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What are you doing Sunday evening?

July 14, 2010 by · Leave a Comment

Maybe you want to hit Big Lots, for their friends and family sale. Coupon here. Get 20% off your entire purchase. It’s only valid on Sunday evening, and no, they don’t take manufacturers’ coupons, so no stacking. But for those who don’t coupon, you’ll find some cheap things.

Things I like to get at Big Lots–
gardening things, like planter boxes and stuff like that
holiday items, decorative dish towels
generic greeting cards to have on hand
they often have decent organic items
toys for xmas and birthday gifts

For those of us that coupon and do either the CVS Extra Bucks, or Walgreen’s Register Rewards, we wouldn’t be interested–but for those of you who can’t be bothered with that, you might be interested in:
school supplies
health & beauty items
baby items, including diapers, and I’ve found GREAT deals on baby food there
cleaning supplies

I’m not going, I have a birthday party to attend, then a conference call for a Board of Directors I’m on. But I hope you all find great deals. I’d love to hear about them.

Filed Under: Big Lots sales and finds Tagged With: ,

Back to School deals, already!

July 9, 2010 by · Leave a Comment

Staples sent me this email today, previewing their next week’s sale. They are promoting their penny items already, time to start stocking up. And while you’re there, if you don’t already have one, consider getting a Staples rewards card. I find they have the best rewards and money back for items, especially ink.

If you don’t have a child going back to school, if you’re near a Staples, consider going in and getting the penny items and donating them.

Filed Under: National Chains and Big Box stores Tagged With: ,

Summer Clearance, Target toy clearance and an Osh Kosh coupon

July 8, 2010 by · Leave a Comment

One way that I save on kids’ clothing is to buy things on clearance at the end of the season. My kids are still pretty young, and so far I’ve done well at predicting their sizes a year out. The retailers are starting to clearance out their summer merchandise–maybe you want to get some things for next year. Also, check each store’s return policy. In some cases there is no time limit as long as you have your receipt. I remember it was the first year K was born, so he was just an infant, but I found very nice fleece separates  at The Children’s Place for $0.75 each! Of course I bought a whole bunch, even though they were all 3T and 4T. But, he’s still wearing them and I think he’ll be able to still wear the 4Ts this year too.

I got an email from Osh Kosh. The item they are advertising is the Buy 1 Get 2 t-shirts. There’s also a coupon though for 20% off a $40 purchase and you should be able to stack the deals. I bought K some swim stuff there this season and was really pleased with it. They had really cute swim shirts and matching trunks. I love those swim shirts–less sunscreen to apply! I hope to find some of those marked down.

Also, remember earlier in the week I told you that Kmart had their stuff on clearance–keep your eye on it for further markdowns.

I also got a mailer and 20% off coupon for Peebles today. They are advertising their summer clearance merchandise as “50-75% off.” I’ve gotten great clearance deals at Peebles, which also will allow you to stack a coupon on top of a sale. I got a boys winter coat for $3 last year, and it’s really nice. I’ll post a Peebles printable if I see one, but remember the 25% off one item one is on coupons.com.

I’ve also been reading online that Target has begun their toy clearance a bit early. Usually it doesn’t happen until the end of July, but it seems that some moms are finding toys marked down 30-50%. It happens every year in July, they mark down the stuff to move it out to make room for Christmas stuff. If you’re in a Target, you may want to check out the toy department to buy some things for Christmas, birthdays or other events you have coming up.

Filed Under: Target sales, deals, clearance finds and coupons Tagged With: ,

What’s in your wallet?

June 30, 2010 by · Leave a Comment

While the boys are napping, I have some time to go through my purse and see where I stand. Last week I issued a challenge to my readers here and on hotcouponworld. Those who are doing it and starting to check in.

After one week, here’s where I stand–
I have only about $50 left out of my original $100. Ouch. Ok, at first glance, not doing so hot. Here’s where much of it went.
Farmers market-$15
Acme-$15
New shoes-$11
Zoo-$6

But, in addition to the cash I have left, I also have:
more than a half tank of gas
$21 in catalinas to spend at Superfresh
$15 gift card to Target
$40 in catalinas to spend at Acme
$38 in extra bucks to spend at CVS

And I’m owed $35 in rebates: three for $5 each from SC Johnson, $10 from Hydro, $10 from Aveeno. Hopefully they will get here before my other cash runs out.

I’ve used 5 stamps and haven’t touched the money in paypal.

So far I have actually really enjoyed this and am learning a lot. It’s really making me focus on every purchase that I make, and ask “Do we really need this or can I live without it?”  I’m also learning how much we spend on produce which is pretty amazing and focusing on not wasting produce. My kids are eating about $10 worth of bananas a week, which I hadn’t realized, and the baby would eat a pint of berries a day if you let him. Still, I’m not going to deprive them of healthier foods just to win a contest, so I’ll have to find it cheaper. I could have saved $5 at the market as I did not need the sticky buns or the fresh made bread. But I splurged on the stickies since it was my bday and the homemade bread made for some awesome tomato sandwiches.

The shoes–well, I actually broke my flip flop, and truth be told, I could have hobbled home that way with it. But I broke it at Peebles while I was there to pay my bill, and I had a 25% off coupon…….oh well, I don’t regret it. I got a very cool pair of born flip flips for only $11. The zoo was free since we have a membership, I just paid for the kids to ride the train. We’ve also been swimming which was free and to the New Garden playground when we went to the Farmers Market.

I also have several hundred dollars pending in focus groups, I’ve filled out several surveys online and had two phone interviews regarding participating in them, just waiting for the final call.

I’m also very proud of the fact that this week my husband was able to donate 484 separate items to the canned/non perishables drive at work. About 2/3 of that was from our already existing stockpile and the other third was purchased this week. So to be able to donate almost 500 things and only spend a few bucks, that’s great, and goes to help others down on their luck.

So that’s my first week of the contest. I’m definitely watching my spending more in the coming weeks and still have recreational things planned. Also, I’ll have to look at Giant deals so I can save on gas.

Happy couponing!

Filed Under: Grocery Store ads, deals, matchups, coupons and clearance finds, National Chains and Big Box stores Tagged With: , , , ,
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