This Week on the Dining Table

The "Hey! Where did my Stollen go?" Edition...

 A couple of weeks ago when Hubs and I were in Aldi I asked him if he had bought me a Stollen for a Christmas present(as I had asked him to).  He said no, so I picked one up.

Imagine my surprise when I unwrapped this gift from him Christmas morning!  No, he had not lied to me about not having bought one.  He had snuck into the garage and found the one I bought, wrapped and put it under the tree as being from him.   What a rat!

Onward to the meal planning!

1. Sunday--FFY

2. Monday--Pork Tenderloin Sandwich, leftover Roasted Veggies

3. Tuesday--leftover Lasagna, leftover Roasted Veggies

4. Wednesday--Assorted Leftovers
5. Thursday--Assorted Leftovers

6.  Friday--Late Lunch out at KFC

7. Saturday--More Leftovers or FFY

What got put into the freezer last week....

*  2 packs of chicken cutlets

What got taken out of the freezer and used...

*  3 Pork Tenderloins

I spent $0 on food/toiletries/HBA the last 3 days(January). This brings our food/toiletries/paper goods Total to $0 for January.

There are 28 shopping days left in January.  

I've earned $0 on Ibotta in January.

I've earned $0 on Checkout51 in January.

I've earned $0 on Coupons dotcom/Paypal in January.

I've earned 0 points from shopping on Fetch in January.

I earned 0 points from food shopping on Shop Kick in January. 

I've earned 0 SB from food shopping on Swag Bucks in January.

I've earned $0 from food shopping on Tada in January.

That's $0 in rebates(not counting the Shop Kick/Swag Bucks/Tada/Fetch)on $0 in grocery spending so in reality it's $0 spent after the 3 rebate apps I count.  Yay me.....

My savings percentage for the last week was %(without "regular" Rite-Aid trips)and the monthly savings total for January comes in at 0% so far(w/out R-A). 

Leftovers going into this week....from the Christmas dinner fare we still have salt cured VA ham, 1 pack of Hawaiian rolls, mac and cheese plus appetizers like cheese ball, salsa, Mexican white sauce, tortilla chips, crackers and olives.

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

1. Sunday--Broccoli Cheddar Soup, Hawaiian rolls

2. Monday--Breakfast for Dinner

3. Tuesday--Chicken Parm, Baked Sweet Potato, (Pasta for Hubs only)

4. Wednesday--?
5. Thursday--? Hubs' night to cook

6.  Friday--?

7. Saturday--?

We'll be eating leftovers from Christmas still but otherwise I think I'll just pull whatever I can reach out of the freezers this week instead of having a plan.  Ok, so just blindly pulling from the freezer IS a plan, right? ;-)

Can you tell I am still in vacation mode when it comes to meal planning/cooking? lol

What do I need to buy to fix everything on this menu?  The only items we don't have are salad greens and milk.  As the week goes on I'll see if we will need these for a meal and then buy them.

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 Spending 2021.....the December & Year-End Report

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

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for DECEMBER 2021.

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(2-3 eating at home this month). No "kids" under 25. 
*****************

CVS

OOP  $2.41

Value  $17.86

Savings 86.51%

FOOD LION

OOP  $42.61

Value  $52.71

Savings  19.16%

OCEAN STATE

OOP  $6.84

Value  $10.00

Savings  31.60%

RITE-AID
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/BC/Gift Cards  $521.58

Value  $521.58
Savings  100%

SCHIFF'S

OOP  $17.74

Value  $25.68

Savings  30.92%

WALMART
OOP  $77.80

Qs/free Gift Cards  $306.10
Value  $383.90
Savings  79.73%

WEIS

OOP  $63.72

Qs/Sales  $35.46
Value  $99.18
Savings  35.75%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%, CVS at 86.51% and Walmart at 79.73%.

The worst rate was at Food Lion at 19.16%.  I just bought a salt-cured ham at FL and those never go on sale(got a bit off with my loyalty card tho). 8-)
I shopped at 7 different stores in December.  

TOTAL Spent in December.................$211.12

TOTAL Coupons/Sales/Gift Cards...$378.21

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased....$589.33

TOTAL Savings of .............................64.18%

TOTAL Out of Pocket for December w/R-A..............$211.12

TOTAL Coupons/Sales/Gift Cards w/................$899.79
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased w/Rite-Aid...$1,110.91
TOTAL Savings with Rite-Aid items....................81.00%

This closes out the December food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....It was a GREAT lower spending month!  Spent almost half of what I usually shoot for and just a tad more than in November(which was also a very low spend month)so I am pleased.

The monthly food spending savings percentage went DOWN by 11.11% in December 2021 to 81.00% compared to the November's 92.11% savings average.  Compared to November there was a lot less free stuff from Rite-Aid in December(no Black Friday Sales deals). ;-)

With 12 months accounted for, I have spent a Grand Total of $3,683.86 on food/toiletries in 2021.

2021 Yearly Grand Total Spent....................$3,683..86

2021 Yearly Grand Total Value of Items.....$21,866.88

2021 Grand Total Saved...............................$18,183.02

2021 Yearly Savings Total.............................83.15%

The average per month amount spent is $306.99 in 2021.

But wait!  There's more.....

December is when I cash out/add in all my rebating monies for the year.  Here are those amounts that posted to my bank account.......

*  Ibotta....$2,823.29

*  Post Coupon/Refunds...$341.17

*  Coupons dotcom.....$134.16

*  Checkout 51....$110.12

*  Aisle.....$36.28

Total to add to December's Income to counteract the Food Spending....$3,445.02

$3,683.86-$3,445.02=$238.84 total spent on Food shopping in 2021!  We ate well, donated boxes of foodstuffs/toiletries to our local food bank and shared with various relatives and it cost us a grand total of $238.84.  I went after the rebating harder than ever this year!  In 2020 I was able to cut our OOP on food/etc. in half.  In 2021 I blew the doors off our food spending!!

I also have in the other apps, going forward into 2022, that I can only cash out for gift cards(which I used during the year at food stores to bring my OOP down)....

*  Shop Kick....$33.64

*  Swag Bucks...$79.51

*  Fetch....$26.15

*  Tada....$13.20

That's another $152.50 in potential food savings I have in reserve going into 2022!

LOOKING AHEAD To January 2022.......

With January comes the bad weather so most of my shopping will be done in town, if at all.  We are packed to the gills with food/toiletries/HBA/paper products so I am going to try to stay out of the stores except for freebies after rebates, to roll/spend Bonus Cash at R-A and if we need perishables(which we will).  I am not going to put a $ amount on what I may spend but I am hoping for a low number.

I have folks who tell me all the time that only spending a few hundred a year on food/etc. is preposterous and not do-able.  I'm here to tell you it IS do-able!  Yes, it takes work and effort but once you get into the right frame of mind and you "get" the knack of this process these kinds of savings are manageable.  Even if you work....you may not get the same results, as I have more time to devout to this way of shopping but you can work miracles still with your food spending combining coupons and rebate offers and a little planning.  Rebates are just not on processed foods anymore(though they still make up a large part of the offers most months).  

Shoot for a modest goal of $20 in rebates the first month and see how you do, then increase your goal the next month.  Even if you only do $20 in rebates each month for a year, that's $240 LESS you'll spend on food and $240 MORE you can put toward something else like an electric bill, a car note, your rent/mortgage or save toward retirement.  

Plus you'll be able to bless others in so many ways.......if not to a food bank or less fortunate relative, selling your stockpile for cash(and at a reduced price to the buyer-saving them money too)or in my case, using my excess to hold Giveaways on the blog to bless my readers.

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?  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....the December 31st Edition

 So here are a few of the frugal-ish things that happened here this past week.......

*  Been eating all the Christmas leftovers this week when not using gift cards for take-out.  No food waste so far. ;-)

*  Santa was very good to me last week........

3 gift cards, a 6 pack of craft beer, a bottle of Prosecco(+ a can of peaches to make Peach Bellinis), a new calculator, a set of ginormous wind chimes(not pictured), a set of cat butt fridge magnets, some tea packets, some mints, fridge clips, mailing tape, a magnifying glass(thanks Hubs!lol), 2 tins of homemade candy(mmm), a cat butt coin purse, a tin with emergency underwear(make me feel even older than I do Sissie!), reusable bubbles to pop, and some hazelnut choccies.

Now everyone needs to gear up because my birthday is 3 weeks away and I expect even MORE presents! LOLZ

*  Christmas was a lowkey affair here.  Most of the family(missing my daughter and her hubby in Louisiana)were here.  We had appetizers and a modest meal mostly from foods I had here.  The salt cured ham and fresh produce were the only new purchases.  Everyone left full and happy.

*  Took up another donation to the food bank.  Another 40 items out of the house and with rebating/coupons this stuff cost me pennies if that.

There was also a trip to Salvation Army to drop off another 20 items to donate as well so the decluttering continues......

*  Except I hit the after Christmas clearance sales and added to what is in the house.  I tried to contain myself and only buy things for gifts for next year.  I showed some restraint. *snort*

*  I remember a couple of years ago when the Downton Abbey movie came out.  I so wanted to see it but Hubs wouldn't go with me and I really didn't want to spend that kind of money on a movie ticket. Christmas night after everyone left and Hubs went upstairs to take a nap I put on the local PBS and guess what they were showing?  The Downton Abbey movie. 8-))

*   I found money!

Sissie put .41¢ in the cat butt coin purse she gifted me on Christmas.

I made the rounds for clearance finds on Dec. 26th and found this dime at my Rite-Aid....

Then this penny at a different R-A.........

And this nickel at Walmart.

A dime and a penny as I hung around waiting for Hubs to bring me my wallet to Walmart(a clusterf**k of a day I tell ya!)

While sort of "not" found money I got this at the Walmart CS desk from an employee with less than stellar math skills as it's $3.95 more than I was expecting.......(but I won't count this as found money).

And this dime on the 29th somewhere...Weis?, Rite-Aid?, Walmart?  My mind just can't seem to remember where this was found.  I didn't leave the house on Wednesday or Thursday so that cut down on the change finding a bit.

Total Found in last Week...... .78¢
Total Found This Year......$24.38

That's about all I've got for this week.

Any frugal wins in your neck of the woods?  Let's hear all about them!

And here is today's Holiday song...........

Sluggy

Finishing Off Ibotta for The Year

 There was no way in hell I was going to reach the $45 for 140 offers Bonus for December(especially since I wasn't grocery shopping/around for about 9 days of the month).  But I did get all the rest of the "reasonable Bonuses" completed.  yay me!

Here is what I bought on Tuesday to finish off the Midweek "whatever they called it" Bonus this week.......

1 x Cheetos mac and cheese cup=.96¢

1 x Cheetos mac and cheese box=.96¢

2 x Durex condoms=$5.76

1 x Glad trash bags=$5.12

3 x Aleve small containers=$5.94

1 x Keurig Donut Shop Holiday tin coffee=$5.00

1 x Nivea lotion=$5.84

1 x Rockstar energy drink=$1.50

1 x Celestial Seasonings tea assortment=$2.50

2 x Bic Gelocity pen assortment=$15.74

2 x Clorox wipes travel size=$1.94

Subtotal.......$51.26

I used $40.00 in free gift cards so paid $11.26 OOP +$1.81 in sales tax=$13.07.  I earned back $34.77 in rebates and a $3 Bonus on Ibotta, $2 back on Coupons dotcom, as well as 236 Fetch points and 4,820 Shop Kicks($19.28).

But then I forgot to use my 2 paper coupons so went to CS desk.  The Qs came to $2.05.  Last time I forgot Qs, the CSM put the amount on a Walmart gift card.  This time she said she had to return the items and rering them(price adjusting for the coupons)and gave me cash.  She shoved the money into my hand and was quick to get on to the next person.  Once I pulled the cash out of my coat pocket in my car I saw it was this..........

$6.  I saw two bills when she handed it to me(thinking it was 2 $1 bills and she forgot the nickel but no,

Walmart employee math is wonky,  Wonky in my favor. lolz  Now my $24.70 moneymaker is a $30.70 moneymaker. 8-)))

So I am probably done rebating for 2021 but........there are two days left in the year so...........we'll see! ;-)

Sluggy

For Sissie-I Cleaned Up Good!

Again, here is the state of my living/dining room last week........

The tree is up(but nekkid)and tubs of stuff and other crap in the green chair......

TP and shipping boxes taking over the living room......

TP, shipping boxes and a giant painting by the sofa.......

Lots of eBay-ables in this corner of the living room....

A shit show in the dining room....

And here is how it looked on Christmas.........

The tree is all decorated and lit.......

The bannister garlanded and lit.

The green chair was "sittable" and those heavy tubs got camouflaged with a xmas tablecloth. lol  That picture Cousin Sonya gave me 2 Xmases ago(I still need to find the right place to hang it and get Hubs to do that).

BTW-Today is Sonya's birthday so leave her some love in the comments!!!

But I digress.....

The corner with the eBay-ables is mostly empty.  Wasn't going to lift heavy tubs just to bring them back down the stairs so again, another camo job with a Xmas cloth, a candle and my crystal sleigh centerpiece(which wouldn't fit on the dining room table with tableware for 7). lol

This is the sofa.  Taken the day after Xmas so there are empty/used gift bags and boxes on the coffee table instead of Xmas day snacks along with Hubs singing Xmas cactus. lolz

The dining room sideboard decluttered with a table runner, candles, pots of scented pinecones and my chicken tea pot.

I didn't bother taking a photo of the dining room table because dinner was over and the table was bare except for dirty cloth napkins and tablecloth.

Our big white Xmas tree has discolored as it's aged so I bought a small white tree in November to replace it.  Being so small we didn't have room for many ornaments so we put a few up that had meaning to us and ones from recent trips and vacations.

An iguana for St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands

A Totem from Saxman Village, Ketchikan, Alaska

A main street scene of Skagway, Alaska

A homemade ornie made with a Sand Dollar from the Bahamas

A scene from Icy Strait Point near Hoonah, Alaska

A pony representing Chincoteague Island, Virginia.

Of course being busy cooking and all I didn't get ANY actual photos of our family on Christmas that were here!  And nobody else ever thinks to pick up their phone and take a photo.  sigh

So do I pass inspection Sissie??

I hope everyone had some fun this Christmas along with the craziness and busyness.  Me?  I just want to nap for a week......... 8-)))

But first another Holiday song....

Sluggy