2016 Food and Toiletries Spending......June Update

* I've closed out the June books a couple of days early as I am done shopping.  Anything bought in the next 2 days will come out of July's funds. *

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

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for JUNE 2016.

I have posted June's totals on the Total Grocery Savings for 2016 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 5(3-5 at home this month). No kids under 20.

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BAKERY OUTLET
OOP  $11.00
Value  $39.51
Savings 72.16%

MAINE SOURCE
OOP  $65.52
Value  $111.64
Savings  41.31%

SHURSAVE MARKET
OOP  $40.63
Qs/Ads $16.32
Value  $56.95
Savings  28.65%

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $292.96

Qs/Ads  $180.15

Value  $473.11

Savings  38.07%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Bakery Outlet at 72.16%, Maine Source at 41.31% and Weis at 38.07%.  My WORST savings rate was at the Shursave Market at 28.65%.

I shopped at 4 different stores this past month.

TOTAL Out of Pocket..........$410.11

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$271.10

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$681.21

TOTAL Savings of...................................39.80%
As I did no Rite-Aid shopping this month 39.80% is also my total w/out Rite-Aid.


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.  I ended up going over by $10.11.
That's not bad considering we have 5 eating/living here(for 3 weeks out of 4 weeks of June)and I have no clue what my grocery/toiletries budget needs to be yet.
I am still feeling my way to what I need to put toward these bills each month going forward.

It's a bit discouraging that my savings rate dropped to 39.80% in June when the budget expanded by $100 BUT also keep in mind that I did NO Rite-Aid shopping at all in June.  My savings rate is very high when I shop at R-A so I sort of got a double whammy this past month......more spending OOP overall and no R-A deals.

The monthly food spending savings percentage went down by 5.73% in June to 39.80% compared to May's 45.53% savings average.   Not quite at my 40% minimum savings rate threshold I like to see but the drop from the previous month isn't as bad as the drop from April's to May's savings rate(14.97%).
But I would like to try to get the rate back up over 40% if possible.

With 6 months accounted for, I have spent a total of $1804.65 on food/toiletries so far in 2016 which averages out to $300.78 per month spent.  The average in May stood at $298.91 per month spent to that point in 2016 so we are up $1.87 spent per month from last month's year-to-date tally. Compared to this point in the year to 2015's totals we have spent $547.01 LESS on food and toiletries in 2016.
Of course, June of 2015 we spent over $600 that month on food(which was a much higher than normal amount).

I can't say what our yearly spending will end up being now that I have 2 more mouths to feed.  I am guessing we won't stay under $4K for the year.

LOOKING AHEAD To July 2016.........

I will continue with my usual shopping ways in July....buy loss leaders or great deals which we can use, use a few coupons, cash in points for gift cards or buy discounted gift cards to food stores when possible.
I am going to give myself $450 for July.  We spent $410 in June and we have a cook-out planned for this weekend which will mean more food to buy/prepare/serve to guests.  I am still adjusting the budget to find our sweet spot on food spending.

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?
*  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?
*  What are your methods for keeping your food spending in check?

Is anyone out there up for tracking expenditures and trying to spend less but still eat well?


Sluggy

Genealogical Convergence

So if you've been reading this here little blog for any length of time you know that my mom was from the South and my dad was from the North.

Mom's people have been in America with a few exceptions since the early 1600's...by and large all of them coming here through the Virginia Colony and a large preponderance of these immigrants remaining in Virginia for many generations.  In fact I am the first person in my maternal direct line who has left Virginia to settle in another US state.  Neither of my siblings ever left Virginia either.

Dad's people have only been in America since the last 100 years mostly, with all of them settling in the North-New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts. With the exception of John Redfern and three of his sons(my 4th great Uncles)who all ended up in Montana.

So I never dreamed that I'd find any connections between my paternal lines and my maternal lines in my family tree.
Until last week.

Grave marker of my 7 x Great Uncle, Benjamin Sublett, brother to my 6 x Great Granfather, William Abraham Sublett.

I was researching my 6 x great grands on my Sublett lines-William Abraham Sublett and Susannah Allen Sublett.
Their daughter, Martha Sublett, is my 5 x great grand.
Her brother, my 6th great uncle, is Phillip Allen Sublett who married Isabella Whitley.
Isabella' sister, Ann Lewis Whitley, married William D Harper from Kentucky.

Since my maternal grandfather was born a Harper I started meandering up William D's Harper line to see if this branch of Harpers were related to my Virginia Harpers and had gone to KY from my part of VA.
William's father, Adam Harper was born in Virginia(now West Virginia)but I hit a brick wall beyond Adam's father, Jacob Harper.

So I headed up the line from Adam's wife, Barbara Conrad.
Her parents are Hans Jacob Conrad(born in Switzerland)and Hannah Bogard(born in Minisink, Orange Co, NY).

Orange County NY is were my Bowman/Redfern line immigrated to.

Hannah Bogard Conrad's parents were Sarah Hoogteeling(born Ulster Co. NY) and her first husband Johannes Bogard or Bogardus(born in Dutchess Co. NY).
That surname Hoogteeling sounded very familiar to me.......but not in connection to my maternal lines.

So I traced that Hoogteeling line up 3 more generations to a Mathys Coenraddtsen Hoogteeling or Houghtaling.(The surname Hoogteeling was anglicized to Houghtaling at some point and you see it spelled both ways back in the 1700's.)

And a light bulb moment happened!

My 2nd great Uncle, Richard Bowman, obviously on my paternal Bowman line, married a woman named Blanche A Houghtaling.
Blanche's 6 x great grandfather is Mathys Coenraddtsen Hoogteeling or Houghtaling.
So one of my maternal lines married into lines that lead back to the common shared ancestor that's the 6 x GG of my 2 x great uncle on my paternal side.

It's just so strange and I never thought I'd find crossovers from my maternal and my paternal lines.

As a general rule, up until the last 150 years or so, people and families didn't move around much.
Yes, there was a migration out west from both the Southern and Northern states in the East, but people didn't really remove from the South to the North much, and vice versa.
Especially my Virginia ancestors who are mostly still in Virginia to this day!

There may be an individual now and again in your line that bucked the system, moved away from family to do their own thing, the folks that march to a different drummer type.....people like my paternal grandfather.   But they are infrequent and far between.

I found the place in my family story which placed a family from NY(connected to my paternal line)in close proximity to my maternal lines in VA.

Sarah Hoogteeling Bogard's husband died in Augusta VA, in 1747, leaving her with a 3 year old daughter, Hannah Bogard.  In late 1746 Sarah is buying land in Augusta Co., VA and then marrying Henry Thorn, a Scotch-Irish settler to the mountains of Western Virginia.  Sarah dies in 1828 in what would become Pendleton Co., WV.  That move to VA put her daughter, Hannah, and later her granddaughter, Barbara Conrad, in proximity to Adam Harper of Pendleton Co.  Barbara and Adam would remove to Kentucky and put their offspring in the vicinity of the Whitley family and the branch of the Sublett line that would move out of VA into KY, MO, and across the West.

The question though is why did Johannes and Sarah Bogard move from upstate NY to western VA before 1747?
So I looked around her family and found that one of Sarah's uncles died in western VA as did one of her sisters.  This indicates that a family group removed together to VA.  No family stories were left behind so we'll never know the exact reasons that triggered that move.

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

It's the "Trying to Adjust to the New Normal" Edition.............

Ok, so if the worst thing I do to the budget when I get anxious and fall into the deep end of the pool over the changes to my day-to-day life here is to spend $6+ on some canning jars then I guess I'll be alright. ;-)

Moving on......

Onward to the meal planning!

Here's what was planned last week--

1. Sunday--Ravioli w/Italian Sausage
2. Monday--Fish, Cole Slaw, Hush Puppies, Collards(we didn't eat on Sunday)
3. Tuesday--Chicken Gnocchi Soup
4. Wednesday--Kielbasa on Rolls, Beans, Veggie of some kind
5. Thursday--Chicken Risotto, Veggies of some kind
6. Friday--Stuffed Pork Chops, leftover Veggies
7. Saturday--Leftovers or FFY

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Ravioli w/Italian Sausage
2. Monday--Fish, Cole Slaw, Hush Puppies, Mac and Cheese(for BF)
3. Tuesday--Chicken Gnocchi Soup, Biscuits
4. Wednesday--Kielbasa on Rolls, Beans, Leftover Collards
5. Thursday--Chicken Risotto, Spinach Salad
6. Friday--Pork Chops, Stuffing, Asparagus
7. Saturday--Leftovers or FFY(Hubs had Kielbasa/Beans, I had Soup/Biscuits, Kids went out to dinner)

7 meals cooked at home, 1 of them nights of leftovers and 0 nights of Eating Out.

As for my grocery spending..... I spent a total of $83.78 on 3 trips to the store last week(1 main shop + 2 trips to pick up a couple of things).

I have spent $357.36 for June and have $42.64 left of my $400 food budget with 4 days to go in the month.  It looks like I'll stay under budget for June....yay!


Leftovers going into this week.......Enchilada Sauce, Beans, Collards, Soup, Pork Chops, Risotto, Stuffing, Sausage and Spaghetti Sauce.

Here is this week's "food plan"--

1. Sunday--Leftovers or FFY
2. Monday--Spaghetti with Meatballs and Sausage(using leftover sauce and sausage too)
3. Tuesday--Italian Chicken Thighs and Potatoes, Collards
4. Wednesday--Cheese or Pork Enchiladas, Spanich Rice
5. Thursday--Salmon(breaded fish for BF), Mac & Cheese, Veggie TBD
6. Friday--Pizza, Salad
7. Saturday--Leftovers

This week will see 5 new meals cooked and 2 nights of Leftovers. I plan on using up the leftover Enchilada Sauce on cheese enchiladas(duh).  I will also make some pork enchiladas if no one eats the leftover pork chops by then....just shred them up with peppers and onions and Tex/Mex spices.  That way the diners will have a choose of fillings and there will be enough leftover for easy weekend snacking/meals.
The soup got eaten on Sunday.
I didn't fit the risotto and stuffing into this meal plan but I am sure it will all get eaten along the way with lunch and snacking going on here.

My "plan" with meals for the short term at least is to NOT cook on Weekends.  Having to prepare extra dishes(mostly because of BF's dietary requirements)means more work in the kitchen for me so I am taking weekends off from meal prep.  Everyone can find something to eat for themselves on weekends.At least for the Summer and as long as no one else steps up to take over a dinner now and again.
Daughter is taking over making dinner one night a week, at least until school starts so that helps with the workload.


What I need to buy for this menu.....milk, corn tortillas, lettuce.

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

I need to plan next week's meal fun soon.  We are having a cookout since Hubs got the deck scrubbed and sealed this weekend.  I am going to smoke some meats either Sat. or Sun. and just heat up/finish them off on Sunday right before the cook-out.  I'll have dogs and burgers available and let everyone cook their own on the grill if and what they want of those foods.  So other than grilling corn I won't be "cooking" on Monday.  8-)

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

Any great deals on food at your stores this week?

Sluggy

Frugality These Days at Chez Sluggy

I haven't talked about frugality lately, that is, if you don't count my meal planning/menu posts on Monday.

So what kinds of frugal things has Sluggy been up to?

Not much really.
Other than working the grocery stores to spend as little as possible, meal planning and incorporating leftovers into the menu, I've not done much.

I haven't been actively trying to make more money but then again, I haven't been out spending unnecessarily either.

No Rite-Aid trips except for medications.
Oh, there was an issue earlier in the week when College Boy picked up his meds.....they overcharged him because they didn't put the Rx through on our prescription plan.
So I called and asked WTF?!? and got the difference refunded.
Yay me.

Daughter used a discounted gift card I already had to get a pair of pants for work at no cost to her.
Ok so this didn't actually save me anything but it did her.

We haven't eaten any meals out since last Saturday so no Eating Out spending for a solid week.
Daughter and BF went out to eat Saturday night rather than eat leftovers but Hubs and I stayed home and ate what was here.
Rah.

Speaking of eating out.......College Boy's friend cleans the local BK at night so he gets freebies there sometimes.  He gave CB some of those new Mac & Cheetos things the other night......

If you haven't heard about this new "food"(using that term loosely)it's mac and cheese nuggets shaped into Cheetos shapes and then covered in Cheetos dust/crumbs/whatever.

They look like turds warmed over and the nibble I took told me they are not something I'd spend my good money on.

Ok, maybe if you are drunk or stoned out of your mind you'd enjoy these but keep your eyes closed while eating them. lolz
I fed the 3/4 of the one I tried to Daughter's dog and she gobbled it up and hasn't died yet.
I just wonder how many named chemicals are in those things? bleh.

I've stayed home all week except to hit the grocery store.
I've spent time moving crap around, putting other crap into boxes to take to donate, vacuuming, paying bills and figuring out how to arrange and then moving furniture in the house.
And getting Daughter to move her and BF's stuff so it's not strewn all over the house.

Remember the Salvation Army truck that didn't pick up my stuff?
Well, I took photos of all the stuff and posted it all for FREE on my town's tag sale FB page on Friday afternoon and as of 5 pm Saturday it's all gone!!

I must have had 50 people wanting various things.
Even after I posted it was all taken I had people posting wanting things.

I guess giving stuff away is really anti-frugal but this frees up space in the house so well worth getting rid of it all.
Once we get the daybed, other exercise bike and the dreadmill moved I will feel a whole lot less anxious about things in the house.


I did go out early in the week....or was it last week, I can't remember.....and bought myself these.......

Purple pint canning jars!
I have lusted after these since they came out but couldn't see myself spending a premium because the jars were purple.
So I waited and bided(bode?) my time.
Ollie's(Good Stuff Cheap!)had them cheap plus I had a 15% my order coupon so I picked up 2 packages(12 jars)for just over .50¢ after tax.
Much better than the $18.49 for 6 they are going for currently on Amazon.
Humph.

That's about all from Chez Sluggy.
What's going on at your house?

Sluggy

Carppity Carp Carp.....Pity Party Rant

This has been my week......lots of carp!
Just switch positions on two letters and you'll know how I really feel. ;-)

Last weekend celebrating Hubs for Father's Day took over 3 whole days basically.
He had taken Friday off so it was an evening at the local Brew Pub.........

Of course Daughter said she was treating him on Friday so I had to pay for myself and the 20 bucks I gave her MORE than covered my sandwich and 1 beer....so I got to supplement what she paid for Hubs.
And nothing of any note got done at home that day.....

Then Saturday is was all day at Hubs favorite not-quite-local Brew Pub.

Of course nobody took my picture so I was forced to do a selfie with the river in the background......

Then Daughter and BF headed off for an afternoon/evening of dirt track racing so I was the designated dog sitter until after midnight.  Even though I didn't want to stay up that late.
And another day when nothing got done at home.

On our road trip in May we got a chip in our car windshield from a truck that threw a rock at us on the highway.  Just a little chip so Hubs took the car in two weeks ago to get it fixed.  They didn't replace the windshield and just filled the chip with resin.
Well we come out to the car on Saturday after leaving the Brew Pub and the chip is now a crack that extends about halfway across the windshield!

Can't make it out well for the glare and clouds reflected but it's major now.  So back the car goes to the glass place and another call into our insurance. bleh.  At least we didn't have to pay ANOTHER deductible since it's the same damage.

On Sunday we stayed home and Hubs decided to do yard work(and I didn't ask him to do that).
I stayed inside and tried to get something put away in this house as it was too hot for me out in the sun.
So Hubs blows up that evening because he had to do yard work all day(no, no he didn't HAVE TO)and I didn't appreciate it and it's Father's Day and I guess he expected us all to wait on him hand and foot.
I wanted to hand him his ass about this time.....

I didn't ask him to do anything all day or for the last 3 days when he was off AND we carted him around to places he likes to drink beer.
So yes, I guess I am a bad bad wife and a horrible person.  I deserve to be yelled at.

So moving on from my thrilling 3 day weekend--

Monday I set up an appointment for Salvation Army to come pick up this stuff.......

I can't take it all in myself with a Chevy Sonic.
SA emails that they will come on Friday......no time frame or anything.

So I hear the truck outside the house BEFORE 8 am this morning.
I go downstairs to cage the dog so I can actually open the front door without her running off(she is a runner!)and speak with the men.
By the time I secure the dog and go open the front door, the truck is gone!!!
They just f*ing left!

Well screw you Salvation Army......

I left a scathing feedback comment on their pick-up website and now I am off to upload these photos to my town's FB sales site to see if anyone here will come get any of this stuff for FREE.
I could chew nails I am so pissed right now.

I feel like all I've done all week besides hide out on the computer doing genealogy stuff is cook and do dishes and deal with a pretty demanding dog when Daughter is not home.  I don't blame the dog....she is settling in well but she is so needy and not trained well.  And I can't occupy her all day long even though I am the one home with her mostly.
I am past the time in my life where I want to train a dog.

And Daughter has not been home a lot this week....between 2 days of her part time job, doc appointment, buying pants, going to another job interview, selling her plasma, going to the chiropractor 2 times in a week, going to the dentist, going to the eye doc and I am sure I am leaving something out here.

My question is why does she waits until she has no income coming in to see a dentist or eye doc......and then she's got her hand out to me wanting me to pay for this, since she's not on our dental or eye plans, just our medical plan, and she has to pay full price?
Or at least it feels like she's always got her hand out for cash. Ugh.

The house is nowhere near where it needs to be and no one, at least I feel, seems to be in any kind of hurry to help me get it to a livable point.
This alone is stressing me out massively.
I can't live in chaos but for so long and I've hit my limit.

I am just feeling overwhelmed I guess.  So much has changed in my day-to-day life and I am not liking it and I don't feel in control of anything in my life right now.

The one bright spot in all the madness that is life here?

I discovered Wednesday that Weis(PMITA)Markets now carries Pimiento Cheese!
And it was on sale!!!
I could just fill up a tub with this stuff and dive in nekkid with a supply of celery sticks. lolz

My phone which College Boy insists he didn't lose is still missing.  He finally went and bought me a replacement phone at Walmart which cost him all of $10.  Yes, it only took him a week to get him off his ass to replace my phone..........

I transferred all my minutes and am now back in business.

Not 2 days later we get a letter from Tracfone.........

Telling me I am eligible for a new free phone! lolz

And now Hubs informs me he wants to go to Maine the beginning of August and has already taken time off from work to do this.
Not that getting out of here is a bad thing but.......
He won't plan the trip so I'll have to do all that.
And if I don't include shit he wants to do(which he won't tell me until the last blanged minute)he'll pout.
And I am just tired of it all.
I'd rather just take off by myself somewhere.
Or better yet, just send him to Maine alone and I'll stay home and clean out his shed, which he refuses to clean.  Those bikes in the photo above?  Those were in the shed and the only reason they aren't still in there is because I got mad on Monday and tore through there to at least get 10 year old bikes out to donate.
sigh.

Hubs also informed me earlier this week he's decided "he" wants to throw a 4th of July cookout.
Well guess who gets to plan and implement the food for this shindig and arrange it all?  8-P

Not that I had any say in whether we have a cookout.
And the deck is a disaster.....it never got cleaned last year or sealed before the bad weather set in so it's green and cracking and nasty.

Want to lay bets on whether Hubs gets it cleaned and sealed before the end of next weekend for "his" cookout?
I am going to tell him if he doesn't get it done I am calling off his cookout because well I am a bitch and I am so over it.
I can't even.

So I survived the week and besides keeping it together I've bagged up stuff to get rid of and burned a large stack of cardboard boxes.
Go me.

So in conclusion I am NOT having a good week.

Here's hoping next week is better and I don't send anyone to the Emergency Room.

Sluggy