a bit discouraging that my savings rate dropped to 39.80% in June when the budget expanded by $100 BUT also keep in mind that I did NO Rite-Aid shopping at all in June.  My savings rate is very high when I shop at R-A so I sort of got a double whammy this past month......more spending OOP overall and no R-A deals.

The monthly food spending savings percentage went down by 5.73% in June to 39.80% compared to May's 45.53% savings average.   Not quite at my 40% minimum savings rate threshold I like to see but the drop from the previous month isn't as bad as the drop from April's to May's savings rate(14.97%).
But I would like to try to get the rate back up over 40% if possible.

With 6 months accounted for, I have spent a total of $1804.65 on food/toiletries so far in 2016 which averages out to $300.78 per month spent.  The average in May stood at $298.91 per month spent to that point in 2016 so we are up $1.87 spent per month from last month's year-to-date tally. Compared to this point in the year to 2015's totals we have spent $547.01 LESS on food and toiletries in 2016.
Of course, June of 2015 we spent over $600 that month on food(which was a much higher than normal amount).

I can't say what our yearly spending will end up being now that I have 2 more mouths to feed.  I am guessing we won't stay under $4K for the year.

LOOKING AHEAD To July 2016.........

I will continue with my usual shopping ways in July....buy loss leaders or great deals which we can use, use a few coupons, cash in points for gift cards or buy discounted gift cards to food stores when possible.
I am going to give myself $450 for July.  We spent $410 in June and we have a cook-out planned for this weekend which will mean more food to buy/prepare/serve to guests.  I am still adjusting the budget to find our sweet spot on food spending.

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 June?
*  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

Last of the October Shopping

I had a $5 off $50 Purchase Coupon for Maine Source(the local restaurant supply store)and they had some good deals on Sunday(the weekend specials and the new weekly specials good on this day)so I hiked up there to finish off the bulk of my food shopping for this week.

Pictured are acorn squash, sweet potatoes and butternut squash I bought.  The squash was .49¢ lb. and the taters were .69¢ lb.
If some of this lasts long enough to make it to Thanksgiving it will be making an appearance on the Turkey Day table too.  ;-)

I also picked up in this trip--
10 lb. potatoes @$1.69
1 head green cabbage(3.23 lb.)@.59¢ lb.
1 head red cabbage(1.80 lb.)@.69¢ lb.
1 lb. liverwurst(Hubs lunches)@$2.49
2 lb. med. raw shrimp @$11.49 bag
8 lb. ground chuck @$2.69 lb.
1 package paper plates @$1.79(to get me over $50 spent)
Total came to $50.30-$5 coupon=$45.30 OOP

They didn't have sour cream for a good price or any reg. carrots(just those shaved up baby ones)so when Hubs went to Walmart to get a pair of boots afterwards, I picked up a bag of carrots, a container of sour cream and a 8-pack of frozen burritos(Hubs go-to weekend lunch).
These items were free as I had a $50 Walmart gift card(gotten free with credit card points)to use on the food and the boots.  And there is $23+ left on the gift card now.

This finishes off my food/toiletries spending for October so I'll be closing the books now on this month and posting my grocery totals in the next couple of days.  I know I didn't spend over my $300 Oct. budget and can't wait to see how much under I ended up at.

I have also been buying this month with an eye toward having to prepare Thanksgiving dinner.  Little by little I have been squirreling away items I need to make that meal.....turkey, veggies, flour for rolls, pumpkin, evaporated milk and sugar for pies, etc.  About the only item I still need to purchase is some bread for the stuffing and a bottle of Redi-Whip or a carton of Heavy Cream if I want to make my own whipped cream. ;-)

If the Weis ads are good when they come out on Thursday I'll either wait until after Saturday to purchase anything there on November's money IN November or I'll just get my November grocery money a few days early and start the November buying before the weekend.

Some of the squash and cabbage already made it to my table on Monday...........

Potato encrusted Cod, Cole Slaw and Mashed Butternut Squash.
Yum!

Sluggy



 

Food & Toiletries Spending......February Update

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

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for FEBRUARY 2014.

I have posted February's totals on the Total Grocery Savings for 2014 Page located HERE and have updated the Yearly 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 Summary.

My spending includes Food, Toiletries/HBA, Pet Supplies, Cleaning Products, Paper Goods & tax where applicable. We are a family of 4(3 at home this month)& 1 dog. No kids under 17.
******************

BAKERY OUTLET
OOP  $10.78
Value  $25.74
Savings   58.12%

DOLLAR STORE
OOP  $17.00
Value  $40.16
Savings    57.67%
 

RITE-AID
OOP  $51.23
Qs/Ads/+Ups  $243.44
Value  $294.67
Savings  82.61%
 

SHURSAVE STORES(small local independent affiliated stores)
OOP  $125.98

Qs/Ads  $118.54

Value  $244.52

Savings  48.48%

WALMART
OOP  $23.46
Qs/Ads  $20.32
Value  $43.78
Savings  46.41%

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $168.08

Qs/Ads  $115.39

Value  $283.47

Savings  40.70%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 82.61%, the Bakery Outlet at 58.12%, and the Dollar Store at 57.67%.  My WORST savings rate was 40.70% at Weis so I think I did exceptionally well in February on the value of what I got!  Obviously I'm not counting the Turkey Hill Convenience store where Hubs picked up a 1/2 gallon of milk and my savings rate was 0%. ;-)
I shopped at 6 different stores this past month.

TOTAL Out of Pocket........$398.43

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$535.81

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$934.23

TOTAL Savings of...................................57.35%

Even without counting the Rite-Aid shopping, my savings rate would be 45.71%.

This closes out the February food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....

I went into February wanting to cut my food/toiletries budget by $100, to $300 budgeted for ALL purchases.  I failed BUT I did stay under my usual $400 Food Budget.
Yay me.  ;-)


LOOKING AHEAD TO MARCH......

I'm going to try to do this $300 food spending budget one more time in March.
If I can't then I'll stop trying.

I tallied up our Eating Out spending for February and it came in at $94.44.
We had Chinese take-out once, Burger King once, I took #2 Son out for his free birthday burger and spent $24.82 on 2 drinks, my chicken burger and the tip, and $35.85 was spent on dinner for Hubs & #2 Son at Perkins on the audition trip to Mansfield. 
Of course we ate at Bob Evans twice too but we used gift cards to cover those meals.


Without the Rite-Aid totals added in, my February Savings Rate is 43%.  Achieving a savings rate in the 40's is what I shoot for, with or without shopping at Rite-Aid.
 

If you have other ideas or guidelines you follow please leave a comment and share yours with us all.

Total spend on food/toiletries so far this year.....$695.80

The average monthly food/toiletries spending this year so far is $347.90.

 

How much did you spend on food/toiletries in February?
Do you track your yearly food spending?
 

Sluggy

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

 

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for JUNE 2013.

I have posted June'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 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(3 at home this month)& 2 dogs. No kids under 17.
******************

MAINE SOURCE(restaurant supply)

OOP  $43.16

Value  $71.07

Savings  39.27 %
 

SHURSAVE STORES(small local independent affiliated stores)
OOP  $121.70

Qs/Ads  $57.71

Value  $179.41

Savings  32.17%

WEGMAN'S
OOP  $85.29
Qs/Ads  $26.11
Value  $111.40
Savings  23.44%

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $30.59

Qs/Ads  $27.64

Value  $58.23

Savings  47.46%

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 June.....$0.00

GIFT CARDS and CERTIFICATES....$0

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

COUPONS and FREEBIES

Zero

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Weis at 47.46%, Maine Source at 39.27% and Shursave Markets at 32.17%.  l only shopped at 4 different stores this past month.

TOTAL Out of Pocket........$280.74

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$139.37

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$420.11

TOTAL Savings of...................................32.18%

This closes out the June food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....

I went into June with my usual $400 budgeted for food/toiletries for the month.  Ended the month with $119.26 left over.
 

I did NO Rite-Aid shopping last month either.

I'm still trying to figure out what my baseline for food costs is since the dietary change in April.  Scratching my head about the low spend on food this month....not sure why because we didn't suddenly increase the eating out or anything.  Maybe it was a combination of eating less at meals(so the food went further)and #2 Son working so not eating dinner here.  I also did no stocking up(much) in June and we ate down a bit on the frozen stuff....which turned out to be a VERY GOOD THING, what with the new freezer going kerflooey(technical term).

Looking ahead to July---I'm lowering our budget to $300 for  this month.  I won't be stocking up on any frozen foods and we'll be eating down what I have in that category, given our freezer situation at the moment.  I am hoping to not buy meat products until what we have in the freezers is gone this month.  Most of the food budget in July will be going toward fresh fruits and veggies and some dairy.
**Update** I might keep the food budget at $400 instead, since Daughter told me that Sears(where she works)is having a nice sale n freezers for the 4th of July week.  I might break down and buy a Kenmore freezer as she says they aren't made by the factory in China that makes Whirlpools.  I suppose it's a different factory but still in China however.lolz
So in case I do buy another new freezer this month, I'll keep the food budget at $400 since I'll need to get a few frozen items.

 

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

2013 Total Saved $1,562.88

2013 Yearly Total Value of Items  $3,770.44

2013 Yearly Total Spent $2,207.56

2013 Yearly Savings Total of  41.45%

 

Again in June, total savings percentage for the year has gone down just over 1%.  The month of June was 32.18% saved(which was 7% worse than May's savings).
The yearly total so far is still over 40% so I am good with that.

 

How much did you spend on food in June?
 

Sluggy