Where has the summer gone?

It has been a very long time since I've posted, so I will just highlight what I've been doing this summer. First off, I had a rummage sale at the beginning of July. I cleaned out my closets and found lots of clothes, shoes, purses and many other things that had been in there for a very long time. I decided it was time to get rid of these extra things that I didn't even know were in there! I saved the money from the rummage sale for our trip to Missouri/Kansas.

This takes me to the end of July when we went to Fort Leonard Wood, MO to my sister-in-law's graduation from AIT. At the Main PX on base, they have discounted Coach purses AND when you are with a soldier, you don't have to pay tax! I limited myself to just one. On our way back from MO, we stopped in Sedgwick, KS to visit some family. Sedgwick is just outside of Wichita, so we went shopping at the mall in Wichita on Saturday afternoon. My favorite purchase from the mall was a pair of Coach sandals. Here is a pic of my purchases from that trip.

Our next trip was to Minneapolis at the beginning of August for the Twins/White Sox game. We had time to do some shopping, so of course I took advantage of that! Our first stop was the Outlet Mall in Albertville. I LOVE this place! I made several purchases here, but my favorite store was probably the Coach outlet store. I walked in and the lady at the door handed me a coupon for 30% off your entire purchase (which included clearance)! I was like a kid in a candy store, but I did need to limit myself a little bit. ;) I ended up getting these items, plus a keychain.

We also went to the Southdale Center mall in Edina - mainly to eat at The Cheesecake Factory (YUM!) and the Mall of America. I really wish that I had more money saved up to spend there, but I probably would have just bought more stuff that I didn't need!

Lastly, the American News does an online auction (called Bid4It) every year. I took advantage of the opportunity to get some stuff at half-price. The items I ended up winning were gift certificates at Bur-Mar's, Main Street Photo Works and a remote car starter for Ted's car. With my gift certificates at Main Street Photo Works (which is still Artz Camera, since they haven't moved yet) I bought a flash for my camera. I've been having a hard time with some pictures turning out on my camera, so hopefully this will help.

I am hoping to be able to save some money now for our next trip, which is to California at the end of October. The way time is flying, I'm sure it will be here before we know it!

Couponing at Target

I just got back from couponing at Target. Here is what I all got:

4 Old Spice body wash gift sets
4 Nivea body wash
1 tank top
1 shirt
2 Sally Hansen nail strengthener
2 3-packs of Tums
1 30-count of Halls cough drops
2 14-oz containers of Haagen Dazs ice cream

My total before coupons was $49.41 and I ended up paying only $11.70 after coupons and gift cards! I had 2 $5 gift cards from a previous trip that I used towards this, so it was really $21.70 after the coupons.

The nice thing about Target is that they have several printable coupons on their website. AND you can stack those with manufacturer's coupons! For example, the Sally Hansen nail strengthener was $2.04, minus the $1.00 off Target coupon, minus the $1.00 off manufacturer coupon I had. Those ended up being $.04 each!

I think I may now be completely addicted to couponing!

Extreme Couponing

I have watched a few episodes of Extreme Couponing and I am hooked! Although, I'm not sure that I will go to the extremes that some of them do (not sure that I could go to a store and get 1100 boxes of cereal for free!) Since watching the show, I now have a coupon binder and have made several purchases for free or almost free. Some stores like Walmart will give you overage if the coupon is for more than the actual item! Other things to watch for are double or triple coupon days. Ken's SuperFair triples coupons (up to 50¢) on Sundays. This works out great when the item is on sale for $1.50 and you have a 50¢ coupon, because then the item is free! Here are a few of the things that I have gotten recently:

• 4 packages of Reach floss - 88¢ each at Walmart minus $1.00 off each coupons = 12¢ each profit


• 4 bottles of Similac formula (1 quart) - $5.47 each at Walmart minus $5.00 off each coupons = 47¢ each


• 1 bottle of Nivea body wash - $3.04 at Target minus $3.00 off coupon = 4¢


• 2 packages of Ortega taco seasoning - 58¢ each at Walmart minus $1.00 off coupon = 8¢ each

I've had several people ask me what I need baby formula for and the answer is - I don't. But, I figure for 47¢ each I can give them to my co-worker who is having a baby. And if she doesn't want them, I can give them to Safe Harbor. I'm sure there are always charities that will need it!

Most of my coupons I have been getting from the Sunday paper, All You magazine and printing online. Some of the helpful websites I have been using are:

• couponmom.com


• afullcup.com


• coupons.com

Coupons.com will only let you print off 2 coupons of each on their site, but since I have multiple computers in my house, I can print more! This is how I got 4 of the floss coupons. It is also a good idea to take your coupon binder into the store with you, because you never know when you will find an unadvertised special or something on clearance that you have a coupon for!

Fargo trip

This past weekend we took a trip to Fargo. The main purpose of the trip was for Ted's bowling tournament. But, I took it as an opportunity to spend time with good friends and do some shopping! Friday night when we got there, we went to Scheel's where I picked up a Minnesota Twins jersey to wear to the game we are going to in August. I got Ted tickets for his birthday - but it's just as much of a gift to me because I've always wanted to go to a game! I also got myself a glove since we are sitting in foul ball zone (right above the dugout)! We went to the mall where I got this cute little Coach purse on clearance for 50% off! After the mall, we went to lunch at HuHot. It was my first time there and I hope to go back soon - it was YUM-O! After that we went to Kohl's where I found a scarf and some picture frames - all on clearance! Then it was off to Old Navy where I found some cute tops on clearance! We also made a stop at Target and then Big Lots after supper. It was a fun trip visiting great friends and having good food and shopping! I hope to do it again soon sometime!

Goodwill sale

So, I took my items from my closet into Herberger's today to donate and get coupons in return. I took in 9 items and it turns out that from Wednesday to Friday this week, you get double coupons! I got 18 coupons and used every single one of them! Even better, the coupons work on yellow dot clearance (which is already 85% off the original price), so you get 20% off in addition to the 85% that the item is already reduced to. I admit I went a little crazy, but I got a bunch of stuff for $124.76 and the total savings showing on the receipt is $258.16!

One of my favorite items I got was this Columbia hat. I got this one for myself and a blue one for Ted. They were originally $40 each and after all discounts, they ended up being $6.00 each! Sometimes I wonder if they make any money on the stuff at this much of a discount!

Cleaning out my closets

I like to think I'm doing a little spring cleaning by going through the clothes in my closets (yes, that is plural - mostly because I have an older house and the closets are TINY), but the main reason is the Goodwill sale at Herberger's! If you don't know, for every article of clothing you take to the store to donate to Goodwill, they give you a coupon for 20% off an item you purchase. The nice thing about these coupons is that they work on cosmetics too. I love the products at Clinique and you can almost never get them at a discount - except for with the Goodwill coupons.

I did give a huge bag of clothes to my best friend who loves getting my hand-me-downs. I have a bad habit of buying stuff without trying on, then get home and it doesn't fit right and I don't feel like returning it. So most of my hand-me-downs are VERY gently used. Even though I love to give to Goodwill and other similar places, I would much rather give them to someone that I know.

In going through my closets, I found that I have a lot of dresses. I really wish that I had reason to wear them more often. A majority of them still have the tags on (with clearance prices of course)! Well, I better get back to work - 2 closets down, 2 to go!

Coupons, coupons, coupons!

The thing I look forward the most about the Sunday paper is the COUPONS! I clipped a LOT of coupons out of the paper today. Since I work on Sundays, I buy a paper on my way here and then clip all the coupons. Then, I go through them and pick out the ones that I will use and the rest go on a pile for others at work to take. Just because I won't use them, doesn't mean someone else won't!

Also, Ken's has triple coupon day (up to 50¢ coupon) on Sundays. Usually I don't get to the store on Sundays because I have to work, but I may just get there after work today! I do have coupons for some items I need and it would be great to have those coupons tripled!

Successful Shopping Trip

This past weekend Ted and I took his mother to Sioux Falls to celebrate her birthday. We did a LOT of shopping, as you can tell by this picture:

Keep in mind, this is our luggage and purchases for all three of us - but still, it's a lot of stuff! Friday when we got to town, we went to Michael's (my first time there), ate supper, then went to Best Buy and Barnes & Noble. I found TONS of scrapbooking items at Michael's on sale/clearance - I was in heaven! Saturday, we started out the day at Hobby Lobby. I only got a few things there because of all the stuff I bought at Michael's the night before. After that we went to Breadsmith (awesome bread and jams) and Cato (women's clothing store). Then we decided to hit the mall. The mall was crazy and we could hardly find a place to park! I got several things at the mall, but my best bargain there would probably be the pair of black boots (just below the knee height) for $20 at Famous Footwear. They were originally supposed to be $89!

We had enough at the mall and decided to go back to the hotel to rest for a bit before supper. After supper we went to Gordman's where I got a few things and then it was time to call it a day. We did want to go to Kohl's while in town, but just didn't have time before they closed Saturday night. Before leaving on Sunday, we decided to go and boy am I glad we did! In all of the other stores we went to I had been on the lookout for baskets for our new TV stand and didn't have any luck. I was already in the mindset that I was just going to have to order them online. I was looking around Kohl's and came across the clearance in the home section. I found the perfect storage containers (not baskets) for the TV stand. The best part is that they were only $5.99 each for the large ones ($29.99 each regular) and $4.99 each for the small ones ($24.99 each regular). Here is what the new containers look like on the shelf:

My total purchase at Kohl's for the 4 large and 2 small containers, plus a scrapbook I found on clearance was $45.29, but the best part is the part of the receipt that says "Total Saved: $149.20!" I had a great time shopping and got some awesome bargains!

New TV!

We have been looking for quite a while to upgrade our old tube-style TV. We had been kind of waiting until the day that one died, but it was seeming like that would never happen. We finally just bit the bullet and went and purchased a new LCD TV. The quality of anything on it is SO much better and it looks so much more modern and sleek. Of course, this meant that we needed to get a new TV stand because it would not fit in the other one. We found one that matched our other furniture and had enough spots for the components, but it has no drawers or hidden storage. There is one shelf that is completely empty, so there is room for us to put stuff on there, but now we just need to find some kind of wicker baskets to put on there.

I have gone to all of the stores in town that I thought I could find some at (Shopko, Target, Walmart and Kmart), but I didn't find anything that I completely loved. I searched online, but it's hard to shop for such a thing online when you can only see a picture of the item. We may just have to wait a while until we get out of town to check at Hobby Lobby. We do have a trip to Sioux Falls planned in the next couple of weeks, so I'm hoping we'll find something there. For now, the plastic storage totes will have to work!

Rewards programs

I am a fan of rewards programs that stores offer to their customers for free. I am a member of several of them including Shopko, Kmart/Sears, Hallmark Gold Crown and Best Buy. Each program is a little bit different, but great in their own ways. Recently at Kmart when I was checking out, the cashier told me that I won a prize! It was a 20 oz Coke - not a huge prize, but it's still cool winning something! Also, with the Kmart/Sears rewards for every dollar you spend you earn points and those points turn into dollars that you can redeem on a future purchase at the store. They also have bonus points every once in a while on certain items, so those points can rack up fast!

I also love Best Buy's reward program. We have bought some high ticket items at the store, such as laptops, SLR camera and a video camera. Their program works a lot like Kmart's, you earn points for every dollar you spend and those points turn into certificates to redeem on a future purchase.

The drawback to some of these programs is that it results in junk mail and e-mails. Some of them though include coupons and extra savings, so it can be worth it. So next time you're at a store and the cashier asks you if you want to sign up for a rewards program, I highly recommend it (as long as it's not a credit card or anything you need to pay for)!