This Week on the Dining Table

The "Kim Goes to Bean's" Edition--

We arrived in Maine on Saturday night.  Had dinner with my cousin and her husband.  Last night around 7 pm I initiated Kim into "Bean's".....known to the world as L. L. Beans.  Around these "pahts" it's just Bean's.
More fun to come.

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

1. Sunday--Hamburgers on Rolls w/Tomato, Fries

2. Monday--Fish, Mac and Cheese, Brussels Sprouts

3. Tuesday--Beer Brats, Grilled Onions, Veggie TBD

4. Wednesday--Tacos

5. Thursday--BBQ sandwiches, Cole Slaw

6. Friday--Eating Out
7. Saturday--Eating Out

1. Sunday--Hamburgers on Rolls w/Tomato, Fries

2. Monday--Fish, Mac and Cheese, Brussels Sprouts

3. Tuesday--Beer Brats, Grilled Onions

4. Wednesday--Tacos

5. Thursday--BBQ sandwiches, Cole Slaw

6. Friday--Eating Out(I had Chowder and Greek Salad)
7. Saturday--Eating Out(I had whole belly fried clams-unfortunately)

Last week saw 5 nights of home cooked dinners, 0 night of leftovers/fend for yourself/tv dinners, 2 nights of Take-Out or Eating Out.
Most of what was planned happened.  

One trip to Weis, a trip to Dollar General and another somewhere I can't recall now brought the weekly food spending to $67.56 and brought the monthly total to $486.35.
I have 0 days left in my shopping month for September and I am over the food budget by $86.35.  I think I'm done. lolz  I need to get some things this week, plus I found my Walmart receipt from earlier in the month that I didn't record(sigh)so I am hoping to stay under $500 now for the month,which happened.
Go me! hehehe

October will be all about being austere with the budget and using up what we have and buying very little grocery shopping other than milk, fresh produce.  I've got to reign it in for a month and October will be that month!  Usually there are no great grocery store deals around here in Oct. and things heat up in November for holiday deals and food buying.

My savings percentage last week was 58%(without Rite-Aid trips)and September's monthly savings total came to 76.34%(w/R-A).

Leftovers going into this week......barbecue, rolls, Cole slaw, taco meat, taco shells(I think it's still left, can't check as I am not home with the kids and doggies right now.)

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

1. Sunday--Eating Out

2. Monday--Eating Out

3. Tuesday--Eating Out

4. Wednesday--Eating Out

5. Thursday--Cooking a Shore Dinnah

6. Friday--Eating Out
7. Saturday--Eating Out

This week will see 1 new meals cooked, 0 nights of leftovers/FFY, 6 nights of Take-Out/Eating Out.
How's THAT for easy?! lolz

What needs buying for this menu?  Shore dinner ingredients(lobsters, clams-maybe not clams at this point, mussels, corn, maybe potatoes).  No other food shopping will happen this week I can safely say. ;-)

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

Food & Toiletries Spending 2018......the September Edition

* I won't be doing anymore food spending this month so I'm posting this a bit early.*

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

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for SEPTEMBER 2018.

I have posted September'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 September.  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(4 at home this month). No "kids" under 22.

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

BREAD OUTLET
OOP  $10.00
Value  $41.31
Savings  75.80%

DOLLAR GENERAL
OOP  $38.94
Ads/Qs  $45.00
Value  $83.94
Savings  58.55%

GIANT
OOP  $19.11
Value  $79.74
Savings  76.03%

MAINE SOURCE
OOP  $54.65
Value  $108.58
Savings  49.67%

RITE-AID
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/BC  $965.93
Value  $965.93
Savings  100%

SURPLUS OUTLET
OOP  $34.40
Value  $67.67
Savings  49.17%

WALMART
OOP  $17.67
Value  $31.27
Savings   43.49%

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $311.58

Qs/Ads  $366.35

Value  $677.93

Savings  54.04%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%, Giant at 76.03% and the Bread Outlet at 75.80%.  My worst savings rate was at Walmart at 43.49%.  If your worst savings rate is well over 40% that's great, right? ;-)

I shopped at 8 different stores this past month.  

TOTAL Out of Pocket for September..........$486.35

TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales............$604.09

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased.........$1090.44

TOTAL Savings of ................................58%

TOTAL Out of Pocket for August.....$486.35
TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales....$1570.02
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased w/Rite-Aid.....$2056.37
TOTAL Savings with Rite-Aid items........76.35%

This closes out the September food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....
September's spending was off the rails.  I spent $86.35 more than my $400 food budget.
We have the money for it so it's not like it's a problem for our finances though.  I just take money from another area in September where we were under budget.  If I had to dip into savings to cover this overage or if I spent the money foolishly and didn't get great value for my dollars this would be serious.

The monthly food spending savings percentage went Up by .06% in September 2018 to 76.35% compared to August's 76.29% savings average.
The free stuff from Rite-Aid skewers my averages but without R-A I am at 55.40% savings.  So even without R-A we are doing well on the "savings" front.

With 9 months accounted for, I have spent a Grand Total of $3955.63 on food/toiletries in 2018 which is a 73.66% savings rate for the year so far and averages out to $439.51 spent per month in 2018.  We crept back up away from my $400 per month average for the year in September.

LOOKING AHEAD To October.......
October is looking like an austere grocery spending month.  Except for those items we run out of every week(milk, fresh produce, fresh fruit, etc.)we are well stocked so I am going to try to put the brakes on food spending this month, or do what others call a Pantry Challenge.  I am not a fan of these things(since they just trigger in me a response that makes me want to spend more lol)but I am going to try to not grocery shop beyond the immediate essentials.  No stocking up in October.  This might work since October is typically when there are few food deals around in my area......the lull before the November/December holiday deals.
Except for the Shursave Market which runs a Thanksgiving Promo starting in early Oct.(You spend on anything in the store and accumulate points toward a Turkey Day gift certificate-not a free turkey.  Depending on your spending level you get either a $10 or a $20 certificate between early Oct. and early Nov.)
Since I typically don't spend the bulk of my food dollars at this chain I hardly ever earn even the $10 certificate but I feel compelled to spend $ there at the last minute to "catch-up" and earn that cert....even though it's really NOT a great deal to do so.

We'll see how October plays out.  ;-)

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 September?
*  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.....the September 28th Edition

Here's a few things we did this past week that were frugal.......

* I went to Weis and got the Friday freebie last Friday....

A can of chicken broth.  Geez, what a GREAT freebie.....not even a carton of chicken broth.  Can you spare it Weis? lolz

* Gas Points are expiring middle of next week.  Since we won't be here or near a Weis(PMITA)Markets then Hubs and I took our cars up to Weis and filled out.........

No point in letting a .30¢ discount on gas go to waste, right?

*  I found money!

Another penny in the Rite-Aid parking lot.  At this rate I'll have a dollar by 2022!  lolz

*  The lip balm from Kellogg's arrived this week........

Gotten for free from buying 2 boxes of Special K protein bars this Summer.

*  Here I am with my Basil Tree yesterday.........

Since the weather is questionable for when we get back from Maine I pulled this sucker up, plucked all the leaves off and made Pesto with it.
An hour later and very little work, I had 3 containers of pesto for the freezer.

*  We picked what will probably be the last of the tomatoes this week............

31.3 ounces.  I won't be able to update the Garden Totals until we get back but I do know it's well over 100 pounds now.

That's about it from me.

What frugal wins did you have this past week?




Sluggy

My Shops at Rite-Aid This Week

I went over to R-A on Sunday and bought this.........

I did the Weekly Rimmel Deal, the Weekly Chobani Deal and the Hello Toothpaste Monthly Deal.

4 x Chobani yogurt on sale=$4.00
2 x Hello Toothpaste 20% Wellness disc.=$11.66
1 x Rimmel mascara 40% off=$3.47
1 x Rimmel foundation 40% off=$3.17
1 x Rimmel bronzer 40% off=$3.95
1 x Rimmel eye shadow 75% off(clearance)=.92¢
SubTotal.......$27.17+.16¢tax=$27.33

Coupons Used
1 x $1/4 Chobani singles ManuQ=$1.00
4 x $3/1 Rimmel any product IPQ=$12.00
Coupon Total.......$13.00

$27.33-$13.00=$14.33 paid with Bonus Cash.
I earned back $12 in new BC(2 x $1 Chobani, 2 x $5 Hello).

Now I didn't know the Rimmel eye shadow was a clearance item, I expected it to ring up $2.21 or 40% off.

If it had I would have earned another $6 in BC as I would have hit the $12 purchase mark, so it was a surprise that I didn't earn $18 in BC for this transaction.


I needed to spend .49¢ more on Rimmel so I bought this..........

2 x Hello toothpaste 20% Wellness disc.=$11.66
2 x Rimmel eye shadow 75% clearance=$1.84
Total........$13.50+.09¢ tax=$13.59

Coupons Used
2 x $3/1 Rimmel IPQ=$6.00

$13.59-$6.00=$7.59 paid with Bonus Cash.

Except......the cashier didn't ring up one of my $3 Qs so I paid $10.59 w/Bonus Cash and she did a post coupon and I got $3 back in cash.

I earned $16 in new BC(2 x $5 Hello, $6 wyspend $12 on Rimmel).

On Wednesday I went back and did this transaction.............

I did more Hello toothpaste and Tums Deal on daughter's card/account......

3 x Hello toothpaste 20% Wellness disc.(1 on raincheck, so 1 was free)=$11.66
2 x Tums sugar-free on sale=$7.98
2 x candy bars on sale=$1.54
SubTotal....$21.18

Coupons Used
1 x $4 wyspend $20 CatalinaQ=$4.00
2 x $1/1 Hello item IPA=$2.00
1 x $2/1 Tums sugar-free Load2CardQ=$2.00
1 x .75¢/1 Tums item IPQ=.75¢
2 x $2/1 Tums sugar-free receiptQ=$4.00
1 x .50¢/2 Snickers bars IPQ=.50¢
Coupon Total.......$13.25

Except I forgot that the L2CQ comes off automatically so my subtotal after that was $19.18, under the $20 threshold so I had to add 2 more candy bars to my total($1.54)bringing it to $22.72, then the $2 L2CQ coming off made the subtotal $20.72 and the rest of the Qs could come off my total.

$20.72-$11.25=$9.47
Except.....the register wouldn't take the second $2/1 Tums receiptQ(even though I bought 2 of those)and it also wouldn't take the second Hello $1/1 any item IPQ(these Qs seem to be coded in such a way only 1 Q will come off a transaction even if you buy more than 1 of that product).
I had a new cashier who wouldn't push through those 2 Qs so she did a post coupon for them.

So my total was $12.47 paid for with Bonus Cash and I got back $3 cash for the 2 Qs.
I earned $17 in new BC(3 x $5 Hello, 2 x $1 Tums).

So the totals this week....
$37.39 spent in Bonus Cash
$45 in new Bonus Cash earned
$6 in cash received "Post Coupon"


Sluggy

A Little Rite-Aid Shop

Last Friday I did a small Rite-Aid shop on my card.

2 x Cremo body wash on sale=$9.98
2 x Cremo shave cream on sale=$9.98
2 x Snickers bars on sale=.98¢
SubTotal.......$20.94

Coupons Used
4 x $1/1 Cremo product IPQ=$4.00
1 x .50¢/2 Snickers bars IPQ=.50¢
Coupon Total.....$4.50

$20.94-$4.50=$16.44+$1.05 tax=$17.49 paid with Bonus Cash.

I earned back $10 in new BC and $4 in cash rebates($2 Ibotta for 1 of the body wash, 2 x $1 SavingStar for 2 Cremo shave creams), making this transaction a $3.49 "spend down".    Unfortunately the cashier didn't have any spare $4 wys $20 Catalina Qs so I'll have to settle for this instead of a "moneymaker" transaction after Qs/Rebates. sigh  8-)

I could have put the candy bars back since I didn't need them to get to $20 in spending(to use a $4 off Catalina the cashier didn't have)but I didn't.   I am sure Kim will take care of those chocolate bars when she gets here.  ;-)



Sluggy