Weekly Errands

Rainbow Grocery Highlights:

• 5 Boxes of Post Cereal: $2/box sale price, plus if you bought 5, you got a coupon for $5 off your next purchase (I usually split my order in half to maximize coupon doubling efforts, so I was able to use the $5 immediately on my second transaction...no chance to lose or forget about the coupon) = $5 for 5 boxes
• 4 Bottles of Fuze Water: $1/bottle sale price - $1 off 2 bottle coupon that doubled x 2 coupons = 4 FREE bottles
• ACT Mouth Rinse: $3.19 sale price - $1 off coupon that doubled x 2 coupons = 2 ACT bottles for $2.38
• Old Orchard Naturals Juice: $2 sale price - $1 off per bottle coupon that doubled x 2 = 2 FREE juice bottles
• Huge Bag of Roundy's Shredded Cheese: $0.98 sale price (Customer Appreciation Store Special)
• 2 Bags of Kraft Shredded Cheese: $2/bag sale price - $0.50 off coupon that doubled x 2 coupons = $2 for 2 bags of cheese

My total for everything pictured: $10.36

Overall, I spent $66.73 this week and saved $58.88.  I didn't reach my goal of 50% savings this week, but I came close.  I also blame these:

Lucky is obsessed with them.  They are Roundy's brand frozen Cheese Tortellini.  Out of the blue yesterday afternoon, Lucky said, "Mommy, I'm thinking we should have tortellini's for dinner." While it was nice of her to help me meal plan for the evening, we had just eaten a bag the night before.  She would eat them every single night for dinner if we prepared them for her.  They cost $3.79 per bag, and they rarely go on sale.  We make them about once per week, sometimes twice.  And that's why I'm about $8 shy of my goal.  Two bags of Tortellini's :).

Moving on to Walgreens. 
I wasn't super excited about the Walgreens ad this week, but I still popped into the store for about 5 minutes and did 2 nearly identical transactions to score these items:

 Transaction #1

Transaction #2

Both pictures are essentially the same deal.  The ice pops were on sale for $0.59 per box, the candy bars (filler items) were on sale for $0.39 each and the Stayfree was on sale for $2.99.  I had a $1 off coupon x 2 for the Stayfree, and I used one $3 Register Reward from last week for each transaction (I still have $14 in Register Rewards remaining from last week).  (Here is the Stayfree coupon if you're interested.)

I paid $0.39 out of pocket for each transaction.  My total was $0.78 for all items in both pictures, AND I received $6 back in Register Rewards for purchasing the Stayfree (in separate transactions).  Yahoo!

Next Up, Target.
Hello, Easter Clearance!  I love holiday clearance sales.  I never buy when it's 50% off.  I wait until it's at least 75% off, and I try to check back a couple days later to see if anything makes it to 90% off.  Here is what I found at Target for 75% off:

I found all of the goodies on the floor in the Easter Clearance section.  Even the Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie bags which have no Easter references on them whatsoever.  Weird.  They rang up at $0.43 each which is awesome because Lucky LOVES to bake.  We'll go through all 5 of the bags I purchased in 6 weeks, I bet.  The frosting rang up at $0.42 each x 4.  Now that I'm looking at my pictures, I didn't take enough close ups, but you get the idea.  Everything was cheap!!   

The Starburst Jelly beans were $1.24 (candy was 50% off, normally $2.49).  Bunny Potato Head was $2.49 and the Wheel Pal 2-pacs were $1.24 each.  The Play-Doh packs were $0.99 each.  I also picked up some plastic Easter eggs for $0.49, paper Easter grass for $0.37 each x 5, Egg Dye Kits for $0.62 and $0.99 each, an Easter bake pan for $2.24, cookie sprinkles for $1.49 each x 2, Kraft Marshmallow Bag for $0.29, Tollhouse sprinkles for $0.64, and an Easter Book for $1.99.  I was also able to score some coordinating Easter baskets for next year.  I love the idea of having coordinating baskets.  They were $3 each for the small ones and $3.50 for the big one.  Also, new baskets means I can sell these random ones in our garage sale:

3 baskets into the house, 5 baskets out!

In total, I spent $36.61 on Easter Goodies, and about $10 of that total is for food items that we'll enjoy in the next couple months and beyond (sprinkles last forever!!).  I figure I'm pretty well set for Easter next year for about $25 and that includes brand spanking new baskets that we'll hopefully enjoy for years to come!  (I will have to toss in a few food treats for the kiddos next year, but I'll buy them fresh:)).  I've already put the new baskets and Easter toys, etc in our Easter Rubbermaid in the basement.  We're good to go!  (I saved about $107 on my Easter purchases!)

Pictured on the couch in the images above are three pieces of clothing that I also picked up at Target.  I bought a long tank dress for $6.24 (75% off) and a fun short sleeve sweater top for $6.98 (75% off also).  Finally, I stumbled upon the blue and white striped shirt for Lucky.  Here is a close up:

I wish I knew how to make my blog background look like this.  Because I'm computer illiterate, Bill added my picture and a new widget that lets you click on 'related' posts at the bottom of each post.  Widget is a funny word.  Anyway, next on my 'blog to do list' is to make my background prettier....like this sunshine shirt. 

I remember my parents singing this song when I was little, especially my dad.  Bill and I sing it to our kids all the time too.  I think Lucky could recite the lyrics by the time she was 2 or maybe 2 1/2.  I always call her my Sunshine Girl.  This shirt was only 30% off ($6.98) and the smallest kid size available was medium (Lucky is an XS), but it jumped in my cart anyway.

Local Thrift Store

I made a stop this week to a local thrift store which was having a '50% off the entire store' sale.  Here is what I found:

 GAP jean jacket, barely worn.  For Charm, eventually.  Full price $4.99.  I paid $2.49.

Adorable Butterfly Jean Jacket for the Lucky Girl.  Full price $6.99.  I paid $3.49. 

Cute long sleeve Charm Shirt ($3.99 full price, I paid $1.98) and a pair of jeans for Lucky ($3.49 full price, I paid $1.75)

Total for 4 garments: $9.71

I'm very picky about thrift store clothing, and I never buy anything that doesn't look practically new.  It's easy to do with kids clothing because they outgrow clothing before they have the chance to wear it sometimes!  I usually do well buying clothing for my kids at Target on clearance, but these prices are even better than Target 75% off clearance.