Last week, I figured out how to save 40-50% off my grocery bill - my Wal-Mart grocery bill (the total would be more like 50-60% if I shopped at the "regular" stores)!! The idea has been there all along, but I didn't think about it until last week.

All I do, is I go to our neighboring grocery stores' websites and look for their weekly ad. I go through it, clicking on whatever item they have on sale to add to my "grocery list" that is generated for me automatically. When I'm done, I print the lists. I staple them together. I grab my coupons, and off to Wal-Mart I go!

How it works is, Wal-Mart price matches almost every ad you can find. The other 2 grocery stores offer lots of "Buy one get one free" sales, of course, at much higher original prices than Wal-Mart. I get that item, use a coupon if I have it (boy, is THAT fun when I do!), and voila!!! At check out, I have my list (with items that I got circled to help me find them) and as the checker took each item, I'd tell her what the price or deal was.

Yesterday, my shopping list from a neighboring grocery store offered Uncle Ben's wild rice "BOGO free". I found the bags of rice and they were $3.24 each (ouch). With my BOGO ad from the other store, I got two bags for $3.24, making them each $1.62. Then, to my absolute delight, I noticed that each bag had a coupon stuck to it (you know what I mean) for $1.00 a bag, making each bag only $0.62!!!!

I'm not an "extreme couponer" like seen on TV, because I haven't got 30 hours a week like they do to mess around (plus, in FL, stores don't double coupons), but I have found a very easy way to save 40-50% on my groceries and it only takes 10 min. online to do it, and a little concentration when in the store!

I had so much fun yesterday, that in the canned fruit aisle, two older ladies were debating on what kind of fruit to buy. I told them that P*blix had a BOGO ad for Del Monte canned fruit, and we stood there and I showed them my list and told them how they could this and that free just by mentioning it at the register! Soon enough, a gentleman showed up and we let him in on the deal, and a mom with a little boy chimed in, too! We had a little crowd of "price matchers" in the canned fruit aisle, all conspiring to get a good deal! It was fun!

Anyway, I thought I'd pass on this tip to you! Hope you try it and I hope it helps! :o)

A lot has been going on with me medically and a lot of people are asking a lot of questions, so to avoid having people wonder and to maybe even keep rumors from getting started, here is the skinny on the situation:

I had a slight problem that caused my doctor to order a CT scan. This was interesting, because I am the type of person who is never sick. Nothing ever goes on with me medically. So, with interest, and a bit of amusement, I had the CT. The nurse called after the results were in and said that the doc now wanted an MRI, but didn't tell me why. So, again, with interest and a bit of amusement, I had the MRI (these were done of my abdomen).

The doc called me in. With concern, he told me that it looked like there was a mass on my pancreas. He referred me to a GI doc (which I felt was good, since at least he didn't refer me to an oncologist!!). After a nightmarish week when I was convinced I had pancreatic cancer, the GI doc studied the reports and to my HUGE relief, told me he really didn't think that it was a mass (NOT CANCER!!), but a big aneurysm. He had spoken with a radiologist at the hospital and because I have no history of alcohol or cigarette use, or drugs, or a family history of aneurysms, or pancreatitis, or trauma, they really could not understand why in the world it was there, but it was. They scheduled me for an angiogram. They would thread a catheter tube up (starting at my groin) my artery to the aneurysm (ballooning of the artery) and fix it. Well, they tried. Once they got up there, they realized the job was too complicated for them at that facility and I needed a more sophisticated hospital. It was a real letdown...

So we finally secured an appointment with a vascular surgeon at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville. I had my scans and reports sent up there beforehand. We met with him and he was as confused as the local guys were as to what was going on. The aneurysm was in a VERY unusual place and was very large. Armed with the knowledge of the first angiogram info, he felt that he could do another one, only more sophisticated one, and approaching the thing from both ends. We scheduled it.

Well, at our pre-op appt, the doc said he'd consulted with several other vascular surgeons and they said that they noticed something: a nearby artery was very narrowed and the artery with the aneurysm was compensating for it, and the pressure caused from the double duty is what caused the ballooning, so simply fixing the aneurysm wouldn't solve the problem - the narrowing would need to be fixed, or another aneurysm would grow. I would need major abdominal surgery to fix the narrowing. Nice.

I called my mom, who is always faithful to help me whenever I need her. She made plans to come to help take care of us for my December 5 surgical date.

At my pre-op appt, we had yet another curve ball thrown at us: the doc again consulted with several other vascular surgeons, and they wanted to do another angiogram for diagnostic purposes: he wanted to zone in totally on the aneurysm and narrowed artery and get a much better look before making any decisions on big surgery. After the images are taken, he will send them to the vascular surgeons at both Rochester and Arizona Mayo clinics so they can all see them and a recommendation can be made.

He said that he is aware of only THREE other documented cases like mine worldwide have been found, which is why they are being so careful and why he is getting so many consults from other surgeons!!! I'm glad that they are trying so hard, but I'm anxious to get this thing fixed... I don't LIKE walking around with a huge aneurysm (plus a smaller one) that could "blow" at any moment!!! I am otherwise very healthy, other than my weight, so that should work in my favor.

But that's what's going on with me. I will next have an angiogram on Dec. 5 and after the doc shows the images taken to the other docs in the other regions, a decision will be made and the recommended procedure will be scheduled pretty soon afterward.

This was a long post, but it's a long story! Thanks to any of you who made it this far! :o)

Now that Erik has been home for over 2 years, we can now say we have "traditions" with him. For example, this is his 3rd October with us, so it is now "tradition" that we visit the Methodist church's pumpkin patch and get pictures of Erik each year. Here he was on the very first October that he was here (he was home for just over a month at this time):

Fast forward to the next year - what progress!! Look! He's sitting by a pumpkin without screaming!! Yay, Erik!! And look - he has HAIR and is smiling!! :oD

Regular readers will remember a post I did a month or two ago about a letter that I got from my shoulda-been-son Vlad and how WONDERFUL it was, since I was so worried that he and his sister were languishing on the streets and couldn't/wouldn't have anything to do with me since I could not complete their adoption, despite all my best efforts.

Wellll... today I got an equally (better?) gift today!! Vlad's sister, Olga, my shoulda-been-daughter, found me on Facebook!!! She apparently had searched and searched and finally found me, then she "friend'ed" my hubby and my mom and chatted with all three of us!! What a happy day in our family!!! We didn't have much time this morning to talk (since I had to go to work) and we have to use a translator, since her English is as poor as my Russian, but we were able to exchange pleasantries and she thanked me several times for everything and I was able to tell her I loved her, etc. and it was altogether wonderful!! I am hoping SO MUCH that she and Vlad can come here (once he's 18, I suppose) to either visit, or on a work visa, or whatever, and this will make things MUCH easier!!! Oh, bless you, Facebook!!

So I'm really happy today. :o)

I love shopping at Publix, Winn-Dixie, and the like, but obviously those grocery stores can be a bit pricey, unless you are getting a BOGO free sale and have a coupon. Therefore, I only shop at those places when I need a few things or one thing, or they have some great BOGO offers. For my "big shop", I have to admit I shop at Wal-Mart. No, I don't like Wal-Mart or what they are doing to the "little guy", but in this economy, for the good of my family, I have to shop there.

HOWEVER, lately, I've discovered quite the little grocery store gem: Aldi!! The first time I went in an Aldi, it was because I was curious and they advertised a gallon of milk for $1.99. I paid my $.25 deposit for the grocery cart (yes, I got it back), and was surprised by the lack of name brand grocery items. Check-out was lightning fast, because they don't bag your groceries - you do - and they simply swipe the item over the scanner and drop it back in your cart. Checkout can take seconds!! I bought my paper bags, bagged them, put them in the car and returned my cart (to get my precious quarter back). I'll admit, it was a bit weird.

Still, I kept going back for my cheap milk. And picked up some cheap yogurt too. And cheap juice. And cheap spices. And each time I went back, I liked Aldi more. I got used to their brand of food, and found it to be every bit as good as the "name brand" grocery stores. I stopped feeling sheepish shopping there, and started enjoying it. It was small and things were easy to find. And you simply can not beat their prices. When Publix had fresh pineapples for $3.49, Aldi had them for $1.49.

Now, we don't get *everything* there. We have our favorites. We get our dairy there, and sometimes we get fresh meats (they have really good bacon wrapped sirloin steaks). We also get lots of frozen veggies which are great, and juice that is comparable to V-8 F*sion. The frozen treats are also very good, and last week I got a frozen apple pie that could EASILY have passed for homemade!! (It was fantastic!!) We also get frozen berries, fish, pizza, chicken breasts, etc. The only thing that I shy away from is their breakfast cereal, a lot of their produce, and some of their canned veggies (though others have told me these are great). They also have fresh made pizzas (that you take home and bake) that is great.

This is sort of a commercial for Aldi, though I am not getting paid or was not asked to do this! I'm just passing along my really good experience with this store. I know that some of my friends have relied on the Angel Food Ministries that recently closed down and they are worried if they can afford groceries. To them, I say, TRY ALDI!!! It's waaaay cheaper, even than Wal-Mart, and while some of their stuff isn't the best, most of it is great. And they import their chocolate from Germany (or somewhere like that) and it is out of this world. I've looked on many of their labels, and can't remember ever one thing having a "Made in China" label like most of Wal-Mart has!! Most of their stuff, from what I can see, comes from Batavia, IL. Good enough for me!

Just a tip from one frugal mom to another! :o)