Hi-Yah!

Here is Corey in his first ever karate tournament.

Cooper, Kyle and my nephew Connor had way more fun eating than watching the karate.

There was a fancy pants dinner honoring all the karate students in the evening. Here is proof that I do dress up on occasion.

You Rack 'Em, We'll Stack 'Em...

Last night I purchased 2 boxes of 40ct Electrasol/Finish Gelpacs for the dishwasher. They were on sale at Target for $3.50 each. I had 2 coupons for $2.50 off. I also got Pantene shampoo. It was on sale for $3.33. I had a Target coupon for 2 bucks off and a manufacturer's coupon for 2 bucks off. My total cost with tax was $1.88. Cameron's girlfriend Stephanie gave us a an extra Target coupon book she got in the mail so that's where I got the Pantene coupon. Why didn't we get one in Winona, you ask? Well, could be because Steph lives in Wisconsin... not sure.

Today's lesson: Stacking coupons is a huge money saver. Wait, here's another lesson: Overages are also good for the pocketbook.

Stacking: Using a manufacturer's coupon and a store coupon on one item.
Overages: Getting money off the rest of your sale by using coupons that are worth more than the cost of the product, e.g. 4 bucks in coupons on the shampoo that only cost $3.33 saved me more money on my Electrasol.

Phew, that's enough for tonight.

BB Guns, Arrows and Hatchets, Oh My

Corey and Cooper went on their inaugural Cub Scout campout this weekend. Here are some pictures from the father/son outing. The tent and cots were as comfy as a Best Western.

Archery

Canoeing

Shooting a BB Gun

Widdling or is it Whittling or is it...

Hurling a giant hatchet in the presence of other children. Only Cub Scouts can get away with this and not get arrested...




... Or can they? (No children or fathers were hurt or arrested during the writing of this blog.)

I Admit It...

I like shopping at Target. It's fun. There, I said it. Since I'm making confessions, here's another one: I cut my coupons. Eeeek! I know, you're not supposed to but let me tell you why I do it. I am a clearance shopper. When I go into Target I walk around the outside of the store like I've got toilet paper stuck to my shoe and I don't want anyone to see it. The endcaps are my friend and I shop them so often that when the boys are with me that's the way they go, too. If I dare veer off in another direction they bring me back.

Today, I walked right past the 75% off Dollar Spot in Target to the outside aisles. I'm not sure what happened but Cam didn't even demand a "boo" drink or a snack. He must have seen the glint in my eye (and my mom's, too). We were on a mission. He followed along like a good little soldier watching where the shopping generals were headed. It was razor value packs we were after. We had them in our sights, okay enough of that.

Anyway, Target has these gift packs with razors and shaving cream and stuff in them so that's what we were after. Normally, they are around $8.99 which is a great price considering the razor alone is about 10 bucks. Well, they were recently marked down to $7.64 and, of course, I had coupons.

Bottom line...

I bought 5 -
Normal Price 5 x $8.99 = $44.95 (I used a calculator.)
Clearance Price 5 x $7.64 = $38.20 (Again, used a calculator.)
After Coupons and 2 Target Cards I got yesterday when I bought diapers - $8.20 plus tax (Didn't even need a calculator that time.)

This is why I cut the coupons. The items in these gift packs if bought separately would cost more than a hundred dollars. A HUNDRED BUCKS.

One more great deal from Target this week:
Diapers are clearanced. I bought 4 boxes of Pampers Cruisers, Size 5, 88 diapers per box and one package of wipes per box.
Normal Price - 4 x $28 = $112
Clearance Price - 4 x $24.64 = $98.56
After coupons - $91.56 plus tax and then I got two 5 dollar Target cards because if you bought 2 boxes you got a Target card (unadvertised as far as I could tell, I was pleasantly surprised).

The next day I bought 4 more boxes and used my Target cards so my final price was $81.56 plus tax. Hmm, that's like $20 bucks a box instead of $28. By the way, Cameron, I'm not buying any more diapers for you so you must be potty-trained by the time these are gone. Good luck.