As I mentioned on Wednesday, I was able to journey to Raleigh to visit with the Lukes over the fourth of July. We had many adventures that I photographed specifically to share with you folks on this Foto Friday. I hope you enjoy!
The first time we took Mr. Fargus out for a walk, I was reminded of Mr. Poe because of this cool Lotus in the Lukes' neighborhood:
Thursday evening Mrs. Luke and I went on a bike ride along the Greenway Trails:
We saw miles of such beautiful scenery- it was hard to believe that we were in the middle of the capitol city!
Friday evening we went out for a dessert of pie after dinner at Piebird:
We got slices of honey and sea salt, bananas in pajamas, and apricot and coconut crumble pies to share between the three of us. The pies were fantastic, but the to-go service was definitely not.
On a couple of evenings, we played Crash Bandicoot...the only video game that Mrs. Luke and I are any good at. Of course, Mr. Luke plays like a champ, and we spent most of our time watching him:
Saturday, we ate lunch at Chubby's Tacos, which was very tasty. It reminded me of Moe's, except it was more "authentic Mexican" and the burritos were even bigger:
The three of us split a meal: the burrito, two servings of beans, and one serving of chips, and it was the perfect amount. I would definitely recommend visiting one if you're in the Raleigh/Durham area!
Following lunch, we went to various portions of the NC State campus so I could see where the Lukes spend their time...the CVM with its multitude of skeletons (like this giraffe's):
Centennial Campus:
And of course, the football stadium:
Mama and Papa Wolgemuth and Mr. Wolgemuth (Mrs. Luke's and my parents and brother) arrived later that night to join in the festivities. Sunday afternoon, we went back to NC State to visit main campus, where Papa Wolgemuth worked on his masters in forestry management (with a minor in soils). We talked in the wolf ears, visited the technology room in the library, and walked through the Free Expression Tunnel:
We also had a fantastic dinner at Assaggio's Italian Bistro later than night. Monday, Mama and Papa Wolgemuth and I went to the capitol building:
for a tour of the grounds, some music, and some history exhibits. We also went on a trolley tour of downtown Raleigh where we saw a ton of beautiful historic houses and buildings, like the house of Col. Heck:
Following the tour, we drove around Mama and Papa Wolgemuth's old haunts, including the apartment they lived in while they were there, which was also my first home:
The evening concluded with a nice dinner of Brats and Secretariat, courtesy of the Lukes. It was a very lovely visit. The only thing that could've made it any better is if Mr. Poe and the girls could've joined us!
What exciting things did you do over the holiday weekend?
Good morning all, and welcome to Theology Thursday on the blog! I hope that you'll open your Bibles with me as we once again look at some thoughts I've had from my daily Bible reading and recent studies.
As people we have to live in this world, but as Christians we are to not be of the world. A lot of times we say that without actually considering its meaning. Someone in the world will have totally opposite attitudes, behaviors, motives, etc. than someone of the world. This person who is simply in the world has a Christ-centered life; he/she has abandoned the works of the flesh for the fruit of the spirit. Not that he/she is perfect, but he/she is doing everything possible to grow closer to God.
In Matt 5:29-30, Jesus says,
----"If your right eye causes you to sin, puck it out and cast it ----from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your ----members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. ----And if you right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it ----from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your ----members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell."
These seem like pretty extreme measures, and because of that fact, we often immediately say to ourselves after reading it that "of course Jesus didn't mean this literally." And He didn't...but if we think about the things that encourage us to engage in specific sins that we may struggle with- a certain friend, a family member, a hobby, etc.- it would be just as painful to cut these people/things out of our lives as it would be to cut off our own hand. But Christ says it is beneficial for us to do so, so that we will not be cast into hell.
The easiest way to keep from sinning is to avoid the temptation in the first place, which again leads us to Jesus' advice to cast things that tempt us away. Too many times we think to ourselves, "I can go out with ___; he/she ___s but I'm strong enough not to be tempted." Even if we're not initially tempted by something, willing putting ourselves into sinful situations can cause us to gradually either become tempted to try this thing or become so accustomed to it that we don't see it how God sees it anymore. We must get rid of our temptations. For good. I believe it was our friend, Mr. B. Hall, who made the point that Jesus didn't say "pull out your eye and set it on your dresser so you can use it later," he said "pull out your eye and throw it away."
Mini Case Study: Joseph
In Gen 39, we see the story of Joseph while he was a slave in Potiphar's house. Potiphar saw that Joseph was blessed in everything that he did because God was with him, Potiphar set Joseph as overseer of the house. While Joseph lived and worked there, his master's wife asked him daily to "lie with her" and "to be with her" (v.10). Joseph declined these advances- both to commit adultery with her AND to be in her presence. In short, he avoided her.
One day, when no one else was in the house, Potiphar's wife grabbed Joseph's garment and again asked him to lie with her. Joseph's response was to run away, leaving his garment in her hand. Since she had his garment, she then proceeded to accuse Joseph of sexual assault, which lead to Potiphar sending Joseph to prison. Here, Joseph is a fantastic example of someone trying his best to avoid not just avoid sin, but to avoid even the temptation to sin.
Life is not a sobriety test. The point is not to walk the line between being pleasing to God and being pleasing to men...we should flee the temptations of the world, striving to please God with all that we are and all that we do.
Last week I was able to visit the Lukes for a few days, and they made all kinds of tasty treats for me. One of the first recipes of theirs that I'd like to share with you is one that Mrs. Luke developed herself, based on some inspiration from their honeymoon...Jamaican Jerk Chicken Wraps (serves 4).
Ingredients: 2 boneless skinless chicken breast, 1/2 cup + 3 Tbs Jamaican Jerk marinade, 4 slices of bacon, 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese (not shown), 1/2 cup mayo, 1 mango, 1 tomato, 1 head of lettuce, 4 tortillas, 1/8 cup onion (finely diced, not shown), 1/2 tsp garlic powder (not shown), 1/2 tsp onion powder (not shown), 1/2 tsp salt (not shown), 1/2 tsp pepper (not shown).
Dice the chicken and mix it in a ziplock bag with the 1/2 cup of Jamaincan Jerk marinade. Place the bag in the refrigerator and allow the chicken to marinade for at least six hours. Slice the mango and puree it using a food processor. It should look like the image below:
Keep all but 2 Tablespoons of the mango puree in a small bowl. Combine the reserved 2 Tbs of puree, mayo, onion, the remaining Jamaican Jerk sauce, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper to make a sauce:
Place the chicken and marinade in a skillet:
Cook over med-high heat till done. Also cook the bacon using your favorite method (microwave, stove top, oven, etc.). Then slice the tomato and lettuce into small pieces, and crumble the cooked bacon. To assemble, layer the mayo sauce, cheese, chicken, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and mango puree on a tortilla:
Then wrap and enjoy! It's delicious and tastes just like a trip to the islands...or to the NC coast.
For this installment of Poes' Pals, I'm cheating in that these friends are also family. Please meet...the Lukes:
Mrs. Luke is my younger sister, so obviously I've known her my entire life. I've known Mr. Luke for many, many years as well, since before they started dating. The Lukes and I went on many a band trip together in high school, and our friendship continued to grow when we all entered into various engineering programs at Mississippi State. When Mr. Poe joined the party, the four of us worked together as members of a co-ed honor fraternity, and we occasionally went out on double dates. I also worked with Mr. Luke for several years and lived with Mrs. Luke and Mr. Fargus for a while at school.
Mr. Fargus is an Australian shepherd mix. He acts like a grumpy old man, except when his Mommy's around. He loves to go on walks and to eat doggie ice cream (blueberry vanilla is his favorite flavor). He also enjoys taking up the majority of the bed or couch or whatever he may be sitting on, and he hates when people mess with his tail. He's a good boy, and he looks out for his Mom.
The human Lukes are great people. We love their company and enjoy hanging out with them very much. Mrs. Luke is one of the most intelligent and hard working people that I know. She graduated with a 4.0 in Biological Engineering at MSU and is currently working on her DVM. Mr. Luke is also super intelligent and an extremely genuine person. He is currently working on his masters in material science. They work wonderfully together and compliment each other nicely.
On January 1, 2011 and after 6.5 years of dating, the Lukes were wed in North Carolina. Mr. Poe and I were very thankful to be part of the beautiful ceremony. It's hard not living right across town from them like we did when we were all undergraduates, but we definitely enjoy getting to see them whenever we can!
Most "real-life" fluid mechanics problems are super complex and are governed by a multitude of non-linear differential equations, which means that it would take you, or me, or Einstein lifetimes to determine a flow "solution" to these equations by hand...and that's only if an analytical solution is actually possible. With that in mind, we often examine a problem and try to make as many simplifying assumptions as possible to pare it down to a system of equations that we can handle. This is particularly important when investigating fluid mechanics for the first time. So today we will examine a few of the standard simplifying assumptions that we'll apply as we continue our study of fluids.
No-slip
While the no-slip condition isn't exactly a simplifying assumption, it is typically employed as a simple boundary condition. Because of a fluid's viscosity, or resistance to flow, fluid molecules immediately adjacent to a solid surface cling to the surface. Thus, the velocity of the fluid at the surface boundary is zero since those molecules are not moving or not "slipping" along the surface. If we make an assumption that the fluid is inviscid (having no viscosity), the no-slip condition does not hold, and the fluid at the solid surface has a non-zero velocity.
Steady
If we assume that the characteristics of a flow or the properties of a fluid are not changing with respect to time, we are making the steady or steady-state assumption. This assumption eliminates any time derivatives present in the governing equations since these mathematical terms represent physical changes in time. If this assumption CANNOT be made, the flow is termed unsteady.
Laminar
We can reduce the number of spatial dimension that we consider in a problem by making the assumption that the flow is laminar. If you go to your bathroom sink and turn on the faucet slightly, you will see an example of laminar flow. This flow is characterized by order; the water from the faucet is orderly flowing downward into the sink. If you turn the faucet on the whole way, you will see an example of turbulent flow. This flow is characterized by statistical chaos; the water is predominantly flowing in the downward direction, but there are spurts, sputters, and rotations in the flow that give it velocity components in all three spatial directions. If we examine the governing equations for the laminar flow from the faucet that is only in the downward direction, we can eliminate any terms with either of the other two velocity components. Furthermore, for most laminar flow cases, the derivatives with respect to the third spatial direction can be eliminated since we can often define the flow in just two directions.
Incompressible
We have previously mentioned this term, but I would like to expand on the idea here. Technically there are no incompressible fluids; however, in many instances, we can make the assumption that a fluid is incompressible without incurring much error. One benefit to this assumption is that it makes the math easier, since the density is considered a constant not changing with space or time. Thus, density can be pulled out of any derivative terms in the governing equations, AND the continuity and momentum equations can be solved independently of one another (we'll get back to this soon).
Be sure to keep these in mind as we journey through the world of fluid mechanics. My students would often get nervous at the thought of eliminating terms from equations, but as long as we do so by making these assumptions (when they are valid), we are making fluid problems solvable. Simplifying assumptions are your friend!
While there are more stores to talk about, by this time there's a good chance that you may be obtaining a good bit of stuff from your coupon endeavors and wondering what to do with it and how much is too much. So, stockpiling is the couponing topic that we will address today.
Items will reach their lowest selling price cyclically, typically every six weeks. Because of this fact, the couponing gurus suggest that when an item does reach this point in its pricing that you buy enough of it for your family to use for the next six weeks, until it goes on sale again. Even without using coupons, the stockpile method will save you a good deal of money, because you won't have to pay full price for an item or make last-minute trips to the store.
If you have a very small family (like mine), it doesn't take much to cover you for six weeks. This fact will lead you to a crossroads: do I continue to buy stuff for free/really cheap or do I stop? While the choice is yours, I would recommend thinking about the fact that we are to be good stewards of what God has blessed us with. If you wish to continue to buy, I urge you to not create year-long supplies of anything like the folks featured on TV tend to do. Instead, donate your stash to shelters, help needy saints, and/or build gift baskets for friends/relatives. It is also good to remember that you don't have to take advantage of EVERY deal and that there are a multitude of other folks out there who are trying to feed/support their families cheaply.
I am very blessed at this point in my life to have a spare closet and a pantry where I can keep my stockpiles. I try to keep food in the pantry, personal items in a plastic container:
And cleaning products/gifts in crates:
If you don't have obvious spaces to store these things, get creative. Do you have space under your bed? In the attic? Under a sink? In the laundry room? Any of these spaces can aid you in maintaining a stockpile and saving money. Just be sure that your items are stored properly; for example, I wouldn't store cereal or other food in these places unless it was in an airtight container to keep moisture, bugs, dogs, etc. out.
What method(s) have you found useful for keeping a stockpile?
It's holiday time once again! Mr. Poe and I would like to wish everyone a safe and
Happy Fourth of July!
We hope you enjoy some fireworks, BBQ, and a day off with the ones you love.
Last Saturday night, Mr. Poe and I went out for dinner. We had originally planned on going to Logan's Roadhouse (because I had a B1G1 Free coupon); however, we realized after setting out that the closest steak place to us is LongHorn- not Logan's. Although we didn't have a coupon, we decided to go to LongHorn anyway...
The food was amazing! The steaks were perfectly cooked, the service was wonderful, and since we had just moved and it was our first time to Longhorn, the manager gave us free desert:
It was a fantastic experience, and we would definitely recommend LongHorn to anyone looking for a nice dinner out. We have decided that this will be our new "specially occasion place"...and we have an anniversary coming up...yum!
So you're thinking of getting a Great Dane?
Just some things to consider... It will make huge messes until potty trained. It will cost more money at the beginning for shots and vet visits than smaller dogs. (Most medicines, including heart worm medication, are dosed by the pound. If you get a female for example, I think we paid $250 to get her fixed at around 5 months old.) It will need to be properly trained and trained early. (I spent a lot of time with Layla in order for her to consistently obey commands.) If the dog is too big to control physically, then it is extremely difficult to teach basic "dog etiquette". It needs to learn to behave on a leash early. This is especially important for smaller owners. (We had this problem, but now Mrs. Poe can walk her without issue.)
While these negative aspects exist, don't let them scare you away. I will tell you that I will own a Dane for the rest of my life, Lord willing. She is the most loyal, obedient, friendly, and beautiful dog I have ever seen (I'm not biased at all). She is great with kids, other dogs, and even crabby adults. While training, she was not overly obstinate, and learned very quickly. She is so gentle and sweet, and she gives great hugs - it's just like a big hairy person. That is probably my wife's favorite part of owning Layla. I would definitely recommend purchasing or rescuing a Monster Dog.
Here are some tips that we found useful when raising our Dane:
Ground Rules
-No Danes on furniture
-No Danes on beds
-No Dane mouthing (She can put your whole hand in her mouth)
-No unauthorized Dane barking (it's loud)
These rules were beneficial for several reasons. We wanted a people friendly environment, and most people aren't used to really large dogs. This keeps Layla from thinking she is everyone's lap dog, and makes our house an inviting place to visit, even to those who aren't dog lovers like us.
Training
-After shots, it is best to socialize him/her with other dogs
----Danes can have dominance issues with other dogs
----This is more prominent with males
-Crate training our Dane made it easier
----Provides a "comfort zone" for him/her when frightened
----Allows you to get them out of the way when a problem arises
--------Dealing with broken glass, etc.
--------Dealing with children's messes
----Helps with potty training (they won't potty in their crate)
-Potty training
----Take out as soon as they exit the crate
----Use a leash at first (even in a yard)
--------You can keep them from wandering
--------He/she realizes the purpose for going outside
----Use a "key word" (like potty)
----Begin by taking him/her to the same spot
----Keep to a schedule
-Using a baby gate when a Dane is small will teach them
-boundaries even when they are older (baby elephant syndrome)
Food
-We prefer large/giant breed Iams brand food.
----Didn't hurt her stomach
----Easily available
----First ingredient was chicken
----Plenty of calcium; no supplement needed
----Mid-level pricing; coupons available
--------More expensive food could reducing gas, waste size
--------Less expensive food has byproducts and fillers-Don't feed too much protein; 26% in Iams worked well for us
-Don't over feed
-Keep to a schedule
-Don't exercise him/her 30min before or after you feed
-Dane's are lazy
----Don't require food intake of high-energy dogs
----Layla eats 40lbs of food every 3-3.5 weeks
Exercise
-Don't over exercise
----Great Danes are well known for having hip issues
----Heart failure from over exhaustion can occur-Danes don't do well in extreme hot and cold
----Not having an undercoat makes it difficult to regulate temp.
Do you have a Dane or other large dog? What tips have you found useful?
Good morning, all! This Theology Thursday, I invite you all to open up your Bibles with me as we look at the topic of pointing others to Christ.
Early last Sunday evening, a visiting preacher from Ireland was informing the congregation on how the small group that he works with evangelizes. Two of the three prongs to their three pronged approach were to hand out New Testaments and to place an add in the local papers inviting folks to study the Bible. This brother pointed out that these methods of sharing the gospel with others are not difficult, highly technical, or terribly expensive. He also, very humbly, stated that he sometimes doesn't know answers to questions addressed to him in Bible study and that he readily admits it when this is the case. He encouraged us to do the same and suggested further research on our part to help supply the person with an answer.
That discussion made me think about the fact that no one knows everything, but everyone knows something. And it's what we do with what we know that defines who we are. If you were a doctor and one of your patients had a condition that would kill them in the next two years without treatment, would you tell them? If you were an airplane mechanic and you knew one of the planes that you work on wouldn't survive another flight without being overhauled, would you tell your supervisor? Now you may be saying, "Of course I would! I don't want to get sued!" or "Sure! I could go to jail for negligence or manslaughter!" or "Yes! I don't want anyone's death on my hands!" or even "Duh! It's my job!"
Think about that for a minute. People around us are dying spiritually every day- our neighbors, our friends, our families...as Christians we know that. We also know the ONLY thing that can save them! "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek." (Rom 1:16) It is our job to teach others: "Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching." (2 Tim 4:2) Furthermore, we have been given the scriptures from God, and in order to be good stewards of this blessing, we must share it with others.
Mini Case Study: Apollos
In Acts 18:24-28, we are introduced to a man named Apollos. He is described as "an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures;" furthermore, we are also told that he "had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord." But, the scriptures also point out that he "only knew the baptism of John [the Baptist]." By this time, the One that John the Baptist was preparing the way for had already come, died on the cross, and ascended into heaven; thus, as this passage indicates, Apollos' knowledge of the plan of God for salvation is limited.
Instead of waiting till he knew 'everything,' he was preaching the word at the synagogue in Ephesus. Of course, Aquila and Priscilla (after hearing him) took him aside and "explained to him the way of God more accurately." Later, we see Apollos taking his heightened knowledge and using it to continue to "vigorously [refute] the Jews publicly, showing from the Scripture that Jesus is the Christ."
We can never know everything about the Bible; therefore, we should diligently continue to read and study throughout our entire physical lives. But the fact that our knowledge is limited should not keep us from telling people about the word...about Christ and how he died for us and for them. We may not have all the answers to all the questions that might be asked of us, but we can try to find someone who does when these questions arise. We have the word, and the word is power, and "with great power comes great responsibility."
"What's for dinner" this Wednesday night actually should be termed "what's with dinner." I got this recipe from my sister, Mrs. Luke (who found it somewhere...), and it is seriously THE best slaw I have ever eaten. And it just so happens that it pairs very well with pulled pork.
Ingredients: 1 medium cabbage, 2 medium carrots, 1 green pepper, 2 Tbs grated onion, 1.5 cups sugar (not pictured), 2 cups mayo, 1-2 Tbs celery seed, 1 tsp salt (not pictured), 1/8 tsp pepper (not pictured), 1/4 cup dijon mustard, 1/4 cup vinegar.
Using a large food processor, shred the cabbage, carrots, and pepper into small pieces. Empty the pieces into a large bowl or plastic container. Note: this may be easiest if shredded in batches, depending on how big your machine is and how much cabbage you have.
Mix the remaining ingredients together in a medium mixing bowl to make the dressing. Note: this dressing could also be used with a store-bought bag of shredded cabbage.
Pour the dressing over the shredded veggies and stir to coat. Enjoy!
Good morning all! Today for my latest reading review, I present to you...David Jeremiah's "Hopeful Parenting: Encouragement for Raising Kids Who Love God":
Let me being the review by stating that as far as we know, Mr. Poe and I are NOT currently pregnant. I picked this book up (for 70% off) shopping with Mama Poe while the menfolk were painting the truck. Mr. Poe and I have raised some decent fuzzy-children (if I do say so myself), but we have no experience with non-fuzzy-babies...you know, the kind with souls. In light of that fact, I am slowly trying to read up on the subject.
"Hopeful Parenting" is an easy read full of encouragement and advice on raising godly children. I greatly appreciated the fact that Mr. Jeremiah includes some suggestions for showing love to our children, helping our boys become "courageous Daniels" and helping our girls become "faith-filled Esthers," among other things. I have found that too often books with the word "encouragement" in the title lack substance, filling the pages with fluffy, repetitive, feel-good stories.
This book emphasizes both the blessings and challenges of being a parent. It also enforces how a parent's behavior influences a child and that a solid, Christ-centered marriage greatly aids in the construction of a godly home. The reading of "Hopeful Parenting" helped to renew my desire to grow in love for God and in knowledge of His word- it reminded me that not only is this growth, this seeking pleasing to the Lord, but it also can have an impact on the spiritual lives of those around us (like our children).
I have two negative comments about the work. First is the information in the chapter on the benefits on having a Christian home. I felt like this chapter emphasized worldly things (health, wealth, instilling responsibility, long-life, perpetuation of traditions) more than it emphasized spiritual things (pleasing God, adding more servants to His kingdom, etc.)
The second is that some of the views expressed in the book are not in accordance with my understanding of what the Bible teaches (not that my understanding is perfect). With that in mind, I would like to make the typical disclaimer about any books I read related to any aspect of Christianity - they should be read with an open Bible (God's instruction manual for living godly lives and raising godly families) and should not be set above or equal to scripture.
Do you have any parenting book suggestions?
Happy Thesis Tuesday to you all! Last week, we briefly mentioned control volumes; this concept is crucial to correctly applying fluid mechanics equations to a particular problem. Thus, borrowing a line from Yoda, "You must learn control [volumes]!"
Tips for CV Selection
Selection of a control volume is easy; however, selection of the best control volume can be a bit more difficult and often takes practice. Here are some helpful tips:
1) make sure the points in the flow that you have information for (velocity, pressure, temperature, etc.) are located on the control surface
2) making the control surface perpendicular to the flow often makes problems easier to solve
3) if you are looking for some support force of a beam or stand, the control volume should intersect the beam or stand
4) for internal flow, the pipe that fluid is flowing through is often not included in the control volume when the "no-slip" condition is applied to the pipe surface
Moving or Deforming CVs
We know that fluid is allowed to flow across the control surface (i.e. into and out of the control volume), but in many cases (looking at jet engines, deflating balloons, etc.) employing a control volume that moves or deforms relieves some of the difficulty in finding a solution.
Today we will focus primarily on moving CVs. First, it is important to note that the shape, size and orientation do not change for a moving control volume- the volume is simply linearly or angularly translated with some velocity Vcv. One of the major differences between moving and stationary control volumes is that the the velocity with which the fluid crosses the control surface is a relative velocity (W) for a moving CV and an absolute velocity (V) for a stationary one. (The relative velocity is what we will use later in the continuity equation involving a moving control volume.) To obtain the absolute velocity of the fluid at the control surface, the relative velocity must be added to the velocity of the control volume:
V = Vcv + W
As a quick example to get these differences in velocity cemented in your minds, let's consider a man, John, entering a train car at 0.1 m/s while the train itself is traveling at 160 m/s. If we draw the control volume around the train car that John is moving through, the velocity of the CV is 160 m/s. The 0.1 m/s velocity is John's relative velocity; it is such because that is what a person sitting in the train car would measure his velocity as. A person sitting on a station platform outside the train car would measure his velocity as his absolute velocity, which would be 160.1 m/s.
Control volumes can be a bit daunting, but the more you deal with fluid mechanics problems, the easier it is to determine what type of CV you should use and where you should place it. Never fear! We'll soon get into some interesting applications of these concepts. Until next week...may the force be with you!
Although there is one more major drug store that we have yet to discuss (Rite Aid), I only recently moved to a place that had one. Consequently, I feel inadequate to go into much detail about its ins and outs, so we will resume the discussion of the drugstore game at a later date. Instead we will move on to my favorite grocery store:
Kroger
Initiation
In order to take advantage of any sale going on at Kroger, you must obtain a Kroger card:
You may do this when you first walk in the store at the customer service desk, which is typically located at the front of the building.
Preparation
As before any shopping trip, I look to Jenny to tell me what sales are going on and what coupons I can match with them. Occasionally, sale prices that Jenny lists differ slightly from those at my store due to different pricing in different regions; however, I use Jenny's prices as a guide for any items not listed in the weekly sales flyer on the Kroger website.
In addition to the typical paper coupons that I cut from the newspaper or print from the internet, there are digital coupons that can put on a Kroger card. There are various websites where these coupons can be loaded (cellfire.com, shortcuts.com, kroger.com, upromise.com, to name a few). When you use your Kroger card and purchase the appropriate item(s), these coupons are automatically deducted from your purchase. Note that you cannot use a digital manufacturer coupon with a paper manufacturer coupon; furthermore, the digital coupon loaded onto your card will ALWAYS be used (you cannot choose to use a better paper one), and they will NOT be doubled. Paper coupons will be doubled (up to a certain value) at Kroger; check your store's policy to see what this value is for you. And as always, you can use one manufacturer and one store coupon on a single item.
B1G1 free sales at Kroger (or any other grocery store) can be misleading; these items are simply reduced in price by half. You do not need to purchase two items to see the savings...but you can if you want to. Often there are no limit to the number of items you purchase at Kroger; however, you should always pay attention to the fine print to be sure, especially with products like milk and soft drinks.
Kroger will sometimes have Catalina deals (Jenny also keeps track of these). These are sales where, if you purchase the appropriate item(s), Kroger money will print out at the register. My favorite Kroger deal, however, is what they call a "Mega Event." Typically these events run for two weeks and are centered around a sporting event (March Madness, Indy 500) or a new movie (Cars 2). To take advantage of these deals, you will usually have to buy 5-10 items on a list; then you will automatically receive $3-$5 off your total purchase when you check out. Again there are usually no limits, so for example, if you would receive $5 off the purchase of 10 items, as long as you had y*10 items, you would get y*$5 off at checkout (i.e. $15 for 30 items).
Implementation
When I get to the store, I do my shopping, gathering items from my list, just like normal. One "different" thing that many folks find helpful if a mega event is going on is to bring in reusable bags. Then fill each with the required number of items for the mega event; this helps you to make sure you have the correct number of items. When I've finished my shopping, I'll double check the number and types of items I've picked up, as well as the coupons I had planned to use. Finally, I proceed to the checkout line.
I will place my items on the belt and have the cashier scan my Kroger card. As he/she scans my items, I try to watch the prices on the screen to make sure everything rings up correctly. After he/she is finished, I give any paper coupons I have and any catalinas from previous deals; then I pay the balance.
Kroger receipts give you a nice breakdown of your savings from both sales and coupons. They also track the number of gas points you earn per purchase:
You can use these points to get a discount on gas at the Kroger gas station or participating Shell stations in your area. Any catalinas you have earned through your purchase will print out seperately from your receipt, like at Wags. These typically have a two-week from the date of purchase expiration date.
How many of you enjoy shopping at your local Kroger?
Happy Money Monday to all! There are some fantastic deals at CVS and Wags that started yesterday:
CVS:
Pantene Shampoo: 2 for $6.96, use $3/2 coupon from SS 6/19, get back $2 in ECBs ($0.98 per bottle)
RepHresh Tampons: $6.79, use $1/1 coupon, get back $6.79 in ECBs (you make $1)
Wags:
Pringles: 4 for $6, use 2 $1/2 coupon from RP 5/22, get back $2 in RR ($0.50 per can)
Any deals in particular that you're excited about this week?
