Eating Out Spending for 2016

I've updated the Eating-Out page located HERE.

All in we spent $2,306.67 on eating-out(also includes all take-out and fast food)for 2016 which averages out to $192.22 per month.  The only eating-out not included is anything Hubs buys on business trips or using his personal stash of monthly cash to buy food or coffee when away from home.

Largest spending months were May at $415.07 and August at $466.40 spent.
These were also the 2 months Hubs and I went on vacations(to Louisiana and to Maine)so the trip eating-out was large both months because we splurge on good regional food when on vacations.

The "regular" component of our eating-out totaled $766.46 which averages out to $63.87 per month.
The "trip" component of our eating-out totaled $1,163.52 which averages out to $96.96 per month.(1 birthday meal is also included in the trip part of eating-out this year, as I treated eldest son to a birthday dinner while on a trip.)
The "birthday and holiday" component(4 birthdays and 2 holidays)of our eating-out totaled $376.69 which averages out to $31.39 per month.

We spent $3212.71 in 2015 on Eating-Out so we spent $906.04 less last year on this category.  We had more trip eating-out in 2015 but then again we went on a few more trips that year.

I think we are doing well in keeping the Eating-Out spending under control.
Our total spent on this category is ok by me.  Sure, not spending anything on meals out would do wonders for our bottom line but really, this is not likely to happen.
We enjoy a good meal out while on vacation or to celebrate an event, and now and again some take-out to give myself a break from cooking.

How about you?
Do you track your spending on eating-out?
Are you trying to cut down on this category of spending and/or how do you keep from running up the bills on eating-out/take-out?

Sluggy

2016 $38K Savings Challenge...December Update and FINAL TALLY

Every year I keep a close eye on our monthly expenses and our monthly income.

Our income is mainly the salary my Hubs draws from his job.  We have money taken off each paycheck from the top to put into savings, before we even get our hands on it.  This money that's taken goes into various pots....life insurance, health insurance premiums, long term care insurance premiums, investments and retirement savings.  It's automatic so we are never tempted to NOT put it into savings or these other categories.

Once the automatic savings amounts, plus taxes and medical/dental/vision premiums are taken out, it leaves what we get to "live on".  From this amount we budget for bills, both monthly and irregular bills(semi-annual, annual etc.) and our variable bills(like food, eating out, clothing  etc.)  Anything left over once our monthly expenses are paid, I put aside into an interest bearing Savings Challenge account.

For 2016 I am continuing my Yearly Savings Challenge.  I am raising the Goal amount to $38,000 this year, $8K more than my goal for last year.

On to the December report.....

I have posted my December End of Month $38K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the Savings Challenge page tab at the top of the blog for the specific numbers HERE.

I have 2 goals each month.....
The 1st is to actually finish each month in the black and not the red.
The 2nd is to hit the targeted savings amount of $3,166.66.

I have to report that we finished up December with a surprisingly to me large amount, given the challenges this month.
The extra amount we ended the month of December with?.......$3650.62

Income

We had $3265.80 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.

Other monies received in December totaled $384.82.  This was interest made on non-retirement accounts, a tiny car insurance refund, 2 stock dividend checks, blogging revenue and $9.15 in spare cash I didn't spend on groceries in December.

This brought us to our gain of $3650.62
Since we have no debt, some of this goes into savings, not all. As it's January 1st we need to fund the $3K high deductible of our health insurance plan for 2017.

Outgo

As for the expenses this December, here are the good and the bad side of things....

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  Phone charges and internet were approximately the same as last month(Within $1 or so).
*  The water bill was $4.37 lower than last month's bill.
*  The gas card bill was $150.28 less than November's bill. Not that less gas was purchased really, it was just put on the Master Card instead. Plus after Hubs' accident he wasn't driving to work or anywhere else for that matter. ;-)
*  Cash withdrawals were $200 less than last month.  This was due to Hubs being incapacitated and not leaving home so he really didn't have much opportunity to spend money.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The credit card bill was up $347.65 from November's amount. Not a surprise really, being as some Christmas spending went on it this cycle.
*  The electric bill was $128.09 more than in November.  Two reasons for this-December is colder so the thermostat got nudged higher plus with Hubs living on the daybed in the living room I have to keep the downstairs warmer 24/7.  I usually don't heat downstairs very much at night when everyone sleeps upstairs.
*  We had a $10.04 balance on Daughter's Louisiana medical bills that showed up this month that I paid.  I knew it would come eventually as I knew they had under billed something.
*  There was a Kohl's charge bill for Christmas purchases I paid in December.  Not too bad at $281.12(I also used some Kohl's gift cards I had to pay part of the total and $281.12 is what was left on the balance.) Plus I'll be getting $60 of this back in rebates on some small appliances which were part of what I bought.
*  There were $154.00 in cash gifts made at Christmas so another small drain on the income for December.

The Food Budget costs for December are in another post, which is located HERE.

Since we have a High Deductible Health Plan I like to reserve some December savings for the following year to help cover the $3,000 deductible that kicks in January 1st.
The $3,651.47 saved in December will be split thus-$1,960.28 goes into the 2016 Savings Challenge to get me to my goal of $38,000 saved and the remaining $1,690.34 of what was saved last month stays in the checking account to help with the high deductible costs.

With 12 month accounted for, our Savings Challenge Grand Total for 2016 is $38,000.00.

FINAL THOUGHTS on December---

Compared to December 2015 we saved $327.70 MORE and put $184.72 MORE into savings this December. 8-)
.
We have $38,000 saved from our regular take-home pay for the challenge.  This is an amount in addition to our retirement accounts, for which we have monies deducted from Hubs' pay before we receive his check.

THOUGHTS going forward into January of 2017----

I will continue to do this Yearly Savings Challenge in 2017.  Not sure yet what my targeted amount to save will be as we haven't finalized our budget.  Our food expenses will be more than they were in 2016.  Energy costs are going up here in 2017(both state gasoline taxes on each gallon purchased(actual cost of gas is a variable each month too, as well as the cost of electricity from our utility company).  Add in that property tax rates are also rising slightly over last year's rates.  We also have to bump up College Boy's college fund as the percentage rate at which the state colleges costs have risen have out paced the little bit our monies there have grown over the last 5 years.  He also had a 1 semester internship and we don't know yet where in the world that will be happening so room/board/transportation costs during that semester are a big black unknown at this point.  I am figuring it won't be cheap on our wallet.  8-(

So how was your December financially?
  

Did you spend less than the income you had in December?
Did you stay within your budget or not?
What did you do with any money leftover at the end of the month?
Did you pay off any debts or put extra toward your mortgage principle or into savings, in an emergency fund or a retirement account?
Or did you blow it on a want?

If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check out your progress too and celebrate or commiserate with you!

I hope this year was the one were you cleaned up your finances and paid off your debts.
That you planned to set something aside if you didn't already or increased what you banked now for your future self.
Or paid extra on the principle of your mortgage if your house isn't already paid off.

Live below your means and keep some change for a rainy day....because no matter how sunny it is in your life now, dark clouds come along and you'll be glad you have that umbrella to keep you dry.

Sluggy

Net Worth.....Jan. 2017 Update

We are actually up over $7.5k from December 1st's net worth overall(only liquid cash/investments/bonds, as I don't count housing or car values).  The retirement accounts were up $6K+ for January 1 2017 from the December 1 2016 calculations and the cash reserve/non-retirement accounts were up almost $1.5K.

We are up $91,601.13 from one year ago, in the January 1st of 2016's net worth snapshot.  

We are still in acquisition mode and Hubs still has a good income.  As for disability pay, that has kicked in at 100% of regular income but won't drop to the 70% rate until sometime in February if he still can't work from home or return to the offic by then.

Life happens and is expensive so save as much as you can for those rainy days no matter your age or how close/far away you are from retirement.

Did you increase your net worth last month?
Do you have a retirement plan in place?

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

The "Holiday Hangover" Edition--

In retrospect, perhaps I should have bought the giant flask I found in the store the day before Hubs had his little accident.  I sure would have come in handy over the last month.  ;-)

Moving on......

Onward to the meal planning!

Here's what was planned last week--

1. Sunday--Beef Eye Round Roast, Yeast Rolls, Green Bean Casserole, Mac & Cheese

2. Monday--Leftovers

3. Tuesday--Chicken Enchiladas(premade Stouffer's)

4. Wednesday--Tacos

5. Thursday--Xmas Dinner 2.0

6. Friday--Clam Chowder and Biscuits

7. Saturday--NYE tapas(aka appetizers)

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Beef Eye Round Roast, Yeast Rolls, Green Bean Casserole, Mac & Cheese

2. Monday--Leftovers(Don't recall what we had)

3. Tuesday--Chicken Enchiladas(premade Stouffer's)

4. Wednesday--Tacos

5. Thursday--Leftover Ravioli

6. Friday--? I don't recall that I ate dinner.

7. Saturday--NYE tapas(aka appetizers)

The chowder and biscuits didn't happen but most everything went as planned otherwise.

7 meals cooked at home, 2-3 of them nights of leftovers or Fend For Yourself, and 0 night of Take-Out/Eating-Out.

As for the grocery spending.....1 trips to Weis for lettuce and milk bought the food spending last week to $5.55 and brought my December food spending Total to $410.24 for the month.
My December "found money" budget ended up at $444.39 so I had $34.15 leftover for the month.

My savings percentages last week was 0% as neither item I bought was on sale and no coupons were used.

Leftovers going into this week.......potato salad, a piece of Xmas roast.

Here is this week's "food plan".  As talked about in my December Grocery Spending post yesterday I am instituting a simplified meals/1 involved meal per week Plan going forward.  I have noted the "complicated" meal for the week with an *.

1. Sunday--Xmas Dinner 2.0 + Corn Casserole
2. Monday--Roast Beef Hash from scratch, Scrambled Eggs *
3. Tuesday--Kielbasa on Rolls, Potato Salad
4. Wednesday--Chicken Chili w/Sweet Potatoes
5. Thursday--Quesadillas or Taco Salad(leftover Taco Beef)
6. Friday--Clam Chowder, Biscuits
7. Saturday--Spaghetti and Sausage, Salad, Garlic Bread

This week will see 7 new meals cooked, 0 nights of Take-Out/Eating-Out and 1 night of Leftovers.

What I need to buy for this menu?  chicken breast, hot dog rolls, milk and breakfast sandwiches for the BF.
We start a new month with a $500 food budget to work from.

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 last week?

Any great deals on food at your stores this week?


Sluggy

2016 Food & Toiletries Spending.....December Update & FINAL Tally

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

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for DECEMBER 2016.

I have posted December'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 November.  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(5 at home this month). No kids under 20.

* I actually bought a pie at Walmart but didn't want to do a whole category for 1 item so I tucked the cost of the pie under Weis spending.*

******************

BOYER'S
OOP  $35.62
Value  $70.07
Savings  49.00 %

BREAD OUTLET
OOP  $13.75
Value  $47.77
Savings  71.22%

DOLLAR TREE
OOP  $2.00
Value  $4.98
Savings  59.84%

RITE-AID
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/PPs  $433.33
Value  $433.33
Savings  100%

SHURSAVE MARKET
OOP  $33.88
Qs/Ads $35.59
Value  $69.47
Savings  51.23%

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $324.99

Qs/Ads  $350.27

Value  $675.26

Savings  51.87%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%, the Bread Outlet at 71.22% and Dollar Tree at 59.84%.  My WORST savings rate was Boyer's Market at 49%.  If 49% savings is my worst rate then things went really well in December.  ;-)
I shopped at 6 different stores this past month. *And the pie at Walmart would make it 7 stores.*

TOTAL Out of Pocket..........$410.24

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$890.64

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$1300.88

TOTAL Savings of ..................................68.46%
TOTAL Savings w/o Rite-Aid of ..............52.71%

This closes out the December food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....
I went into December wanting to spend no income on the food budget.
Here is the break down of my food budget for December utilizing cash/rebates and gift cards I had--

Gift Cards.....$64.36
Cash Rebates--
 Savingstar...$148.03
 Checkout51..$42.75
 Ibotta..........$44.25
Rolled Coins...$103.00
Other Cash(post coupons)...$42.00

Total.....$444.39 for food in December.

I actually spent $410.24.
Here is what I have left of cash and chits....

A Giant market $25 gift card and $9.15 in cash from various rebates. With Hubs' accident I just didn't get a chance to get to a Giant store(it's half an hour away)in December.
I'm going to tuck that $9 into my wallet for emergency cash and throw the .15¢ into the change jar to start the ball rolling with rolled coins. 8-)

The monthly food spending savings percentage went UP by .44% in December to 68.46% compared to November's 68.02% savings average.

I think I did an ok job sticking to this grocery challenge, considering the events of December. ;-)

With 12 months accounted for, I have spent a Grand Total of $4,696.81 on food/toiletries in 2016 which averages out to $391.40 per month spent in 2016.

If you count the $410.21 I spent in gift cards and cash rebates/rolled coins/post coupon cash into my total for the year the actual spending comes to $5,107.05 for 2016, or $425.59 per month.
Still mighty good for a total feeding between 2-5 people(most of the year it was 4-5 people).
That's $425.59 per month for all food, toiletries, paper goods and HBA for the year for the entire household.  The only category not counted in this category is Eating out/Take-out.

LOOKING AHEAD To 2017........

I sat down and did a breakdown of food spending-before the kids moved in/after the kids moved in.
The 5 months of Jan-May vs. the 7 months of June-Dec.
The average per month food spending Jan-May was $298.91, feeding 2-3 adults.
The average per month food spending June-Dec was $516.07, feeding 4-5 adults.

While in my head, before figuring the math out on this issue, I thought the June-Dec spending was way out of control.  But looking at the actual numbers for it all, even with the higher spending June-Dec we were averaging around $100 per person per month, just like the numbers tell us we were doing Jan-May.

So things were not as dire the last half of 2016 as I had talked myself into believing they were.

So where do we go from here into the Great Unknown of 2017--
Nobody is moving out or taking on more of the food spending costs in 2017.  Hubs and I will still be feeding everyone under our roof(with a few exceptions that are already in place).  Therefore I don't foresee our food expenditures going down substantially and I certainly don't want them going up!
Our food spending will be higher in 2017 than in 2016 as we weren't feeding 4-5 adults for the whole year then.  I am not going to kid myself into thinking I'll be able to lower this spending category under $500 per month, which is $6,000 for the whole year.

I may be able to do a bit better on the spending by addressing the food waste area.  We had increased food waste once the kids moved in, as they don't eat many leftovers, leading to more food spending.  I will need to tighten up amounts that are cooked to reduce leftovers.  This is a double edged sword though because Hubs and I like having leftovers and a night off from cooking now and again lightens the workload on me.
What to do, what to do?
Having someone else cook 1 night a week hasn't worked out very satisfactorily for me in 2016.
And if everyone else here had their druthers we'd be ordering in and eating a heck of a lot more processed foods, which would blow our budget out of the water as well as our waistlines(for those of us who HAVE waistlines).
I am thinking of instituting a simpler meal plan for 2017.  Easier meals, basic meals with only involved dishes every now and again.  Part of that will be to rely on my crock pots a bit more than I do now.

All that being said, I am setting a $6K food budget for 2017.
I will continue to shop how I do now-buying loss leaders, at rock bottom price at whatever food purveyor I can scope out, utilizing coupons when applicable and perhaps growing a bit more of our own food this Summer.

GRAND TOTAL FOOD & TOILETRIES SPENDING 2016

TOTAL Out of Pocket..........$5,107.05

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$8,937.28

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$13,634.09

TOTAL Savings of ..................................62.54%

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 December?
*  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