Budget Review--August Week 1

My husband has been sick for the past week, so I haven't had a lot of time to hunt for deals and coupons. This picture is a few days overdue, but better late than never. I was able to stick to my new budget for August...$40.00 a week. I bought everything pictured below at HEB and Albertsons, and spent...



$39.91. I still have $0.09 left to splurge on whatever I want! :) I saved $126.75, and I still have a $10.00 catalina coupon from Albertsons to spend!

I bought:

HEB:

8 lbs. of Chicken Breasts
2 boxes of Popsicles
2 bags of Salad
2 bags of Knorr Pasta Side Dishes
2 packages of Rolls

Final Price: $18.56...Note, this is not a GREAT deal in my opinion. I generally try to buy Chicken Breasts when I can get them for between $1.50 and $1.97/lb. The chicken at HEB was $2.32/lb...with all the extras thrown in for free. I was down to only 1 lb. of chicken breast in my freezer, so I decided to go ahead and buy a couple of bags to tide us over until the next good sale.

Albertsons:

10 packages of Keebler sandwich crackers
13 packages of Snack Pack Pudding (4 packs)
2 boxes of Kellogg's Fruit Snacks
4 boxes of Kellogg's Frosted Mini Wheats
2 boxes of Pillsbury Cake Mix
4 boxes of Kellogg's PopTarts
4 cans of Dole Pineapples
4 boxes of Pillsbury Brownie Mix
4 containers of Hillshire Farm Deli Select Lunchmeat

Final Price: $21.35 AND I received a $10.00 catalina coupon

Some of you may be wondering how I feed my family of five on the food that I purchased for the week. I have been stockpiling food when I get it on sale for several months now. My pantry is stocked with grocery staples and my freezer is stocked with frozen veggies, meats, etc. Besides perishable items (milk, produce, eggs, bread) I don't really NEED to buy anything...so I focus on buying items that are at their ROCK BOTTOM prices. I might go several months without buying any meat, but this does not mean that my family does not eat meat...just that when I see it go on sale I stock up and buy enough to last my family until the next BIG sale. (As you can see from above, I misjudged the amount of chicken my family would eat and had to buy more before I expected to.) I still had plenty of milk and veggies in our house, so I didn't have to buy any this week...but you can expect a good portion of my budget next week to go to fresh produce!

I can't tell you how many people have told me that coupons just aren't worth their time...it takes too long to clip coupons and you'd be able to buy store brand products for less anyway. My answer to that is "Then you really aren't using coupons correctly." Coupons combined with sales equals BIG savings.

How are you guys doing with your budgets? Have you noticed a difference yet?