MARCH Budget Results....Food & Toiletries Spending

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for MARCH 2010.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in March.
These Totals include Food, Toiletries/HBA, Pet Supplies, Cleaning Products & tax where applicable.We are a family of 5(4 at home) & 3 dogs. No kids under 14.


BOYER'S(small local chain in next town)
OOP $38.01
Qs/Ads $71.09
Value $109.10
Savings 65.10%

CVS
OOP $.57 ($2.64 put on Gift Card)
Qs/Ads $37.39
Value $40.60
Savings 99.20%

ENTENMANN'S OUTLET
OOP $9.00
Ads/Sales $16.74
Value $25.74
Savings  65%

PRICE CHOPPER Northeast
OOP $3.92
Qs/Ads $21.48
Value $25.40
Savings 84.57%

RITE AID
OOP $3.93 ($42.48 put on Rite-Aid Gift Card/Prepaid Visa Card)
Qs/Ads $717.25
Value $759.73
Savings 99.48%

SHIEL'S(local Independent Grocery that doesn't take IP Qs)
OOP $0.00 ($8.00 put on Gift Card)
Qs/Ads $7.15
Value $15.15
Savings   100%

WALGREENS
OOP $8.02
Qs/Ads $49.33
Value $57.35
Savings  86%

WEIS (local chain Grocery store that doesn't take IP Qs in my town)
OOP $158.95
Qs/Ads $497.58
Value $371.49
Savings  81.70%

I 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 MARCH

Lypsyl Rebate....$2.00

Naked Juice....$10.00

Olay Regenerist Rebate....$15.00

Olay Quench Rebate...$11.23
Olay 2 Cleansers Rebate.....$15.00
Pinecone Research....$6.00
Renpure Shampoo....$3.00
Rite-Aid SCR....$80.73
Schick Razor....$7.64

Subtotal........$150.60

FREE ITEMS

Barilla Pasta Q
Heluva Good Item Q x 2
Reese's Pieces Candy Bag Q
Sugardale Bacon Q

Yogi Tea Q x 2

COUPONS

Betty Crocker/Pillsbury Qs
Price Chopper Catalinas  $20

GIFT CARDS and CERTIFICATES

Rite-Aid $5 Wellness Gift Card

Rite-Aid $5 Nivea Gift Card

Rite-Aid $25 Heart Healthy Gift Card

TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received..$185.60


My best 3 Store Savings Totals were from Schiel's at 100%, Rite-Aid at 99.48%, and CVS at 99.20%.


TOTAL Out of Pocket...............................$222.40
TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$1182.16
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased.............$1404.56
TOTAL Savings of..........84.17%

TOTAL of CASH Rebates........................$150.60
TOTAL OOP After  Rebates....................$71.80
TOTAL Savings of..................................94.89%

This closes out the March spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month-
I think I did quite well this month, especially considering all the Catalina Deals I did!  The spending before rebates was $222.40 but with rebates added to the budget of $277.77($250 + carryover from last month of $27.77), we had $428.37 to use, so we have $205.97 left to carry over into April's $250 food/toiletries budget.  With that amount leftover I almost got through the month without spending any of the $250 March food/toiletries money!
I may NOT roll this $205.97 leftover into next month's food budget(since I have proven to myself I don't need to spend that much on the monthly supplies), but put it aside instead for buying a part of a steer or free-range chickens, or even for a bulk buy of veggies at the farm this summer to put up for next winter.

What's ahead for April 2010.....

The April 2010 Food/Toiletries Budget is set at $250 cash out of pocket.  Any rebates received this month will offset this OOP spending.  I have $255.14 in Rebates outstanding, so anything that comes in this month gets thrown into the food budget kitty.

How did you do in March 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

I Wish It Would Make Up It's Mind!

Here's what my back deck looked like on March 30th....

2 Inches of SNOW and 28 degrees!

The next afternoon, March 31st I snapped this photo with my good hand.....

The Forsythia Bush is blooming.....and the temperature was 74 Degrees!!!
Yesterday is hit 80 Degrees here.  Less than 48 hours after the snow fell.

Just.
Plain.
Nuts.

Sluggy

I'm Baaaaaaack!

Thanks for all the well-wishes over the past few days.

This last week has seriously been NO FUN!
My shoulder/arm started getting sore last Friday.  I spent 2 days working on whittling down and reorganizing my food stockpile so I chalked it up to just an overworked, tired arm.
But the arm kept feeling worse days after I stopped working on that chore.
Until it got to the point where I couldn't find a comfortable position to sleep in.
After 2 days/nights of not sleeping more than 2 hours total I had DH take me to the ER.

2 hours later I left there feeling the same.  They took a couple of x-rays of the shoulder and nothing showed up fractured or broken so the ER doc(who looked about the age of Doogie Howser) patted me on the head, gave me 1.5 days worth of Percocet and said to see my family doc if I didn't improve in the next 2 days.
2 more days of agony/non-sleep and I was in my family doc's office.

He diagnosed me with Bursitis, put me on an arthritis med and hooked me up with Mr. Vicodin for a few more days.
2 days later and I'm finally feeling human again.  The shoulder is still sore but better and I can at least sleep now.....and type with 2 hands again!

Of course, all this happens at the end of the March when I have some coupons, ECBs and RRs left to use before they expire....so they expired.
Oh well....
At least DH was home this week from work.  I feel bad he spent most of his week taking care of me and carting me around in the car since I couldn't drive but I'm thankful he was here.  The sullen teens would have just ignored me and my needs.  How do I know?  The few times I asked them for a hand, I got the usual eye rolls and sighs.  I had better make darn sure I won't need to live with them when I get old and decrepit!lol


All I can say is I'm glad I got the taxes all done before the shoulder went.
And that Getting Old Sucks when you aren't well....

Sluggy

I'll be Gone for Awhile....

Briefly, I've injured my shoulder and will be away from the keyboard for awhile.  Keep some good thoughts for me over the next few days that the doc can diagnose this quickly and there is something they can do for me.  At this point I'd settle for a mega painkiller as the pain has kept me from sleeping for 2 days.

Oh yeah, and it really sucks typing with one hand!

'Til later...
Sluggy

Old Spice Anyone?

Well I have NOT been shopping all week!
Yep.
All.
Week.
I finally broke down today and headed up to...where else?....Rite-Aid!

I needed a few things before the week and the SCR period for March ended--product to qualify for the NYC cosmetic $1 rebate, 3 more John Frieda items for the 3rd $5 SCR and another $1 worth of something Johnson & Johnson since I miscalculated and only hit the $49 and change mark on the J&J Buy $50/Get $25 SCR deal.
I have 2 John Frieda Root Awakening items rainchecks for the $5 sale price on those products but the stores are still out of the RA 'Poos here and I don't need Conditioners, dang it!  So I'll have to buy the reg. priced Frizz Ease products for the last JFrieda $5 rebate.  Not too bad though, as I get a 10% Wellness discount on the reg. price so they are only $5.84 instead of $6.49.

I did 2 transactions.

#1....
2 x Old Spice Red Zone Spray on sale $2.99=$5.98
1 x Old Spice Red Zone Deodorant on sale=$2.99
1 x Old Spice Red Zone Body Wash on sale=$2.99
1 x Johnson's Baby Shampoo on sale=$2.99
1 x JFrieda Frizz-Easse 'Poo wellness discount=$5.19**


SubTotal....$20.14

Coupons Used
1 x $5/$20 AdPerks IPQ=$5.00
1 x BOGO Old Spice Body Spray ManuQ(2/21 P&G insert)=$2.99
1 x $2/1 Old Spice Deodorant WYB OS Body Wash ManuQ(2/21 P&G insert)=$2.00
1 x $2/1 Old Spice Body Wash WYB OS Deodorant ManuQ(2/21 P&G insert)=$2.00
1 x $2/1 Any Skin Care product $2.99 or more Wellness IPQ=$2.00
1 x $1/1 Any Johnson's Product IPQ=$1.00
1 x $1/1 Any Johnson's Baby Product In-Ad Q=$1.00
1 x $3/1 JFrieda product ManuQ=$3.00
1 x $1/1 JFrieda Frizz-Ease product AdPerks IPQ=$1.00
Coupon Total.....$19.99

$20.14-$19.99=$.15 +$.01 tax=$.16 OOP Put on Rite-Aid Gift Card so ZERO Spending.

SCRebates qualified for....$25 J&J Spend $50/Get $25 back

**Well, I thought I had a 10% Wellness discount on any regularly priced item....so the 'Poo should have been $5.84.  But it rang up $5.19, with is a 20% discount.  I knew I was close to enough points for the 20% discount so I guess I am now up to the next discount level. ;-)


That went so well so I went back in and basically did it again.....

#2....
2 x Old Spice Red Zone Spray on sale $2.99=$5.98
1 x Old Spice Red Zone Deodorant on sale=$2.99
1 x Old Spice Red Zone Body Wash on sale=$2.99
1 x NYC Lip Gloss wellness discount=$2.39****
1 x JFrieda Frizz-Easse 'Poo wellness discount=$5.19
1 x Trident Gum on sale=$1.00***
SubTotal....$20.54

Coupons Used
1 x $5/$20 AdPerks IPQ=$5.00
1 x BOGO Old Spice Body Spray ManuQ(2/21 P&G insert)=$2.99
1 x $2/1 Old Spice Deodorant WYB OS Body Wash ManuQ(2/21 P&G insert)=$2.00
1 x $2/1 Old Spice Body Wash WYB OS Deodorant ManuQ(2/21 P&G insert)=$2.00
1 x $2/1 Any Skin Care product $2.99 or more Wellness IPQ=$2.00
1 x $2/1 Any Cosmetic item $2.99 or more Wellness IPQ=$2.00
1 x $3/1 JFrieda product ManuQ=$3.00
1 x $1/1 JFrieda Frizz-Ease product AdPerks IPQ=$1.00
Coupon Total.....$19.99


$20.54-$19.99=$.55 OOP  Put on Rite-Aid Gift Card so ZERO Spending.

 ***I didn't realize I got a 20% discount until THE END of this transaction.   The NYC cosmetic only rang up $2.39 instead of the $2.69 I was expecting, so my Total was under $20($19.54).  The register still took the AdPerks $5 off $20 IPQ however.  We realized the problem when the register wouldn't let the cashier imput my last $2 Q, as my total at that point was only $1.54.  Doh! lol
So I added the pack of gum which made my starting total over $20 so I really could use the $5 off $20 Q and then the last $2/1 Q went through, leaving a balance of .54¢.
****And the $2 off any item over $2.99 type Wellness coupons--I haven't had a problem using them on items that are under $2.99 after the discount.  They ring up over $2.99 initially, then the discount is applied bringing their price under $2.99.  As long as the item starts out over that $2.99 or whatever the threshold price is, there is no problem.  I just wanted to explain that if anyone were to notice.

This transaction I qualified for...$1 SCR for NYC Cosmetic $2.99 or more.

I still need to go back tomorrow and buy 1 more John Frieda product to finish off BIL's 3rd Kao Brands-Buy 3/Get $5 SCR.
I also plan to buy a Veet product in that transaction for the $3 Veet SCR for BIL's account.

And now I have to remember to adjust my totals for the 20% level of Wellness discount when figuring my scenarios/totals/oop.
My head hurts.....

Sluggy