Don't wear out your welcome

The name of my blog sums it up pretty well - allbluezoo adventures. It is ALWAYS and adventure around here. We are about to embark on our next adventure courtesy of the US Navy. Awhile back I shared that DevilDoc had been selected for a commissioning program; he'll attend graduate school, do a year of clinicals, get his Master's as a physician's assistant and the Navy will pay for it.

This means that we are moving.....again. We've been here just shy of 2 years - not the norm in the rotation, but we don't seem to do anything normal. Anyway, we are packing it up and moving it south to San Antonio. Yesterday we signed our lives away at the closing on our first home! I was excited, happy, nauseous and panicked all at the same time. Somewhere to live - checked off the list. Now - to get ourselves OUT of this house.

That involves a garage sale, or 2 or 3 as the case may be. It means going through every item you own, every box you have tucked away and reducing. I have a garage full of stuff for sale and I haven't even looked in our storage shed outside. Good grief.

And lastly, the part I am really not good at. Saying goodbye to our friends. It's bittersweet really, because it is a small Navy after all and the hope is that we'll meet again at another duty station .... as long as it is not back here! I'm sure I'll be on my typical emotional roller coaster, I'll be distant and standoffish. I'll try to make people be mad at me - because if they are mad at me I won't miss them so much. What kind of screwed up psyche is that?! I will try my hardest to NOT do that, but sometimes it happens and I don't even realize it. Damn defense mechanisms.

SO, in code I will thank the people who have made this place tolerable for the past year and 9 months - I am so lucky to call you friend.

My parallel twin - Where will I go for coffee? Who will talk about their guts with me? Listen to me whine? Understand the pain? And it's not just you that I will miss, it is your entire family. Lindsey will have to bring over pumpkin cake and beer bread in my place. I'm glad Dr. Hottie glasses is leaving too or else I would be jealous. Great, I'm crying.

My island connection - Oh how I wish we could have started our friendship in Hawaii. But then it would be even harder to leave now I am sure. Thank you for sharing your family with me, with us actually. A "no need to knock" kind of friend, if you know what I mean. We've been through the ringer on some things in this short amount of time, and still here to tell about it. You are a wonderful friend and mother - such a special combination.

Thrifter extraordinaire (did I spell that right?) - you are the kind of person I try really hard to be, and I feel like I fail miserably. Dependable, not judging, open, caring, warm, encouraging - I could go on and on with the adjectives. The most important thing to me is that you love my kids (and my dog) as if you have known them their whole lives. I know that you will be blessed....

MamaG and KP - you round out my core. You each bring something special to our friendship. Always keeping me on my toes, forcing me to expand my mind just.a.little.bit.more to see something from another view. Your fun-loving and easy going natures take me over when I am in your company, I hope enough of it sticks that I can carry it wherever I go. You let me be a part of your families - allowing me in at the most private of times, when you were carrying new life. Such a gift, thank you.

There are so many more people who touched me during our time here - but these 5 women, to me they are my core. I know I could call ANY of them (I have!) and they would be there for me no questions asked - because that is just what WE do. WE being a military spouse I guess - it is a special bond, as sisterhood almost. One with unwritten criteria and outrageous dues - but lifelong rewards.

The life we lead....

is so interesting. Challenging? Exciting? Stressful? All of the above? Yes, yes - that's the right answer; all of the above!

Today we conquered another "natural disaster"; it wasn't THAT bad but we'll mark it off our list nonetheless. Today, we woke up to a basement with a good 2inches of standing water - and it was still pouring outside. Thank goodness the large area rug held most of the water to one side of the basement.

So, for those keeping track - that'd be one hurricane, 2 or 3 earthquakes, a couple tsunami (warnings LOL!) and a semi-flood. I have been through tornadoes before we were married so just throw in a mudslide and I think we've got 'em all covered.

I'd post pictures but I'm too lazy to go back and forth right now because they aren't saved on my computer. You can run over to Facebook if you are my friend and take a gander :)

Tylenol, bed and heating pad...in that order.

Getting everyone on the same page

I don't want to re-invent the wheel here. You can see along the right side of my page LOTS of links to different bloggers and coupon sites that I use regularly. I don't want to do what they do, I'd like to focus on my own niche...the military shopper :) So, I hope to help you stretch your grocery budget even further every month by bringing you deals from the GREAT LAKES area!

I highly encourage you to make a price book from the commissary of the items you most commonly buy. I did this so I can compare the sale prices of the local stores to the regular prices at the commissary...then I can figure out the coupons, store sale savings and money back for buying particular items.

New ads/sales start on Thursdays, so today is PERFECT to jump right in. Let me tell you about Dominick's first.

Dominick's

Before you even get started LOOKING at the deals, GET A DOMINICK'S card! The little one that attaches to your key ring. You can print out an application online and fill it out at home or you can just go to the customer service desk at the store and get one.

Once you have it, go load eCoupons. There are several different types of eCoupons; shortcuts, Cellfire, P&G eSaver and coupons.com that will also allow you to print (you must have a coupons.com account to log in and load your Dominick's card).

Have I lost ya yet? Hang on, you'll get it...I promise. If I can do it, anyone can do it!

I know you are looking at all those coupons thinking, "I don't even USE half this stuff". Don't worry about it right now, just ADD EVERYTHING! Trust me.

Now let's look at the ad. If you are reading this on Wednesday night and looking at the ad it is still for last week. Wait 'til tomorrow to see the new ad - which is the one I am going to be talking about.

The big hulabaloo at Dominick's this week is the Buy 5 Save $5 promotion.

Buy ANY combination of 5 participating items with your Fresh Values Card (Dominick's card) in a single transaction between March 11-17, 2010, and SAVE $5 or more instantly!

Group One

• Eating Right cut vegetables 12-oz. package. Selected varieties.
• Eating Right salad blends 5 to 12-oz. package. Selected varieties.
• Fresh Express salad blends 4.5 to 12-oz. package. Selected varieties.
• Marie's pourable dressings 11.5-oz. bottle. Selected varieties.
• POM Wonderful tea 16-oz. Selected varities.
• Monterey mushrooms 10-oz. OR whole & sliced white button mushrooms 8-oz.

NO LIMIT! The more you buy, the more you save!

I'm not going to insult your intelligence by spelling out every.single.sale.item. So, look at the ad while you follow along.

There is another "Buy any 5 Save $5" mix and match sale with cereals, fruit snacks and granola bars. Check in store to see LOTS more than just the brands/types pictured. Remember, you MUST BUY 5 of these items to SAVE the additional $5!

Another great deal going on right now at Dominick's is the "CHILL" deal because it's frozen food month :)

Buy $25 in participating products (thanks slickdeals!)and receive a $10 coupon to use on your next purchase of frozen food. (Choose frozenfood-upc.pdf from that link). Your total must reach $25 on Fresh Value card prices BEFORE taxes and coupons! SO, if you have some super awesome coupons (AND e Coupons) you could really bring your total down and still get that $10 coupon.

I'll give you a "for instance" on this particular deal. DevilDoc likes the Yoplait smoothie things. (A) they don't carry them at the commissary and (B) they are WAAAAY too expensive without some kind of deal. Last week they were 2/$6 AND included in the CHILL promotion. I bought 6 of them ($18) and added some other items to get to my $25 mark. I used $6 in coupons ($1/1) to bring my total down. I also had coupons for those other couple items I bought to get to the $25. When all was said and done I spent $16 (after coupons) and got back a $10 coupon to use on my next frozen food purchase. A VERY good price for that particular item and a BONUS because I got a coupon to use next time :)

Once you start "collecting" coupons you will REALLY see your savings skyrocket. The BEST part about Dominick's?! FOR NOW, they take expired coupons up to a year!! Yes, you read that right...you can use coupons up to a year AFTER their expiration date. I say "for now" because some stores may give you flack about it while others may not even bat an eyelash. Just keep that in mind :)

I would scan in my receipt from today to show you an example (and I probably will do that later) but I am tired so I'll just break it down for you!

4 Betty Crocker fruit snacks @1.99 = 7.96
-1.50 eCoupons
1 Betty Crocker fruit shapes@1.99 = 1.99
-.40 eCoupons
1 Nature Valley nut clusters@2.50 (saleprice)
-3.80 eCoupons!!!!! (more on that later)
4 Fruity pebbles@2.50 = 10.00 (saleprice)
1 4lb bag frozen Safeway chicken breast@8.99 (sale price)
-1.00 eCoupon
.92lb asparagus@1.99lb = 1.37 (saleprice)

SAVE $5 instantly on 5 fruit snacks
SAVE $5 instantly on 5 cereal/granola
-$10 CHILL coupon from my Yoplait deal I talked about above
-.50/2 fruit snacks
-1.00/2 fruit snacks
-1.00/asparagus
-1.00/1 nut clusters

Total $3.01 (of which .40 was tax)!
AND, there are special promotions going on right now with the fruit snacks and select POST cereals called "Catalinas". They are called this because the marketing company who runs the promotions is called "Catalina Marketing". Google it to find out more specifics. You may see little white tags on the shelf at the store saying "Save $1 when you buy 2" or something of the like. Typically, the savings increases with the number of items you purchase. For these particular deals POST) I bought 4 cereals so I got a coupon at the end of my order for $3.00 off my next order total and for fruit snacks) I bought 5 so I got a $3.50 coupon to use off my next order total.

I paid $3.01 BUT received $6.50 in coupons to use next time...so REALLY they PAID me to bring the groceries home to the tune of $3.49!

For more in depth information on catalinas and basic couponing in general I HIGHLY suggest checking out
Jill Cataldo. She also holds couponing classes ALL OVER the state. I haven't been to one yet, but I am going to keep trying!

Hope that gives everyone a jumping off point. I know it is A LOT to digest; take it SLOW! Ease into it! It is NOT for everyone and it does take time and patience. It works for my family and I have FUN doing it.

Feel free to leave a comment or send me a note with any questions.

***Disclaimer-I do not make ANY guarantees on the amount of money you will save on your grocery bill. I share my experiences with you in hopes that you can make the most of your grocery budget.

As always, MAD props to the peeps over at CW who allow me to follow them and learn the way of the Jedi.

Saving money is my new hobby

it makes me giddy like a school girl.

Tonight I went to Jewel-osco and Dominick's to scoop up some deals..this is what I got for $41.78:



And this is how I got it:

I have started following coupon/savings blogs and printing coupons at home from internet sites. I match up my coupons with good sales in the stores and only buy what is rock bottom or free. I'm spending WAY less than at the commy. I'll get links up in my blog roll to the blogs I am following and I'll do another post with links for places to print coupons.

First I went to Jewel-Osco. At Jewel-Osco I do separate transactions to take advantage of the catalinas I earn. Catalinas are the little coupons that print out at the end of your transaction telling you that you can save $xx.xx off your next purchase. I went to the back of the line twice when people got behind me so I didn’t make a big scene at the checkout.

I did this deal b/c I heard it generated a catalina, I didn’t realize it was select products purchased get you the catalina. I didn’t buy the right stuff BUT I did get a $2 customer service survey coupon on my receipt so it all evened out!
The deal was supposed to be buy $4 in Contadina get $3 catalina for next purchase
4-contadina
Reg 4.06
$1 MQ
I paid $3.53 w/tax

Then there is another catalina deal for Kraft products, buy 5 qualifying products get $5 catalina off next purchase.
5-Breakstone doublers (cottage cheese/peaches)
Reg 1.24/ea=6.20
Pref 1.19/ea=5.95
I paid $6.05 with tax and got a $5 catalina for next purchase

20-Yoplait
Reg 0.68/ea=13.60
Pref 0.50/ea=10.00
$5 catalina (from kraft deal)
$1 MQ
I paid $4.18 w/tax and I got a $2 catalina for next purchase
TOTAL SAVINGS $9.60

Jewel is also running a 10 for $10 promo on certain items
Mission tortillas
Reg 1.98
Pref 1.00
$0.75Q

4-Lunchables
Reg 1.20ea=4.80
Pref 1.00=4.00

5# clementines
Reg 7.99
Pref 3.77

1.89lbs Gala apples
Reg 1.95/lb=3.69
Pref 1.00/lb=1.89

1.58lbs Fuji apples
Reg 1.95/lb=3.08
Pref 1.00/lb=1.58

Regular price $21.54
Pref price w/tax $12.45
2-$2 catalinas (from above Yoplait and previous trip Yoplait)
0.75 MQ
I paid $7.70
TOTAL SAVINGS $14.05

JEWEL-OSCO report
Regular price $45.25 without tax
I paid $21.46 with tax - over 50% off and ALL THINGS WE USE REGULARLY

Dominicks
They don’t do catalinas, at least I haven’t seen any yet..but I just started!

Quaker granola bars
Reg 2.99
Pref 1.99
Super special 0.99

2-True delight bars
Reg 3.49/ea=6.98
Pref 1.99/ea=3.98
I forgot to get two other super specials coupons!!
$1 MQ
I paid $2.98

Caribou coffee
Reg 9.99
Pref 4.99
$2 ecoupon
$2 MQ
I paid 0.99

18ct eggs
Reg 2.29
Pref 1.89
Super special 0.99

Kids smoothie
Reg 1.39
Pref 0.69

Healthy life bread
Reg 2.99
Pref 1.99
$0.55 MQ
I paid 1.44

6-Jennie-O 20oz ground turkey
Reg 5.49/ea=32.94
Pref 2.50/ea=15.00
6-$1 MQ
I paid $9.00

3-Avocados
Reg 5.97
Pref 2.64

Reg price $66.09
I paid $20.32 (should have been $18.32!!)
TOTAL SAVINGS VALUE $45.77 or 70%

So tonight, I purchased $111.34 worth of groceries and I paid $41.78…
TOTAL SAVINGS 63%

Uh huh, I feel good.

Time to say "see ya later"

The day crept up on us. The clock was our nemesis. It was time for him to go.