I realize that this post is way overdue!  We had a 5 week month in July, so my month didn’t actually end until August 5th.  Harris Teeter Super Doubles news came not long after that, so I got behind.  I’m actually amazed with how well I did in July!  I usually get nervous and have to work extra hard to keep within my $300 monthly budget.  You’ll notice from past months that I give myself $75 a week to spend on groceries.  However, I don’t allow an extra $75 during a 5 week month. 

Want to learn more about my family and our spending habits?  Read THIS post

I’d be interested to know how others handle a 5 week month.  I give extra money to the cash envelopes as follows and the rest goes into savings:

Holiday: $100
Eating Out: $100
Dana Allowance: $20
Derrick Allowance: $20

July Breakdown:
Total Shelf Cost: $652.15
Total Savings: $460.22
Total Rebates Owed: $23.99
Savings Rate: 70.59%

Total OOP in July: $215.92
5 week month: $43.18 per week! 

Total Remaining from Budget: $84.08

I even had a fun, no coupon trip to Traders Joe’s! Derrick requested steak after I told him my July total 🙂

How did you do in July?
How do you handle 5 week months?

I swear I just posted May.  Wasn’t that last week? I’m going to blink and summer will be over!

I spent a lot more this month than in May.  I went to the Commissary with my MIL and stocked the freezer with meat.  Careful when you open it or you might get beamed with a frozen chicken!  I spent 1/2 of our monthly budget at the Commissary, $146.75.  I also bought several splurges and a ton of fresh fruits and veggies.  My savings rate is off since I have no idea what the outside price would have been.  I did save $30.26 in coupons, so I was pretty happy with the trip.  We also had Monekyboy’s 6th birthday party this month, so soda and such were added to the bill.

Go HERE to read more about my family and our spending habits

Total Shelf Cost: $863.40
Total Saved in Coupons: $450.57
Percentage Saved: $69.54%

Total Paid: $290.99
Average per week: $72.75 wk

Rebates Owed: $27.96
WAGS RR: $6.50
CVS ECB’s*: $4
Target GC: $5

*I just went to pull my ECB’s to add them to the list and realized I didn’t pull $11 in ECB’s of the bottom of my receipt when I mailed in the MIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!  So much for that Aveeno MIR!  I am so upset with myself I cried! 

~I added in a change to my comment above.  Sorry if it was misleading-it was an addition to the post while I was mad at myself.  Aveeno is now the proud owner of my ECB’s, they didn’t expire.   It’s good to know that you can use expires ECB’s though.  I’ve never let those expire, but I’m sure I will at some point.  Thanks for letting me know-I appreciate the attempt to help my fix a mistake.

How did you do this month?  Are you on track for 2010 spending?

I know this is rather late, but I wasn’t here to get it posted.  I came in way under budget this month!  You would think it was because I wasn’t here for a week but I actually splurged on a lot of things for the kids before we left-mostly without coupons.  Gasp! My grocery bill was about $35 less.

I really didn’t do too much shopping in May.  I’m waiting to go over budget when I restock some of the items that I’m out of or running low on, but overall my pantry is pretty stocked.

My weekly budget is $75. See past months HERE

Total Shelf Cost $551.33
Total Saved in Coupons $313.20

Total Spent $149.36 
Savings 72.91%
Average per Week $37.34

What to do with my extra $150?!?!

How did you do in May?

A site called Daily Worth was just brought to my attention.  Sign up for free daily personal finance emails.  The site has tips on budgeting, saving, investing and debt.  It might be worth a look.

Let me know what you think.