$30K Savings Challenge JANUARY 2010 Totals....a Slow Start

I have posted my JANUARY End of Month 30K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.

I have to report that we finished up January in the Black.

The amount we ended the month of January with was.......$755.65

Income
Besides Hubby salary we had a small amount in Rebates and some rolled Coins under the Income Heading.

Outgo
As for the expenses in January.....
The electric bill doubled!  This was not unexpected as our electric rates increased 30% on the 1st plus January was colder than December so more energy was used.
The water bill jumped $15 from last month. Extra showers and laundry to do with extra people in the house in Jan.
All other regular bills...Cable, Internet, Phone, etc. are the same each month. 

The Food Budget costs for January are in another post, which is located HERE.  Food/Toiletries spending in January was high but compared to the value of the items bought we still saved just over 84%. 

Jan. and Feb. are heavy expense months for us, as some quarterly and semi-annual bills come due.
The credit card bill,which is paid off EVERY MONTH,($643.14)wasn't too bad considering it's mostly gas purchases, 1 grocery store purchase and some Birthday/Relative visiting eating out.

The out-of-the-ordinary expenses in January halved our savings for the month.
It was a bad month for this family's teeth.
3 Wisdom Teeth, 4 Regular Teeth and a set of Braces later, we saw a big chunks of cash leave our account.  We do have dental insurance(thankfully!)so these expenses won't be as bad as they could have been.  The braces are paid for, out of savings we put aside for this expense a couple of years ago but the 7 teeth that were pulled WERE paid for out of our Jan. income.  At the moment that expense stands at $1,780.  We have to pay for these services but get reimbursed with our dental benefit later.  I am still waiting on one of the reimbursements. This payment will go into the income column and be applied against the expenses in February.

So how was your January financially?  Leave a comment and share with us what you did with your money, both the good and not-so good.   Do you have any tricks or tips that help you to end your month before the money runs out?  Let us know!


Sluggy

January BUDGET RESULTS-Food & Toiletries Spending

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for JANUARY 2010.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in January.
These Totals include Food, Toiletries/HBA, Pet Supplies, Cleaning Products & tax where applicable.We are a family of 5(4 at home-all 5 home for 2/3 of this month + an extra relative for 1 week)& 3 dogs. No kids under 13.

BIG LOTS
OOP $20.60
Qs/Ads $9.90
Value $30.50
Savings 32.50%

CARONE'S(local Independent Grocery that doesn't take IP Qs)
OOP $8.82
Qs/Ads $0
Value $8.82
Savings   0%

CVS
OOP $1.98
Qs/Ads $150.31
Value $152.29
Savings 98.70%

ENTENMANN'S OUTLET
OOP $12.89
Ads/Sales $23.61
Value $36.50
Savings  64.70%

RITE AID
OOP $135.42 before rebates
Qs/Ads $188.91
Value $1324.33
Savings 89.78%

WALGREENS
OOP $23.75
Qs/Ads $16.99
Value $40.74
Savings  41.70%

WEIS (local chain Grocery store that doesn't take IP Qs in my town)
OOP $182.21
Qs/Ads $333.06
Value $515.27
Savings  64.64%

I've don't track 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 RECV'D. IN JANUARY

Ducolax.....$5.00

Pinecone Research....$6.00
Raisin Bran Extra(Kellogg's)...$4.39
Rite-Aid SCR........$40.78
Subtotal........$56.17

FREE ITEMS

Stacy's Chips
International Delights Creamer

COUPONS

None Received 8-(

GIFT CARDS and CERTIFICATES

Nothing this Month.

TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received..$56.17
This was a very light month for Rebates.....

My best 3 Store Savings Totals were from CVS at 98.70%, Rite-Aid at 89.70%, and the Entenmann's Outlet at 64.70%.

TOTAL Out of Pocket...............................$385.67
TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$1722.78
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased.............$2108.45
TOTAL Savings of..........81.70%

TOTAL of CASH Rebates........................$56.17
TOTAL OOP After  Rebates....................$329.50
TOTAL Savings of..................................84.37%

This closes out the January spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month-
With the extra mouths to feed in January coupled with the dirth of Rebates coming in during the month, the Food Spending was high for me and I waaaaay overshot my $200 goal. I see now that it was unrealistically low.  

What's ahead for February 2010.....

The February 2010 Food/Toiletries Budget is set at $250 cash out of pocket.  Any rebates received this month will offset this OOP spending.  I sent away for $65.38 in Rebates in January and am still waiting on $26 in Rebates from December, so hopefully some of those will come in this month and augment my food budget.
If I don't spend all the money in the budget in February(HAHA), I'll carry over whatever is leftover into February's food budget.  I've already spent $90+ at Price Chopper on Catalina Deals last week and I'm going to be doing some Catalina Deals this week at Weis so I'm crossing my fingers that some rebates come in. 

How did you do in January with your Food Budget?  Leave a comment or link to your post and let us hear!  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

It Worked!

Among the Catalina Deals this week at Weis is one with 2 smaller Cat Deals inside.
If I bought just the right combination of items, not only would I received the $8 OYNO Cat, but I'd receive a $4 OYNO Cat from Pillsbury and a $3 OYN Meat Purchase Cat from Old El Paso.

And it worked!

2 x Yo-Plus Yogurt reg. price $2.79=$5.58/sale price $1.50=$3.00
2 x BC Cookie Mix reg. price $2.19=$4.38/sale price $1.50=$3.00
2 x Pillsbury Simply Cookies reg. price $3.49=$6.98/sale price $2.50=$5.00
4 x Pillsbury Crescent Rolls reg. price $2.29=$9.16/sale price $1.66=$6.66
6 x Old El Paso Seasoning reg. price $.89=$5.34/sale price $.625=$3.75
SubTotal.....reg. price $31.44/sale price $21.41

Coupons Used
2 x $1/1 Yo-Plus=$2.00
1 x $1/2 BC Cookie Mix=$1.00
2 x $1/1 Simply Cookies=$2.00
2 x $1/2 Pillsbury Crescent=$2.00
**No coupons for the OEP unfortunately** 8-(
2 x $.75 OYNO from buying the Dole products week before last=$1.50
Coupon Total....$8.50


$21.41-$8.50=$12.91
Plus the cashier gave me a Discount because it was Senior Citizen Day.....I don't refuse it.lol
$12.91-$1.09=$11.82 OOP

And here is what I got back when I paid....

$15 in Catalinas....Woot!

I can now take those Cats, buy all this stuff again, use another set of the same Qs(except for the $1.50 OYN Cats off of the Dole purchase) and use the $12 in Cats for any purchase too.
$21.41-$8.50Qs=$12.91-$12 in Cats=$.91 OOP AND I'll receive another $15 in Cats.

Sluggy

Quick run to Rite-Aid before the Snow Comes

While we missed most of the snow from last Friday's storm in our corner of PA, we are due for a foot or so of snow in the next 24 hours.
I figured I'd run out to another Rite-Aid before the 'snow event' hits and see if I could find the Dove Men's Body Wash that my local RA was out of on Sunday.

No Body Wash at this store either but I got a few things anyway....lol

2 x GE Lightbulbs on sale $2.50=$5.00
1 x Nivea Body Wash on sale=$2.99
1 x Nyquil on sale=$3.99
1 x Purevia on sale=$2.99
1 x Schick Razors on sale=$4.99
1 x Royal Gelatin on sale=$.20
SubTotal...$20.16

Coupons Used
1 x $5 off $20 Purchase AdPerks IPQ=$5.00

2 x $1/1 Any GE Lightbulbs(1/3SS insert)=$2.00
1 x $2/1 Any Skin Care item Wellness IPQ=$2.00**Can use $2/1 Nivea Body Wash ManuQ instead
1 x $1.50/1 Nyquil ManQ(2/7 P&G insert)=$1.50
1 x $2/1 Purevia ManuQ(1/3SS insert)=$2.00
1 x $3/1 Schick Razors ManuQ(2/7SS insert)=$3.00
1 x $1/1 Any Shaving Acces. Wellness CRT Q=$1.00
Coupon Total....$16.50

$20.16-$16.50=$3.66 OOP  put on Rite-Aid Gift Card so NO Out of Pocket for me... ;-)

SCRs qualified for....$2 GE Reveal Lightbulbs, $1 Nyquil=$3.00
AND there is a token for  5 Music Downloads FREE in the package of Razors.

Even if you don't have the Wellness Shave Access. $1 Q but all the other Qs to use, your OOP on this transaction will be $4.66 and once you get back to SCRs of $3, you will only be OOP $1.66 for all these items in the end.

And I finished up on BIL's Nivea $5 Gift Card SCR deal.  I was short 3 CENTS on making the $15 purchase, so this Nivea Body Wash put me over.
Now I just need to purchase $7.39 more of P&G items to qualify BIL for the $35 level on the Prepaid Visa Card.

Sluggy

Price Chopper Grocery Store Catalina Deals Last Week

So how much can you buy at the Grocery Store for $92.32?
Here's what I can buy.....

 

How about some closer photos.....

21 Mac & Cheese
12 Jello
2 Planters Cashews
6 Capri Sun
15 Parmesan Cheese(1 not pictured)
10 Oreos
10 Ritz Toasted Crackers
4 Knorr's Sides
2 Wishbone Dressing
5 Quaker Oats
12 Old El Pas Sides & Seasonings
22 PC Tomato Paste small
14 PC Tomato Paste large
8 PC Pasta
3 Baking Soda
2 Cheez Doodles(1 not pictured)
1 Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream(not pictured)
2 PC Facial Tissue
1 PC Hand Soap
20 Dove Shampoo
15 Wisk Laundry Detergent
1 Dove Men Body Wash
1 Dove Men Soap
7 Dove Deodorant
1 Degree Deodorant
1 Dove Lotion
3 Caress Body Wash
1 Q-Tips
5 Toothpaste(4 Colgate/1 Tom's of Maine)
1 Marcal Paper Towels
4 Marcal Toilet Paper

That's 211 items.
A retail value of $642.22.
A savings of 85.62%.
Plus I ended up with $36 in Catalinas($6 On Your Next Meat Purchase/$30 on Any Purchase) to spend in the coming weeks.
AND...once I buy 5 single serve Mac&Cheese cups(when I find them on sale for .50¢ or less)I can send for the Kraft Back to School $20 Rebate.  I bought the 10 cookies/crackers(oreos & ritz) and 5 beverages(capri sun) in these PC trips for this rebate. 
And I received my FREE OREOS Qs(we got multiple copies of it & I don't know why...did anyone else?) in the mail Saturday morning, so I was able to use them on my last trip to Price Chopper to have an even lower OOP than I had planned.

Price Chopper had 2 Doubler Qs on their ads in the newspaper last week.  I used them on the $2 Marcal Qs so I got the Marcal products for $1.99 a package after sale, Q and doubler.  The rest I used on assorted items in the Catalina deals with higher value coupons.(Dove $1.50 shampoo Qs, Wisk $2 Qs, Ritz $2/2 Qs, etc.)  PC also had a store Q that doubled any Colgate Q in the sales ad.  Unfortunately, Colgate doesn't release high value Qs but my $1/1 Total Toothpaste Q doubled to $2 and the Colgate Tpaste was $2.50 on sale, making it .50¢ after Qs.

Price Chopper also had a store coupon for Facebook fans for $5 off WYB 10 PC/Store Brand items.
I used that Q 5 times....I got tomato paste for .22¢, pasta for .19¢, etc. doing that.

My favorite deal I got was the Quaker Oats.  I found a $3/5 Quaker  Manu Q  in a store sales ad from another store from a couple of weeks ago in my stack of newspapers in the garage.  Quaker oatmeal was on sale for $1.50 a canister.  I bought 5 canisters for $7.50 and using that $3/5 Q AND a Doubler Q I turned my Q into a $6 off Q, making my 5 canisters of Oatmeal cost $1.50 or .30¢ each!


I am proud of myself this time around at Price Chopper too because for the most part I bought things we needed(we had just run out of Parmesan Cheese!).  The pasta, baking soda and tomato paste are things I use alot of, plus toilet paper and laundry detergent is always welcomed here.lol  Most of the Dove will be making a trip to the flea market as we are still stocked to the gills with those items.

So the Price Chopper campaign is complete.
I just loooooove getting great deals, don't you?
Even as old and jaded as I am, I still get a thrill when this coupon obsession pays off.lol

I'm hoping they have another good Catalina Deal around Easter like they did last year, but I'm not holding my breath.lol

Now we open the floor to questions and comments......anyone?

Sluggy