Wednesday, September 3, 2025

Food Spending....the August Edition

Onward to August's Food Spending Report....


Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for August 2025.

I have posted August's totals on the Total Grocery Savings Page located  and have updated the Totals there. 
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in August.  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, Pet Food. We are a family of 2(and 2 dogs).
***************
RITE-AID
OOP  $45.47
Value  $92.99
Savings  51.10%

ALDI
OOP  $50.26
Value $74.76
Savings  24.74%

OSJL
OOP $47.27
Value  $104.43
Savings  54.23%

SHOPRITE
OOP  $243.92
Qs/Gift Cards  $
Value $308.80
Savings  21.01%


WALMART
OOP  $220.56
Qs/Gift Cards $
Value  $367.08
Savings  39.91%%

********************
My best Store Savings Total was at OSJL with a savings of 54.23% with a lesser amount of the grocery dollars were spent at Rite-Aid at their clearance sale, with a savings rate of 51.10%. Not a bad savings rate average overall though/

I shopped at 5 different stores in AUGUST  

TOTAL Spent in August....$550.24
TOTAL Coupons/Sales/Gift Cards....$444.94
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased....$995.18
TOTAL Savings of........44.71%

This closes out the August food/toiletries/etc. spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month....
The Monthly food spending savings percentage was 44.71%  Still over 40% savings so I am good with that.

Since we have an adequate income and food should be a pleasure in life(no way am I going to eat unseasoned rice and beans for my remaining days like some people-because I don't have to). I will buy quality food and pay the price at the register.  I may not like the price but I will deal with it.

With 8 months accounted for, I have spent a Total of $1,156.03 on groceries/HBA/paper goods/etc. in 2025.

2025 Yearly Total Value of Items  $4,624.12
2025 Total Saved   $1,402.16
2025 Yearly Total Spent  $3,221.96
2025 Yearly Savings Total of  30.32%

The average per month amount spent is $402.75 in 2025 so far but that's before all the rebate monies are added in.

Remember that I withdraw all my cash rebate monies(Ibotta, Shopmium, TaDa, Checkout 51, Swag Bucks, My Points and other miscellaneous rebates-Aisle, Tremendous, Sampoll  etc. and have it sent to my Paypal)at the end of the year and add it back into my food budget, so at the end of the year my food spending will go down.  I don't add in all the cashed out savings until the end of the year,

The other savings apps like Fetch, Shop Kick, Kroger Cash Back that let us get free gift cards(or $ off your grocery total-Kroger Cash Back), those are added back in when I cash those points in along the way.  Alexa app gave me Amazon credit onto my account but I don't buy food on Amazon(sometimes I buy dog food there)so I really don't know how to count that and it's defunct now so I won't worry about that bit.

Because I don't like to let money sit in these rebate accounts and Paypal, I send $$ to my bank account throughout the year.  So far I have sent $785.67 from various rebating programs and through Paypal to my bank(and used some of my Ibotta $$ to buy gift cards so $ is going back into the food purchases).  If you add in all that my food spending at the 8 month point in 2025 comes in at $2,436.29 or $304.54 per month.
Besides all I sent to my bank account I have more $ sitting in these various rebating programs as well as in Paypal.  This is not counting ShopKick or Fetch, which all comes out in gift cards.

LOOKING AHEAD TO SEPTEMBER 2025....
It's difficult right now with my health issues to go to the store so I am having to rely on Hubs to do much of the shopping,  Plus we don't have room to stock up much.  Sigh  What's a frugalista to do?? ;-)


If you have other ideas or guidelines you follow please leave a comment and share your thoughts with us all.

*  How much did you spend on food/toiletries in August?

*  Do you track your yearly food spending?  It's really not that hard or time consuming; just keep 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 versus 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


  

Monday, September 1, 2025

Meal Plan Monday....the September 1st Edition

UMM, NO!  In less than 6 months I'll be turning 67. lolol  I don't know if the USPS dropped the ball here or the financial guru who wants me to use them.


 Onward to the meal planning!  Here is what was planned for the last week.....

Here is what was planned for the this week.....
1. Sunday--Burgers, Sweet Potato Fries
2. Monday--Chicken Stir-Fry
3. Tuesday--Leftover Roast Chicken, Cabbage
4. Wednesday--Meat Loaf, leftover  Veg
5. Thursday--Tenderloin Pork, Veg TBD
6. Friday--Lobster
7. Saturday--Eat out with family who still like us

And here's what happened......Cheeseburgers, Baked Sweet Potato Fries
2. Monday--Chicken Stir-Fry w/Veg
3. Tuesday--leftover Roast Chicken, Cabbage, Squash
4. Wednesday--Meatloaf, assortment of leftover Veg
5. Thursday--Tenderloin Pork, more leftover Veg
6. Friday--Lobster
7. Saturday--Eat out with Family(I had beef and broccoli)

We shopped at Walmart and Shoprite.  And we splurged on live lobster again.

What got taken out of the freezer.......
*  Ground Beef
*  Ground Chicken
*  Pork Tenderloin

The last week we spent a whopping $72.01 on groceries and the savings rate came in at 46.01%. Spending for the month is $550.24 and the savings rate is 44.71% for August before rebate monies are added in.

Rebates earned in August--
$134.87 on Ibotta
$29.90 on Checkout51
$8.29 on Aisle and Misc.
$173.06 total in $$

Total spent after rebates is $377.18
for August. 

11,677 Pts. on Fetch 
5,055 Pts. on Swag Bucks
0 Pts. on My Points
350 Pts. on ShopKick
0 Pts. on TaDa
(I don't count these until I cash out for a gift card or cash.)

Before AND after rebates we had a very low spend month for groceries at least for us.

Leftovers going into next week...cabbage, Stir-Fry, MeatLoaf.

Here is what was planned for the this week.....
1. Sunday--leftover Stir-Fry(w/o rice for me)
2. Monday--Haddock, Brussel Sprouts
3. Tuesday--leftover Meatloaf, Cabbage
4. Wednesday--Shrimp Lo Mein
5. Thursday--Meatballs(w/ or w/o Pasta), Caesar Salad
6. Friday--Don't know yet
7. Saturday--"                  "

I am running out of appetizing ideas that fit into my eating plan. sigh

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.


Sluggy   

Friday, August 29, 2025

Frugal Friday.....the August 29th Edition

  Not much frugal going on here.

*  Shoprite had lobster on sale for $9.99(again!)this past week to we treated ourselves and had lobster on one night.  yum!

*  We also cherry picked loss leaders at Shoprite and Walmart.

*  Something I get for my brother at Christmas had a rebate and they had the items at Dollar Tree so I got 5 bags for $1.25 each and earned .50 back for each one.  Kaching!

*  I did not buy a carrying case for my nonexistent otamatone.  Money saved! hehe

*  I found money!  Well no. lol

Found Money The Past Week....00¢

Grand Total Found in 2025....$5.62 

That's all I got.
What frugal things did you do this past week?

Sluggy


Thursday, August 28, 2025

43 Years Ago Today......

 



We got hitched.
Still weathering the storms of life together.
No big plans today.  I start another round of PT and OT tomorrow for the neurological issues.  *sigh*

Sluggy                                                                                                                  



Monday, August 25, 2025

Meal Plan Monday......the August 25th Edition

WTF???




Amazon sent me a suggestion on what  I want to buy from them.  WTF is this thing??? lol

 Onward to the meal planning!  Here is what was planned for the last week.....

1. Sunday--Chicken Marsala, Yellow Zucchini 
2. Monday--me-Salad
3. Tuesday--Chicken Fajitas w/Peppers
4. Wednesday--Whole Roast Chicken, Carrots
5. Thursday--Haddock, Cabbage
6. Friday--Leftover Roast Chicken
7. Saturday--Pork Stir-fry

And here's what happened......
1. Sunday--Chicken Marsala, Yellow Zucchini 
2. Monday--Lobster
3. Tuesday--Chicken Fajitas w/Peppers(I had a bowl so no tortilla)
4. Wednesday--Whole Roast Chicken, Carrots
5. Thursday--Beef and Broccoli
6. Friday--Salmon, Green Beans
7. Saturday--Lobster

We shopped at Walmart and Shoprite

What got taken out of the freezer.......
*  Chicken
*  More Chicken
*  Even More Chicken
*  Steak
*  Salmon

The last week we spent a whopping $169.15 on groceries and the savings rate came in at 41.94%. Spending for the month is $478.23 and the savings rate is 44.50% for August before rebate monies are added in.

Rebates earned in August--
$134.87 on Ibotta
$27.90 on Checkout51
$5.96 on Aisle and Misc.
$168.73 total in $$

Total spent after rebates is $309.50
for August. It's crazy how much more food cost here than in LA.  We cherry pick at ShopRite but it's not as good as it was when we lived in NJ back in the 80's obviously. At least the sales tax is lower here.  I still miss Kroger but NOT Louisiana. 8-((

10,502 Pts. 
4,555 Pts. on Swag Bucks
0 Pts. on My Points
350 Pts. on ShopKick
0 Pts. on TaDa
(I don't count these until I cash out for a gift card or cash.)

Before AND after rebates we had a very low spend month for groceries at least for us.

Leftovers going into next week...squash, green beans, roast chicken, fajita filling, leftover chicken breast(that didn't go into fajita), carrots beef and broccoli.

Here is what was planned for the this week.....
1. Sunday--Burgers, Sweet Potato Fries
2. Monday--Chicken Stir-Fry
3. Tuesday--Leftover Roast Chicken, Cabbage
4. Wednesday--Meat Loaf, leftover  Veg
5. Thursday--Tenderloin Pork, Veg TBD
6. Friday--Lobster
7. Saturday--Eat out with family who still like us

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.


Sluggy