Yay! Today was my last shopping trip for our fiscal month (I count from the 10th since that's DH's first payday) and I made it out with $12 to spare!

I budget $80 a week for groceries and household goods. I do most of my shopping at Woodman's, with an occasional Wal-Mart run for TP, shampoo, and the like.

I'm finding that I don't have too many fixed expenses--I usually need about $9 a week for milk and another $7 or so for fresh fruit. There's also about $10 a month for kitty litter and another $15 a month for soap, shampoo, and paper goods. The rest can be divided up between buying staples, buying sale items, and certain special things I need to prepare a particular dish or make products for the pet shelter bake sale that I do twice a month.

I really liked the envelope system--much easier to keep track of and much more useful in helping me conceptualize how much money I've spent and what is left.

I've learned a lot this month, and I'm convinced I can do even better next month!