Pinchin' Pennies

I haven't done a blog lately in regards to my frugal shopping and bargain hunting. Keep in mind, I don't buy anything unless I am getting these sorts of prices but the last few days have been exceptionally good. Good enough to dedicate a blog post to, I suppose.

To begin, a few nights ago I found this deal at Meijer.

These sandals were $15 each, buy one get one free! Total for both pairs: $15! 

Than yesterday I heard it was $1 flip-flop day at Old Navy. I drove up to my closest Old Navy only to find over an hour wait just to get in the store! As I was out shopping in the evening I stumbled across another Old Navy.. and this one was full of deals!! 

These pants were originally $34.50. I paid just $9.97

 

This shirt.. $16.94. I paid $4.49.

 

Another pair of fun patterned pants! $34.50. I paid $10.49

 

Another steal! Originally $17.94.

And the biggest Old Navy bargain.. Originally $29.50... I paid $1.47.

As for the flip-flops (ya know, the reason I went to Old Navy!) by the time I got there only 5s and 6s were left, and they were all black. I was walking away somewhat disappointed that my size 10 feet weren't getting any new flip flops when a nice sales man said "Why didn't you grab any sandals, miss?? You know you can return them anytime within 90 days for any size, any color and still get the $1 price." JACKPOT! I grabbed 3 :)

At the mall, I stopped by Charming Charlies. I don't usually get much there except for some clearance jewelry but I found a great sale.

I found this jewelry organizer on sale for $11 from $25 originally AND it was buy one clearance item get one free so I grabbed this peach scarf (below) for free!

Then today I went to Target and found this dress at 70% off!

Thanks, Target!

Also, while I was at Target, they were handing out bags with free samples and TONS of coupons. I got free gum, shampoo, snacks and a ton of other stuff. It was a successful trip!

I also stopped and got my free Biggby drink of choice (for my birthday!) on my way home. 

Lets do the math...

Meijer                          Originally $30.00                Got it for just $15

Old Navy                    Originally $141.33                                      $33.50

Charming Charlies      Originally $40.00                                        $11.00

Target                         Originally $24.99                                         $12.00

Biggby                       Originally $5.50                                           $0.00

   

Totals:                                        $241.82                            I paid:  $71.50 

A grand savings of $170.32!

Also, this was with NO coupons! Only clearance rack savings and a free birthday certificate at Biggby!

Spend your money on something else, get things on sale!

xoxox

Take an extra 10% off...

Those are some glorious words. Although, I would prefer it to be 20, 30, 40 or even 100%  but 10% is good too :)

This morning, as my mom and I were planning out our day, I decided I wanted to buy a cake pop maker. Now I know this sounds like an impulse purchase (and yes, as much as I agree) I have been wanting to purchase one for awhile now. Cake pops are just the next "it" thing in baking and I love baking.

Look at them, they're so cute!

   

So, cake pop maker. I actually had been looking into buying ones online or off craigslist or something, because with most baking/cooking items it is a case where someone thought they would get lots of use out of it, used it once and then it became a permanent fixture in a cabinet or closet.  I found one, used once (like I said!) and she wanted $25 for it. It wasn't a bad deal, being that they're originally $40, but I knew I could do better.

I knew there was a Kohls near where we would be today, so I just happened to jump on their website to see how much they were there. Well guess what... "TODAY ONLY!" all small appliances on sale. It was on sale for $19.99!  After doing some searching and finding a 20% off coupon, AND lucky for me, a leftover Kohls gift card from grandma at Christmas, we were on our way.

When we arrived at Kohls, I headed straight for the kitchen section. (I tend to do this a lot.) The mini donut maker, the waffle stick maker, and the mini pie maker were all on sale...... but the cake pop maker was not. Well I took it anyways and headed off to a price scanner. Sure enough, it was on sale! You can never believe signs in stores. 

The best is yet to come though. As I was watching at the register, waiting to see it ring up half off, it rang up only $17.99 because apparently there was a door-buster special going on until noon! So after the automatic markdown, the door-buster 10% and the coupon... $13.99! A total savings of $26, more than I almost paid for the used one online!

And I am now a proud owner of a Babycakes Cake Pop Maker.

Be on the look out for a post near the end of the next week, as I will be making dozens of cake pops and cupcakes to sell during Relay for Life!

Be Thrifty, Eat Sweet!

xoxo

Confessions of a Veraholic.

Today is another day of deals. Its not everyday that I come across these great deals, but when it does happen it is an all-out extravaganza of savings! (Ok, not quite.. but still!) Two of these deals revolve around Vera Bradley, which makes me seem like a Veraholic - yes, those exist and I am far, far from it, but tonight I feel like I'm getting close.

Deal # 1 - Free Vera 
This deal actually happened a few nights ago, but the glorious box of goods came in the mail tonight, which reminded me how great of a deal I got.

It all started when I was visiting my family the other night. I was standing in the kitchen when a small piece of a Vera Bradley pattern caught my attention. I noticed that it was a "free $20 off a $20 purchase" card, that my aunt had received for her birthday. She noticed me looking at it and graciously gave it to me, and it wasn't even my birthday! (My certificate will be coming exactly two months from today! - $20 for my 20th birthday!!)

Anyway, I returned home with $20 to spend, which was a lot harder than it seems! It wasn't finding $20 worth, since most things are quite pricey, it was finding ONLY $20.

I ended up selecting $22 worth of items and only paying $2 (plus shipping.)

I got 3 "napkins" or pieces of fabric, with which I intend to make bows, and letters and whatever else my heart desires and a pack of binder clips that were on super sale. Each napkin was $6 because they are all new patterns, and the clips were $4 (on sale from $6.)

The napkins are Ribbons, Marina Paisley and Tutti Fruitti and the binder clips are English Meadows.

Deal #2 - Over-the-Phone Bargains.
This deal was not fulfilled by me in person. It was completed by the best "boyfriend's mom" in the world! (And the only one I've got!) The madness began last year when she attended the Vera Bradley Outlet Sale in Fort Wayne, Indiana. For those of you who have never heard about the sale, it is a warehouse with tables and tables and tables piled miles high with Vera Bradley products. Most items are 40-60% off. You actually have to buy tickets through ticketmaster to attend the event. It is an entire week long, as well! She went last year and came home with bags and bags of stuff. Guess what sale happened again today!

 

Because they were attending the sale on the second day, I was able to go online and look up price lists that people had posted. I was hoping to find a larger duffel or travel bag to add to my collection of purses, bags and totes. I found one for a steal! The bag is called the Metropolitan and is a retired style to it was a deep-discount item. I actually got it for 75% off!

All of this for less than $50!

The Student Agenda in Provencal      Originally $18.00     Got it for just $1.99
The Zip ID Case in Doodle Daisy      Originally $12.00                              $6.00
The Matching Lanyard                       Originally $12.00                             $5.00
The Zip ID Case in Indigo Pop          Originally $12.00                              $6.00
The Matching Chain Lanyard             Originally $16.00                             $5.00
and last but certainly not least....
The Metropolitan Bag in Call Me Coral   Originally $98.00     Got it for just $24.99. 

Overall grand total of savings.......  Retail value: $168.00     I paid $48.98.    A savings of  $119.02

I'm telling you.. if you like Vera Bradley, this sale is the place to go!!


Deal # 3 - Unexpected Savings.
This savings was totally unplanned, and was a purchase I was expecting to spend more on. My mom and I had to run to CVS tonight to get some odds and ends. I have been really sick of my Essie nail polishes lately and decided to try something new. I found a coral-colored Maybelline polish that looked like it would do the trick.

Maybelline New York - Coral Crush (190)

It was $3.99... not a bad deal for a nail polish.

On the way up to the register I stopped at the coupon center, scanned my CVS card and got about 10 coupons.  One of which..... $1.00 off a Maybelline cosmetic purchase. Another.... $2.50 extrabucks, which is essentially free money to use at CVS.  Which made the entire purchase of nail polish just 56 cents!  The nice guy at the register even said "watch out! we've got an extreme couponer over here!!"

Needless to say, I was happy with that purchase. New nail polish for a handfull of pocket change.

If you were to add up all the savings I had in this blog I saved almost $150 dollars and spent just about $50. Not a bad deal for all the new goodies I gained.

That's all I've got for now, but I will be sure to post again if I find another good deal!

Goodnight, Thrifty Friends!

xoxox

Good deals on Good Friday.

So first of all, yesterday one of my favorite people came home for the weekend! (See photo below.)

This morning we set off on a shopping adventure, mostly because I had a site-to-store pick up at the mall and because I had a chauffeur to take join me, and also because it was a beautiful day. It is crazy how the other day I was complaining about snow and today it was 55 - which if youre from Michigan, and it is March, might as well be 75 because everyone acts like it is.

 We came across some ridiculous deals and sales that I wanted to share with you.

This photo was from when we were driving around today  - windows down, radio up. Nick thought he would look good in my sunglasses..... You can be the judge of that.

Anyways, deals. So first off we were going to pick up my pair of cool mint (seafoam green) skinny jeans I got for just 8 dollars on JCP.com with free shipping since I had it sent to the store. (I saw an opportunity to go to the mall - obviously.)  We arrived at JCP with another coupon for $10 off a $25 purchase. There were clearance racks galore.  I was able to pick up a light blue dress for Easter and a white and black striped basic shirt for just $15.

Then we went to Bath and Body Works where I had a coupon for "free travel item of your choice." Since there was no purchase necessary  that was all I got.  I also went there yesterday to redeem a coupon for "free hand sanitizer of your choice." Thanks for all the freebies Bath & Body Works!

After that we headed to Goodwill. I am a big fan of thrift shopping, especially for home products and things I can re-purpose.Today was all yellow tag items half off. I got a lovely tartan scarf for just 99 cents and the big deal of the day... a set of 4 mugs, that are a really pretty black white and red pattern, brand new, that rang up just 25 cents a piece... meaning I got the whole set for $1! I walked out of there with 5 new things for only $2.

We then headed to babysit two of the cutest little kids in the whole wide world, my cousins Charlie and Ruby.  We took them on a walk because it was so nice outside and then returned them home and went on our way.

We had to be back at my house by 4 because Comcast was coming to finally fix my broken TV and internet, which I am happy to announce was fixable. We spent two hours outside with my sister playing tennis and volleyball. Nick even taught me how to longboard - its a work in progress.

Towards the end of our outdoor fun I took a volleyball to the face and have had a pounding headache ever since. All three of us ending up falling asleep for over an hour because we were so worn out from the beautiful weather.

Then, just when I thought I wouldn't have anything else adventurous happen tonight, the best deal of all happened. We stopped at Kroger to get a movie from Redbox, which we got for free thanks to the promo code - DVDONME. (Give it a try!) We decided to go inside and get some sort of snack food to watch with our movie. We noticed near the front of the store that there was a sale on the good Pillsbury cookies, you know the ones with the holiday shapes that are ready-to-bake....

These ones!

 They were marked 10 for $10 and thankfully at Kroger, no matter how many you buy that means just $1 each. We picked up 4 boxes and noticed that each of them had a manufacturers coupon attached that read "$1 off two boxes." Meaning with this coupon, and the sale already going on, each box would be just 50 cents. We grabbed a few other things and checked out. When we got home we looked at the receipt and realized that one of the boxes of cookies rang up at full price - $2.69. Long story short, I have had it happen too many times so I took time to learn the "scanner law." When a product rings up wrong you not only receive the difference back but you also receive a "bonus bounty" of 10 times the difference up to 5 dollars. So $1.69 was the difference, plus $5 = $6.69 we got back for the one box of cookies. We essentially got all 4 boxes of cookies for free and got paid another $2.69 to take them from Kroger. What a good deal.

Now we are settling in to watch out free Redbox movie - Undercover Bridesmaid, enjoy our cookies and bask in our thriftiness. Goodnight!