The big Kroger Mega Savings Event is currently underway now through September 2nd and courtesy of General Mills and Pepsico, I was given a $30 Kroger Family of Stores Gift Card to see just how much I could save on my groceries. I do all of my weekly grocery shopping on Friday mornings, so I set out yesterday with my gift card excited about the possibility of some great deals.

If you are not familiar with this promotional offer, here is how it works: when you buy 10 participating brands (see list below) and use your Shopper Card at check out you instantly save $5. And there is no limit on the number of rewards per transaction! Look for the double yellow tags in-store.

Participating brands include: AMP Energy, Aquafina, Betty Crocker Baking Mixes, Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks, Cascadian Farms Cereals and Bars, Cap’n Crunch, Cheerios, Cheetos, Chex Mix, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cocoa Puffs, Dole Juices and Juice Drinks, Fiber One, Fritos, Gatorade, Golden Grahams, Green Giant, Hamburger Helper, Life , Lipton Tea, Nature Valley, Old El Paso, Pepsi family of 2 Liters, Pillsbury, Progresso, Propel, Quaker Instant Oatmeal, Quaker Chewy Bars, Starbucks, Sobe Life Water, Totino’s, Trix, Tropicana, Yoplait and MORE!

I saved over $24 during this shopping trip, which is pretty amazing. I was particularly excited about the following products:

Old El Paso Taco Dinner Kits- 2 for $5. (orgiginally $3.29 each)
Baby Carrots (washed and peeled) – 2 for $3 (originally $1.99 each)
Kroger brand Yogurts 3 for $1
Tyson Frozen Chicken Nuggets-$5.99 a bag

While not every item on my list was included in the sale, the prices were still reasonable or on Kroger Plus Card special, so I feel very pleased overall. And since the Mega Savings Event runs through September 2nd, I know I’ll save again on future trips in the next couple of weeks. Kroger also has some fabulous coupons on their site that you can be added to your shopper’s card before you go to the store and some that can be printed out.

GIVEAWAY: General Mills, MyBlogSpark and Pepsico have generously offered one of my readers a $30 gift card to any Kroger Family of Stores. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment telling me how much you think you could save on your next shopping trip if you won it. I will close comments at 11 PM Central Wednesday, August 26. U.S. residents only.

*Shoppers should also see stores or website for exact dates since the sales dates may vary by area.

Our family thrives on routine to function, especially my son. Establishing routines and staying organized not only saves time, but it also gives my son a feeling of security. We’re still working out the kinks in our morning routine, but the key to having our day run as smoothly as possible is organization. I felt pretty sure of my organizational skills until I had the chance to participate in OfficeMax’s Back-To-School blogcast.

The blogcast can be found here and I promise it is worth your while to listen. Peter Walsh, organizational expert frequently seen on TLC’s Clean Sweep and Oprah, not only offers terrific tips on organization, but he also explains to you WHY this is so important and how staying organized helps your children be more successful in all they do. He even has some great tips for homeschoolers, too.

Courtesy of OfficeMax, I received several fantastic organizational items from their Schoolio von Hoolio Darling collection (pictured above) and instantly fell in love with the cute designs that can be found on folders, notebooks, and so much more. Even as an adult, I think staying organized is more fun when you have great products and supplies you love.

I’ve been trying to decide how I feel about turning 35 today. I couldn’t come up with a single, solid emotion about it except just being happy to be alive and well to celebrate another one until I logged into Facebook and one of my oldest and dearest friends wished me a happy birthday and then told me she hoped I was celebrating the fact that I was halfway to 70.

70.

Now there’s something to think about.