Grocery Smarts Explained - Act Fast!!

Okay, if you want in on the cereal deal, you need to go to Smiths today. Before that, however, follow these instructions:

• go to www.grocerysmarts.com
• sign in with password "g84rcm"
• there is a drop down box that says "-Select your store-" and you should select "VERY HOT Smiths"
• scroll down to: "Buy any 4 General Mills Cereals (8.9 oz -25.25 oz) and Receive $6 off instantly. ($1.50 per box
  discount)"
• Any cereal that has a "Group A, B, or C" link will have coupons at that link for that cereal. Print these coupons twice, and take them to Smiths.
  
• Buy cereals in groups of 4, using two coupons. Each coupon give you $1 off two cereals, and Smiths give you $6 more off of any 4 cereals. You can only get 8 boxes at one time, but you can go back to the store for as many transactions as you feel like.

That means that my four Lucky Charms, originally at $2.75/box were $1.25/box with the "Buy 4 get $6 off deal," and $0.75 with the "$1 off 2 boxes" coupon. My Cinnamon Toast Crunch was originally $3.19, and with all the deals totaled only $1.19. For the grand total that makes:

$0.75 x 4 PLUS $1.19 x 4 PLUS $1.62 in tax = $9.38.

Thanks for your guesses; Karen emailed me with the guess of $9.45! Congratulations!! You win a free box!!

Thanks to all for humoring my frugality and hopefully you can cash in on this deal, too. For future shopping, once you have selected the grocery store of your choice (they have every store) you can click on the little "start" button at the top, and this will highlight all the items you click on, and shrink your list to only the items you want after you click "shrink." You can print this list and take it to the grocery store. For Grocery smarts to work best for you, save your "Red Plum" coupons in the mail, and get a hold of the "Smart Source" coupons from your local paper, keep them in a little file in order by date, and when the website says something like "SS 9/28" that means the deal can be achieved by using the Smart Source coupons that came out by Sunday, September 28th. Just go to your file, pull out the coupon you need in about, oh, 30 seconds, and, voila! They do all the figuring for you, so you don't have to check out what's on sale and then flip through a million coupons. I like it because now I don't have to flip through the store ads since grocery smarts lists everything on sale for me in one nice list that I can select from. Pretty sweet deal if you ask me. Let me know how it goes for you by posting comments. Happy Savings!

Grocery Smarts Guessing

Last week, my friend hosted a "coupon class" about how to save money at the grocery store. I usually am skeptical about any "classes" that people host: you have to "invest" to save, or everything is free . . . except, yada yada. However, that is not the case with Grocery Smarts; I am now a convert! Using the free website and free printable coupons, I just went to the grocery store using said method, and came home with the following:


I know these aren't healthy cereals, but Andrew got to choose, and he can use all the sugar he can get, especially after working a 36-hour shift. (Plus, I know those Lucky Charms will be just the thing to "charm" Emma through church tomorrow with my friend, while I have to sit on the stand.) Next time, I plan on getting whole grain cereals, like Multi-grain Cheerios and Wheat Chex, which were available for essentially the same price.

Anyone who can guess how much I paid (plus or minus a quarter), taxes and all, is welcome to come collect a free box. Any guesses? Polls are open for 48 hours. :)

P.S. Is the thrill of wondering how little I paid getting to you? It is to me, and I know how much I paid!

Bow-eautiful!

Thanks to some inspiration from my sister when she was in town, I've attempted making my own hair bows, and, I think they are SO CUTE! Emma is perhaps a model-on-the-run, but I was able to capture a few pics of some of some of the bows we made today. Check it out!


Now that I'm getting into this, I'd love your tips, ideas, pictures, etc. to help me broaden my repertoire. :)

Never Out of Reach

Next time you come to my house, don't look too closely. You may find remnants of BLACK permanent marker drawings on the white wall, and a few traces on my wooden desk (I welcome your removal suggestions). The sky is the limit for one little girl. There is no door, no drawer, no marker lid this girl cannot open . . . . in a matter of seconds. No couch, table, chairs, changing table she cannot climb!!!

Fun with the Pughs

My sister Mary was in town for nearly a month, and one of those days, I was lucky enough to have her and her kids spend a night at my place. It worked out perfectly, because they kept me company while Andrew worked a 32-hour shift at the hospital.

In the evening while the kids did this:

Mary and I did this:

She is so thoughtful. Since my parents gave me a sewing machine for my birthday, Mary decided to give me a gift of supplies and instructions on how to make a craft of my choice. I chose to make baby bibs, and, in my humble opinion, they are ADORABLE! I think I might be spending a lot more time at JoAnn's Fabric nowadays. Really, I owe all the credit to Mary. Thanks!

The next day we walked to Liberty Park and hit up Banbury Cross donuts. I thought I'd give Mary a little feel for the good stuff in Salt Lake. It was a blast.

Jack took this one ;)



Pughs, thanks for a great time! We miss you so much already.

Changed Practically Overnight

The old Andrew:

(A look inside his text book)

The new Andrew:

After taking the Boards on July 1st, Andrew went to work in the hospital for his first rotation, in Pediatrics, on July 6th. The above picture is what he left looking like. This next photo is how he came home:

(I had hot baked cookies waiting for him, but he seemed to be more interested in his new pager)

It seems like overnight he has changed from student to doctor. Not to mention the fact that yesterday he came home from his first 32-hour shift. That type of overnight will change anyone! He is on Q-4 for the next three weeks, which means every four days he works a 32-hour shift, comes home after lunch, and goes back the next day at 6am for a regular shift. It's been a bit of a challenge to figure things out, but this past week we have finally felt like we are getting settled into his rotations. This is a really exciting time for us, and, again, I am so glad to have the boards behind us. Go Andrew!

Passed the Boards!!!

Huzzah!!! I am very pleased to announce that Andrew passed his USMLE Step 1 Board Exam! It was such a relief just for him to take the exam on July 1st and get it over with, but it is even more of a relief knowing that he passed! This means we still have a future in medicine!

Cute Andrew's family had the wisdom to foresee that Andrew would pass, and for the Fourth of July, they had these pieces of wood along their front walkway

to celebrate Andrew "passing the boards" as he walked up to the front door (sadly I was home sick that day).

Above the front door was a sign of Congratulations (you'll just have to trust me on this one)


and Karen made "board cookies" to celebrate for Andrew.

Thank you all so much for your love and support. We are so grateful for all your prayers on our behalf and help for me and Emma while Andrew had to study so much. Now we are in a completely new phase of life, rotations!!!