by admin -

Uno: Free Pizza for Military Members

UNO invites all members of the military, both veterans and active duty, to enjoy a free individual deep dish or thin crust pizza with the purchase of an entrée or pizza of equal or greater value on Super Bowl Sunday, February 6 and Monday, February 7. No coupon is necessary. Veterans or active military can simply show up with a military or veteran’s ID. (Not valid with other special offers or coupons.)

Find out more about the Pizzeria Uno free pizza for the military on the Uno website.

Thanks to my mother-in-law for sharing this deal.

by admin -

2011 BAH Rates Released

The 2011 BAH rates have been released by the Defense Travel Management Office. You will need your duty station zip code and rank to calculate the new rates.

On average BAH rates dropped 0.6% to reflect the recent housing crisis. The rate drop will only affect people who transfer into the area in 2011. Those are currently stationed in the areas that had drops receive rate protection and will continue to draw BAH at the 2010 rate.

You can check out the BAH FAQ page for answers to most of your BAH questions.

by admin -

Beat the Christmas Crowds at the Commissary

Military Commissaries get crazy right about now. It seems everyone, even those who don’t normally use their commissary benefits, head to the store to stock up for Christmas at lower prices. Seriously, it is totally nuts! I almost avoid going, except the prices are just too darn good! I guess I am just like everyone else.

Anyway- here is my tip to beating the crowds. Shop today or tomorrow. Wednesday is payday and from then on it will be a zoo. After payday comes the weekend, after the weekend comes the week before Christmas…. and all the craziness. We have all heard of (or been in) the lines that wrap around the store two times, right? So avoid the long lines and hit the store today or tomorrow.

To help you get the most out of your trip I’ll be posting the Commissary coupon match-ups later today.

by admin -

Veterans Day

M. J. Donahue, United States Marine Corps

As a country we celebrate Veterans Day on November 11 every year. While it is wonderful to recognize our Veterans on this day, it is even better to support our veterans every day of the year. Not everyone is able to serve in our Armed Forces, but everyone can serve our Armed Forces.

If you need ways to show your appreciation for our veterans, last year I wrote an article detailing 13 ways to support the troops. Veterans can visit the 2010 Veterans Day Discount page to find discounts and deals in their local area and nationwide.

To those who have served and are serving our country,

Thank you.

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Coupons for Troops: Families Needed

As many of you know, I oversee a program called Coupons for Troops. This program matches up overseas military families with stateside families who send them coupons. Groceries at overseas Commissaries are more expensive and coupons help military families serving overseas save money.

I need 5 to 10 families who are willing to donate expired coupons to military families overseas. I had a few military families sign up over the last few weeks and need to get them assigned to a stateside family. If you are interested please email me at couponsfortroops@gmail.com. Before you email, please read the Coupons for Troops FAQ page to make sure this is something you are able to participate in.

If you are a military family overseas would like to receive coupons please email me and I’ll match you up too.

Thanks for serving and supporting our troops with coupons!

by admin -

Veterans Day Discounts for 2010

I am currently working on a Veteran’s Day discounts page for all my military readers. There are so many great offers and freebies for military families, I hope you are able to take advantage of a few of them. You can visit the Veterans Day 2010 page which will be updated daily with new discounts. If you find a discount that you would like to share, please email me at thehappyhousewife (at) gmail (dot) com, and I’ll add it to the page.

by admin -

Heroes At Home: Free Sears Gift Cards for Military

Update: This program is now closed. They received over 25,000 applications in less than 24 hours. There should be another program next year, hopefully I’ll be able to give you some advanced notice.

Heroes at Home: Gift Cards for Military from Sears

Back again for 2010, the Sears Heroes at Home program is open to all military families. Active Duty military can receive a free gift card from Sears to help with Christmas in 2010.

The 2010 Sears Heroes at Home Wish Registry helps America’s military families enjoy more of Christmas each year.
In 2009, over 20,000 military families participated in the Sears Heroes at Home Wish Registry program and received more than $6.7 million in gift card donations from the Sears community.

To sign up, visit the Sears website for all details and information. This program opens on October 13, 2010 at 9 am CST and closes on October 15, 2010 at 6pm 2010. Sign up now because this doesn’t last long. The Sears website will experience delays because of the high traffic from this deal. Don’t give up, keep trying and eventually the page will load.

You are eligible for this program if you are on active duty between October 13, 2010 and December 31, 2010 in the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard or Reserves. You can read all the details and fine print on the Sears FAQ page.

Thank you Sears for Supporting our Troops in 2010!


by admin -

Operation Purple Needs Your Help

As most of you know I am a proud to be a military wife. Newer readers might not know that a few years ago my husband was deployed and during his deployment he suffered an injury that turned our world upside down for about 18 months. I am thankful that he is now completely healed, but I know there are other families who are not so fortunate.

While we had an excellent support system while my husband was gone, many families do not. According to a Defense Manpower Report over 100,000 kids have at least one parent deployed. Deployments are tough on kids and I love organizations that help make this time easier.

Operation Purple is one such program. They organize summer camps, and family camps to help children cope with the stress of deployment. This camp is totally free and supported by the National Military Family Association. This video below gives a small peek into what Operation Purple is all about.

These camps are a great way for kids to have fun, hang out with other kids who are going through the same thing, and talk through some of the struggles and worries they face while their parents are serving our country overseas.

As a parent who helped six kids through a deployment, I understand the need for programs such as these to serve our military families. Many families can not afford to pay for camps likes these for their children. While the military does provide counseling for families, there is something about summer camp that goes beyond traditional counseling methods.

The problem is that Operation Purple might not continue. Currently they do not have enough money to fund the 2011 camps. This great organization relies on donations to keep the camps operating and free to military families. I know that many families donate money at the end of the year to their favorite charity, and many businesses also make end of the year donations. I realize the economy stinks and time are tough, but this is a great program and if you were already planning on supporting an organization, would you consider supporting Operation Purple?

The folks at Operation Purple have asked me to help spread the word about this camp (and their need for funding) and would love your help in spreading the word about Operation Purple too.

I’m hosting a giveaway (courtesy of Operation Purple) as an incentive for you to tell others about this wonderful program.

To enter to win a $100 American Express Gift Card you can do any and all of the following.

  1. Leave a comment on this post sharing how you support our troops.
  2. Follow  @military_family on Twitter.
  3. Tweet about this post.
  4. Add it to your Facebook Wall.
  5. Email it to a friend.

I’ve made it super easy for you to do all these things, if you look at the bottom of this post there are some buttons. Clicking on them will allow you to share this information in a few seconds. Please leave additional comments for each entry. Giveaway ends Tuesday, October 12, 2010.

I realize that most of the time I am encouraging you to keep more money in your pocket on this site, but this program is one that is close to my heart and I wanted to make sure as many people as possible know about this opportunity to support our military families. I have been compensated for my time to write this post, but all opinions are 100% mine and this program was one I had planned on writing about even before being contacting by the organization.