$11 at Target

11 bucks at Target gets you:

4 bottles of Lipton Naturals Ice Tea (on sale for $1 each, then b1g1 free coupon makes them $.50 each).

3 boxes of Freschetta by the Slice Pizza (3 for $5, but $.75 off coupon per box, and it comes with rebate to get a free box.)

Suave Shampoo and Conditioner ($.89 each bottle, $.75 coupon off each bottle, making them $.14 each).

4 packets of reduce sodium taco seasoning ($.72 cents each, 2 coupons for $1 off 2, making them $.22 per packet)

Jamba Juice Frozen Smoothie in a bag ($2.64 each, $1 off coupon, making it $1.64)

2 bags of King Hawaiian Sweet Bread Hoagie Rolls (on sale 2/$3, and I had $1.00 off coupon off 2, making them $1.00 each)

and finally 2 Sally Hansen Nail Polishes ($2.54 each, target coupon for $1.00 off, Sally Hansen Manufacturer's coupon for $1.00 off, making each bottle $.54 cents).

Albertsons HOT DEAL (May end today.)

If you live near an Albertsons, you NEED to do this deal today. Fiber One Brownies are on sale for 2/$5. You're gonna need 2 computers to print this coupon out 4 times: http://www.fiberone.com/offers/offers.aspx. That makes the brownies $1.75 a box. Note, you MUST buy 4 boxes for this deal to work. When you check out and have them scan your preferred card, you'll have to pay $7 out of pocket.

But then, the machine will print one $5 off coupon off your next purchase, and it will also print a $2 off coupon off your next purchase. This essentially makes this brownies FREE. Now, if you have other stuff to buy, then purchase these first on its own transaction, and put everything else on a second transaction.

In my case, my second transaction was Athenos Greek Yogurt. They are on sale 10/$10 (or $1 each), and I had two $1.00 off the purchase of two coupons, bringing them down to $2.00 for 4. I then used the $2 catalina coupon I got off the Fiber One brownies, making the yogurt FREE.

I am still holding onto the $5 off coupon off your next purchase. It expires 7/12/2011. The new advertisements come out tomorrow, so I have no doubt I'll be using this $5 off coupon soon. However, if I did have more groceries to buy, I would have just used it all on a second transaction.

Does this post make sense? Sometimes I think I only make sense to myself...

Vons' Haul #2 (Weekly Ad of 6/22-6/28)

What can you get from Vons with $10 dollars? Let me show you:

Fiber One Cereal Deal: If you buy 4, it costs $1.99 each, otherwise it's $2.99 each. I had 3 $1.00 off coupons off 3 boxes, and the fourth was a $.75 off coupon. That means 3 boxes were $1.00 and the fourth box was $1.25.

Ocean Spray is on sale until today for $1.88. I had two $1.00 off any Ocean Spray Blueberry Drink coupons, making them $.88 each + $.10 CRV each.

Luna bar was $.99 with a $.50 off coupon that doubled making it FREE.

Pure Protein Bars were $1.00 each but I had a b1g1 free coupon, making them $.50 a bar.

Wrigley 5 gum is 10/$10.00. I had a b1g1 free coupon, making them $.50 each.

Ice cream was $3.99. Vons had an instore ad coupon making it $2.49. I had a $.75 off manufacturers coupon that doubled up to $1.00 making it $1.49.

I ended up with 76% savings according to my receipt. Now, this may not seem impressive, but getting Fiber One Cereal for ~$1.00/box is seriously hard. That cereal NEVER goes on sale that cheap.

I <3 DEALS!

CVS Redux

I don't normally mess with CVS and there "Extra bucks" reward program because it takes too much effort. If you don't know what it is, I'll just give a little recap. You buy something advertised on sale with extra bucks. You pay for the item, and then you get a printed coupon for some amount of money of "Extra bucks" to be used towards a future purchase. It's basically a store credit. The only way to get around this, is to split your purchase into multiple transactions. It's a hassle for both you and the cashier, and if you get a rude cashier, it can be a really bad experience. Today, because there was a really good offer, I decided to do this multiple transaction thing.

Transaction #1: 2 jars of peanuts cost $5 out of pocket, and I got a $2 extra bucks coupon.

Transaction #2: I bought 2 Hawaiian Tropic Lip Balms for $2.99 each, and I used my $2 extra bucks coupon from transaction 1. I paid $4.50 with tax, and got a $10 extra bucks coupon.

Transaction #3: Centrum vitamins are normally priced at $11.99, and are on sale for $9.99. I took my $10.00 extra bucks coupon and applied it to this transaction, making the out of pocket cost $.87.

Transaction #4: The ran out of peanuts, so I bought the Hawaiian Tropic Lip Balm and the $1.19 Hershey's Candy Bar. I had a coupon for a free candy bar. I paid $6.00+ tax and got a $10.00 extra bucks coupon.

Transaction #5: Centrum Vitamins were on sale for $9.99. I used my $10 extra bucks from transaction #4, making my out of pocket cost $.87.

Everything pictured above cost me $18.70. Compare this to if I had just bought 2 boxes of Centrum Vitamins, which would have cost me $21.74.

You can't always get everything for free, but always try to work the system where you can.






Receipts of the first 3 transactions.

Free Candy Bar @ CVS

I never go out of my way for free stuff. It makes no sense to drive somewhere if I'm just getting free crap that I may or may not use, all the meanwhile paying $4.00/gallon of gas. So I really only collect on deals if I'm there anyway.

So a few days ago, my parents wanted me to go somewhere with them. On the way home, my mom requested we make a stop at CVS. I wasn't prepared for this stop so I didn't have both coupons on me, but I had at least one, and was able to cash in on this FREE candy bar (original price, $1.19... pfff, expensive!)

Had I known we were going, I would have had both coupons on me so we (my mom and I) could each use one. Ah well! I stopped eating candy again anyway, so the only purpose of this was collecting on a free coupon. I have a while before the other expires, so next time I'm out that way, I'll probably pick one of these up again.

What to do with them, I don't know... maybe s'mores later this summer...

Random Stuff @ Target

Shorts were on Clearance for $3.24 and I had a $3.00 off coupon, as usual, making them $.24 before tax.

The Crackerful deal wasn't as sweet as before, but they're still on sale for $2.40, if you print a coupon from Target, it's a dollar off, and if you like them on facebook, you can get a $.75 off coupon. Target allows stacking of one of their coupons and a manufacturer coupon, so the box came out to $.65.

The Zantac, which is for heartburns, if you are unaware, is on sale for $7.55. Target has a $2.00 off coupon on their website, and Smart Savings has a $5.00 off coupon, making this box $.55.

Total: $1.44 plus some tax

Vons' Haul (Weekly Ad of 6/22-6/28)

Here is a recent Vons shopping trip.

Fresh Express bagged salad is on sale 10/$10 ($1.00 each) and I had a $1.00 off coupon each bag, making salad FREE.

Salsa, you've seen on sale for $2.50 each and I had a $2.00 off coupon.

The Luna bar was on sale for $.99 and I had a $.50 off coupon, which doubled, making it FREE.

The pure protein bars were on sale 10/$10 ($1.00 each) and I had a b1g1 free coupon, making them $.50 each.

Wrigley 5 gum was on sale for $1.00 each, and I had $1.00 off two, making them $.50 each.

The only thing I did NOT have a coupon for were the batteries, which were originally $7.99 or something and on sale for $6.29 without club card, and $4.29 with club card.





The total came out to $5.86. But keep in mind, $4.29+tax were batteries, so I paid $1.29 for everything else.

Weekly Target Deals

Contrary to what it appears like, I do not go to Target all the time. I really only go to Target when I need something. That "something" does not mean deals. These are the deals I scored though, since I was at Target anyway.

Nivea Men's Body Wash costs $3.14 and I had a $2.00 off coupon. This deal was sweeter last week b/c you could have stacked it with a $1.00 off Nivea body wash Target coupon, but alas, it expired and I had no time or purpose to go out to Target last week.

Nivea Shave Gel/Cream was on sale for $2.55. I had a $2.00 off coupon, making it $.55. I only bought this because someone in my house was asking for shave cream/gel. I do not buy random things just b/c they're on deal.

Lipton Ice Tea was free as always, just had to pay the $.05 CRV.

Feminine Care Products were $.99 but I had a coupon for a Free Feminine Care Product up to $1.00.

Liz Lange Maternity T-Shirt (which is just a regular really soft, thin T-shirt was on clearance for $3.24. I had a $3.00 off coupon, making it $.24.

Last, Ritz Crackerfuls, which I love and eat all the time were on sale for $2.40. There is a Target web coupon for $1.00 off. I stacked this with a manufacturer coupon for $1.00 off, making it $.40.



My grand total was $2.99 for everything you see in the picture.












In the next post, I'll show you why I actually went to Target. And no, I did not get a deal on the item I purchased :(.

Condiments

If you are able to get a lot of coupon inserts from the Sunday paper, then you can get a lot of condiments for free or close to free. Since I don't get any coupon inserts, it's a little more tricky. I paid $.50 for these two bottles. (Please ignore all the cups and miscellaneous stuff in the background.)




The La Victoria Salsa was on sale for 2/$5 and I had a $2.00 online printable coupon making it $.50.

The Bulls-eye was on sale 10/$10, I had a $.50 coupon that doubled, making this entirely free.

I've basically had and have been sitting on these coupons for a while waiting for a deal. Now, I don't know if the salsa will go down in price or be cheaper somewhere else, so I took a risk paying $.50 for it. If you were more patient and could wait out the sales, then you could get it for FREE because somewhere is bound to sell it 2/$4.

Kohl's Deal - The Purse

So for those of you who do not shop at Kohl's, they have this promotion every once in a while that for every $50.00 you spent, you get $10.00 in Kohl's cash to be used on future purchases. The only limit is that you have a week to spend this "cash."

So last week I bought shoes for my entire family. 3 pairs of dress shoes and 2 of those pairs of ~$10 Sketcher Shapeups featured in a previous post. I also bought 3 pairs of running shorts, which you saw, a sweater for my mom and some other dress shirts for my dad. As a result, I received $20.00 in Kohl's Cash. BANK.

Anyway, so I had a $10 Kohl's cash certificate left and I had to use it by the stated expiration date of June 25th. The way to get around this expiration date is to buy something around $10, return it, and then hold the $10 in store credit. So today I took my mom to Kohl's to look for something to buy, and if I couldn't, I was going to buy something, return it, get the store credit. Consequently, there was a friends and family 20% off coupon running until today too. After looking through the entire store, my mom decided she was interested in getting this purse to "think about." I don't know if she'll keep it, she's leaning towards yes, but even if she wasn't, I just wanted to post this deal.




The purse is originally $58.00. (I know, who would pay that?) It's marked down 80% off for $11.20.
















I had $10.00 off and the 20% off friends and family.

The purse came out to $1.39.






It does suck that they take off the Kohl's cash before the 20% off, otherwise this deal would have been sweeter. My dad claims I'm going to make the store bankrupt. I think it's the other way around.

The YL Hiking Trail

The City of YL actively encourages a healthier lifestyle (not that I've ever really followed it.) About .5 miles from my parent's house lies what is probably a 100 mile Pedestrian and Bicycle Trail open for public use. The trail is generally not that busy, but on weekends, there are a lot of cyclists who take advantage of the long, flat, empty path. In an effort to get my family active, we hit the trails this morning at 7am. It was kind of overcast this morning, but at least that meant that it was cool.

Here are some shots (which you may have already seen on FB.)

More Target Finds...

You've seen the free lipton ice tea before and the $.14 Feminine Care products.

Those Shout Wipes cost $.97 with $1.00 coupon, so I actually made $.03 buying them.

I don't usually use NYC brand products, but I keep losing my blush, so this is a quick fix at $1.47 after coupon.

The t-shirt is just a plain t-shirt but part of the maternity line on clearance for $3.24. I had a $3.00 off coupon making it $.24.

Now, let me just say that I never subscribe to stupid products that promise results like this Nivea product. I'm not crazy, I don't believe rubbing a cream will cause cellulite to disappear, nor do I admit to or deny having cellulite, but I decided to buy this only because I had a coupon that stacked. So it's on sale for $9.89, I had a $3.00 of Target coupon stacked with a $3.00 manufacturer's coupon, making it $3.89. It's basically lotion but promises these bogus results of making cellulite disappear. I go through a lot of lotion, so that's how I looked at it when deciding whether or not to buy it. I've never bought such a product before, I normally would not buy such a product, but I'm going to test it out b/c it was so cheap. I'll let you know in 4 weeks how it goes, but obviously I do not have any hopes for this product working.

Anyhow, end of Target post!

The thing about hiking shoes...

If you're in the market for hiking shoes, there are two truths that you must accept. The first truth is that hiking shoes are ugly. They're mostly brown, although there are some gray ones, but you're almost never going to find a bright pair with cool colors. Hiking shoes get muddy and dirty, and for some reason, manufacturers believe making the shoes brown, the mud won't stand out as much. The second universal truth to hiking shoes is that they are expensive. You're just not as likely to find the deals on hiking shoes as you do on regular shoes. This is because hiking shoes cost more to make because they need more features for better functionality. Also, it's a small market so they have to charge more to survive, and generally, people who are willing to buy hiking shoes generally are enthusiast who are willing to dish out the money.

I've been stalking hiking shoes online for a long time. A LONG TIME. Like half a year. I just can't get over the price. JEEZ, expensive. I haven't been able to pull the trigger and commit to a pair until now. Almost everyone knows about REI, but REI has an online outlet, and this past weekend the outlet was offering 20% off a single item. This isn't really that cheap for shoes, but it is a pretty good deal for hiking shoes.

This is what I bought:






























The original price is $95.00. It's on clearance for $69.93 and was 20% off. It ended up being $59+ including tax. I don't think that's a bad price considering it's hard to find cheap, good hiking shoes, and it's especially hard to find shoes in my size, if you noticed the size 11 in that one picture :P. While they're ugly and brown, they're high quality shoes, and I don't expect that I'll have to replace them anytime soon.

The reason why I went with Merrell's as opposed to some of the other, cheaper brands is this:















Vibram rubber soles. It makes for a super cushy, comfortable shoe. In fact, these shoes are way more comfortable than my running shoes.







I'm not going to call this "the deal of the day." The fact of the matter is, it's an OK deal on something I've needed for a while. Better than paying retail for sure, but not super. I've heard if you go to TJ Maxx and are lucky, you can find a pair of Merrell's for a lot less than how much I paid. If you wear a common shoe size, like anything size 7-9, I'd recommend trying that route. If you're like me with the huge foot, going to somewhere like TJ Maxx is hit or miss, but generally miss. (If they do carry size 11, It'll be super cheap b/c no one else wears that. But most likely they won't carry size 11 because no one wears that. Therefore, your best bet may be online.)

Right Place, Right Time

The vast majority of deals really require you to be in the right place at the right time. It takes a little bit of luck too, since sizes vary so much.

So I already kind of mentioned this on facebook, but I'll go into more detail here. Kohl's is having a clearance on "older style" running clothes to make room for new running clothes. This is important to note, because I only happens 2-3 times a year. There is always a major clearance on running clothes in general, right before the New Year (to align with people's New Year's resolutions) and there is always a sale on running clothes right before the summer (because this is when people renew their commitment to get in shape and get bikini ready, so they want the new styles in.) As a result, you can score ridiculous deals on running clothes right now. Here are three pairs of running shorts I recently bought:

Three pairs of running shorts I recently purchased at Kohls.

This first pair is the one I mentioned on FB. The original price was $30, but it was 90% off for $3.00. I had 30% off, making this $2.36.










This is another pair of Nike Dri-Fit running shorts. These were originally $25.00 and were 60% off for a total of $10.00. I had 30% off, making them $7.61. I like these b/c they're meshy like guys basketball shorts. Also, they are longer than running shorts and don't have the built in underwear, which I may sometimes refer to as the "diaper."








These last pair or running shorts are not Nike, but Tek Gear (which is a brand you can also find at Target.) They allegedly have "wicking" technology, which is the same as Nike's "dri-fit" technology. This pair was originally $24.00 but was 70% off for $7.20. With my 30% off and tax, it came out to: $5.48. I'm generally only a fan of Nike "Dri-Fit," but for the price, I figure I'd give these a shot.




I also picked up this pair of Sketcher's Shape-Ups for someone. If you know anything about Shape-Ups, you'll know that they brought in a new sportier line, so the original line of shoes is being discontinued, and therefore is on clearance.















This pair of Shape-Ups is marked as $110.00 originally. (This is a BS price, since they are always on sale for $79.99). The shoes were 80% off the original price, making them $22.00. I had 30% off, making them $15.40. Then, I had $10 Kohl's cash received from an earlier purchase, making them $8.41 after tax.




















The last deal I got was for these reversible Nike-Dri Fit Sports Bras (blue/gray).




This is the front side.

They were originally $25.00 each but were marked down 80% off, making them $5. With my 30% off + tax, they cost me $3.61.











This is the inside, or the "reversible side."

I picked up two of these sports bras.








So end the Kohl's deals for this post! Till next time!

Target Daily Deals

I was going to the bank today, and my bank is next to Target so I stopped in just to look around and ended up scoring these deals.



No, those aren't the prettiest color shorts, but they cost $3.24 and I had a $3 off coupon. Those two bottles of Lipton 100% ice tea were $1.00/bottle + $.05 CRV. I had two coupons for one free bottle of ice tea. The feminine care product was $.89 cents but I had a $.75 off coupon.



My total came out to be $0.51. Darn CRV, that was 20% of my total!

Deals are only fun...

Deals are only fun if you have someone to share it with. In this case, since I was going to get this deal for myself, I offered to get it for C as well. I used internet coupons here, and they only allow you to print the same coupon twice, so I had printed two for me, and when she saw me, she gave me her two coupon printouts. The other coupons came from the actual boxes, as in they were stuck to the boxes. I mentioned this deal before, but here I'll go into all the details.

Here's C's loot:



So the deal setup is basically this. Wheat Thins Stix were on sale for $1.99. If you liked them on FB, you could print a $1.00 coupon, making them $.99. For each box of Wheat Thins you buy, you get a free Ritz Crackerfuls. Therefore, these four boxes of snacks pictured above cost $1.98.


And so you don't think I am completely making stuff up, a picture of the receipt:


Check out that total savings of $13.98.

YAY for friends who like deals too!

Traveling Costs Money

... so you gotta save where you can! This isn't my cheapest or best grocery hall, but it's full of essential things that I normally eat or drink.

Watermelon was on sale 10lb/$1. These two watermelons were basically 30lbs combined. (Always buy seasonal fruit.)

Popchips were on Manager's Special for $1.99 each, but I had a b1g1 free coupon. (This comes out to $.99/bag.)

Activate Water was 3/$5 but I had a $.55 coupon per bottle. (This comes out to $1.11 per bottle.)

Total: $10.74

Hiking in the Rocky Mountains

This post is late. For memorial day, while on vacation in CO, P, C, T and I hiked part of The Rocky Mountains. The mountains are amazing! P jackrabbited up and down the hill and the rest of us merely tried to keep up.








This was probably my favorite part of the hike. Seeing this naturally occurring waterfall having been here for hundreds if not thousands of years. It is like seeing an ancient civilization, and I never really get tired of it. This is why I love being outdoors.









This was probably about one of the worse parts of the hike. None of us were expecting snow in May, but apparently, we should have been prepared. Going up in slushy snow without snow boots absolutely sucks, FYI. Still, the hike was awesome.






Another great thing about hiking, is that you burn a ton of calories. Afterwards, we all were able to have a guilt free meal. :)

Till the next adventure!