Q & A - KEEPING TO YOUR BUDGET

Your fellow Smart Shopper writes . .

Thank you for your shopping tips! I have a question though. . . How do you stick to your budget? While I notice there are lots of good sales out there, I often can't take advantage of them because those items just don't fit into my "budget" for the week. $100 doesn't go too far so I need to make the best choices here.

To start out, I thought that you all should know that I have a budget of $90 - $100 a week for all my household needs (grocery, toiletries, cleaning, laundry and baby needs). This is a budget I set up to help us get through all of our monthly expenses. It is hard to stick to my budget especially will all the good sales I that are out there. Here are a few tips that I have to help me stick to my budget.

1) I find that when I am out shopping the Grocery Smarts 4 and 5 star deals every week and stocking up on things my family uses I hit my budget every week. By shopping the 4 and 5 star deals every week, you will eventually have a fully pantry of the things your family uses on a regular basis. So when you go to make your families favorite chicken and rice dinner, the cream of chicken soup is well stocked in your pantry and you do not have to add it to your weekly shopping trip.

2) Sometimes I have to pass on the sales. This is one of the hardest things for me to do, but I have learned the hard way that I can not blow my budget every week just because there is a good sale. So how do I determine if I can pass on the sale? Well lets say Smiths is having a great sale on Shampoo and Conditioner that is unbeatable. But lets also say that I have already spent the majority of my household budget for the week and still need to pick up some basics like bread, milk and eggs. I will go and take an inventory of my shampoos and conditioners and more than likely I have 10 of each sitting on my shelf at home and I will be able to walk away from the Smith's deal and keep to my budget. A small and simple inventory list will help you know what you need to be spending your weekly budget on.

These are the two biggest Budget Savers I live by, what are yours? Do you have a great Budget Saving Tip you would like to pass along . . . leave it in the comment field and share it with us all.

Q & A TIME

Hi Lisa,

I was just wondering about the $5 off Duracell battery coupon you talked about on your blog. I went to the CVS by my house this morning and they didn't know anything about it. Do only certain stores have them, and is it just something they have behind the counter? Which store did you go to and get it?

Thanks for your help, Eleisha

My CVS on Maryland Parkway and Silverado had the coupons behind the counter. However, I stopped by the CVS on Windmill and Vegas Blvd and they had the coupons displayed by the batteries. The coupon is a "CVS coupon" so I think it is up to the store manager how they display them.

If you do find the coupon, here is a tip that I learned . . . when handing in your ECB's and coupons do it in this order:

1) ECB'S
2) Manufacture Coupons
3) CVS $5/2 coupon.

In any other order, your order will not work. I had a nice sales associate that helped me figure this out after my first transaction didn't work out and was not excepting my ECB's.

Have you found the CVS $5/2 Duracell Battery coupon? If so let us know so others know what CVS store they should shop at this week!