2017 Food & Toiletries Spending....January Update

* Posting my grocery totals a few days early as I am done food spending for January.  If for some reason I shop again before Wednesday, this amount will go onto February's spending.*

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

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for JANUARY 2017.

I have posted January's totals on the Total Grocery Savings Page located HERE and have updated the Totals there.
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 Sum.  My spending includes Food, Toiletries/HBA, Cleaning Products, Paper Goods & tax where applicable. We are a family of 4-5(5 at home this month). No kids under 20.

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

BREAD OUTLET
OOP  $10.75
Value  $54.90
Savings  80.42%

RITE-AID
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/PPs  $873.20
Value  $873.20
Savings  100%

SHURSAVE MARKET
OOP  $50.74
Qs/Ads $27.28
Value  $78.02
Savings  35%

SURPLUS OUTLET
OOP  $37.01
Value  $102.01
Savings  63.72%

TARGET
OOP  $0.00
Value  $66.46
Savings  100%

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $452.77

Qs/Ads  $433.45

Value  $886.22

Savings  48.91%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%, Target at 100% and the Bread Outlet at 80.42%.  My WORST savings rate was Shursave Market at 35%.
The bulk of my money was spent at Weis Markets in January and I had a 48.92% savings rate there.
I shopped at 6 different stores this past month.

TOTAL Out of Pocket..........$551.27

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$433.45

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$886.22

TOTAL Savings of ..................................73.25%
TOTAL Savings w/o Rite-Aid of ..............53.58%

This closes out the January food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....
I went into January wanting to spend $500 on food and toiletries.
I went over budget by $51.27 because of a few stock-up opportunities.

The monthly food spending savings percentage went UP by 4.79% in January to 73.25% compared to December's 68.46% savings average.  January's Rite-Aid haul of freebies after sales/coupons/points really helped raise the savings rate overall this month.

With 1 month accounted for, I have spent a Grand Total of $551.27 on food/toiletries in 2017 which averages out to $551.27 per month spent in 2017. 8-)


LOOKING AHEAD To February........

3 weeks into January and word came that the BF was going back to Louisiana to live.  For me, this means I can back down on my grocery/toiletries spending in 2017.  I no longer will need a $6K food budget for 2017. 8-)))
I should be able to do a $300-$400 food budget per month now so I am shooting for between $3300 and $4400 in food spending for the rest of 2017(or $3800 to $4900 for the full year).

For February I am going to try for a $300 grocery budget as College Boy won't be home this month.
Perhaps I can do even better by heavily relying on the stockpile/freezer in February?  Time will tell.

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 January?
*  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

Frugal Friday Stuff

Here are a few frugal things around here this week.....

* An Annie's Deal at Weis I got this week.  After sale prices, coupons and $5 off instantly this all cost me .75¢ total.  But I forgot I had a .50¢ Annie's soup offer in SavingStar so now all this cost me a quarter.
Yes! ;-)
Daughter wanted granola bars for lunches at school, the chicken noodle soup is always a good thing to have on hand for colds/flus and I am sure she'll eat that mac and cheese at some point.

* Today was Fabulous Friday at Weis.  There weren't any one-day deals I really wanted so I stayed home and didn't go and spend money.

*  Still working on satisfying that $3K high deductible on our medical insurance.  Dr. said I could fill one of two prescriptions(similar drugs)depending on which one would cost me less money.  So I got the $378 drug instead of the $489 drug.
On another note--Hubs has an eye shot on Monday and the eye doc is trying a new drug for this so it is going to cost $3K, just for that drug for 1 shot. sigh.  We will have satisfied our medical deductible before January is over this year.
Double sigh.

I am so glad I keep about half of what we save in December and only put the other half into my Savings Challenge from December, and apply a portion to the medical deductible in the new year.  It keeps us from taking a $3K medical payment hit in January/February.  I know I have to pay the deductible but hate to have it all come at us at once.  I prefer to cash flow our deductible payments.

*  The BF left today to return to Louisiana.  For those who have asked, he and Daughter are NOT broken up by the move.  They are doing the long distance relationship thing for now.  When she has finished school and obtained her degree they will relocate somewhere together and restart their lives together.  We will miss BF although the good side of this is it will lower our costs on bills and Daughter will be able to focus on her studies better(at least I think so).  Time will tell how this all pans out.  I wish him only the best.

On the flip side, the frugal failings--

*  My sweet potatoes went bad and had to be composted.

*  There was more Eating Out/Take-Out in January that I wanted to see.  We got expensive take-out subs for BF's last dinner here as a treat.  If Daughter had her way, she's have me get take-out 3 or 4 nights a week.  This won't happen as long as I and her dad are footing the bill for meals.  We had a bit of extra money in January's budget since Hubs is still housebound and doesn't need WAM $(WAM=walking around money)so we aren't over.
February will be light on take-out eating unless I get sick again.

On a side note.....if anyone has emailed me and is waiting for a response(I know I owe a few folks one)it will be awhile before I get around to answering mail.
I have a Windows email program and it decided to shit the bed.  While I can still into my emails with a work around I can't send emails still.  It is driving me nuts!
Hubs will do some tech support on my machine this weekend so hopefully by Monday I'll be good as new.

Here's hoping everyone has a productive and/or relaxing weekend(depending on which you want!lol).
I'll be filing a year's worth of paperwork and pulling paper for taxes.
yaaaaayyyyy

Sluggy

Just Nothing

I hate to not post but I really have nothing of value to say lately.
Just doing what I need to do to hold things together here.
Cleaning,taking out garbage, running to bank, drug store, grocery stores, gas station, rinse and repeat with a couple of doctor appointments thrown in.
I did buy Hubs a cane today at Rite-Aid.  His doc whom we saw yesterday wants him off the walker and onto a cane so he is getting close to being able to climb stairs now.  It's a very good thing but for me it means I now have to get the bedroom cleaned up(he hasn't been upstairs since the accident on Dec. 6th). lolz
Hubs also will begin working from home the first week of February(unless he has a set back of some sort with this injury).

The BF is leaving on Friday, today is his last day at his job here.  This will mean a few things leaving the garage and going back to Louisiana with him.

I got some good deals at Weis(PMITA)Markets today.  I usually go on Wednesdays(last day of the sales ad week and good day to look for discounted meats and bakery)and Friday(Fab. Friday sale items day and new sales ad week). Unless it can't be avoided I NEVER shop on Sat/Sun. or Tues.   The weekend is just crazy crowded(and the cashiers tend to be snippy or ditzy)and Tues. is "Old People Discount" Day and it takes forever to get through the store and finish your shop.

Anyway, there was an Annie's brand offer--Spend $15, Get $5 off Instantly.  The Deal worked off of regular prices but everything that qualified was on sale.
So 1 carton of soup, 3 bars of granola bars and 1 box of mac and cheese came to $11.25
$5 off=$6.25
I had 4 x .50¢/1 Qs and 1 x .75¢/1 Qs, which double up to $1 each so should have been another $5 off.  The cashier rang each Q twice since they wouldn't scan so w/the .75¢ Q I got an additional .50¢ so I got $5.50 total....$6.25-$5.50=.75¢ total for all 5 items.  I told the cashier the .75¢ should only double to $1 but she shrugged her shoulders and just kept going.  Oh well....

I've been binge watching old Project Runway episodes/seasons on Hulu.  I just finished Season 9 again.  I skipped Season 8 as I just couldn't stand the thought of watching the gal who won that Season, Gretchen again!  For some reason she really got under my skin. lolz  Tim Gunn and I still think Mondo should have won that season.

So here's some Michael Kors-isms to brighten your day....



Sluggy

Feeling the Love

On Saturday after hauling College Boy back to school there was a card waiting for me in the mailbox.
On Monday there was another card in the mailbox.

Birthday wishes from distant family members?
No.

Both were from online blogger/friends........

I just want to thank Lorraine and Rachel for their thoughtfulness and good wishes for the day.
So unexpected and so appreciated!

I very rarely get personal snail mail and these were a thrill to receive. 8-)

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

The "It's Ma Birfday!" Edition--

I spent my birthday driving College Boy back to school, taking him to Walmart for items he forgot,eating take-out food in his dorm room and returning home around 5 pm.
And the weather was crazy bad in a strange way.....no snow or sleet but warmer than normal temps and dense fog that never lifted, except for the last few miles near College Boy's school so 90% of the trip there and back was in pea soup.

Not the way I planned on celebrating my day.

When I got home nobody had made/thought of dinner so I paid for 2 nasty bad take-out pizzas(the only place that delivers here because Daughter and BF couldn't even go pick up pizza!)and then we had store bought birthday cake(that I had to pick up and pay for on Friday).

Yah, it was quite the party and celebration of ME. 8-(

Moving on......

Onward to the meal planning!

Here's what was planned last week--

1. Sunday--Meatloaf, Spinach Salad, Parmesan Noodles

2. Monday--Chicken Parm, Caesar Salad, Rigatoni

3. Tuesday--Country Fried Steak w/Gravy, Baked Potatoes, Asparagus *

4. Wednesday--Shrimp Scampi w/Linguine *

5. Thursday--Leftovers

6. Friday--?

7. Saturday--Fend for Yourself

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Meatloaf, Spinach Salad, Parmesan Noodles

2. Monday--Chicken Parm, Asparagus, Rigatoni

3. Tuesday--Chinese take-out

4. Wednesday--Country Fried Steak w/Gravy, Mashed Potatoes, Caesar Salad * (I had leftover soup)

5. Thursday--Spaghetti w/Meatballs and Sausage, Tossed Salad, Garlic Bread(I had salad and bread only)

6. Friday--Beef Stew, Rolls

7. Saturday--Nasty take-out Pizza

6 meals cooked at home, 0 of them nights of leftovers or Fend For Yourself, and 2 nights of Take-Out.
Scampi didn't happen, Take-out on Tuesday and Daughter made Wednesday's meal as I was sick.  I added the leftover mushrooms from the Marsala from last week into Friday's stew.

As for the grocery spending.....1 trips to Weis bought the food spending last week to $98.18 and brought my January food spending Total to $383.58 for the month.
There is $116.42 left in the January food budget with 8 days left.

My savings percentages last week was 53.75%.  Anything over 50% is awesome.

Leftovers going into this week.......mashed taters, bbq boneless pork ribs, spaghetti w/meats and beef stew.

Here is this week's "food plan"....
* Denotes "complicated" meals

1. Sunday--Birthday Steaks, Baked Potato, Caesar Salad

2. Monday--Fish, Cole Slaw, Sweet Potatoes, something Noodle for BF

3. Tuesday--Baked Potato Soup

4. Wednesday--Homemade Pizza

5. Thursday--Beef Pie

6. Friday--Leftovers

7. Saturday--Leftovers

This week will see 5 new meals cooked, 0 nights of Take-Out/Eating-Out and 2 nights of Leftovers.

What I need to buy for this menu? Not much for dinners but Daughter needs bunches of lunch type food for school so that is on my list.  Maybe some carrots. And as always milk.

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