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

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for JANUARY 2013.

I have posted January'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 January.  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(4-5 at home this month)& 2 dogs. No kids under 16.
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RITE-AID

OOP  $0.00

Qs/Ads/+Ups/Gift Card  $211.88

Value  $211.88

Savings   100%

SHURSAVE STORES(small local independent affiliated stores)
OOP  $162.29

Qs/Ads  $138.58

Value  $300.87

Savings  46.06%

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $127.95

Qs/Ads  $103.13

Value  $231.08

Savings  44.63%

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 January.....$16.00

GIFT CARDS and CERTIFICATES....$0.00

TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received...$16.00

COUPONS and FREEBIES

5 x Free 12 packs Coke products

1 x Free 20 oz. Coke products

2 x Movie Tickets Coke Sweepstakes win

2 x Large Movie Sodas Coke Sweepstakes win

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My best 3 Store Savings Totals were the Rite-Aid at 100%,  Shursave affiliate market at 46.06% and Weis markets at 44.63%.  l only shopped at 3 different stores this past month. 8-)

TOTAL Out of Pocket........$290.24

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$453.59

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$743.83

TOTAL Savings of...................................60.98%

This closes out the January food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....

I went into January with $400 budgeted for food/toiletries for the month.  I have $109.76 leftover in my January food envelope.  And I spent so little and even stocked up on pet food in January.

I redeemed 26 manufacturer's coupons at the 2 grocery stores(1/3 were Peelies, 1/3 were Instant Store discount Stickers and the last 1/3 were ManuQs) and 17 coupons at the drug store. 

I also earned and spent 1 x $10 Catalina Q at Weis.
I tried to get us to eat down some frozen foods this month so I could defrost my freezer.  I found some neglected items buried in the back which we make a pretty successful effort to use up.
Go us! ;-)

Looking ahead to February---We'll stick to our $400 food budget again this month.  It seems to be working for us at this amount.  I'll be changing over some food choices this month and I am curious to see how this affects our spending.

 

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

2013 Total Saved $453.59

2013 Yearly Total Value of Items  $743.83

2013 Yearly Total Spent $290.24

2013 Yearly Savings Total of 60.98%


Sluggy

Meal Planning Feb. Week 2 & Food Spending Week 1

What do the White Rabbit and Sluggy have in common?
It's dinnertime here already and I am just now getting around to my weekly meal planning.

                                                                      

And here is what actually got served last week......

Sunday--KFC chicken, sides, biscuits

Monday--Pizza or Leftover KFC or Beef Tips

Tuesday--Steak dinner out(birthday meal)

Wednesday--Italian dinner out(birthday freebie)

Thursday--Sloppy Joes, corn

Friday--Fend for Yourself

Saturday--Chinese take-out(I had Eggplant in Garlic Sauce) 

I actually "cooked" but once last week.....IF you can call Sloppy Joes cooking. lol

The food spending last week?

Well it's only a couple of days since most of last week was still January(so that spending went onto my Jan. spending totals), but I was able to spend a whopping $72.18 on Saturday.  Granted $2.12 of that was tax, I stocked up on Mexican items(tortillas, salsa $8.75)and $33.75 of the spending was on dog foods.  The rest, $27.56, was spent on milk, fruit, veggies, bread and chicken.  I also received $11 in Catalinas for buying the pet food so I have future savings.

I am left at this point with $327.82 in my food budget for February.

As for leftovers rolling into this week--not much beyond a helping of Sloppy Joes is left and some rolls.  Hard to have leftovers if you don't actually cook or eat at home much in a week. lol

I didn't serve 2 of the meals last week so they roll over into this week.

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Here is what is getting served this week.....

Sunday--Chicken Fajitas

Monday--Taco Bell or Fend for Yourself

Tuesday--Salmon, Green Bean Casserole

Wednesday--Ham and Bean Soup, homemade Bread

Thursday--Hot Dogs, Beans, Corn

Friday--Ravioli, Sausage Sauce, Caesar Salad

Saturday--Leftovers

Taco Bell for #2 Son this week but the rest of us are staying away from the fast food.

Needed at the store to serve the meals I am making this week?

Salad Greens and celery are needed.  I also need fruit and a few other things.   I haven't looked at the ads yet to see if there are any deals.  I'm looking to stay out of the stores so I'll try to keep the spending at $35 this week.

I'll be going to my 2 grocery stores this week to note prices for the new Price Book. 

What's on your menu for the week?  Any good deals at the grocers this week?
Did you have any food waste this week?

Sluggy

What Goes On Sale in February?

                                       

It's February.  So what will one find are the good deals this month?

The obvious is candy.  The 14th of the month brings us St. Valentine's Day, so look for candy, especially the CHOCOLATE varieties to go on sale the first 2 weeks of the month.  Also items often thought of as  gifts for a sweetheart.....long stemmed roses and flowers, as well as items of an adult nature.....lubs, lingerie......ahem.....sex toys, etc.    Yes Sonya Ann, I said sex toys. ;-)  

February 10th is the Chinese New Year.  2013 is the Year of the Snake.  Look for Asian food products like soy/fish/plum/duck/ginger/teriyaki as well as other sauces, noodles, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, canned chow mein, soup mixes, etc.

It's National Hot Breakfast Month--look for hot cereals like oatmeal and wheat concoctions, syrups, frozen breakfast foods to be good deals.

Also National Canned Food Month--look for all kinds of canned foods, from veggies, fruits, meats and seafood, to pie fillings to be on sale.

The Fresh Seasonal Produce you may find at a lower cost this month(depending on what region of the country you are located in)includes Artichoke, Asparagus, Avocado, Broccoli, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Chard, Collards, Kale, Kiwi, Potatoes, Raspberries, Spinach and Strawberries.

Anybody have any others?

Sluggy

 

 

The Fun Never Ends!

Do you know what time it is kiddies?
Yes, it's time for......

Not my desk, but it could be.

I am off to start the torture for another year.
I'll be back later tonight, if I don't decide I need to start drinking heavily instead.....

As we spend the next few weeks undergoing this needless torture, maybe it's a good time to bring the subject of totally transforming the way we are taxed and pay those taxes in this country.
While the lunacy of this tax system is fresh on your brain, go check this out A Better Way-The Fair Tax Plan.

Time to wrestle with forms and publications......*sigh*.....

Sluggy 

Grand Total for Rite-Aid

I didn't have a whopping big month at Rite-Aid in January.
Even with the 50th Anniversary Promo I just couldn't get into the deals last month.
It is what it is I suppose.
At least I got the lowest +Up Reward and I got through the month without spending money out of MY pocket, so it's all good. 8-)

Here are the final numbers.....

**GRAND TOTALS FOR JANUARY**

Out Of Pocket....$0.00  cash
Value of items bought.....$211.55
Savings Rate of  100%
Rebates due......$16.99

+Ups at beginning of month...$32.50+
+Ups used....$64.50+
+Ups received...$52.00+
+Ups currently...$20.00+   

$200+ worth of items, no money spent and I'm getting back $16.99 in cash.
Not too bad!

I've got $20 +Ups to roll this week so I better go look at the sales ad, huh?

How was your January at Rite-Aid?

Sluggy