Weis & Rite-Aid Deals I Couldn't Resist

I went up to Weis(PMITA)Markets earlier this week and found a great deal on Italian Ice, Turkey, Chicken and Fish.....

These 1 lb. bags of breaded fish fillets were BOGO this week(reg. price $6.99 each)
Each bag has a $3 Instant Discount Sticker on them.
$6.99 for 2-$6 in Instant Discounts=.99¢ for 2 lbs of fish.
I bought 4 bags.

Then I found a 1 lb. package of Ground Turkey on sale for $3.50 with a $2 Instant Discount Sticker on it so $1.50 after sale/discount sticker.

Also not in the picture was a 10 piece package of Chicken Thighs marked $5.48 with a $3 Instant Discount Sticker on it so $2.48 OOP.

Luigi's Italian Ice was BOGO this week as well.  I stacked 2 x .50¢/1 IPQs(doubled to $1 each)+ a $1/2 Weis Booklet Q so .39¢ total OOP for both boxes.

I went back on Wednesday and found more 1 lb. bags of fish fillets(still BOGO and w/$3 off Stickers on them)so I bought 4 more bags.
I also got 2 Whole Chickens marked down and with $3 Instant Stickers on them which brought the cost to .72¢ per lb.
yay me.....

There were a few other things I picked up.....
Produce(red pepper, cuke, grape tomatoes)on sale.
I found 2 x Weis Organic baby lettuce containers 50% off + I had a $1/2 Weis booklet Q so $2.50 for both.
A loaf of Pumpernickel bread at the Bakery for 50% off($1.49).
3 bottles of Sweet Baby Ray's teriyaki marinade were Buy 1 Get 2 Free($2.99 total).
And Weis brand Mayo was .99¢ a jar so 2 of those made it into my cart.
I also used a rain check for huge Lipton iced tea bottles paired with a coupon making them $1.47 each and I picked up a tray of porterhouse steaks at $5.88 lb.
Total spent was $50.19 and I used that Kohl's reward Visa card to pay(so Zero OOP) on Wednesday.

I netted a 63% savings rate for that trip.

Then I went up to Rite-Aid and bought a boat load of cold cereal.........

If Ibotta hadn't yanked the $3.20 in cash rebates I should have gotten from this lot off their site between Tuesday night when I selected them and Wednesday morning when I bought all this my OOP per box would have been .17¢ after sale/Qs/rebate.
But without that I ended up spending down $5.27 in Plenti Points on 11 boxes of cereal and each cost me .48¢ per container.  Still a great deal.
Since the Ibotta rebates were brand specific I may go exchange some of this for other varieties that are part of the sale.  All but the Raisin Bran are for the kids and I think they'd rather have more Pops and less Loops and Jacks. ;-)

Trident gum varieties are also on clearance at my Rite-Aid for .64¢ each so I printed off 2 x $1.59/3 SmartSource IPQs which made them .11¢ each.  I used Plenti Points to pay for these too.

That's .66¢ spent in total in PPs for 6 packages and another Christmas item tucked away for December.

Sluggy

2017 Food & Toiletries Spending.....May Update

* Posting my grocery totals a bit early as I am done food spending for May.  If for some reason I shop again before Thursday, this amount will go onto June's spending.*

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

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for MAY 2017.

I have posted May'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 May.  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 3-4(4 at home this month). No kids under 21.

******************
ALDI
OOP  $5.32
Value  $10.87
Savings   51.05%

BREAD OUTLET
OOP  $13.09
Value  $48.41
Savings  73.00%

RITE-AID
OOP  $1.50
Qs/Ads/PPs  $182.12
Value  $183.62
Savings  99.18%

SHURSAVE MARKET
OOP  $62.27
Qs/Ads  $52.21
Value  $114.48
Savings  45.61%

TRADER JOE'S
OOP  $41.85
Value  $75.48
Savings   44.55%

WALMART
OOP  $13.96
Value  $23.88
Savings   41.54%

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $76.31

Qs/Ads/Free Gift Cards  $217.20

Value  $293.51

Savings  74.00%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 99.18%, Aldi's at 51.05% and Weis at 74.00%.  My WORST savings rate was Walmart at 41.54%.
Ok, having a "worst" savings rate of 41.54% is not too shabby..... ;-)

I shopped at 7 different stores this past month.

TOTAL Out of Pocket..........$214.30

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$535.95

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$750.25

TOTAL Savings of ..................................71.44%

This closes out the May food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....
I went into May not knowing where we'd come out on the budget since I was away for half of the month and the family was loose with my food budget. I also spent $61.13 on various foods to bring home while in VA too(most of that spending was for a case of wine at Trader Joe's).  And I actually had a brain fart and spent $1.50 in REAL MONEY at Rite-Aid this month instead of spending down $1.50 in Plenti Points! ugh ugh ugh
Any month I can stay under $300 in food spending is a good month in my book so I am happy overall with how the money played out in May.

The monthly food spending savings percentage went DOWN by 5.61% in May to 71.44% compared to April's 77.05% savings average.  Not worried about that since over a 70% savings rate is still awesome.  ;-)

With 5 months accounted for, I have spent a Grand Total of $1,565.90 on food/toiletries in 2017 which is a 72.77% savings rate for the year to-date and averages out to $313.18 per month spent in 2017. 8-)


LOOKING AHEAD To June........
Well I've got $260 in prepaid Visa cards($200 was purchased and $60 was a "freebie").  If I can only spend that $260 on food in June it won't add to my OOP spending for the month since they were paid for in April(but the $200 will still count against my food spending since they weren't free).  If I can stay at that amount or less it means no additional $ put on the credit card in June to pay off in July.

I need to balance stocking a few items so that when we leave mid-July the kids still have plenty in the pantry/freezer to prepare meals with and not overspending in June on deals.  I think $260 is enough to get the job done.  I'd love to stretch it out into July until we leave on our trip too but that might be too optimistic.  $260 to cover food for 6 weeks(or $43.33 per week)?  We shall see if THAT's do-able!

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 May?
*  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

I Got Nothing Because There's So Much!

Have you ever felt paralyzed into inaction because there was just so much on your plate?
Well that's how I am feeling right now.

I've got so much to do and talk about I just can't get myself up for doing or talking about anything.

So that's my excuse for not blogging lately and I'm sticking to it. ;-)

The trip to VA, coming home to my own little disaster of a house(and the people in it), the end of the month accounting to do, the mega Summer trip to finish planning.  And did I mention Hubs impending retirement?!?

I suppose I should start a list and just get on with things.
But I just got off the phone with Cousin Sonya Ann and all I want to do is go back to bed now.......sigh.

Have you ever wanted to just avoid doing anything?

I'm going to try to do my May Grocery Spending Post as I am finished spending $ on food/toiletries this month.  Perhaps I'll get that posted tomorrow so stop back then.

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

The  "Finally Home" Edition--

Well I'm home finally and decompressing from this adventure.  More details to come later.

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

Here's what was planned last week--I wasn't home all week so this wasn't my plan. ;-)

1. Sunday--Fend for Yourself

2. Monday--Baked Ham, Corn Casserole, Asparagus

3. Tuesday--?

4. Wednesday--?

5. Thursday--?
6. Friday--?
7. Saturday--?

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Burger King Whoppers

2. Monday--Baked Ham, Mac and Cheese, Peas

3. Tuesday--Beef Stroganoff, Brown Rice

4. Wednesday--Leftovers

5. Thursday--BBQ Riblets, Corn Casserole, Brussels Sprouts
6. Friday--Leftovers
7. Saturday--Leftovers

Last week saw 7 nights of dinners....1 night of take-out, 3 nights of Leftovers and 3 nights of cooking new meals.

First old news--Last week's grocery trip was $14.85 and not $15 as Daughter told me. Daughter made one trip to the Shursave market at $31.39 and I had a receipt from before I left town I forgot to add in so that was another $25.50 spent at Weis(PMITA)Markets. Both of these put a dent in the food budget of $56.89.   This brings my May food spending total to $151.67.  There are 2 days left in the month. 

My savings percentages last week was 47.71% which brings the month's percentage to 66.77%. 

Leftovers going into this week.......

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

1. Sunday--Chinese Take-out

2. Monday--Burgers and Dogs, COC, Beans(Hubs is cooking)

3. Tuesday--Leftovers, Spinach Salad

4. Wednesday--Rigatoni w/Meat Sauce, Garlic Bread, Salad

5. Thursday--Steak, Baked Potato, Caesar Salad
6. Friday--Fried Cod, Cole Slaw, Steak Fries
7. Saturday--Meatloaf, Veggies TBD

This week will see 5 new meals cooked, 1 night of Take-Out/Eating-Out and 1 nights of Leftovers.

What I need to buy for this menu? Steak, Burger Rolls, Cole Slaw, Corn(COC), Spinach, Fish, Tomatoes, Lettuce, Garlic Bread, Ground Beef.
Out of lots of stuff here.

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

Back on Sunday

I am on the road traveling.
I'll be back online Sunday evening, maybe with a new post.

Sorry I've been MIA mostly the last 2 weeks but I've been busy wrangling cats and mother in-laws and such.  '-)

I hope everyone's relaxing some and enjoying the long holiday weekend.

Talk at y'all later,
Sluggy