Week 1 - A Success?

Well,  I'm not exactly sure it's been a success - but not a complete failure either - I'm torn on the experience.

I had good luck with my shopping - in fact - I think I am pretty much done with Christmas gifts for Harlyn. That said - I'm sure I will continue to buy things well into December (lol) but I also donate around Christmas when we adopt a family - so either way the items will be put to good use.

We went to Kohl's because I had a 30% off coupon and figured it would be worth a trip to see if there were any deals.  The clothes (end of season) were totally picked over so no luck there.  However, Harlyn really liked this doll and played with it - in the box - while we were there.  According to Kohl's, this doll is worth $65.  I should note that EVERYTHING at Kohl's is ridiculously over-priced - hence the reason the store is always having sales and can send 30% off coupons on a bi-weekly basis.   However, it was marked down to $15 plus I had the 30% off coupon - so the total was just over $10 - I socked it away for the holidays.

Eats, drinks, poops and pees!  Every little girls dream doll!

On the down side, I've been struggling with how to get gas at a discount.  I do have a King Soopers card and if I use the pumps there I can get .3 off a gallon - but the station is always packed and I couldn't stomach the thought of waiting in a line 6 cars deep to save .36.  Instead, I went to the local gas station that promised .10 off a gallon with a car wash.  Ok - the car was seriously dirty and really did need a wash - so I figured I'd give it a go.  I save roughly $1.20 on gas and it cost $7 for the wash.   So technically I was up $5.80 but since I would have done the wash anyhow I figured it all balanced out in the end.   However, once I got through the car wash, picked up Chris and actually LOOKED at the car - well - let's just say I was ripped off.   The car was STILL DIRTY after the wash.   Seriously - like the entire lower level didn't look like it had even been touched by soap or water.  Totally disappointing.

The biggest score - however - was this bike for Harlyn.  It's pink, and purple, and all sorts of girlie - so I know she'll love it.  I've been stalking it at Target for a few weeks since I noticed it was marked down - but the price was holding steady.  I decided to drag it over to the price checker and lo and behold - instead of ringing up for $35 - it rang up for $13.41.   I understand that this is NOT a high quality piece of equipment - but for a little girl whose main focus is color coordination - it's going to work out just fine.  I'm hoping to find a basket and bell to top it off - they have some really cool baskets where a doll can ride along too - I'm sure my little tomboy princess will go crazy for it either way.

It's so pretty! :-)

The only downside is brother found the box in the garage - and he can't keep a secret to save his little life.  He has already referenced sister "getting a bike" for Christmas at least 4 times - and he only found it on Friday!  It will be a miracle if we make it all the way to the holiday without him spilling the beans.

All and all - pretty good haul!

Consume consciously,

Kim

Discount Diva Day!

So, being unemployed does have a few advantages.  The biggest one is time - I have a plethora and can now fill it, when asked, by meeting my bestie for a quick mani/pedi at Diva's.  I'm financially able to go 'cause  I still have a $20 gift card left over from my birthday.  Since a pedicure is only $25 I can walk out of there for only $10 including tip. It's our default shop 'cause it's close to both our houses, the girls there are great and we can be in and out in less than an hour.

Happiness!

So I met up with my gf around 10:30 today and was soaking my feet, watching the Price as Right (OMG a girl won BOTH showcases in the showdown) and pretty much just zoning out.  I happen to glance towards the clock and notice a sign - 20% off gift certificates.

Hmmm...Christmas really isn't that far away.  I always ask for a gift card to Diva's and usually my dear hubby will pick one up for $50 as a gift from the kids.  This was the perfect opportunity for me to bring it up AND for him to save some money (so he could of course re-allocate to OTHER gifts for me) when getting one of my "required" items.  A no brain-er.  I was quite pleased and made a mental note to tell hubs this afternoon.

When it was time to pay I handed the cashier my gift card ($20) and my debit card for the difference.  She kinda smiled at me and said, "Your total is only $20 plus tax - so $21.60."

Hmm...that didn't seem right but I wasn't about to argue.  As I was waiting to sign the slip I looked up and realized the note on the wall also said "20% off all services" - which meant my $25 pedi was now only $20.

Double happiness!  Not only did I get a fresh new pedi but, because of double discounts,  I only paid $6.60!

Great, great morning!

If you live in the Colorado Springs area and want to take advantage of either deal - 20% off gift certificates (over $30) or all services - please stop by Diva's.  It's located at the corner of Powers and  Barnes in the Old Navy shopping plaza right next store to Noodles & Company.   The ladies will treat you right and make your feet pretty like mine.   See picture proof below.

The color is "Crepes Suzette" and I love it!

One last thing, my husband says I have "big toe thumbs" and my sister says I have "Flintstone feet" - but I just think they are jealous 'cause this pedi looks so good.  LOL - what do you think?



Kim

The REDCard Rocks!!!!

"Hello.  My name is Kim and I am addicted to Target."

Sigh - I wish it wasn't true but it is.  Target is by far my favorite shopping destination.  I buy all my groceries there and find myself making additional "quick trips" at least once each week.  It's an unhealthy addiction - but I figure in the scheme of things it could be way worse.  At least I'm not addicted to heroine or buying seriously overpriced shoes.

That said - in order to temper my addiction and make myself feel better about all the unnecessary purchases I make I got the REDCard.  Just in case you didn't know - the REDCard is a debit card (much like a bank card), valid only at Target, and works just like any other debit card - except you get 5% off every purchase!!!  Yes - every purchase.  Since I buy groceries there every week this is a nice little extra savings on top of my coupons - so far I've saved $250 this year alone!  Cha-ching!!!!

Another nice thing is the 5% discount works online AND provides free shipping on all orders.  So - in my quest to pay less than retail AND get a jump on my Christmas shopping I went online to Target.com to see if there were any deals to be found.

My son is a Lego-maniac - he seriously has at least 20 Lego sets already but he LOVES them, they are educational and have the added bonus of keeping him quiet in his room for hours.  Worth every penny.  However, they are pretty spendy and rarely go on sale.  Last week when I was grocery shopping at Target I swung through the toys section and notice someone had left a $5 off coupon next to a Star Wars lego.  This Lego set was new, regularly priced at $29.99 and marked down to $28.49.  With the coupon it was less than $24 which is pretty respectable.

LEGO Star Wars Saesee Tiin's Jedi Starfighter 9498

I decided to order it online and put it away for Christmas.  I was able to use the $5 off coupon and with my REDCard got free shipping ($7.49 value) plus an additional 5% off ($1.17) which brought the price down to  $22.32.   Not too shabby.

I thought I might be able to go one step further though and get an even better deal.  I linked through Ebates which is an online shopping site that offers cash back for purchases.  Right now the deal for shopping Target through Ebates is 4% back - and as a new customer I was offered at $10 gift card of my choice (of course I chose Target) if I spent $25.

I couldn't pass that up.  I went back to the Target site and found these really cute pajama pants to add to my order.  Hayden is obsessed with wearing them AND they are the same color/design as his swim team mascot (The Piranhas) so I know he'll like them.  They were only $4.48 and will go under the tree from Santa.

Grand total - after all was said and done - came to $28.27 - essentially the pants were free - and that doesn't include the 4% cash back from Ebates ($1.13) or the $10 gift card I got for joining.

Yippee!!!

The deal on the Lego is good through September 22 if anyone else is interested in purchasing.

Happy consuming!

Kim

It's Official!

So, I've always been a bargain shopper.  I LOVE the thrill of a deal - and pretty much refuse to pay full price for anything.  I thought it would be fun to see how much can be bought at a discount - and decided to start a little experiment in cost conscious consumption.  Starting today until December 31, 2012, my goal is to pay less than retail for EVERYTHING!!!

I think some aspects will be easy - like grocery shopping - I always use coupons so that won't be much different.  However, does this mean all items I buy have to have a coupon?  Or does it just have to be on sale/discount and not full price?    I'll figure that out as we go along.

I think the harder items will be things like fuel, services and restaurants.  My all time fav restaurant NEVER has coupons or discounts - so figuring out how to still eat there and NOT pay full price will be a challenge.

Also - I'm limiting this to "new" items only.  While great deals can be found at thrift shops, I'm more curious to see what I can accomplish through couponing, discount sites and maybe a little bartering! :-)

I'll post my successes and (hopefully!) limited failures as I go along.  Feel free to play along too!

Happy consuming!

Kim

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