Free Ketchup and Cheap Cereal at Target

I had an absolute blast at Target today. While adding to my baby registry I also went shopping. :)

Here's what I got...I paid out of pocket $13.98 AND got a $5 gift card back.

The Ketchup was free...it's $1.99 and there is a Target $2 coupon (click on the Target picture to the right to go to their coupons).

Valentine's Day stuff was 70% off so I got Marshal some playdoh for $1.20 (he's been wanting it) and a few other things for pennies.

The Red Velvet cake was on sale for $1.32 and I had $0.50 coupons.

I LOVE the smell of the Glad Fuji Apple & Cardamom Spice and they were on clearance for $2.54. I had $2 coupons...so each was only $0.54.

There is a mobile coupon for the Market Pantry fruit snacks making them $0.44 a box.

The cereal is my favorite find though...Money Saving Mom helped me do this one. I didn't do it exactly like she did because I had a few different coupons. Her scenario has boxes at $0.10 a piece but mine came to around $0.25 a piece.

Buy 5 boxes @ $2.50 each and get a $5 gift card.

I bought:

• Cheerios Multi Grain $2.50 - $0.75 coupon
• Cheerios Medley Crunch x 2 = $5 - $2.00 in coupons
• Peanut Butter Crunch x 2 = $5 - $2 in coupons

Target Coupon $1/3 General Mills Cereal

Total out of pocket $6.75 and Earned a $5 gift card.

I used the $5 gift card I earned from my last trip and my Target debit card (NOT the credit card) for an additional 5% off. Total out of pocket was $13.98 plus the gift card.

And I updated my baby registry...fun times all around!

Upcoming Walgreens Deals - 2/17/13-2/23/13

It's so great when stores send out previews for their upcoming ads. It is a huge help in pre-planning. Walgreens already sent out a preview for next week's ad.

Here's what I see for next week that look like decent deals. Do you see anything else?

Nice! Purified Bottled Water 24 Pack (great to have on hand in emergencies)
$2.49

Hershey's Simple Pleasures Chocolate
Sale 2/$6
     In Store Coupon $1/2
     - Manufactured Coupon $1.50 / 1 (expires 2/17)
     - Internet Printable (still available?) $1.50/1 (rolling)
     - Internet Printable $1.00/1 (rolling)
     As Low as: $1.00 per bag

Red Barron Pizza
Buy One @ $5.99 Get One Free
     - Manufacturer Coupon $1/2 MultiServe Pizzas (SS 1/20/13) exp 2/28/13
     Final Price: 2 Pizzas for $4.99

Kraft Velveeta Shells & Cheese
Two for $4
In Store Coupon $1/2
     - Printable Coupon $1/2
Final Price: 2 boxes for $2 ($1 each)

Kleenex
In Ad Coupon $0.99, Limit 3
      - Various Manufacturer coupons available including Printables for $0.55 off 3
      - Possibly as Low as $0.81 each

Arrid or Arm & Hammer Deoderant
In Ad Coupon $0.99 Limit 3
     There's supposed to be peelie coupons for $0.55 off ... I've never seen them.

Schick Hydro Disposable Razors
$9.99
Get $4 Register Reward
     - Manufacturer Coupon $4/1 Schick Hydro 5
Final Price: $5.99 Out of Pocket + $4 Register Reward = $1.99


I'm sure there are more that I don't see but these stand out to me the most. :)

Valentine's Day is a Scam

Yes, I said it. And I sell jewelry...which is a classic gift for Valentine's day.

But I haven't liked this "holiday" for years.

It's estimated that people spend ONE BILLION dollars on cards for Valentine's Day. Seriously? That's a LOT of money. Fancy manufactured cards gained popularity long ago - in the 1800s...from Wikipedia:

Paper Valentines became so popular in England in the early 19th century that they were assembled in factories. Fancy Valentines were made with real lace and ribbons, with paper lace introduced in the mid-19th century.^[50] The reinvention of Saint Valentine's Day in the 1840s has been traced by Leigh Eric Schmidt.^[51] As a writer in Graham's American Monthly observed in 1849, "Saint Valentine's Day... is becoming, nay it has become, a national holyday."^[52] In the United States, the first mass-produced valentines of embossed paper lace were produced and sold shortly after 1847 by Esther Howland (1828–1904) of Worcester, Massachusetts.^[53][54]

It wasn't until the 1980s when the diamond industry took notice of this "holiday" and started promoting their products as the must have item for true love.

I have come to really loathe this mass produced holiday. We are doing Valentine's day cards for the kids at Marshal's school today ... that is a tradition that I really did love as a kid in elementary school.

But as an adult, I've told my husband NOT to buy me anything. And I'm not just saying that...I mean it. He knows how serious I am too. I feel it's a made up holiday that consumers are sucked into and made to feel like they must spend their money...sometimes hundreds of dollars or more, in order to "prove" their love.

I had a wonderful coworker at my last job, who sadly has passed on at a much too young age, who I remember getting upset with her husband for getting her roses from Costco instead of a fancy delivery service. Seriously upset. Now, she was a wonderful person who I adored but she was nuts in this case. I would have been thrilled that my husband was so thrifty and logical. Although now I'd still be mad at the waste of money.

So, even though I make and sell jewelry in my Etsy shop, I have not actively promoted (other than a few passing mentions on Facebook) my jewelry as an option for Valentine's day.

If you enjoy and celebrate it, fabulous. We won't be joining you among the crowds at dinner nor will we be investing in cards or gifts for each other. We love each other every day and do various special things to show our love...we don't need a designated day...where florists raise their prices!

Is This Normal Behavior for a Three Year Old?

We took a trip to my grandfather's home where we had some furniture we had to load up and bring to our house. He lives in an assisted living facility now...getting old sucks.

Anyway, there were dozens of drawers that had to be pulled out of this really old flat style file cabinet (solid wood...my grandma used it to store jewelry supplies).

My little boy worked...and yes I do mean WORKED...for several hours at grandpa's house and then another hour when we got home and unloaded.

This can't be normal. He carried HEAVY things (for a three year old) and insisted on not being helped.

This kid did not slow down the entire day. We left home around 10:30 and got home about 3:30...he did not nap as is his normal routine. We finally sat down and had dinner around 5:30.

Seriously. Is it normal for a three year to work that hard? I am so proud of him, and so is daddy.

Me, on the other hand, worked too hard and am feeling it in my abdomen ... the baby seems to have not enjoyed the lifting. :)

He's growing up so fast!

Needless to say, Marshal was a huge help today and I'm so proud of him for working so hard. I pray this work ethic continues on throughout his entire life!

Are You Shopping Smart?

Grocery shopping is one of my favorite things to do...most of the time. Being pregnant has taken some of the fun out of it because I get tired a lot sooner. But I still enjoy my weekly, and sometimes more often, trips. That doesn't mean I want to spend a lot of money though and since we started doing the Dave Ramsey cash system I really need to be careful with every penny.

The Grocery industry is trying their best to stymie my efforts! A lot of the information in this article I knew and was a great refresher but some was a little new to me. It never occurred to me that the cart I used might have an RFID tag on it tracking my movements! That's a little freaky.

I did know that most people shop counter clockwise. When you walk into Winco you have practically no choice but to turn to the left down an aisle of all sorts of name brand "deals"...which aren't always.

Did you know that End-caps are not always the best deals for items? The more I've paid attention while shopping, and couponing, the more I've realized this.

One thing that I've never considered doing is buying a large cut of meat and having it sliced by the Deli service people.

"Instead of buying your cold cuts at the deli counter, Bankrate's Patel suggests you buy a whole cooked ham, a full turkey breast or a hunk of roast beef (preferably a cut that's on sale) from the meat section. Then head to the deli and put the store employees to work for you."

I haven't ever tried this and I'm not sure which stores will do this but I am going to ask around.

My favorite grocery section is the Bulk Section but, as the article points out, it's not always the cheaper option. Be sure to do the comparisons and not get suckered into thinking you're saving when you're not!

The article doesn't talk about coupons...I think it should have because I'm sure that brands pay to have their coupon blinkies included in the store, just like they pay for product placement on the shelves.

Be alert and pay attention when shopping and you'll automatically save money.

Oh...and watch the cash register at checkout!

"According to ABC News, U.S. shoppers lose $1 billion to $2.5 billion a year on scanner blunders. Those checkout slip-ups appear to peak during retail crunch times, like the holiday season, when customers are in the biggest hurry."

At Fred Meyer on Sunday I was buying a clearance set of pajamas for Marshal. They were marked $10.97 but rang up $15.97...Half off of 15 is not as good as half off of 10! :) I caught it and saved myself those few bucks!