2021 Food Spending Report....The March Edition

 

Easter Greetings to y'all if you celebrate the holiday!  It's a quiet day here at Chez Sluggy with just me, the Hubs and the puppies. 8-)

Onward to March's Food Spending report......

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for MARCH 2021.

I have posted March'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 March.  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(2-3 eating at home this month). No "kids" under 26. (I don't count all the "freebies" I get at the Discount Outlet in my totals either.)
*****************

CVS

OOP  $2.10
Qs/Ads/ECBs  $12.06

Value  $14.16

Savings 85.17%

DOLLAR GENERAL

OOP  $31.34

Qs/Ads  $54.12

Value  $85.46

Savings  62.33%

OCEAN STATE JOB LOT
OOP  $11.96
Value  $22.96
Savings  47.91%

P and R DISCOUNTS
OOP  $34.36
Value  $78.33
Savings  56.13%

RITE-AID
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/BC  $836.75
Value  $836.75
Savings  100%

WALMART
OOP  $80.36
Value  $192.69
Savings  58.30%

WEIS

OOP  $138.05

Qs/Sales  $72.67
Value  $210.72
Savings  56.13%

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My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%, CVS at 85.17% and Dollar General at 62.33%.

The worst rate was at Ocean State Job Lot at 47.91%  I'll take that all day long! ;-)
I shopped at 7 different stores in March.

TOTAL Spent in March..........................$317.32

TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales.................$351.17

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased.........$668.49

TOTAL Savings of ................................52.53%

TOTAL Out of Pocket for March w/R-A...............$317.32
TOTAL Coupons/Store Sales w/R-A..................$1,187.92
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased w/Rite-Aid...$1,505.24
TOTAL Savings with Rite-Aid items....................78.92%

This closes out the March food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....

I went into March without much of a plan in terms of stocking up or eating down the stockpile.  I was able to winnow out some old items and use them up(and not replace them).
I was able to spend less than $400(my usual average per month)but I didn't challenge myself to eat from only what we had so March's total spending was more than February's spending but only by about $106.

The monthly food spending savings percentage went DOWN by 6.02% in March 2021 to 78.92% compared to the February's 84.94% savings average.  Down over 6% but still almost at 80% savings is winning in my book. lol

With 3 months accounted for, I have spent a Year-To-Date Total of $507.19 on food/toiletries in 2021.

2020 Yearly Grand Total Spent....................$824.51

2020 Yearly Grand Total Value of Items....$4764.94

2020 Grand Total Saved..............................$3940.43

2020 Yearly Savings Total.............................82.70%

The average per month amount spent is $274.84 in 2021 so far.

LOOKING AHEAD To April 2021...........

Well I really haven't thought about April yet.  I would like to  continue to try to eat from the pantry/freezer this month and spend less than in April.   If I find a stellar deal on items we use(not including Rite-Aid where I buy "the deals aka the freebies or almost freebies" and pass on what we can't/don't use to the Food Bank, Ex-College Boy and into Giveaways)I will take advantage of those deals still.  With no Holidays in the foreseeable future(4th of July is next?)I don't think the grocery stores will be having many loss leaders until Jume.

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 March?

*  Do you track your yearly food spending?  It's really not that hard or time consuming; just have your receipts and either track it in a notebook or on a spreadsheet.

*  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 on Saturday

 A fair amount of Frugal this past week.........

*  Many Rite-Aid Deals combining regular Bonus Cash Deals, sale prices, coupons and Spend $50/Get $15 BC back coupons.

*  I got two freebies last Friday at the Discount Grocery Outlet.  I took no photos but I can tell you it was a bag of some kind of "healthy" chips and a 4 pack of Bloody Mary mix.  I don't drink Bloody Mary's but I can just use those in spaghetti sauce or another sort of tomato based dish.

*  I took a rare trip to Target on Thursday and used a long ago paid for gift card to do the "Spend $50/Get a $10 Target gift card deal.
I found some meat deals--50% off a 1.5 lb. pack of stew beer and $1 off 1 lb. of ground beef.  "Spent" $58.96, "saved" $23.10 according to Target and really earned back $13.29 on Ibotta for some of the items I bought and got a $10 Target gift card. -)

*  I had a semi-annual dental check-up.  No cavities or problems, just x-rays and a cleaning.  I scored some toothpaste and mouthwash samples(as well as a couple of coupons good for a few months).

*  I went back to OSJL this past week to get more of those "Craveology" trail mix jars off the "Eat for Free" table but they were all gone!  So I picked up 2 bottle of Asian sauces and a box of pasta.  Total came to $7.97 but I used a Crazy Deal gift card to pay so Zero OOP.  Sorry no picture. 8-(

*  I found money!

Found these coins in various spots in Rite-Aid last Friday.

Found these two pennies by the front register on Saturday at Rite-Aid.

And found this dime on Tuesday near the pharmacy counter at Rite-Aid. 
My Rite-Aid was a honey hole this past week.   I just wish I could find lost quarters too.  8-))

Total Found This Week.... .24¢

Total Found This Year.....$2.14

That's about it this week.........

What frugal wins did y'all have this past week?

Let us know!!

And have a peaceful Easter weekend,

Sluggy

We Interrupt This Frugal Friday for Important Rite-Aid Shenanigans!

I'll get to the Frugal Friday post tomorrow.  I wanted to blog about my Rite-Aid pillaging before it is too late for someone out there to see and be able to get some of the deals which end Saturday night.

If you didn't know there are FOUR different Coupon Codes this week and you can use each of them once per card/account this week.  They are all Spend $50 Get $15 in Bonus Cash coupons.  That's $50 before other coupons you may have and use so you don't actually have to "spend" $50 to use the BC Q.

One coupon is either on the weekly ad or you can go online to the R-A website and print it off of the online weekly ad.
Another coupon is an emailed version.
The other two are from the R-A facebook page.  Like their page and there are two different links in a couple of posts there this week-one links to a BC Q and another link takes you to a different BC Q.  You can look at the numbers in the UPC codes and see that they are all different. 8-)

I did this transaction on my Hub's card on Wednesday........

3 x Big Win cold brew coffee on sale=$5.00
4 x Big Win  tea and lemonade on sale=$4.00
2 x Nature's Truth melatonin BOGOFree=$6.49
2 x Nature's Truth Turmeric BOGOFree=$19.99
2 x Nature's Truch D3 BOGOFree=$15.49
SubTotal........$50.97

Coupons Used
1 x $15 BC wyspend $50
3 x $2/1 Nature's Truth IPQ=$6.00

$50.97-$6.00=$44.97+.12¢ tax=$45.09 paid with Bonus Cash

I earned back $39.00 in new BC($15 wys $50, $2 Red Bull/Big Win coffee, $2 Big Win drinks, $20 wys $40 Nature's Truth).
I also submitted to Ibotta for 1 of the Nature's Truth items and got $2 in cash rebates.
So $41.00 back on $45.09 spent.

I then did this transaction on son's card........

1 x Tide pods on sale=$5.94
2 x Oral-B toothbrushes on sale=$13.98
1 x Oral- B floss 2 pack on sale=$6.99
1 x Crest Brilliance toothpaste on sale=$6.63
1 x Colgate toothpaste on sale=$3.35
2 x Colgate toothbrushes on sale=$7.98
1 x Rice Chex cereal on sale=$1.99
1 x Irish Spring body wash on sale=$3.99
SubTotal.......$50.85

Coupons Used
1 x $15 BC wyspend $50 Q
1 x  $1/1Tide pods L2CQ=$1.00
1 x $3/2 Oral-B items L2CQ=$3.00
1 x $1/1 Oral-B floss L2CQ=$1.00
3 x $2/1 Colgate toothbrush/paste in-Ad Q=$6.00
1 x $1/1 Colgate toothbrush L2CQ=$1.00
1 x $1/1 Colgate toothbrush IPQ=$1.00
1 x $1/1 Colgate toothpaste L2CQ=$1.00
1 x $2/1 Irish Spring In-AdQ=$2.00
SubTotal......$16.00

$50.85-$16.00=$34.85+.42¢ tax=$35.27 paid with Bonus Cash.
I earned back $31.00 in new BC($15 wyspend $50, $10 wyspend $30 PandG, $3 wyspend $10 select Colgate, $1 Irish Spring, $2 wyb 2 "Better for you Oral Care"-the charcoal toothbrushes).
I also submitted to Ibotta for $5.75 in rebates(2 x $1 Oral-B toothbrushes,$3 Crest Brilliance, .75¢ Chex)so a total of $36.75 back in BC and cash on $35.27 spent.

I went out today too but don't have time now to lay out those details yet.

Sluggy

Happy April Fool's Day!

NOT!!!

Sluggy

Happy 112th Birthday Grandpa Harper!

 Today I am celebrating my maternal Grandfather, Wirt Ross Harper.  I am almost a month late doing this one since I had to finish up the post on my paternal granddad.  At least I am getting this done before March ends. ;-)

Wirt Harper was born March 5th, 1909 in the tiny hamlet of  Winfall Virginia.  A spot on the map between equally miniscule Gladys, VA and the "megapolis" of Rustburg, the county seat of Campbell County.  His  father, William Robert Harper was 27 years old and his mother, Jennie Vie Tucker Harper was 23 years old at the time of his birth.  Grandpa was the oldest son and second in the birth order with an older sister named Ollie.  There were 6 more younger children-Royal, Lillie Vie, Robert, Raymond, Ernest and Tucker, all born between 1913 and 1924.

Wirt was named after his grandfather, his mother's father, James Wirt Tucker.  The family business was being a miller it seems.  James Wirt ended his working life as a miller(started out as an Overseer on a plantation, then did some farming and then worked in a grist mill).  James' son(Wirt's father), Robert was a miller from the age of at least 25.
Wirt and some of his brothers worked in sawmills when they were young men.  Wirt's brother, Robert, had an accident in a sawmill and when I knew him years later he walked with a limp.  Safety regulations were practically non-existent back then in the 1920's and 1930's.  There weren't many jobs in rural areas during that time for a young man so you took whatever job was offered.

All the Harper siblings were musical I am told.  Ollie and a few of the younger brothers played the piano, Royal was famous in town for being a very good guitar player.  Wirt also played guitar.  
A big pastime in rural Virginal was and still is baseball/softball.  Amateur baseball leagues were in every town.  Besides church that is how the young folks socialized.

Granddaddy Wirt played for the team from Brookneal(another tiny town in that area of Campbell County)in the Dixie Youth League.  There was also amateur teams for young adult men. Wirt is the second from the right kneeling in the front row in this photo taken in 1937.  My mom wasn't even 3 years old and Wirt was 28 in this photo.

Here's a photo of Granddaddy taken in his 20's.

And here is a photo taken with his older sister Ollie........

This might have been a special occasion like some one's high school graduation(Ollie and Wirt were 2 years apart).

And here is Wirt(on the right)with his friend Joseph Warren Sublett when they were young men.

Warren went on to marry Wirt's older sister Ollie.  Warren lived to be 101 years old and Ollie 96.  I don't think I ever heard Warren talk more than a dozen times.  He was not much of a talker as opposed to Ollie who was quite social.

Sometime after my Grandmother Lillian Vassar graduated from high school in 1932, Wirt and Lil got married.  Lillian's parents who by that time owned "Roxabel" after leasing the farm out from the owners to farm that land for years.  Each of the twelve children of my Vassar Great Grandparents were given a piece of the farm when they married, so Lil and Wirt set out to build a home on their patch of land.

Here is the log cabin my Granddaddy Wirt built(probably with the help of his younger brothers)where their little family lived until my mother was 5 years old.  They gardened and Wirt did a lot of hunting during this time at the height of the Great Depression to feed their family.
Mom was born in the Summer of 1934 so by the time she was 5 it was 1939.  The Depression was still very bad in rural areas with few jobs and folks scraping by.  My grandmother saw mom out in their "yard" one day playing with a snake and she knew she had to get her family out of there if they were going to flourish.

Grandma Lil had to beg family to loan her money so they could move their possesions down to the urban Norfolk Virginia area and rent a small house.  There were opportunities at the shipyards over on the coast as the US was starting up production on ships for the war that was coming.  Wirt got a job quickly as the Norfolk Shipyard as a "helper".  By 1942 he was a sheet metal worker there.

This is the first home my grandparents lived in, in the Portlock section of South Norfolk(now part of Chesapeake, VA).

Wirt's job was secure all through the war years and Lil stayed home and raised my mother(who was an only child).  Once the war ended the shipyard left many workers go as the work dried up and my Granddaddy was one of those laid off.

But he was a jack-of-all-traders kind of guy and had many skills, being good with his hands.  He may not have been educated but he always had some business going.  I know he owned a barbecue pitt shack and a locksmith business. among his many jobs.  He owned an automotive radiator business and advertised it on the side of his car......

He also had a shoe repair business when my mom was in high school........

Granddaddy Wirt was a "fun" dad according to my Great Aunt Hilda.  Mom and Hilda were first cousins(Grandma Lil and Hilda's mom, Rosabel, were sisters).  Her parents, Rosabel and Raymond moved to Portlock after my Grandparents and mom and Hilda went to school together until Hilda's  parents divorced in 1949 and Hilda was sent away to live with her grandmother(my great grandparents)back at "Roxabel".  Wirt would do fun things with my mom and Hilda was always included since her parents were otherwise occupied.  At a family reunion Hilda told me she loved my grandfather like a dad and wished he had been her father.

They didn't have a lot of money but my mom had a rich childhood with her parents.  Here's Wirt and mom posing with their catch of the day from a fishing excursion.  This must have been taken shortly after they moved to Portlock.

When my mother was in high school Wirt decided to buy a house lot in the neighborhood where they lived and build the family a new house by himself..........

Here's my mother practicing her majorette moves on the property.  You can see the concrete blocks stacked behind her that Granddaddy was using on the exterior of the house.

Here's a photo of the complete house dated 1949.

It was cute and Pepto Bismol pink. lolz

Another view of the house from 1963.......

That's my brother in the foreground and my grandparents in the background.

It was a modest  home with 2 bedrooms and 1 bath, a living room, a small dining room and a small kitchen.  There was a fenced in yard and a one car  detached garage with a covered area next to the garage. The property backed up to another yard/house where my future father lived with his sister and mother.  My parents went to high school together and were friends as teenagers.

At some point after going into the 1950's Wirt couldn't work anymore.  He drank a little too much(the curse of the Harper men)and he smoked cigarettes.  He started having lung issues so he retired and became a house husband and my grandmother Lillian got a job working for Sears in the carpet department and was an award winning saleswoman.

Wirt still kept busy and worked at his carpentry sklls.  When the 1950's rolled around and the Soviets became a threat like many Americans he had a bomb shelter built in his back yard....except he built it himself.

Here I am at Christmas of 1964 in a Native American dress-up outfit playing a drum.  That "hill" behind me is the bomb shelter(with two bird houses sitting out from it).  My brothers used to play submarine inside of it.  Wirt also built a concrete fish pond in the back yard with a stream that ran in a loop from and back to the pond with a waterwheel to power it.

Another of Wirt's projects with a speed boat he built in his driveway.

Here I am in April of 1961 sitting in it on an Easter visit.  Wirt was mightily proud of that boat and took us out to sea in it many times in the Summer.

In 1966 my grandparents decided to move to Chesapeake and build a modern home(mid century style)in a better part of town.  Wirt didn't build this one but he drove the construction crew nuts because he would show up every day to watch the workers to make sure the job was done correctly. lolz

This is the back view of the brick home they had built.  That's me between my Grandmother Lil and my mom coming down the patio steps.  Soon after this photo, Wirt put up a glass greenhouse, build a fountain by the driveway and had an extensive woodworking shop put in their two car attached garage.

After they moved into the new house Lil started getting sick and Wirt's breathing got a lot worse.  Grandma Lillian was diagnoses with metastatic cancer.  She had a trailer home put up back in rural Virginia where they were from for Wirt to live in near his kin after she died.  Wirt was very dependent on Lillian so she tried to take care of things for him before she passed.

We now think that my grandmother's cancer, my grandfather's health issues as well as my mother's health issues were either caused or exacerbated by Asbestoes poisoning from when Wirt worked in the shipyard.  He was exposed at work(long before anyone thought it was a carcinogen)and then brought it home on his clothing to his wife and child.

My grandparents were deeply in love and stayed devoted to each other throughout their lives.

After Lillian died in 1967, Wirt just gave up on living.  He ended up in the hospital and died exactly 5 months to the day after Lil in 1968.  He had COPD, Emphysema and his death certificate listed his causes of death as Chronic Nephritis, Uremia and Asymmetric Septal Hypertrophy(a heart issue).  The death report should have read he died of a broken heart.

Even though he died when I was 9 I remember him fondly as a sweet, quiet man.  He was a great storyteller and loved playing with and entertaining his grandchildren.  Wirt had a wicked sense of humor and was a practical joker.  There was never a dull movement when Granddaddy Wirt was around.

He loved his family and would do anything for them.  I know you are up in heaven with your sweetheart Lillian doing the things devoted lovebirds do and watching over what's left of your family down here.

Hugs and Kisses Granddaddy,

Sluggy