Monday Madness! What $6.45 Bought Me Today!

This morning I made a run to Safeway for the hot Kashi cereal deal and Albertson's to use my doublers from Sunday's paper! The above photo is what I got for $6.45! I saved over $30 by using my coupons and matching them up with a sale! Here's how I did it!

Safeway:
4 Boxes of Kashi Honey Sunshine @ 3.99 per box
1 Box of Kashi Seven Grain Puffs @ 3.99 per box
1 Bounce Dryer Bar @ 5.46 (on sale for 4.99 + tax)
Total before coupons: $25.41
-$5 instant savings for buying 5 boxes of Kashi Cereal
-$2.50 Bounce coupon (Thanks to Vocalpoint!)
-$2.00 Free Box of Kashi coupon (Vocalpoint again!)
(3) -$1.50 off 1 Kashi Honey Sunshine coupons
$1.00 off any Kashi Cereal coupon
Total After Coupons and Discounts: $2.96!! I got 5 boxes of Kashi for $0.10/box!

Albertsons:
2 16oz. Bottles of Coffee-Mate Creamer @ 2 for $4.00
1 6-Pack Danimals Yogurt Smoothies @ 2.99 (Naomi LOVES these!)
1 Package of Barilla Whole Grain Pasta @ 1.50 (Making Spaghetti on Tuesday this week)
Total Before Coupons: $8.49
-$1.00 off any 2 Coffee-Mate Creamers (blinkie box next to the creamer in the store)
-$1.00 off any Danimals 6-Pack (8/30 Smart Source Coupon Insert)
-$0.50 off any package of Barilla Whole Grain (8/23 Smart Source Insert)
-$2.50 using 3 Doubler coupons
Total after coupons: $3.49!

This week I decided to start using the "envelope" system for my weekly grocery budget. I am really trying to hammer our grocery bill down as low as we can get it each week and I think that this is greatly going to help us out!

So the envelope system is where I put a certain amount of cash in an envelope at the beginning of the week (I have chosen Sunday as my 1st day, your 1st day will have to be up to you!) and then use that for my groceries each time I shop. Once it's gone, it's gone and I will need to improvise the rest of the week. Alternatively, if I have money left over, it will transfer over to the next week and so on. That way if I might have a large purchase the next week, I'll have some extra wiggle room.

After looking over what I have been spending each week on groceries for the last few months, I have decided to challenge myself by only putting $40 in the envelope each week. We will see how that goes over the next couple of weeks and see if I need to up it to $50. Each family is different so if you are going to try this out with me, figure out what your family can realistically spend on groceries each week. A family of 2 or 3 is going to spend less than a family of 4 or 5, don't be too drastic and give your family of 4 a budget of only $30 per week on groceries, especially if you are new to couponing.

So are you going to try this with me? Each weekend I will try to do an update on my weekly budget and purchases! You can leave a comment to let everyone know how you did also!

Want to read more about the envelope system? Money Saving Mom did an excellent post on setting a budget and using this system HERE.

Good luck getting started and let me know how it goes!