2018 Food & Toiletries Spending.....the December Edition & Yearly Totals

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

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for DECEMBER 2018.

I have posted December'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 December.  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.

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ALDI
OOP  $24.35
Value  $41.61
Savings  41.48%

BOYER'S
OOP  $4.39
Value  $9.29
Savings  52.74%

BREAD OUTLET
OOP  $10.16
Value  $53.78
Savings  81.10%

GROCERY OUTLET
OOP  $68.80
Value  $184.29
Savings  62.67%

OLLIE'S
OOP  $2.32
Value  $6.56
Savings  64.63%

RITE-AID
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/BC  $793.69
Value  $793.69
Savings  100%

SHURSAVE MARKET
OOP  $1.98
Value  $3.98
Savings  50.25 %

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $252.82

Qs/Ads  $1134.88

Value  $1387.70

Savings  81.78%

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My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%, Weis at 81.78% and the Bread Outlet at 81.10%.  My worst savings rate was at Aldi at 41.48%.
Over 40% being the worst is a-ok with me! ;-)

I shopped at 8 different stores this past month.  

TOTAL Out of Pocket for December..........$364.82

TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales............$528.70

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased.........$893.52

TOTAL Savings of ................................59.17%

TOTAL Out of Pocket for December.....$364.82
TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales....$1322.39
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased w/Rite-Aid.....$1687.21
TOTAL Savings with Rite-Aid items........78.38%

This closes out the December food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....
I wanted to stay as far under my $400 budget in December as possible.  Under $300 was what I shot for but it wasn't to be(not with the deals I saw and took advantage of). ;-)  But we were still $35+/- under $400 so I'm happy with that.

The monthly food spending savings percentage went up by 1.82% in December 2018 to 78.38% compared to November's 80.20% savings average.

With 12 months accounted for, I have spent a Grand Total of $5111.85 on food/toiletries in 2018.

Add in the Rebates/Refunds Kitty of $754.76 to offset my food budget and my Grand Total for the Year goes down to $4357.09 spent on all food and toiletries in 2018.

2018 Yearly Total Spent...................$4357.09

2018 Yearly Total Value of Items...$20339.95

2018 Total Saved.............................$15982.88

2018 Yearly Savings Total of.............78.58%

The average per month amount spent is $363.09 in 2018.  It's under an average of $400 per month which thrills me to no end.  8-)))

LOOKING AHEAD To 2019.......

We'll be taking advantage of all the shopping strategies we do every year.  Midway through 2019 my daughter will be moving out after finishing her college degree so the food bill should go down some.  We'll see at that point how low we can get our food spending with only 3 adults living in the house.
Stay tuned to this Bat Channel to see how 2019 unfolds.....

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

This Week on the Dining Table

The "Holidays and the Year are Coming to a Close" Edition.........

I didn't get many photos snapped this Holiday Season, including no photos of our Xmas dinner.  There were only 3 of us for Xmas eve dinner out(ECB had to work so we got him a To Go order of his fav. dish.).

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

This is what was planned--

1. Sunday--Spinach Salad, Chicken Strips

2. Monday--Xmas eve dinner out

3. Tuesday--Ham, Radicchio/Brussels Sprouts Slaw, Mac and Cheese, Rolls, Deviled Eggs

4. Wednesday--Leftovers

5. Thursday--Pizza

6. Friday--?
7. Saturday--?

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Spinach Salad, Chicken Strips

2. Monday--Xmas eve dinner out

3. Tuesday--Ham, Radicchio/Brussels Sprouts Slaw, Mac and Cheese, Rolls, Deviled Eggs

4. Wednesday--Friendly's

5. Thursday--Leftovers

6. Friday--Fend for Yourself
7. Saturday--Hamburgers on rolls, Broccoli

Last week saw 3 nights of home cooked dinners, 2 nights of leftovers/fend for yourself, 2 nights of Eating Out/Take-Out.  Wasn't sure how last week would pan out since I didn't know how long company would stay. Daughter cooked for Xmas and that was appreciated.  Hubs handled Sat. dinner too.  I don't feel like I was living in the kitchen this year at the Holidays, which was nice. 8-)

 A couple of grocery trips.....a small and a biggish trip to Weis($8.99/$37.91)plus a trip earlier in the month to Weis I somehow forgot to record($41.18)brought the weekly food spending to $88.08 and brought the December monthly total to $364.82.

I have 0 days left in my shopping month for December and my December totals plus Year End food shopping totals will be posted later today.

My savings percentage last week was 56.77%(without Rite-Aid trips)and December's monthly savings total comes to 59.17%(w/out R-A).  

Leftovers going into this week....a couple of dinner rolls from Xmas dinner, a little bit of ham.  Daughter did well in gauging how much she prepared for Xmas dinner.

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

1. Sunday--Barbecue on Rolls, Cole Slaw

2. Monday--Apps and Finger Foods for NYE

3. Tuesday--Teriyaki Pork, Asian Veggie Medley, Rice

4. Wednesday--Country Fried Steak, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Veggie TBD(I'll have Taters and Veggie only)

5. Thursday--Pasta of some kind, Salad

6. Friday--Seafood Buffet(catfish, salmon, shrimp, clams), Veggie TBD
7. Saturday--?

Saturday is a ? so far as I haven't dug around in the freezer yet. ;-)

This week will see 6 new meals cooked, 0 nights of leftovers/FFY, 0 nights of Take-Out/Eating Out and 1 night of ?.
If we have enough leftovers for a meal, 1 of the dinners will be moved to next week.

What needs buying for this menu?  Just some salad greens and the ubiquitous 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  

Last Rite-Aid Shop of 2018

I had almost "spent" enough at Rite-Aid on allergy products to get a second $20 Bonus Cash for the year on Daughter's card so I went up to buy a couple items........

1 x Nasacort spray on sale=$19.19(20% Wellness disc. better than sale price)
1 x R-A Flonase spray on sale=$15.99
SubTotal......$35.18

I used a $3/1 Nasacort L2CQ so $32.18 was my total, paid for with Bonus Cash.
I earned back $21 in new BC($1Nasacort, $20 wyspend $75 on select allergy items).

If you are almost to the Allergy Reward be sure and pick up some meds before the year ends(Monday night)to get your $20 Bonus Cash reward.


Sluggy

Small Finances....2018 Year End

This is my End of Year Small Finances money post for 2018.

I went through the various small pots of monies and here is where it all stands as of  December 21st.
I save up all my rebates/spare change/refunds to apply toward the food bill in December.
(I don't however put monies from things I sell during the year into this kitty.)

Here are my totals........

*  Rolled Coins--$49.50 to put toward the food budget.  This is mainly change we throw into a change cup throughout the year.

*  Here are the current cash rebate app totals for 2018 to this point in December........

   Ibotta  $382.11
   Checkout 51  $12.50 *Can't cash this out until it hits $20*
   Savingstar  $88.65
Rebate apps Total....$470.79(w/out Checkout51)

*   My Weis Refund/mailed Rebates envelope has $48.80 in it.

*   My Rite-Aid Post Q/Refund envelope has $182.21 in it.

*   My found change envelope has $3.49 in it.

Altogether I have a Grand Total of $754.76 in funds to put back into the food budget in December.

2018 was a great year for small finances at Chez Sluggy.  The added cost of having a smartphone was balanced by being able to do a lot more in cash rebates w/phone apps.

Do you keep track of small streams of cash you receive?
Do you ear mark any of it for something special?

Sluggy

Frugal Friday on Saturday.....the December 29th Edition

My week is a bit bolloxed up this week what with Christmas and company and not posting for a bit while they were here so forgive my Late Edition of Frugal Friday please.

Frugal wins this week?  You tell me if I had any. lolz

* I got the Weis Freebie last Friday........

A jar of gravy.
Whoo.
Pee.

*  Last Friday I also got all this at Weis on their Fantastic Friday sales.......

A bag of shredded cheese which was on sale last ad for $2.  I had a .75¢/1 Q Weis mailed me plus a digital Weis Q for $1/1 came off as well so I paid .25¢ for an 8 oz. bag of cheese.
Go me!

These unusual cereals were $1.49.  Multiple digital Qs came off(no clue how or why!)so I ended up paying .49¢ box.  I was very curious to try the banana pudding one.  Could be horrid, could be yummy.

I also had printed off 6 Ragu Qs at Coupons dotcom for $1/2 jars of Ragu.  The Ragu, including the Ragu Simply(no added sugar), was $1 a jar on sale so these cost me $6 total or .50¢ per jar after sale/Q.
I gave BIL 4 jars of it in his Xmas box and we'll use the other 8 jars at Chez Sluggy.

*  Eldest brought his GF here for Christmas.  Because I have a stockpile of goodies I didn't have to go out and spend additional cash on putting together some gifts for her.  I don't know her tastes and other than the 1 suggestion Eldest could come up with for a gift(a book in a series someone wrote about the different Disney movies and what would have happened if the dark side had taken over......it's Disney related so I just couldn't bring myself to purchase this, being the anti-Disney person I am lolz)I didn't have the time or inclination to go out last minute to fend off the hoards in the stores to shop.  So I culled a box of chocolates, a restaurant gift card and some stocking stuffers from my stash and I let her raid my Rite-Aid freebies box of make-up too. 8-)

*  I got paid to take a tube of toothpaste outta Weis on another trip.........

I don't usually go down the toiletries aisles at Weis since well, Rite-Aid gives me all that sort of thing for free 8-).
I just happened to spot this brand/type of toothpaste that was on clearance for half price, $1.47.  I knew I had a $2/1 Crest digital Q attached to my Weis card so I stuck it into my order.  The overage between the price paid and the value of the Q(.53¢)went toward all the other items in my cart that I actually had to pay money for. lolz  It was an unexpected bonus of savings and a freebie.

*  We didn't go to the brew pub after Friendly's on Wednesday  night due to the pub being full up.  Came home, drank beer at home and played games on the tv, thereby saving about $100 we would have spent on that outing.

As always, stay frugal my friends!

What frugal wins did y'all have last week?




Sluggy