Bliggity bloggity blue

whew. Where is the time going? Seriously. I know it is SO cliche, but I am wondering WHERE is the time going?! All of a sudden it is MID-APRIL!! My "baby" is going to be 5 in a month. Five? FIVE!!! Five whole years and it seems to have passed me by in an instant. Oh what I wouldn't give to turn back the clock for just a few hours and hold him on my chest while we both drift off into lala land. I'm so glad to have so many friends who have been blessed with babies recently so I can get all kinds of baby snuggles in.

----

Today I am watching my friends 2 boys while she enjoys an evening out with her husband. He is an RDC (recruit division commander, I think?) here at Great Lakes. Basically, they teach the "kids" that have just joined the Navy all the Navy "stuff" they need to know; how to fold their clothes, make their beds, wear their uniforms, eat their food, wipe their behinds. Well, maybe not the last one...but I wouldn't put it past 'em. Anywho, as you can imagine being an RDC is a very demanding job with LONG hours and little to no time off during a "push".

When they dropped their boys off tonight my phone was ringing. I let it go to voicemail; within 5 seconds 2 of the 4 boys were screaming at each other, the phone was ringing again and someone was at the door. My friend said "it's a regular day at your house!" It is so true. Sometimes I think I should put one of those revolving doors from a hotel on the front of my house. A brief glimpse into my week: brunch/playdate, cub scout meeting @ campsite, coupon brunch, "kidsit", picnic at park, Pookins early release from school, fieldtrip, grocery shopping, parent teacher conference, NO SCHOOL day!, 2 Tastefully Simple parties, Army Wives premier party and a husband on duty. OHHHHHHHH, and we are taking the boys on a daycation in there somewhere to Key Lime Cove indoor waterpark. And that wasn't even a busy week LOL!

----

Sidenote; after spending last week on leave and being around the house DevilDoc has a newfound appreciation for my ability (or rather inability!) to keep it all together. He was off the ENTIRE week...I think we had an hour or two of real quality time together.

----

Kind of a random post huh? I'm feeling kinda random today.

----

I'm keeping a pretty awesome secret right now. Actually, more than one and I feel so honored that the people involved value our friendship enough to let me be a part of their lives.

----

Shopping has been kinda slow 'round these parts the last few weeks. Which is fine because we are well stocked and really only need milk and produce. Half way through the month and I have used $49.50 of my $200 budget. On track for a very good savings month.

----

DevilDoc has been asked to be the keynote speaker at the College of Lake County Memorial Day program. I'm just a smidgin' bit proud <3

----

I just realized I'm supposed to be running a 5k on April 29. Yeah, about that. Probably not gonna happen. Run/walk-yes. Run it all-not so much.

----

I'm really missing a friend recently. I was a bit too honest, let it all out a little too much or too quick. Let things roll off my tongue without thinking of how they sounded. I hope I didn't ruin our friendship. I'm not really sure what to do, how to reach out to this person. We both have BUSY lives, BUSY families. I got my feelings hurt, took things too personally. It's not always about me. As a matter of fact, it's RARELY about me...yet I continue to think it is. I'll have to pray on that I think. He will reveal the way to me.

----

Speaking of Him. We are looking for a private school for Magoo and Pookins. In the running: St. James in Highwood and St. Johns in Libertyville. Any info?

----

Pau.

For Gretchen

I know I need to pick up where I left off down there with the Jewel tutorial, but right now I need to get up "Gretchen's cheat sheet" LOL!

Kraft buy $20 get $5
4 cream cheese blocks 10.36/5.16
2 wheat thins 8.38/4.98
1 capri sun 2.19/1.99
=20.93/12.13
-4.10 in MQs
=8.03 pay with cats/ybs; get back $5 Kraft cat and $1 cream cheese cat

Other items on my list
Coffemate $1ea and 0.75yb wyb 2
Jewel sugar $1.88ea and 1yb wyb 2
BOGO McCormicks grinders 3.25ea
Marinated salmon portions 3.99ea
all laundry detergent (not sure of price) 1.25yb wyb 1
3 boxes of Kelloggs cereal = free gallon of milk
BOGO Oberweiss choc milk :)

Probably another Kraft deal with Capri sun and cheese :)

Hope that helps, let me know if I can be more specific.

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.

I haven't stopped shopping...

I've just been super busy getting back into the swing of being a single parent. DevilDoc is "back to school" and I am trying to cover all the parenting bases, it's no new thing to me but I'm a tad out of practice. A couple more weeks and we should be in the groove.

I hit Target and Jewel yesterday for some sweet deals, ready?

First we'll do Target. They are running a bunch of "buy X, get a $5 gift card".

TRANSACTION # 1
Gillete Razors, buy 2 get a $5 gift card
3-Gillette Venus Embrace
used 3-$2/1 MQ for -$6
used 3-free Olay body wash ($5.49) when you buy Venus Embrace for -$16.47

1-Gillette Fusion
used $4/1 for -$4

Earned $10 in gift cards ($5 for 2 Venus and $5 for Venus/Fusion combo)
TOTAL $17.96 before tax

TRANSACTION # 2
1-Reese's pieces bag SALE $1.49
used $1/1 MQ
used $1/1 Target Q

1-York pieces bag SALE $1.49
used $1/1 MQ
used $1/1 Target Q

JUST REALIZED she didn't charge me for my 3rd bag of candy...oops!

5-Quaker oatmeal express $1.02/ea (gift card deal!)
used 2-$1/1 MQ (that's all I had)

3-Lightbulbs 4 pack SALE $2.09
used 3-$1/1 MQ
used 3-$1.50/1 Target Q

Single lightbulb SALE $0.49
used $1/1 MQ
used $1.50/1 Target Q

Earned $5 gc from the oatmeal deal
Total $4.79 before tax which I used the gift card from above to pay with :)
NO OUT OF POCKET COST!!!!

So $17.96 at Target AND I have $10 in gift cards to use!

Jewel-Osco
4-PictSweet frozen veggies @1.99/ea
Pref card @0.99/ea

6-ACT II popcorn @3.38/ea
Pref card @1.00/ea

3-Fisher fusion nut mixes @2.59/ea
Pref card @1.49/ea
3-$1/1 MQ

2-Coffeemat creamer @2/$1
1-$1.50/2 MQ

I used a $6 cat and $4 cat from Walgreens :)

Total before tax $0.93!!

Oh, it was sooo much fun! I still have to hit Dominick's but just didn't have time or energy yesterday. I'm thinking probably on Sunday since we will be without children...I'm gonna drag DevilDoc along with me so I can show him how I shop :)

Happy Valentine's day everyone!

Thank you, thank you, thank you to the blogs and message boards listed on the right-hand sidebar for helping me save money and showing me the ropes!!

Sick and tired of being sick and tired

ick! I hate the sickness...I'd rather just puke and be done, but nooooooo! I have to have the stuffy nose, itchy throat, watery eyes kinda sickness. Day 2 and hoping that day 3 brings an end to it! I have stuff to do dang it!

Speaking of stuff to do. Uh, I haven't been doing so much of the P90X. One, because I have felt like doo-doo - two, our copy of the program is all fricked the frack up and works when it damn well feels like it and three, I've been down right exhausted getting used to the single parent schedule again.

So, I ordered a NEW copy of P90X and it arrived TODAY *jump for joy* and on MONDAY I will be starting ALL OVER! Which is fine with me, BRING IT beotch. I am also going to try my darndest to get on board with the meal planning they provide, but with just the boys and I home for dinner 4/5 nights during the week it's hard to cook salmon, tilapia and lemon pepper chicken when they'd just as soon have a bowl of froot loops or some grilled cheese. We'll see how that progresses.

I need to take more pictures. Random thought.

And I'd like to take this opportunity to thank not only all those blogs listed down there on the side for helping me understand this whole "super-couponing" thing but more specifically the ladies over at Couponers Wanted. They are full of information and resources! They really know how to make you feel welcome and give you the help that you ask for. Thanks gals!

Onto tonight's shopping adventure. I think I missed posting an adventure..oh yes, one to CVS. It wasn't grocery related so that's probably why.

Let me share my abbreviations before we get started.
Shelf=the regular selling price.
Card=preferred card price.
MQ=manufacturer coupon.
SQ=store coupon.
CAT=catalina coupon that prints at the end of an order at some grocery stores for $XX off your next order.
Instant=instant savings when you buy a certain # of a product
EQ=electronic loaded coupon, which you can find here, here and here. Also, if you have a Upromise account you can load coupons and the savings will go into your account instead of coming off you bill (at least that is how I understand it.

Buckle up, here we go!

Jewel-Osco
$1.39/ea when you buy 5 participating Quaker products; here's what I did

6 granola bars
Shelf: 19.14
Card: 11.94
MQ: $3
4 boxes instant oatmeal
Shelf: 15.96
Card: 7.96
MQ: $4
Instant on 10items = $6
I paid 6.90

2 skippy peanut butter
Shelf: 6.50
Card: 3.00
MQ: 1.00
I paid 2.00

2 I can't believe it's not butter
Shelf: 5.90
Card: 3.00
MQ: 1.00
I paid 2.00

Coffeemate
Shelf: 1.79
MQ: 1.00
I paid 0.79

Wheatables
Shelf: 4.29
Card: 1.88
MQ: 1.50
I paid 0.33

Sara Lee bread
Shelf: 2.99
Card: 1.69
I paid 1.69

Slim fast bar
Shelf: 0.99
Card: FREE
MQ: 1.00
I paid: -1.00 :)

Mountain High vanilla yogurt
Shelf: 3.59
Card: 2.19
MQ: 1.00
I paid: 1.19

I also had a $5 CAT and a $2 CAT.

Total Shelf Price: 60.15
Total card savings: 33.70
Total MQ: 20.50
I paid: 6.95 not including tax; 88.63% savings.

Moving right along to Dominick's

Trix cereal
Shelf: 3.49
Card: 1.88
EQ: 0.55
MQ: 1.00
I paid 0.33

Lucky Charms
Shelf: 3.99
Card: 1.88
EQ: 1.10
MQ: 1.00
I paid: -0.22 (yes, they gave ME $ to buy the cereal)

2 Doritos
Shelf: 7.98
Card: 5.98
SQ: 4.00
I paid 1.98

4 Ragu
Shelf: 7.96
Card: 5.00
SQ: 2.00
MQ: 2.00
I paid: 1.00 (or 0.25/ea!!)

4 La Victoria Salsa
Shelf: 11.96
Card: 8.00
MQ: 8.00
I paid: 0

Angel soft
Shelf: 1.79
I FORGOT MY MQ!!!!
I paid: 1.79

2 Milk
Shelf: 4.98
Card: 3.98
I paid: 3.98

1 choc milk
Shelf: 1.99
Card: 1.99
MQ: 1.99
I paid: 0

2 Trop50 OJ
Shelf: 6.78
Card: 5.00
MQ: 2.00
I paid: 3.00

Shelf: 49.92
Card: 14.42
SQ + MQ+EQ: 23.64
I paid: 11.86 not including tax; savings of 76.24%

ONE HUNDRED ELEVEN DOLLARS & EIGHTY SEVEN CENTS OF GROCERIES FOR

$18.87

Naysayers

Don't hate the player, hate the game LOL! I've had some people...no names...questioning my ability to be saving as much money as I am doing our grocery shopping. Some even going to so far as to accuse me of not supporting the military way of life b/c I am shopping less and less at the commissary. As far as I am concerned, the commissary is not supporting US by supplying over-priced products, incoherent policies and the teeny-tiniest of selection!

So, for my naysayers....I give you the comparison from this evening's shopping trip.

2-pkgs barilla pasta
I paid 1.98
Commy price 2.98

2-pkgs crescent rolls
I paid 0.19/EACH
Commy price 1.64/ea

2-pkgs pillsbury breadsticks
I paid 1.29/ea
Commy price 1.75/ea

2-pkgs pillsbury cinnamon rolls
I paid NEGATIVE 0.11 cents each! Yep, they paid me to take those cinnamon rolls out the door!
Commy price 1.75/ea

2 boxes gogurt
I paid 1.54/ea
Commy price ON SALE 1.75/ea reg price 1.89/ea

2 pkgs sargento sliced cheese
I paid 0.99/ea
Commy price 2.29/ea

I also received a coupon for $4 off my next purchase at Dominick's.

The total amount I paid out of pocket was 10.29 which includes 0.41 tax.

Had I shopped for the same items at the commissary it would have cost me 17.62 WITHOUT the surcharge...with is 0.05/item and I wouldn't have gotten a coupon to come back and shop again!

Essentially that trip cost me 6.29 vs. 17.62 an 11.33 difference. I could have bought TWICE the amount of items at Dominick's for the same price I would get ONE set at the Commy. Sad isn't it?