Some great deals abound!

You'll have to use your imagination on this one for right now... I took pictures of my shopping trip with my phone, but last week I had modified the settings on my camera, and I can't figure out where it's saving the pictures!

So anyways, it's been awhile since I've shared some bargains, yesterday I managed to score some amazing deals. My kitchen cabinets are thoroughly stocked with all sorts of things.

First stop was Kroger, they're doing some really good sales this week. They have one of those promotions where if you can get $5 off your order for buying 10 products from certain groups.

Kraft Cheese is part of this sale. It's on sale for 1.99 for a variety of slices, shredds, cubes and chunks. There is also this little blinkie in some of the Kroger's that will give you a $.75 off one Kraft 2% variety. I usually buy the 2% varieties anyway, so this was a great deal. Between pizzas and casseroles, salads, sandwiches, snacks, pasta, etc... cheese will definitely be used in this house, and I had the fridge space... so I actually bought 10 packs of Kraft cheese! (Yes, I know it sounds like alot!) I got 7 bags of shredded, 1 pack of slices, and 2 blocks of Colby.
Let's look at the cost:
Kraft Cheese on sale for 1.99 each X 10 = 19.90
Less 10 blinkies for .75 : 19.90 - 7.50 = 12.40
Less $5 for purchasing 10 promotion: 12.40 - 5 = $7.40

$7.40 isn't a bad deal at all for 10 packs of cheese, it makes the cheese just $.74 a pack

Quaker Rice Cakes were on sale for $1 each, I had coupons from recent insert for $1 off, making them free.

Hormel Chili is on sale for $1 a can (Kev eats the vegetarian variety for lunch sometimes) and it's part of the "10/$5" promotion. I also had some coupons for $.55 off 2 cans from last week's inserts. I think I bought 8 cans total.

Rotel Canned Tomatoes are on sale for $1 and part of the same promotion, I had some $.30 off coupons (Kroger doubles to $.60 off) from last week's inserts, so I picked up some of those as well.

Kleenex Tissue is on sale for $1.59 and is part of the sale, I had some $.40 manufacturer's coupons from recent inserts, so that went into the mix as well.

Horizon Organic Single Serve milk is on sale for $1, there were recent coupons for $.25 off one (doubled) - I picked up a couple to use for cooking (I don't drink milk, Kev only drinks Soy)

I can't remember all the rest of the bargains, but those were the highlights. If I find my pics I'll update.

At Mejier, I worked a few good deals, the best being Kellogg's Cereal deal :

Kellogg's Cereal (select varieties) is on sale for $3 a box. If you buy 4 boxes, you get $2 off your transaction. I bought 4 boxes = $12 - $2 off - 2 Coupons for B1G1Free peelies - 2 $1 coupons = $2 for 4 boxes of cereal.

My grand total's for shopping:

Well at Kroger, my total when I checked out was $38 for $137 worth of groceries. However, I had bought an air freshner that was a holiday scent and was supposed to be $5.24 (and it had a $3 peelie on it, so it would have been $2.24) but it rang up as $10.49. I stopped at customer service and they checked, and told me since it rang up incorrectly, they were giving me the item free, so they refunded me the FULL purchase price of $11.12 (with tax) so my total at Kroger was only around $27! (It pays to check receipts!)

At Meijer, my total was around $32, but I had one transcation that didn't discount, so they gave me a $2 off my next purchase.

And I'm pretty stocked on the essentials now!

Want to know more of how I save big at the store, just ask! I'll be happy to share my tips!

The monster in my house

There is a monster in my house. As a child, we sometimes are afraid of the monster in the closet or under the bed. Thankfully, I am not afraid of this monster, in fact, I'm quite smitten with her. She's a monster none the less. I willingly allowed this monster into my house.

This monster comes in the form of a 5 and a half month old puppy, named Zali. Have you seen the movie "Marley & Me" yet? This is Zali... and while I'm happy that she won't age at the speed of a 2 hour movie... I wouldn't mind getting past this puppy phase.

Being a puppy means that Zali is into anything and EVERYTHING she can get het little teeth on. And she is suprisingly swift when your back is turned. I have had not one, but 2 planners devoured... and with the second one, I do mean DEVOURED.

She has managed to climb into laundry shelves, and ate laundry pre treater! Just last week... I made the mistake of thinking my coupon binder was out of her reach... TWICE in one day! The second time did it in... and now I've got a few hours to spend putting together all the little slips of paper I came home to find spread across the living room floor. Suprisingly, she didn't eat the coupons... just the binder!

Saturday morning, when my roomie & I came downstairs, Kev discovered that he had forgot and left his cell phone on the couch... That morning, when he let her out, he left her downstairs to catch a little more sleep. She decided to start making phone calls! Luckily his phone only had a couple small scratches to the back.

Yesterday, I had the misfortune of leaving my cell phone down... and she managed to get her teeth on it. I do admit I become a bigger fan of my phone everyday... she actually chewed the back off the phone and it still works! Luckily I have a replacement back!

For all the terror that she brings to the house, she also brings joy. She is so loving and affectionate that you can't hold a grudge long. Sometimes, she gets herself into something she can't get out of. Below is a prime example. Friday evening, we were in the living room watching tv, and I suddenly realized that I hadn't heard from her in a bit. I wandered into the kitchen and found her with her head stuck in a Pepsi box. She wasn't moving... just standing there... I think she was freaked out. So I did what any pet parent would do... I quickly called Kev to come see... and then we grabbed the camera to take a picture... then rescued her!

My house, the obstacle course...

I realized this morning that my house is an obstacle course. Now you might think that this is due to my housekeeping skills... and you would be wrong.

Just this morning, I woke up and as I approached the darkened landing upstairs, eyes still have closed with sleep, I feel something at my feet. Instinctively, I raise my leg and attempt to step over this obstacle that is preventing me from making it into said landing from my bedroom. Ha! If only it were that easy, no, I guess I should have mentioned that my house is not only an obstacle course, but an ever changing obstacle course. For you see... as I stand, balanced on one foot, each place I attempt to put my other foot, I suddenly encounter another obstacle. And just as I finally manage, mainly due to the fact that one doesn't really have much balance when they are half asleep, to land a foot to the ground, I am suddenly thrown off balance as the afor mentioned obstacle brushes against me.

Somehow I manage to make my way on into the landing, and luckily down the stairs without further incident... this time...

I think pets have a wicked sense of humor. I can only imagine that in their mind, the thought is " Oooh, there she goes, let's watch her dance! Ha! Right foot up, oooh, she's going to the left, gotcha! Take that! I'll purr now, she will think I just want attention!"

And don't even get me started on the audience you get when trying to use the bathroom!

making my way back into my blog

So, I've been a tad bit incognito online as of late. I guess a combination of the holidays, getting ready for school, my job ending and life in general just really messed with my routine. I'm still trying to sort out a new routine for myself, and have been meaning to blog, heck I've even drafted up a couple blogs, but each time I abandoned without finishing.

This time I'm just going to dive right in, ramble on for a few minutes and call it a day. At least you'll know what's going on in my world!

So the holidays were great here, a bit chaotic, many of my best laid plans didn't get accomplished, but in the end, joyous times were spent with friends and family. That's really all I could ask for!

So I'm not working now. My contract ended a tad bit prematurely, on Dec 19th. It was somewhat expected, somewhat unexpected. I was originally supposed to depart sometime in Nov, then it was extended until the end of Dec, then it was extended until the end of Feb, then I found out I was going to be off for 2 weeks at Christmas, and then finally, due to economic tightening, the contract was ended as of the Christmas break. I was already planning on being through with that contract in February, so I was somewhat prepared, it did suck however that I had to join the ranks of the unemployed quicker than I expected.

I mentioned a couple months ago that I was headed back to school this semester. I am pleased to report that I am officially back in school. Today was Day 1 for me of the new semester. I don't remember all the pre-start stuff (getting books, getting registered, etc...) being as cumbersome the first time around, then again, I'm a few (alright more than a few) years older this time around.

I'm taking 3 classes & a lab. I have an Economics class, a Comparitive Religion class, a Bio class and a Bio lab. Thankfully I am able to complete all classes online. Tricky part being, I have to hold myself accountable for actually doing everything. There is no daily class schedule. I do have assignments due, etc on weekly/monthly basis... Now I just have to be the adult and get them turned in!

My biggest struggle is trying to get a routine down, not just for school, but for life in general. Not working makes it weird. I have plenty of time, yet I feel I have no time at all. Trying to figure out what time to get up, a normal eating schedule - so that I'm not just constantly snacking, etc. This is the tricky part. I do appreciate that I can hang out in my pj's all day though.

Well I think I'm going to wrap this one up for now. I will be back on later today or tomorrow, as I get back into the regular routine of blogging!