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

It's not the end of October yet but I am posting my month end totals since I am finished grocery shopping for this month.

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for OCTOBER 2013.

I have posted October's totals on the Total Grocery Savings for 2013 Page located HERE and have updated the Yearly Totals there.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in October.  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.
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FOOD LION
OOP  $40.17
Qs/Ads  $13.26
Value  $53.43
Savings  24.82%
 

SHURSAVE STORES(small local independent affiliated stores)
OOP  $203.89

Qs/Ads  $106.04

Value  $309.93

Savings  34.21%

PRICE CHOPPER
OOP  $25.04
Qs/Ads  $25.09
Value  $50.13
Savings  50%

RITE-AID
OOP  $7.97
Qs/Ads/+Ups  $49.61
Value  $57.58
Savings  86.16%

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $142.57

Qs/Ads  $80.04

Value  $222.61

Savings  36%

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 October.....$8.00

GIFT CARDS and CERTIFICATES....$0

TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received...$8.00

COUPONS and FREEBIES

Zero

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My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 86.16%, Price Chopper at 50% and Weis at 36 %.  I shopped at 5 different stores this past month.

TOTAL Out of Pocket........$419.64

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$274.04

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$693.68

TOTAL Savings of...................................39.50%

This closes out the October food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....

I went into October with my usual $400 budgeted for food/toiletries purchases.
I went over by $19.64. 
Not too bad really and I'm not upset over it.  If I hadn't hurt my foot(and didn't have to send family to the store who don't worry about getting the best deal), who knows if I would have been able to stay under $400.
I did restart the Rite-Aid shopping this month and that spending is included in my totals.  I'll probably spend a bit more at Rite-Aid as we get closer to Christmas.
 

Looking ahead to November---Other than Thanksgiving, there are no special occasions coming up that require extra food spending this month for us.  Not sure about Thanksgiving at this point as #2 Son will be working that day(a restaurant), so it will just be me and Hubs at home.  Our Thanksgiving meal might be a tad unusual and it will definitely be a lot smaller than the norm for us.
As I buckle down and follow the pre-surgery eating plan this month, we may have less food spending.  But I'll keep the food budget for November at $400.

 

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

2013 Total Saved $2,523.40

2013 Yearly Total Value of Items  $6,216.33

2013 Yearly Total Spent $3,692.93

2013 Yearly Savings Total of  40.60%

 

In October, total savings percentage for the year has gone DOWN .13% over September's year-to-date total of 40.73%, to 40.60%. 
But we are holding steady in the 40%s.
I'd love to get to the end of the year with a 40% savings percentage for all of 2013.
We shall see if it happens. ;-)
The average monthly food/toiletries spending so far this year stands at $369.30.

 

How much did you spend on food in October?
 

Sluggy

Go Win!

Sonya Ann is having a giveaway.  Not sure how long it's running....until she gets back from Vegas maybe?

Go enter it HERE.

And tell her I sent ya!


Sluggy

Oh Goody! Problems Already....LOL

It never fails.
I try to sell somewhere and the "problem folks" find me immediately.

I was/am a magnet for crazy buyers and scammers on eBay so why did I think Etsy would be any different? lolz

The first email I get a few hours after opening my store yesterday was someone wanting my phone number and mailing address so she could buy something over the phone or by mail from me.

I take Paypal, Etsy gift cards, Debit and Credi cards.
Sorry, no personal checks/mail orders and I can't take/process credit cards directly over the phone, just through Etsy.

Ugh.

Second up is a potential buyer in Japan who wants a shipping quote.
Though I DO ship most anywhere in the world, I doubt she is going to actually buy a $4 piece of fabric that costs $23.95 to ship to Japan.
It isn't spun gold or anything.....


Sluggy

This Week on The Dining Table

The "Back Home Now & It's Cold as Heck Here!" Edition.......

 

 

This is a Caprese Salad I made a couple of weeks before we went to Ocean City, when we still had fresh tomatoes from our garden.
I can honestly say now.....I am not a fan.  Don't know what all the fuss over it is about.
Do you like this dish?

Here are the meals that were planned last week--sort of--
 

Sunday--pizza out
Monday--steak, fries out
Tuesday--1/2 fish sandwich, 1/2 sweet potato fries, cup of crab soup out
Wednesday--other half of Tuesday's dinner ate in the room
Thursday--turkey sandwich at home
Friday--bratwurst on roll, strawberries at home
Saturday--whatever I can find at the house if Judy doesn't come over, otherwise a roast chicken or eating out

Everything was eaten as planned except Friday I had leftover Broccoli Soup and Strawberries and Saturday was Roast Chicken, Carrots and Potatoes.

As for food spending last week.....there was one trip to the store on Saturday, I spent $48.41 on $65.39 worth of groceries at 1 store.
I had $36.74 left in the food budget so I went over by a bit this month.

I didn't include the little out of pocket spent this month at Rite-Aid yet for October and that will add another $7.97 spent out of the food/toiletries budget.

No food waste while we were gone.

Leftovers going into this week--1 bratwurst, leftover roast chicken with carrots and potatoes.

Here's this week's meal plan---

Sunday--Clam Chowder
Monday--Tacos(I'll probably have a chicken sandwich and a part of a bag of frozen veggies.)
Tuesday--leftovers
Wednesday--Lasagna, Salad
Thursday--leftovers
Friday--London Broil, Asparagus
Saturday--leftovers or something scrounged around the house


I'll be posting my final October food spending post in the next day or two since I won't be going grocery shopping again this month.

What got fixed and served at your house this week?

Sluggy

I Finally Did It!

I got my Etsy store opened today.
Go.
Me.

If you are in need of fabric, go take a look HERE.
I can do combined shipping to save some on mailing costs so just email me for a shipping quote.

Now to get the eBay stuff up and running.

Sluggy