Target Trip

Well I won a coupon for a free Dial Foaming Hand Soap product from Frances awhile back.  I tired to redeem that coupon last week at 2 different grocery stores AND then at Rite-Aid and none of the three carries this particular product.
bleh.
So I googled and found that the only place around here that has this item is Target.
Since the freebie coupon expires today, guess who went out to Target today?

This lady! ;-)
So to make this more efficient I decided to stop by the Bakery Outlet along the route I take to Target.

First the Target trip............

4 x Mountain Dew 12-packs on sale 4/$10. *not pictured*
2 x Hawaiian buns/rolls on sale 2/$5.
1 x Dial Hand Soap reg. $1.84
2 x Seventh Generation Cleaner refills on clearance $1.04 each-$2.08
1 x pack of Baby Back Ribs on sale $2.49 lb.=$8.54
1 x pair of men's shorts on clearance $7.48
2 x  metal hangtags 70% off Red Spot $1 items=.60¢
1 x box of  Lemon Heads candy 70% off Red Spot $1 items=.30¢
Total.....$36.48(w/tax)

I had a $1/2 Hawaiian IPQ which made those $2 a pack.
The Dial Freebie coupon took off $4.00 instead of the $1.84 the product actually cost so $2.16 in overage applied to the rest of my order.
Sweet!

$31.48 after coupons which I put on my free $100 Target gift card so nothing OOP.

I don't know if the shorts will "please" College Boy so those might go back.  Though we still have soda(enough for the cook-out)I picked up this $2.50 pack soda deal anyway since they had CB's fav. Baja Blast Mountain Dew.  I don't know how the kids drinks this nasty stuff. lol  I am hiding it so he can't drink it.....it's for him to take back to college.  Sssshhh, don't tell him..... ;-)

Then I stopped at the Bakery Outlet for 3 packs of hamburger rolls($1 each), 3 Danish/Donut packs ($1 each)and 2 packs of hot dog buns(.75¢).  $7.50 out of the $8 and change left in my wallet for June.

All this shopping goes on July's tally since I closed out June's spending already.

It's been raining cats and dogs off and on all day here.  It finally cleared long enough for me to take everything I left in the car most of the day.....not the meat, I brought that in right away obviously. lol

I don't need to go down off the mountain now until next week.

Sluggy

2015 Food & Toiletries Spending.....June Update

I am posting June's spending totals a day early as I am done shopping for the month.
I have to be as I only have $8 left in my wallet. lolz

Onward to June's food spending report.......

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for JUNE 2015.

I have posted June's totals on the Total Grocery Savings for 2015 Page located HERE and have updated the Yearly Totals there.  I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in June.  If you aren't interested in that much detail, just skip to the bottom for the Totals Sum.  My spending includes Food, Toiletries/HBA, Cleaning Products, Paper Goods & tax where applicable. We are a family of 3(3 at home this month). No kids under 19.

******************
BAKERY OUTLET
OOP  $16.00
Value  $63.36
Savings  74.75%

DOLLAR TREE
OOP  $12.63
Value  $29.22
Savings  56.78%

KMART
OOP  $13.85
Qs/Ads  $3.60
Value  $17.35
Savings  20.63%

MAINE SOURCE
OOP  $93.77
Qs/Ads $62.76
Value $156.53
Savings  40.09%

OLLIE'S
OOP  $7.44
Value $12.57
Savings   40.81%

RITE-AID *(see below)
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads  $39.72
Value  $39.72
Savings  100%

SAM'S CLUB
OOP  $89.51
Value  $151.03
Savings  40.73%

 

SHURSAVE STORES(small local independent affiliated stores)
OOP  $29.68

Qs/Ads  $47.39

Value  $77.07

Savings  61.49%

SURPLUS OUTLET
OOP  $73.48
Value  $144.33
Savings  49.09%

WALMART
OOP  $28.69
Qs/Ads $8.75
Value $37.44
Savings  23.37%
 

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $236.98

Qs/Ads  $390.08

Value  $627.06

Savings  62.20%
 

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%, the Bakery Outlet at 74.75% and Weis at 62.20%.  My WORST savings rate was Kmart at 20.63%.

I shopped at 11 different stores this past month.  (Yikes!)  Lots of single transactions at lots of stores except at my usual 3 stores.

TOTAL Out of Pocket........ $602.03

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$753.75

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$1,355.78

TOTAL Savings of...................................55.60%
TOTAL Savings WITHOUT Rite-Aid.............54.25%

This closes out the June food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....
I went into June wanting to do a $400 food budget for the month.  That plan was blown to bits due to some deals, some junk food buying for College Boy, and most notably the .74¢ a block cheese deal at Weis.  ;-)  I exceeded my budget by a third this month when all is said and done.  A full third of my spending was done at Weis.  Most months I pretty much spend my budget equally between Weis and the Shursave grocer(with a few shops at other stores thrown into the mix).  Not so in June.

Way over but ultimately this month will save us more money in the long run by catching these deals.
At least that is what I hope.  ;-)

The monthly savings percentage went up by 10.90% in June to 55.60% compared to May's 44.70% average.  Good deals, coupons and having $36 in store scrip that I used helped to pull the percentage saved up.

The savings rate for the whole year so far now stands at 59.52%.  That's a 1.20% decrease in savings over May's YTD total(60.72%).  It's still hanging in well over a 40% savings rate for the year so I won't beat myself up over this small decrease.  It would be very difficult to maintain a 74 or even a 60% savings rate like I achieved in January and February of 2015.  Sure, if we only bought and ate items I got at a great discount for the rest of the year, but part of those high savings rates was due to heavy Rite-Aid shopping at the beginning of the year and if you look back to that time, most of what I bought at R-A then was NOT food but toiletries/HBA and paper products.

I have spent a total of $2,351.66 on food/toiletries in 2015 so far at the halfway point of the year. That averages out to $391.94 per month so just under $400 average per month.  Not a bad thing but I can do better.

June's Grocery Spend Fest  raised the average monthly spending by $42.10 more per month for the year-to-date.
And May's spending raised the average monthly spending by $41.47.   This is NOT a good trend.....
bleh.
We need to wrangle this back down closer to an average of $300 per month.

If you take my halfway through 2015 total and extrapolate it out for the full year, we are on track to achieve a $4,703.32 Food/Toiletries Spending Year for 2015.

In 2014 we did $4,989.49 so 2015 is tracking better.
In 2013 we did $4,560.82 so 2015 is tracking $142.50 worse.
In 2012 we did $4,196.36 so 2015 is tracking $606.96 worse.
In 2011 we did $3,080.59 so 2015 is tracking $1,622.73 worse.  Yikes!

LOOKING AHEAD To JULY.........

We'll try for a $300 food budget for July.
We are stocked on many of our staples here now so I should be able to accomplish this goal.
We do have a grown child coming home for a week or so and a cookout for July 4th to throw but we'll try to keep it reasonable and not overdo the occasions with food.  Plus I will dig around in the stockpile and see if I can utilize what's on hand more rather than running out to the store.
With the eldest son home I do plan on going through the freezer and dishing up some smoked meats and barbecue as he so enjoys those things.  Having another mouth to feed helps me justify all the work(and the amount of food)this preparation takes.
 

If you have other ideas or guidelines you follow please leave a comment and share yours with us all.

 

*  How much did you spend on food/toiletries in June?
*  How much are your on track to spending for 2015 on food at this halfway mark?
*  Do you track your yearly food spending?
*  What was your savings percentage buying on sale and/or with coupons vs. buying at regular retail price last month, if you track that sort of thing?
 

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

It's the "My son is going to kill Me for posting this Photo" Edition-- 

Since I have no photos from this past weekend to share, here is one of my eldest son right after his wisdom teeth removal surgery last Friday.  His girlfriend sent this to me with the caption, "He has a mouth full of gauze and woke up after surgery talking up a storm but I can't understand anything he is saying!" lol
I guess he enjoyed the "happy drugs".....

 

Onward to the meal planning!

 

Here's what was planned last week.......
 

1. Sunday--Chinese take-out(what Hubs wanted for Father's Day)
2. Monday--Leftover Chinese take-out
3. Tuesday--Beef Stroganoff, Rice, Tossed Salad
4. Wednesday--Cauliflower soup, BBQ Chicken legs, Potato Salad
5. Thursday--Chicken Chiles Casserole
6. Friday--Beef Enchiladas, Corn
7. Saturday--Leftovers

 

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Chinese take-out(what Hubs wanted for Father's Day)
2. Monday--Leftover Chinese take-out
3. Tuesday--Subway sandwiches
4. Wednesday--Beef Stroganoff, Rice
5. Thursday--BBQ Chicken legs, Potato Salad, Cabbage Sauted
6. Friday--chicken and Green Chiles Casserole, California Medley Veggies
7. Saturday--Leftovers

Everything as planned except no Enchiladas and Subway sammiches instead.  The Cauliflower soup WAS made but not served at dinner as it's been a lunch "go-to" last week for me and CB.

As for my grocery spending last week.....I blew the budget out of the water!!
I spent 209.54$ on $529.11 of reg. retail food(counting the check I wrote for a trip to Surplus Outlet last weekend that gets included on this week's tally and 8 trips to Weis(PMITA)Markets to boot.

The food spending is up to $602.03 for June and we have 2 days to go but I am finished spending money on food/toiletries for the month. 
Heck, I had better be finished!! lolz

Leftovers going into this week--beef stroganoff and rice, enchilada sauce, potato salad, chicken chiles casserole, medley veggies and cauliflower soup.  The leftover chicken legs will be thrown into the freezer and saved for the July 4th festivities.
 

Here is this week's food plan--

1. Sunday--Beef Enchiladas(leftover sauce), Corn Casserole
2. Monday--Salmon, Potato Salad(leftover), Cauliflower(freezer)
3. Tuesday--Burgers and/or Dogs on Rolls, Zucchini, homemade Pickles
4. Wednesday--Leftovers
5. Thursday--FFY(Fend For Yourself) or BFD(Breakfast for Dinner)
6. Friday--Leftovers
7. Saturday--July 4th Cook-out(the usual suspects...lol)

What I need to buy for this menu?.....Rolls/Buns for the cook-out, maybe some chips, corn and fresh fruit too.  I've got the rest of the week's meals covered.

I used a mix of some of these frozen Steak-Umm hamburger patties and a lb. of seasoned ground pork for the Enchilada filling and made 2 large pans(12 pieces)on Sunday.  There are 9 pieces left so the Hubs and College Boy will most likely eat off this off and on this week for leftovers.  I don't care for them so I'll just figure something out for myself each night---a BLT, a big salad with nuts, tuna sammich, a big bowl of veggies, stuff like that.

The grocery ads aren't too interesting this week here, except for the usual July 4th picnic stuff like soda, hamburger, rolls, hot dogs, bakery cakes/etc., and corn on the cob.  Nothing really to stock-up on this week.  I'll run out later in the week(Wednesday)after the July food budget kicks in.
The only thing I am in dire need of is onions and I plan on getting a BIG bag(20ish lbs.)at the restaurant supply store this week to put into my ersatz root cellar.
With the $ spent on lots of onions and the picnic stuff I hope to keep this week under $50.
 

What is getting fixed and served at your house this week?    

Was last week's plan successful, did you go off plan or did you not even plan what was going to be eaten that week?

Any great deals on food at your stores this week? 

Sluggy

Ocean City Fall Vacation 2013.....Part 4

Wednesday, Day Four in Ocean City Maryland was our last full day on this vacation.

I went out onto the balcony in the morning and did a little seagull watching.......

Dark clouds started rolling in early that day so we started making plans for an indoor activity for Wednesday.

Hubs made breakfast for us in the room.......a sausage and egg on a whack biscuit.

Then we got ready to head out to "do" something.   By the time we passed a chicken processing plant along the way it was raining.

We decided to head up to Millsboro, Delaware to the Nanticoke Native American Museum.

 

This was a very nice little museum about the Nanticoke tribes that lived in the Delaware and Eastern shore of Maryland.  The first contact of the Nanticoke with European settlers was Capt. John Smith in 1608, shortly after the founding of Jamestown in 1607.

Though the Nanticoke are not an officially recognized tribe by the Federal Government(and they do not have their own reservation and tribal government), they do have an unofficial "tribe" and land that serves the peoples cultural needs.  They are however a state recognized tribe in Delaware.  This is the only Native American museum in Delaware and it is housed in a former Nanticoke schoolhouse.

Handicrafts made by present day Nanticoke tribe members as well as ancestors.......

The caretakers had no problem with us snapping photos of most everything in the exhibits.  The only exception were the preserved/taxidermy eagles.  Eagles are so sacred to these people that they don't allow them to be photographed. 

They had an accessible ramp in that back of the building so I had no problem getting the wheelchair inside.

Of course wheeling around the exhibits without crashing into them was another story....I was NOT a good driver having so little experience. lol
But I succeeded in NOT damaging anything......

An old dugout canoe which had been handed down through the generations.....

There were books on native history in the second room with the canoe tableau and it was set up to accommodate groups of school children as a teaching classroom.

There was pottery and many artifacts both ancient and old,  as well as some nice written history on the First Peoples who inhabited the Delaware Valley region of the country.....

I loved this old crab trap......much harder to use than the type of crab pots I used in my youth to go crabbing.

This was a recreation of a Nanticoke tribal village the local youth had made....

They had a small gift shop with actual crafts made by tribe members.  Hubs bought this matted photograph of Nanticoke dancers at a Pow-Pow gathering.  The woman manning the museum that day, Assistant Director, was the dancer in the photo so Hubs asked for her to pose with the photo. for a memento.  She seemed quite thrilled and pleased to do so.  Thanks June Morning Star Robinson!

I found this article from Delaware Online after our visit that featured the Nanticoke tribal chief and June too.  There should be a short film at the top of that page as well with them in it.


I also bought a Christmas ornament for our tree of a replica of the Nanticoke tribal emblem.....

After we finished our museum visit it was still raining.  I spied this field of crops on our way back to Ocean City......

If you can't make it out, that "line" over the field is an irrigation pipe system and it is spraying water on the field.....while it's raining! lol

We were famished as we stayed at the museum quite awhile so we stopped at Arby's along the way back to OC.  This nasty sandwich was a special in the Fall of 2013 at Arby's....a smokehouse barbecued something or other.  It was so SALTY I could barely eat it!!!

So after that we had to make another stop at the Burley Oak Brewery taphouse....you know, just to wipe the taste of that salt lick out of my mouth.  ;-)

I think we just stayed in that last evening and ate whatever we still had hanging out in the fridge there.
I had bought this Ginger Beer on the way down.  I must say it was not my favorite thing to drink but drink it I must. lolz

Hubs was up before dawn again on the morning we left for home.  He snapped another awesome sunrise before heading out.

We made another stop at Total Wine & More on the way home.  Hubs wanted to pick up a few more things he didn't get on the way down to the shore.
It was barely 11am when we got to the store and I snapped this photo on the way into the parking lot....

It was an old wino holding up a sign asking for money so he could buy a drink.....

No better place than to panhandle for money for a drink than outside a massive liquor store, right?

And with that ends our 2013 Fall Trip to Ocean City Maryland.



Sluggy

I am Done!

The two last Cheese Deal transactions at Weis.....

8 more bags or blocks of cheese..  Though I am tempted to run this deal 2 more times today I won't.

28 packages of cheese.
$56.74 of sale priced cheese for $21.74 spent OOP.
Reg. retail value of $111.12

The cheese drawer overfloweth......lolz

On the right are the older cheeses, about 8 bags/blocks and 2 cream cheese logs(plus another bag of shreds that I can't fit in there)and then all 28 of the new bags/blocks bought this week.

If anyone sees me buy Cheddar or Swiss cheese again anytime soon just stop me, ok? ;-)

Sluggy