Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Toothbrushes, Oh My

I also made a trip to Walgreens tonight. I bought 6 toothbrushes and one Real Simple magazine. Cooper told my mom he didn't understand why I was buying so many toothbrushes when we had about 40 at our house now. He exaggerates. It's only about 30. My total (after all my coupons and register rewards from a previous visit) was $1.77. Then the cashier gave me a $3 register reward coupon. That was fun. I made a buck twenty three.

Target Clearance Jackpot

Okay, so, had a blast tonight at Target with my mom and Coop. Here are the gory details:

Purex Laundry Detergent - $2.82/88oz

Gillette Body Wash for Men - $1.77 on clearance - used a $1 coupon

Dial Hand Soap - $3.03/57.5oz

Tag Body Spray for Men (I guess women could use it, okay not so much) - Last night it was clearanced at $2.30 and I used a buck off coupon. There were two cans left but I only had one coupon. Tonight the other can was still there but it was $1.64 - sweeeeeet! Today I had found another buck off coupon - yes! You do the math.

Old Spice Deodorant - $1.82 plus or should I say minus a buck off coupon.

Sunsilk Conditioner - $2.50 for a 2pk - buck off coupon equals 75 cents each

Kleenex - We had to fight off another lady for these but it was worth it. While I was piling these in the cart Coop asked me what in the world I was doing. I explained it to him while I was climbing the shelf. The 4 pack was 3.14 each. These had three 200 count boxes and one 100 count box. The 3 packs had 85 count boxes and those were $2.12/3pk. They also had small boxes of Puffs with about 100 tissues in them for 64 cents.

Opti-Free Contact Lens Solution - Some of the boxes have $3 coupons on them. These things were $7.29/bottle so that was an amazing deal. They rarely go on sale and then they are only around a buck off.

Here's the total list:
6-88oz Purex
2 Pace Salsa - big ones
2 Gillette Body Wash
57.5 Dial Hand Soap (inluding one dispenser)
2 Old Spice Deodorant
Gillette Deodorant
Tag Body Spray
2pk Sunsilk Conditioner
Hefty One Zip Quart Bags
Wet Ones 24pk individuals
37 (yes I said 37) boxes of tissues (Kleenex and Puffs)
2 Opti Free Contact Lens Solution

$90ish

subtract $19.25 in coupons (including a $5 Target card from my mom - thank you mommy)

add $4.85 tax

drum roll please... $70.69 Regular Price = $160ish

Cha Ching... Jackpot!

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Brown Skies and Sand Pies

Wow! We came over to New Ulm on Wednesday to camp for the weekend with Corey's family and friends. The drive normally takes 3 hours. This trip took us 4. It was treacherous driving. I dug a hole in my thigh from clenching my leg in terror the whole way. The wind was so bad that for most of the drive we didn't go over 45mph as our 35ft travel trailer bounced around behind us. Every oncoming semi was greeted with another prayer request. Thankfully, the boys were super well-behaved which helped ease Corey's already white-knuckled stress.The skies were clouded over with brown dust and we drove through a black-dusted dirty tornado-like creature at one point. Shingles waved at us in distress through a dirty haze.By the grace of God we arrived safely.

It is now Saturday and we are having such a great time that I haven’t been able to keep up with writing. The highlight has been being with grandma and grandpa. The boys like to play with the bag of cars and outdoor toys that grandma always brings for them. Yesterday, we went to the cool pool and by COOL, I mean freezing. There have been differing reports on the exact temperature of the water varying from 64 to 72 degrees but in my opinion it felt about 55. The air temp was barely 75. Corey and I sat on the beach and smiled and waved a lot. Great Auntie Karen and cousin Ashley joined us for some sand and water fun, too.

Last night we took a trip to DQ. Jodi and Jake arrived just in time to go with us. Cameron ate some of everyone’s ice cream including his own but was very generous in sharing with Karen. After he finished eating he proceeded to check Jodi’s hair for wood ticks. His technique was extremely painful for Jodi but quite amusing for the rest of us.

More later from the wild frontier...

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Trailer Tipping

Wow! We came over to New Ulm on Wednesday to camp for the weekend with Corey's family and friends. The drive normally takes 3 hours. This trip took us 4. It was treacherous driving. I dug a hole in my thigh from clenching my leg in terror the whole way. The wind was so bad that for most of the drive we didn't go over 45mph as our 35ft travel trailer bounced around behind us. Every oncoming semi was greeted with another prayer request. Thankfully, the boys were super well-behaved which helped ease Corey's already white-knuckled stress.The skies were clouded over with brown dust and we drove through a black-dusted dirty tornado-like thing at one point. Shingles waved at us as we drove through a dirty haze.
Corey's mom even called to see if we were okay.

Monday, May 18, 2009

It's a Windy, Windy, Windy Day...

We had the pleasure of hosting my sister-in-law and brother-in-law-to-be at our house this weekend. Jodi and Jake are super fun and they make us feel young and we make them feel like they never want to have kids. They came to do some fishing and fishing we did.

On Saturday, my mom very graciously took care of the three musketeers and we battled the bitter cold and I do mean BITTER, to catch some fishies. My dad and I went out in his boat while J, J and Corey went out in our boat. I was quite comfortable in my snowpants and my winter coat. I can't tell you where we fished exactly because then I'd have to kill you but I will tell you that I caught two very nice northerns and Corey caught one. Although our guests got skunked I think they would agree that even a bad day of fishing is better than most anything else.

We had yummy soup and "North Dakota" hot dish made by my mom while my dad cleaned the two "alligator" fish, as Kyle called them. Later, Jodi and I had some serious shopping to do.

I had been trying to explain the coupon system to Jodi but now she was going to see it in action. At Walgreens I bought two big bags of Lays chips, burger buns, and 3 boxes of jello. My total was 75 cents. While I picked Jodi's chin off the floor, she made her purchase. Now to Hy-Vee.

6 bottles of BBQ sauce
2 jars of Vlasic stackers
24ct Dixie plates
8 Kraft singles
2 bags Dole salad
$20.34

I think I convinced Jodi to give it a whirl although she still doesn't know why in the world I bought all that BBQ sauce and cheese.

Sunday was less windy and the fishing was even worse than the day before. Once again my mom watched the boys but today we cozied up in our boat together. Corey caught a couple crappies, one very nice one, and we ate them for supper. Nothing like living off the polluted Mississippi.

We had a blast and can't wait for Auntie Jodi and Uncle Jake to come back again. We know they can catch fish, at least that's what they tell us.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

3 Dollars Off With Our Apologies

Cam and I took a trip to Target this morning. He loves Target because I always cave in and buy him a "blue drink". All the way to the store he asks," I have boo drink mommy, I have boo drink at Walgeens mommy?" I don't even bother reminding him for the 400th tima that it's TARGET, not Walgreens.

After getting him settled with his icee and fruit snacks (this is not a proud parenting moment) we head to the mayo aisle. It really doesn't get much better than this, does it? Oh, well. I pick up what I came for, resist what I didn't and reluctantly buy a full price bike helmet that Cam wears all the way to the checkout. He's worth full price, right?

We go through the checkout but I can't pay attention to the ring ups because of helmet head. So, I pray everything was calculated correctly and hit the road. As I am buckling Cam in (with his helmet on) I am ignoring the onlooker who seems to be concerned that the boy needs a helmet to ride with me.

On the way home I realize the receipt is all wrong - @#$#%$. I am trying to figure out when I am going to get back there to have them reimburse me when I hear yelling from helmet head,"Kyle school back dare mommy. Back dare mommy" Oops, I forgot to pick up Kyle.

When Corey gets home for lunch, I take off for Target. I think my whole profit will be going to Kwik Trip to pay for gas but by golly I am going to get my 37 cents. By the time I get there, I realize they owe me 6 dollars and 40 cents. It takes two ladies to help me, okay they are barely ladies, more like girls, but they are very sweet. LaVerne and Shirley (names have been changed to protect the guilty) can't figure out how they are going to redo my receipt. LaVerne (or maybe Shirley) pulls a $3 coupon out of the drawer but is still flustered. I said, "If you give me one more of those we'll call it good." She was extremely relieved. So was I. On the way out the door I noticed the coupons read, "$3 off with our apologies." Apology accepted.

By the way, here's what I got by using coupons and buying sale-priced items:
14.5oz Ritz Crackers - 54 cents
Quaker Granola Bites (7 pack) - $1.34
Toddler Helmet - $13.69
Kraft Ranch Dressing - 50 cents
Kraft Ranch Dressing - 50 cents
18oz Kraft Mayo w/Olive Oil - 25 cents
18oz Kraft Mayo w/Olive Oil - 25 cents
Morningstar Chicken Nuggets - $2.34 (not on sale - dumb for buying these)
Morningstar Chicken Nuggets - $2.34 (again, dumb, but I had a $2 off 2 coupon, I get excited when I have a coupon)

Subtotal - 37 dollars and some change
Total after coupons - $25.50 (remember they mis-charged me so this is actually wrong)
Used a $5 Target GC - $20.50
Went back to get reimbursed - $6.00 (they actualy owed me 6.37)
Total spent - $14.50

Again I say, apology accepted.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

9 Cent Soup

One of the coolest couponing sites is specifically for Walgreens - I Heart Wags. It has inspired me to see just how little I can spend on as much as possible.

Check this out. A couple weeks ago I go into Walgreens with 19 bucks. I never have cash but this is my new way of shopping so that I don't overspend. I buy a bunch of stuff that's on special, highlighted by 9 cent cans of Campbells Tomato Soup. The total: 23 dollars and 58 cents. Holy messy diaper! I'm not going to have enough money. So the nice checkout lady starts punching in my coupons oblivious to the fact that I am nervously searching pockets I don't have for more money when she tells me the total. 18 dollars and 90 cents. Oh yeah, baby!

BUT, the story doesn't end there. I am so excited by these 9 cent cans of soup that I go out to my van and start digging for change. I scrounge up a few more cents and go back into the store. I buy four more cans of soup - 36 cents - and end up with 4 cents in my pocket. 4 cents people. Life is good.

Crackers & Coffee: A Lesson Learned

Last night I bought a bunch of stuff at Target, mostly really expensive diapers, but I did manage to put my hands on a few deals that helped ease the pain of diaper-buying.

Let's see, a 16oz box of Ritz crackers for 54¢. The sale price was $2.54, I used a manufacturer's coupon for $1 and a Target Web Coupon for $1. Sweet!

I have a General Foods(GF) International Coffee addiction so I was thrilled to see GF coupons when I searched through coupons.com yesterday. I bought 6 cans of coffee, you know, those little cute ones that should be good for all kinds of other things after the coffee is gone. They weren't on sale, sometimes they are 20¢ off, so I should have kept my money but sometimes I get so excited when I have coupons. I had $3.50 in coupons (enough to discount 6 cans) and they were $2.89/can (they ended up being about $2.30/can)so I feel like I got a good deal on my drug of choice but certainly I could have done better.

Today's lesson, from Winona's Coupon Queen, Nikki, "just because you have a coupon doesn't mean you should use it." Lesson learned.

The REAL Queen of Target

So I started this blog as a private family journal but as you can see from my last post it didn't really take off. However, I have recently been inspired to take the paddles to it and give it a new life. About 6 weeks ago, I attended a class that literally has changed my family's life. The Coupon Queen of Winona, Nikki, was giving one of her now famous classes on couponing. Between sick kids and a traveling husband I somehow managed to make it to the class at the last minute. I think that was the night the boys had wheat thins and beef sticks for supper on the way to class.

Well, that's how it all started and after almost a month of focusing on Nikki's strategy which is the original brainchild of The Coupon Mom, Stephanie Nelson, I am saving tons of money. This translates to more money to spend on me. I love that part.

Now, about the title of this entry. I recently visited a website called Attention Target Shoppers. The author, Ginger, calls herself the "Queen of Target." I don't know much about her but from my experience the REAL Queen of Target is my mom, Sharon, and I hope to one day take over her throne but for now I am content being princess.