Food Spending June Week 4 & Meal Planning July Week 1

Some days I look at the my kitchen and see the above.  My kitchen just feels so old and out of date,  but not in a good way like this cute, vintage 1920's kitchen!
In a bad, dark way.
And I just don't want to have to go work in there.

This is just my way of saying having to do a Menu this week is a real chore and something I am not feeling.  But I am doing one anyway!
Why?
Because I am a big girl and I "should" do one, and we should eat at home(most of the time).
It's better for us and better for our bottom line too.

So let's suck it up and get on with this, shall we?

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And here is the "meal plan" that actually happened last week.....

SUNDAY--Kielbasa on rolls, grilled Squash
MONDAY--Salmon w/maple bourbon glaze, crudite plate(radishes,celery,carrots)with dressing dip

TUESDAY--Spaghetti with Meatballs, Salad

WEDNESDAY--Leftovers

THURSDAY--BLT sandwiches

FRIDAY--Homemade Pizza, Salad

SATURDAY--Burger King, raw veggies in dip

After eating out a lot on the mini-vacation to OH, we ate at home except for Whoppers on Saturday.
I kept true to the plan until Wednesday.  We had adequate leftovers so I substituted them for the meal that evening.  And Thursday was too hot to cook so it was BLTs instead.

The weekly food spending was $25.33.  It was 3 trips(5 transactions) to Weis. You can see what I bought HERE. 
I have a couple of trips to Rite-Aid to spend expiring +Ups but I spent nothing out of pocket.

Reg. retail was $152.02 for all so we saved 83.33% for the week.  And I kept within my $400 monthly food budget for June.
Go me.....

We have a brand new month for food spending starting this week.

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This week's menu.....
SUNDAY--Steak, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Salad
MONDAY--Baked Potato Bar, Brussel Sprouts, Watermelon

TUESDAY--Lobster, Boston Baked Beans, Coleslaw

WEDNESDAY--BBQ Ribs, Macaroni Salad, COC, Pie

THURSDAY--Smoked Chicken, leftover sides from previous days

FRIDAY--Leftover BBBeans, Cornbread, Yellow Squash Casserole

SATURDAY--Chicken Parmesan, Salad

What I need to purchase for this menu?

Steak, Watermelon, Lobster, Cabbage, Red Bell Pepper, Corn, Squash

I know this menu is fairly decadent....steak, lobster and ribs.  The steak was on sale(bought it on Sunday).
The ribs were bought for $1 a lb. during the Weis Grand Opening a few weeks ago.  The lobster is a Price Chopper special this week($5.88 lb.).  We treat ourselves to cheap lobster at least once a year because we can....and the kids aren't home so we don't have to buy enough for them too.  ;-)

I'm dragging the smoker out to do the ribs, so I'll throw a whole chicken in there to smoke too and that will be the following night's dinner.
Since I have to run the oven for Cornbread, I am also doing a veg. casserole that evening.  If I run the oven in the heat, I want to pack as much food into it as I can.
The baked taters and beans will be done in the crockpot. 
The steak was done on the grill.
I have a method for doing the chicken parm on the stovetop, and the lobsters are done on the stovetop as well.
This means only 1 night of running the oven.


So what's on deck for your menu this week?
Do you have anything special cooking for the 4th?

And how was your food spending last month?

Sluggy

Yeah, I'm Going There.....

Some common sense talk from Dave Ramsey HERE.

Sluggy

What I Bought in June.....Very Boring, Don't Look

This list is what I purchased in June.
It's food and toiletries.
I do this to keep an eye on what types of food I am buying and to see the quantity of bad things(processed foods)I still purchase.

steak  9lb.
italian sausage  3lb.
breakfast sausage  2lb.
pork loin  8lb.
shrimp  2lb.
ground beef  8lb.
salmon  4lb.
lunchmeat-sort of bad  1.5lb.

corn  10
celery  1
asparagus  3lb.
bagged salad  4
lettuce head  1
red peppers  2
mushrooms  2lb.
tomato  2
zucchini  3lb.
potatoes  10lb.
yellow squash  3lb.
onions  4lb.

cantaloupe  1
pears  2
grapefuit   3
bananas   2lb.
strawberries  1qt.

eggs  3.5 dz
milk  1 gal.
cheese  25 blocks/bags
sour cream  2
margarine  2
greek yogurt  2 qt.

honey  6 lbs.
juice  5
flax seed  1lb.
quinoa  1lb.
cold cereal   1
bagels  2 bags
bread and rolls  11 bags
coffee  18 bags
mayo  3
seltzer  8
tea bags  3 boxes
chili   2 cans
dog food   2 bags

laundry detergent  1
stain treater  2
bleach  3
toilet cleaner  3
spray cleaner  4
napkins   5

corn dogs(for kids)  1
diet coke(for SIL)  3
ice cream   4
muffins(store bakery)   4
frozen breakfast sammies  1
potato chips  8
soda(for kids)  12  12-packs
vitamin water(was free)  4  6-packs
oreos  6
potstickers  1 bag
cake(store bakery)  1
pizza rolls(were free-for kids)  1 box
yogurt(sugared up)  5 cups
iced tea bottle(sugared up)  1 bottle
tootsie pops  6 bags
candy bars  14




What food did you buy in June?


Sluggy

Saturday Rite-Aid....Spending Expiring +Ups

I realized I only had $13 in +Ups expiring today, June 30th.
The other $37 were expiring on Sunday, July 1st.

So I headed up to Rite-Aid today to spend the $13 worth.....

3 x Lipton tea bags on sale $2.99=$8.97
2 x Hormel chili on sale $1.50=$3.00
1 x Tide pods w/20% discount=$4.79
2 x tide stain release treater 50% off clearance=$4.78
8 x Zero candy bars 75% off=$1.92
SubTotal....$23.46

Coupons Used....
1 x $1/2 Hormel chili ManuQ(AllYou)=$1.00
1 x $2/1 Tide liquid(Facebook ManuQ)=$2.00
Coupon Total....$3.00

$23.46-$3.00=$20.46

I used the $13 in +Ups expiring today and $7 in +Ups expiring tomorrow.

$20.46-$20=$.46 OOP, which was put on the gift card.

I received a $3 +Up Reward back for buying at least $10 in Lipton/Hormel items.
Which means I spent down $17 in +Ups and rolled $3 of them.

I now have $30 in +Ups to use up tomorrow and $3 that expire 2 weeks from now.

Total retail value this trip is $43.94.
OOP this trip is $0.00(.46¢ on gift card)

Analysis--
I bought the Tide pods because I had a $2 Q from Facebook that was set to expire today.  I had forgotten about it and the pods were the lowest price Tide product the Q would work on.
The other 2 Tide products were on 50% clearance.  I have a $1/2 Q at home, so tomorrow I'll take it all up with the Q and do a "post sale" and get my $1 for the Q back.  So with that, these 2 items cost $1.89.
We go through a lot of tea bags here, as brewed iced tea is consumed here in large quantities rather than soda.  When #2 Son is home, we also go through chili quickly.  This is why I bought the food items I did....the sale prices were ok, I had at least 1 Q AND by buying $10 worth I got a $3 +Up Reward.  I used +Up Rewards to pay making my "spending" $4 less(the $1 Q + the $3 +Ups I got back).  Does this make sense outside of my own head? lol
The candy bars were dirt cheap and we can always find a use for candy bars......


As of now, my Monthly Rite-Aid Stats for JUNE are....

Out Of Pocket....$1.97 cash
Value of items bought....$141.36

+Ups at beginning of month...$30+
+Ups used....$48+
+Ups received...$51+
+Ups currently...$33+ 

 Sluggy

The Spending O' The Cats....At Weis Markets

I had $59 left in Weis Catalinas to spend by June 30th.
5 of them were for $10 and you could only use 1 of these in a transaction.
The smaller denomination Cats have no limit on how many could be redeemed in a transaction.
This just means I had to make lots of little trips to the store.

Here is what I got on Monday.....

4 x Ocean Spray 100% Juice on sale $2=$8.00
3 x Salmon steaks on sale $3.99lb.=$7.66
SubTotal=$15.66

I used...
1 x $10 OYNO Cat
1 x $5 OYNO Cat

$15.66-$15.00=$.66 OOP

The daughter got this....

3 x Grapefruit on sale $1.00=$3.00
.94lb. x Pears on sale=$1.49
1.41lb. x Yellow Squash on sale=$1.82
1 x Salmon Fillet on sale $5.99lb=$6.47

SubTotal....$12.78

I used....
1 x $10 OYNO Cat

$12.78-$10.00=$2.78 OOP

Grand Total OOP for the day....$3.44

Reg. retail of all items....$44.43
Savings of 92.25%


Then on Wednesday, I did this....

2 x Kibbles n' Bits big bag on sale $11.49=$22.98

Used Coupons.....
2 x $1/1 IPQ(we didn't get the ManuQ on Sunday)=$2.00
1 x Instant $5 Discount WYB $20 worth=$5.00
Total off...$7.00

$22.98-$7.00=$15.98
I used Cats....
1x $10 OYNO
1 x $4 OYNO
Total Cats=$14

$15.98-$14.00=$1.98 + $1.08 tax=$3.06 OOP

And Daughter bought this....

2 x Hellmans' Mayo on sale $1.99=$3.98
1 x 2.14lb. Sirloin Roast $3.89lb=$8.32
SubTotal....$12.30

Coupons Used....
1 x $2/2 Hellman's ManuQ=$2.00

$12.30-$2.00=$10.30

Cats used...
1 x $10 OYNO=$10.00

$10.30-$10.00=$.30 OOP

Grand Total OOP for the day....$3.36

Reg. retail of all items....$50.18
Savings of 93.30%

Saturday, Hubs and I went and bought this.....

5 x Bounty napkins(turned in my raincheck for $2.50ea.)=$12.50
2 x Salad BOGO=$3.79
1 x Hellman's Mayo=$1.99
1 x Gold Peak Tea on sale=$1.00
1lb. Cooper Cheese(actual more than 1lb.)=$7.27
2lbs. Salmon fillets on sale=$12.04
SubTotal....$38.59

Couons Used....
2 x $1/2 Bounty napkins ManuQ(expiring today)=$2.00
1 x $1/1 Hellman's Olive Oil Mayo ManuQ(AllYou)=$1.00
1 x $.50/1 Gold Peak Tea IPQ(doubled)=$1.00
1 x $1/1lb. Cooper Cheese(when bought at the deli counter)ManuQ=$1.00
1 x $10 OYNO Catalina Q(last one, expiring today)=$10.00
Coupon Total....$15.00

$38.59-$15.00=$23.59

I used the $5 Weis gift card I got when the Bounty was out and I could do the Cat Deal, so the manager gave me a $5 for the $5 Cat I should have gotten.

$23.59-$5.00=$18.59 OOP
AND I got another $2.00 off OYNO Catalina for this transaction.
Woohoo!

Reg. retail was $57.41
My savings rate was 67.62%.

In all, I got groceries with a retail value of $152.02.
I spent out of pocket $25.39 after sales, coupons, catalinas and free gift card.
I received a $2 Catalina for more free food.
And my savings rate was 83.30%.

Not bad for starting with $59 in free money to spend. ;-)

What great deals did you find at the stores this week?

Sluggy