Super Savings Saturday: Week Three of the $20 grocery challenge!

For those of you who haven't been following along, I am currently in the middle of a $20/week grocery challenge. The challenge is to cut our grocery budget down from $50/week to $20/week for the entire month of October. I am trying to plan meals around what we already have in our stockpile at home. Most of what I buy is either killer deal (almost free) sale items, or staples that must be bought frequently. I always shop in this manner, but cutting the budget to $20/week has forced me to be more choosy and careful about what I buy.

This past week, the Publix sales were awesome. I bought quite a bit! This next week's sale isn't so good, though, so I know I will be keeping it simple.

Here's what I bought this week:

1 gallon milk
1 package of mushrooms
1 bunch green onions
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
3 red onions
3 lb gala apples
1 sour cream (8 oz)
2.5 gallons water
2 canisters Progresso bread crumbs
3 packages Sargento shredded cheese
2 boxes Healthy Harvest Ronzoni pasta
2 packages Stacy's Pita Chips (most yummy snack ever)
3 bottles Snuggle Fabric Softener (never buy this, it was totally free)
2 packages Nature Valley nut clusters
2 packages Krusteaz bakery cookie mix
4 Arm and Hammer toothpastes (donating)
1 package Birds Eye Steam Fresh veggies
6 packets Old El Paso taco seasonings

Total Before Sales and Coupons: $83.86
Total saved from sales: $27.85
Manufacturer coupons used: $28.08
Store/Competitor coupons used: $5.00
Total amount saved: $60.93
Total paid after all sales and coupons: $22.93

*I also spent $.91 at CVS this week on the Glade Reed Diffuser.
***With Publix and CVS combined, we spent a total of $23.84 this week.

I went a little over this week, but I have been under the $20 the past two weeks, so I had a little extra to spend. Here are my October totals so far:

1st week: $15.69
2nd week: $17.90
3rd week: $23.84

Total spent for month of October so far: $57.43
Total savings for month of October so far: $184.35

So, we have spent a total of $57.43 for 3 weeks worth of groceries so far in the month of October. That means we are still under our $20/week budget for this month! One more week on this challenge! I look forward to doing a recap post at the end of next week. This has really been eye-opening for us, and I want to encourage others as well!

New to saving money on groceries? Try this series for helpful information on how to save.

Not sure how to use coupons? Try this post for couponing basics!

Want to start saving at Publix? Check out the Publix Basics post to learn all about it!

What about you? How did you do this week? Share your deals and scenarios below! If you are new to saving money, I invite you to e-mail me with a picture and explanation of a great deal you got, so that I can share it with all of the readers! Go here to see some readers' savings! They all do so great! We're all in this together!!! =)

Want to see how others save as well? Many bloggers join Money Saving Mom in her "Super Savings Saturday" every week! Check it out!