Question of the Day: Staying in Budget and Stockpiling

I have a question I need to ask any and all of you out there:

With managing coupons and sales, how do you try to stay in budget while also stockpiling the good sale items, and getting what you need?

This last week, I wanted to take advantage of some great sales at grocery stores on items we use frequently, like: cereal (I think I bought ten boxes), bread, peanut butter, Eggos, salad dressing, etc. Mind you, these weren't items we need next week.

I also wanted to take advantage of some health and beauty items using coupons that expired 6/30/10, that we would be using in the future, as well as some extra sunblock we were getting low on (of course I didn't have a coupon).

Of course, I then added to the list the items I needed to complete meals for the week.

Well, it really adds up, to more than I would, of course, pay in a week for groceries.

How do all these extras fit in, that you don't use on a weekly or monthly basis, but are items you need (like the $33.00 bag of dog food every 4 months or so)?

I'm such a beginning at all of this, but I also think I'm doing a pretty good job so far. I can just see it can be easy to overspend while also trying to save money.