Grocery shopping on a severely cut budget

As prices keep going up, it seems like we are bringing home less and less in our paychecks.  Mike, my husband, works in sales (food sales), and as his product and gas goes up in price, his cutomers buy less and he brings home less.  I opted to pay for more insurance this year due to the number of incidents with preston that tend to cost an arm and a leg after a trip to the emergency room, and therefore I bring home less this year.  I can say, fortunately for us, this is the first time since the economy took a nose dive, that we have had to tighten our budget.  But it is difficult.  We have cut every bill that we possibly can and now it comes down to cutting when buying the items we must have, like groceries.  I have learned in the short few years of having two boys around, that i spend ALOT more on groceries than i did when it was just me!  Last week, I actually looked at the grocery ads that came in the mail, looked online for further deals, and came out spending about $100 less on the monthly items that we always buy!  I was super-excited!  And that extra savings actually gave us a fun weekend that we got to spend together as a family! 
So here is what I did:  I have three stores in very close proximity to my house, Target, HEB, and Kroger.  Walmart is close, but I absolutely hate going there (for those who love it, you can probably save more there than i do at Target).  I planned my meals for most of the month, then looked through the ads for these stores to find the best deals and split up my shopping list accordingly.  At Target, I find I get great deals on medicine and toiletry items by using the up and up(target) brand, which are fantastic in comparison to the name brand items.  Then I went to kroger.com, and they allow you to download ecoupons to your Kroger card, which apply to the amount when you check out.  The great thing about this, is that these work in conjunction with advertised deals and kroger card deals.  I got tons of cleaning supplies for more than half off the cost just by combining these discounts.  HEB website also has manufacturers coupons you can download and print out.  These along with a trip to their "coupon wall" before you start shopping are a great way to save on groceries.  They also have tons of items that you get for free just by purchasing another item.  Last week, i bought milk and got free eggs.  And plan meals according to whats on sale.  If you want steak, but there are super deals on pork chops or chicken, save steak night for when you find a great deal on those.  We need to come up with an electronic coupon card that you can use everywhere....

In further news....
I have finished another project I was working on. I got really busy and let it slide for awhile, but today I finished Preston's paper tile mosaic lamp.  I really like it, but i am considering adding something to the lampshade.  I feel its a tad boring compared to the lamp.  I will have to post pics of prestons room with the lamp in it, so that everyone can see how it works.  I love it and think i will make one for myself next.  But I may not do the whole thing.  I am thinking I want to do the mosaic in the shape of something and paint the rest a complimentary color. 



Here is a pic of what it looked like with a little bit done.....i think i like this look for a more adult contempary lamp (with different colors)

I need to start perusing the goodwill store for some more lamps.  Its amazing what you can find there....and only spend four dollars to buy and a little tlc and paint....a totally new lamp!!

Mike sent me some tulips for Valentines day, even though i was at home, he sent them to my work.  Silly, but lovable man.  They were oh so pretty and then started getting out of control!  They started growing wildly after a few days!  I had a jungle of tulips on my kitchen counter and actually had to cut them back again.  It was neat though, because I have never received flowers that just kept right on growing.  I have some pics of those too :)



Hope everyone has a great week and had a great start to march!