Trip to WalMart

Did a trip to Wally World today. Here are some clearance finds (some I bought; others I spotted):

Girls'/Baby girls' shoes: lilac flat, red satin w/ruffle flats (think Christmas!), Garanimals Velcro sneakers, glittery Mary Jane's, all clearanced to $3/pair
Hint: With babies and toddlers, it has usually worked for me to think ahead around one shoe size up every 3-4 months. When in doubt, I buy a size up, knowing eventually they'll grow into it!

(I also saw women's flats marked down to $1-$5!)

Garanimals separates (girls' and boys'), marked down to $1/each. I got my youngest some black yoga style pants at this price!

Girls' polo shirts, organic cotton, orig. $5, now $3. (The one above features tiny light blue hearts on a navy background with large buttons on the placket.)

A nice chance to get some back-to-school basics dirt cheap!

Walmart: Dr. Seuss books for $2.65 and up!

Walmart is running a sale on Dr. Seuss books that is hard to beat! Books start at $2.65 and go up to $5. Free shipping is supposed to be included, though we haven't verified that personally with a purchase just yet.

Click here to check out the sale.

Thanks, Slickdeals!

Clearance Finds at Wal-Mart

I couldn't resist posting this just in case other folks might be able to find the same bargains in their Wal-Marts. Here's what I found on today's trip to Wal-Mart in the little girls' section:

Khaki organic cotton chino pants, marked down to $1/pair (!!!). You can bet I bought ahead as many sizes as possible at that price. If they're worn even a few times, that's totally worth it! These were found on the folded pants/jeans shelves (not on the clearance rack), but a large chunk of the pants/jeans shelves were marked down.

Clippies and rubber bands (hair accessories): marked down from $2-3 to $0.50 or $1 for a whole card's worth. Do not look in the hair aisle for these - look in the little girls' clothing section (at least this is how it was in my Wal-Mart).

I also saw little girls' and baby girls' holiday dresses marked from $15 down to $3-$7. I'm talkin' metallic-embroidered, velvet, plaid-sashed type styles ideal for portraits and holiday parties and church services. Go pounce on them since it looks as though they're being replaced by springier Easter-type styles.

For a comprehensive listing of hot Wal-Mart coupon-related deals, check out the Wal-Mart label at Money Saving Mom.

Tuesday Deals Roundup: $5/$25 CVS coupon, Super Doubles at Kmarts, free 8x10 at WalMart, $10/$25 Yankee Candle, and more!

Go here to take a quick test on your flu IQ and get a $5 off $25 coupon for CVS!

Ginger of Attention Target Shoppers has reported that Target checkouts have started posting some delightful signs about the acceptance of coupons (including stacking manufacturer coupons with Target coupons). Thanks, Ginger! Have you seen these signs at your own Targets? If you're feeling bold, post a comment to tell us where!

Money Saving Mom says that some Kmarts will be doing Super Doubles again next week. (Thanks, Crystal!) Be sure to call your local Kmart in advance to check that it is participating.

Freebies 4 Mom has a post about how to get a free 8x10 photo print with any 1-hr. order at WalMart. (Thanks!) Even if you order a $0.15 4x6 print in 1-hr. mode, this will count; you may simply need to wait a couple of hours for the code to show up in your email. 8x10 + inexpensive frame (Tuesday Morning, anyone?) = great gift for parents and grandparents!

Harris Teeter Triple Coupons ends today, 09/22. There are so many good deals to be had in this promo, though, so if you have an HT nearby, it's probably worth checking out. Frugal Friends did a great demo post showing a couple of HT triples trips, and FF also linked to three other blogs who posted HT triples matchups. Thanks, Frugal Friends!

Frugal Coupon Mom has a link to a $10 off $25 purchase coupon for Yankee Candle. Thanks!!

Frugal in Virginia reminds us of the incoming onslaught of freebie holiday cards - starting with 12 free Shutterfly holiday photo cards. If you can wrangle your family into some sweaters for a couple of shots, you'll have a few "holiday theme" pics on standby for early bird sample deals like this. Thanks, Dana!

A fun surprise: Family Dollar's $0.11 diapers got very positive reviews on Baby Cheapskate.

Happy wheeling and dealing! :)
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Friday Fun and Frugal Tidbits Roundup

Here's a outside-the-box frugal homemade cookie recipe with kick - Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles, courtesy of Post Punk Kitchen. Dairy-free and egg-free, too.

Saving sanity and time is just as important (if not more so, arguably) than saving money. Ergo, do yourself and everyone else a favor and wash your hands! The New York Times' Tara Parker-Pope reminds us of how crucial cleaning your hands is to avoiding flu in general and H1N1 (swine flu) this winter. So stock up on your couponed hand sanitizers and Softsoap!

The Washington Post is reporting on the lower grocery prices at D.C./Metro area grocery stores, including Safeway and Giant. It also mentions that a Super WalMart (WalMart with full-service grocery store) will be opening in Manassas soon. Woo hoo!

Slash Your Grocery Bill with Store-Brand Products - Get Rich Slowly highlighted the importance of not dismissing generics out of hand - with savings illustrated in a neato table.

This guest post on Frugal Coupon Living, by Mama Cheaps' Devon describes how you can send otherwise useless expired coupons to military bases overseas - where the military commissaries (grocery stores) will accept expired coupons up to 6 months past their expiration date! Very cool idea - and will mean that your clipping efforts aren't wasted. Check out the Overseas Coupon Program today!
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Walmart and Staples Back-to-School Steals starting at $0.15

Frugal Coupon Mom posted a summary listing of some must-not-miss steals for WalMart this week. (Thank you!!)

Notebooks from $0.15, Crayola crayons 24-packs at $0.25 (these normally go ~$3!) - and that is just a little sampling from the hot school supplies deals list.

Also see the list of $0.25 school supplies at Staples, as posted by Mommy's Wish List (Thanks!).

Even if you don't have school-age children, consider the supplies as part of a arts'n'crafts gift for nieces, nephews, etc., or part of a local back-to-school backpack charity project like Operation Backpack.

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All You Magazine for $0.75/issue - $30+ of coupons in every issue!

Southern Living at Home Mom is currently offering subscriptions to All You Magazine - $18 for two whole years, at $0.75 an issue. This is a bargain price for a magazine that yields at least $30 in very usable, very high value coupons in every single issue - and way below the cover price at WalMart, which is, incidentally, the only retail location where the magazine can be bought.

The April issue of All You had a coupon for a FREE Rimmel Mascara (up to $6.47 value) and $3/2 any Splenda products (compare with the $0.55/any Splenda product coupon that we get in the Sunday inserts!).

Did a Near-Freebie Run at WalMart for Fun!

I did a freebies-at-WalMart run to see what I could find. I scooped up 4 Kraft salad dressings, and 8 2-packs of Olay shea butter soap - around $26.16 worth of stuff, for $5.31 ($1.15 tax included). This was a productive run for me because (gasp!) we were actually down to our last bar of soap. Perish the thought that a CVSer should run out of toiletries! lol The only setback was discovering that my WalMart doesn't accept Internet coupons (I had tried Crystal's proposed free Glucerna cereal deal).*

If you try a WalMart freebie trip, here are some of the deals worth seeking during a shopping trip:

• $0.08 Kraft salad dressing
• $0.48 2-packs of shea butter Olay bar soaps (yes, Crystal's post said FREE, but in NOVA WalMarts the two-packs appear to be priced at $2.48. $0.24/bar still ain't shabby, though, especially compared with $1.24/bar retail)
  
• FREE McCormick seasonings
• FREE (potentially) Seventh Generation baby wipes

I heard about all of these deals through Crystal Paine's Money Saving Mom. See all of Money Saving Mom's posts on Wal-Mart steals (including matchups for the above listed freebies) here. Many printable coupon matchups, too!

No Nonsense Pantyhose are a free rolling promo, as well. The package has a coupon, so use your $1 off coupon from the insert (Crystal has the details.) to buy pantyhose whose packages come with $1 coupons.

Crystal also mentions in her recent WalMart deals that WalMart carries $1 VitaminWater, so the 04/05 $1 coupon will make it free. I will be saving these $1 coupons to use at Giant, where VitaminWater is on sale for $1 each this week - because it's good 'filler' to get my transaction up to $15 in order to use a doubler coupon for a different item.

And later, when I'm on the computer:

• Freebies 4 Mom tells you how to get by-mail-request freebie samples from WalMart.com, including Crest Pro-Health Enamel Shield and Crest Whitestrips Advanced Seal.

*What is going on lately with stores rejecting Internet coupons? I don't think that Internet coupons will be going away, so it will be interesting to see what the future holds. I do know that stores that do accept Internet coupons invariably get more business from me than they would otherwise.

Notes on a Wal-Mart Trip - 03/31 - Clearanced Girls' Shoes, Near-Free Shipping, and Coupon Freebie Matchups, too!

I know one thing for sure: I'm just starting to crack the surface of bargain shopping and couponing at Wal-Mart. Today, I headed there with a $20 gift card that had been a birthday gift to my daughter, from my aunt - a very savvy longtime Wal-Mart employee who could write a whole book (or a few) on the Wal-Mart experience from the other side of the checkout.

I had written my aunt a thank-you note that explained that we planned on using the gift card for some quality summer shoes, since my daughter has almost outgrown all her current ones. I fully anticipated paying at least $15 for a pair of durable new shoes...but guess what I found! Not only were full-priced sandals around $10 (at least the pair we got), but there were sneakers and Mary Janes on sale for as low as $5, and faux-Uggs (kiddie version) clearanced at $3/pair!

My eyes probably popped out of my skull when I saw the faux-Uggs on clearance because one pair of brown ones from Target (I coughed up full price ~$17 for them...ouch) basically got us through this past winter casual shoe-wise. The style is great for cold weather because the exactness of sizing wasn't as crucial as, say, with girls' dress sandals or sneakers. You can buy a size larger and still have them work for popping on your girl(s) for running errands for a whole season or more...even without socks if it's "that kind" of a day.

Granted, the Target ones I had bought are probably higher quality - but at $3/pop, I stocked up on colors for next winter, buying two sizes up. (By the way - they are available in solid black, solid chocolate brown, solid khaki, floral-embroidered purple, floral-embroidered pink, lighter blue Tinkerbell design, and High School Musical design.)

What else was I making mental notes on while at Wal-Mart? Probably nothing that the regular Wal-Mart couponing shopper doesn't already know, like:

• Grocery prices at WalMart are the sale prices elsewhere. Example: large bottles of Arizona teas are $1 both at WalMart regularly, and down from $2 each this week at Giant. WalMart sells Oreos for $2.98, while Giant's 'special' on Oreo products this week is 2/$6.
  
  
• Half-'n'-Half at WalMart is cheap, at $1.87/quart.
  
  
• After searching WalMart.com for a pictures of the faux-Uggs to post, I saw in the shoes section that WalMart will ship shoes, tees, and polos (and probably lots of other stuff!) to your house for just $0.97. That's close to WalMart free shipping. :)
  
  And some well-publicized unbeatable WalMart coupon matchups on the frugality blogosphere (credit to, um, everyone):
  
  
• Kraft salad dressings, priced at $1.58, are just $0.08 after the $1.50 off coupon in the 03/28 SmartSource insert. Wowee!
  
  
• Glucerna Cereal is $3.96, and if you use the printable $5/1 coupon here, it's free (or mayyybe overage...?). Final Price: FREE!
  
  
• Johnson's Bath Buddies Soaps are FREE, as always. Use the $3/3 coupon available here. We use these for our daughter while potty-training as she hasn't gotten the hang of traditional pump liquid soaps yet. Their net covering makes them easy to handle, and they don't 'ooze' the way other bar soaps do.
  

And, incidentally, the people at WalMart (customers and employees alike) were so friendly! :)
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Notes on Sam's Club v. Current Prices

This afternoon I ran to Sam's Club with my family for the first time in weeks. Before I got into couponing, Sam's was our regular grocery and diaper stop, and we rarely went to other stores for groceries. Now that I've been swimming in the couponing lane since last summer, I was pleasantly surprised to realize that there are still some reasons why Sam's Club (the nearest warehouse club to us) is worth our family's annual $40 membership fee.

• Sam's gas runs 5-10 cents per gallon less than anywhere else. We fill up there almost any time we can manage it. Savings on our medium-sized SUV for a fillup is can run up to $1.50 or more - so even if we filled up for gas 30 times in the year just in our SUV (we also have a late-'90s sedan), we'd 'pay off' that membership fee!
• Milk is $2.44 for a gallon of whole all the way down to $2.14 for a gallon of skim. This is even cheaper than double couponed milk at Shopper's Food Warehouse. Most stores sell milk for $3.50-$4.00/gallon. (Note that organic milk is not cheaper; at a little over $3 for a half-gallon, it doesn't beat Giant's $5.69 for a gallon of organic milk).
• A quart of half'n'half is less than $1.50, the cheapest price anywhere that I've seen for half'n'half. Since I'm powered by caffeine, Sam's is where I still get my half'n'half (which has a surprisingly long shelf life).
• Bananas were $0.42 cents/lb., and since bananas are rarely loss-leaders and run $0.50/lb.+, this is a significant savings. (We go through 2 large bunches each week since our daughter eats at least 2 each day...at least she doesn't clamor for 2 papayas!)
  
• Asparagus today was $1.73/lb. - four cents/lb. cheaper than Giant's loss-leader price for the week of $1.77/lb.!
• Strawberries were 2 lb./~$4.50., still cheaper than Safeway's 2 lbs./$5 price.
• Many other produce items went for loss-leader prices for most NOVA grocery stores, like nectarines, pears, and apples between $0.90 and $1.25/lb. - . Avocados were under $1 each.
  
• Most spices and seasonings sell in huge containers for $3.50-$5.00. If you're like me and use garlic powder like it was going out of style, this is cheaper than the spice selections at grocery stores. Of course, there's always the CVS spice rack, if you need transaction filler at $1-2.
  

Some things that were not cheaper:

• Grapes, at nearly $2/lb.! A lot of local grocery chains routinely loss-lead grapes at around $1/lb.
  
• DanActive drinks, ~$0.40/ea in the multipack (compare with $0.20 each at Shopper's doubled coupons this weekend)
• Cereal selections (double pack boxes) were $6+
• Dunkin' Donuts coffee is 2.5 lb. for $16 - OK price, but if you buy the smaller bags with coupons, you can do better at even Target or WalMart, much less Shopper's doubles
  

Looks like a few staples make renewing our membership worthwhile...at least until I figure out how to coupon gas and milk down to those prices! ;) Meanwhile...the price of paper towels was enough to make us consider trying out Crystal Paine's paper towel free household for a while.

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Small Investments Going Miles - Making Sauces and Dressings at Home

I love my mini-chopper. I got it at WalMart years ago - where it still goes for $10 to this day - by exchanging a wedding gift that I did not need.

I use my minichopper for a variety of uses:

1-2 small smoothies
Blending homemade baby food (much cheaper, yea!)
Chopping vegetables for omelets and stir-fries

...but the most common use has been to make my own sauces, dressings, marinades, and rubs. The three removable pieces (cup, lid, blade) are easy to assemble and disassemble and all (woo!) dishwashable. Mine still performs like the day I bought it.

Of course, when I can get such condiments very cheaply with coupons, I do, since they are great step-savers.

But using my mini chopper - smaller than a dessert plate - enables me to use a wide variety of ingredients, including those "almost gone" sauces, dressings, etc. in the fridge.

Here is an example of some low-cost dressing/sauce recipes that can be made using a minichopper. Add all ingredients and chop until well-blended!

Tarragon Lime Dressing

Complements chicken or fish, to serve 2 people. Refreshing on salads!

2 tablespoons oil (safflower or extra virgin olive oil are good)
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon mayo (your choice, regular or lighter)
Pinch pepper
Pinch salt
Pinch sugar
Generous pinch dried tarragon

The following two are great on almost anything where you want an Asian-inspired kick:

Sesame Ginger Dressing,
to serve 2:

1 tablespoon oil (safflower or extra virgin olive oil are good)
1 tablespoon sesame oil (cheaper at Asian grocery stores!)
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds (also cheaper at Asian grocery stores)
1 tablespoon plain white vinegar
1 tablespoon molasses
1 tablesppoon (a small knob) finely chopped fresh ginger, or 1 tsp. dry ground ginger
1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon lemon pepper
Pinch salt

Peanut Sauce,
for dipping (for grilling marinade, thin with oil), serves 2-4
1 tablesppoon (a small knob) finely chopped fresh ginger, or 1 tsp. dry ground ginger
1/2 tablesoon dry chipotle pepper flakes
Pinch cayenne (skip if you don't want too much heat!)
2 tablespoons peanut butter (coarse natural gives the best texture but all kinds work)
2 tablespoons molasses
1 chopped scallion
1/4 c. soy sauce
2 tbps. Worchestershire sauce

For more marinade , sauce, and dressing ideas, check out allrecipes.com!

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Huggies Wipes - $0.99 or OVERAGE!

Use this $5 off Huggies Gentle Care printable coupon and go to:

Target, where a package of the wipes runs $5.99 - $0.99 for wipes, baby!

or

WalMart, where Gentle Care changing pads are around $2.82, and get $2.18 overage for the rest of your purchase.

This is the part where I cabbage patch with glee. Clockwise...now counterclockwise...oh yea.

Thanks, Money Saving Mom, for the great printable tip!


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Items to Buy at CVS

CVS is a cornucopia of the relevant and bizarre when it comes to ExtraCare Buck deals. When approaching deals, you must bring two BIG attitudes to your overall mindset:

1. A sense of humor about people, especially yourself! To get the best deals, occasionally you will need to work items into your transactions (say, to get you up to $20 for a $4 off $20 CVS purchase coupon) that have nothing to do with your actual consuming needs. Fear not! It can be donated, regifted, or sold, if need be. For example, one night before Halloween last year, I picked up a blood glucose monitor and Butterfingers in the same transaction, because they had hot deals for both that week and I had a $3 off $15 coupon. The lady checking me out was amused to say the least.

2. A willingness to flex - to try out new brands when they've got good deals, and to strike while the iron is hot on your favorites. Me getting over most of my brand loyalties is what enabled me to embrace the CVS loyalty system for its possibilities.

That said, if you collect coupons and watch the ExtraCare deals, you should be able to pick up lots of the following for free or pennies on the dollar, on a regular basis:

Haircare (Garnier, Pantene, Head and Shoulders, Nivea, Pert Plus, Herbal Essences, etc.)
Skincare and Cosmetics (Olay, Neutrogena, Jergens, L'Oreal, Maybelline, Cover Girl, Almay, Revlon, etc.)
Toothbrushes and toothpaste (Colgate, Crest, etc.)
Deodorant (Right Guard, Blade, Old Spice, Soft'n'Dri, Suave, etc.)
Body Washes and Soaps (St. Ives, Dove, Softsoap, Irish Spring, etc.)
Feminine hygiene products (Always, Stayfree, Kotex, Playtex, etc.)
Meds for Cold, Sinus, Allergies, Painkillers, Fever Reducers (Aleve, Aleve-D, Zyrtec, Advil, Claritin, etc.)
Travel sizes of toiletries
Drinks (soda 12-packs, single drinks from refrigerator, etc.)
Snacks and candy, especially before big holidays

And you can often get the following baby and kid gear for much cheaper than even WalMart and warehouse store prices:

Diapers (Pampers, Huggies, Playskool, CVS brand)
Diaper creams (Desitin, etc.)
Wipes (Same as diaper brands)
Sippy cups (Playtex, Gerber, etc.)
Kid toothbrushes and toothpaste (Oragel, Colgate, etc. with or without fluoride)