More Birthday Savings

Every now and then I like to post deals that I got and show you how much I saved. I don’t do this to brag but because I am excited about saving money and I want to inspire you to save.

Cuddlebug’s birthday is this week. He is my baby. He is my heart.  I can’t believe he is turning six. Where has the time gone?  

Cuddlebug’s interests have changed a lot over the past six years and then in a way, they really haven’t changed much at all.  They have just developed more.  He is still into cars, trucks, balls, and Magnext.  His newest interest is badges and handcuffs.  He says he wants to be a cop someday. It is bedtime and I’m feeling a big nostaligic so I better get on to the deals.

I have explained many times before about purchasing birthday and Christmas items throughout the year. Target is known to clearance their toys after Christmas (usually in January) and then in the summer (usually in July). There are some good clearance items other times of the year too. You just have to catch them at the right times.

When Target has their toys on clearance I usually take the opportunity to purchase things that I know my kids will like. I put them away for the next birthday or Christmas and this saves a lot of money.

Magnext magnet set – reg $19.99, $9.98 clearance

G.I. Joe R.H.I.N.O. vehicle – reg $49.99, $12.48 clearance

Air Hogs Moto Frenzy – reg $24.99, $6.24 clearance

Cherokee leather blue and orange shoes – reg $17.99, $4.48 clearance

Door hanger kit – reg $3.99, $.98 clearance

Animal adventure sticker book – $1.00 from Target dollar section

Color Wonder soft sticks – $1??
Everything I purchased came from Target except for the Color Wonder sticks.

At regular prices this would have cost around $122-$125 but I paid about $36. As you can see, shopping throughout the year saves a lot of money.

What deals have you found lately?

Image (c) Karen Weideman.

Today’s Yard Sale Bargains 4/9/11

I’m always interested in a good deal, especially on children’s clothing and toys. Yard sales are the place to find those. As children outgrow their things, parents are ready to make room for the new birthday and Christmas presents.

Each year there is a neighborhood yard sale in my area.  Today the kids and I headed out for some bargain hunting. I’m not mistaken, I purchased this Mongoose bicycle at my first stop. At only $15 this was a great buy. Cuddlebug is pretty happy about it too.

Sorry for the poor quality picture. I know it’s hard to see everything here but there is a lot of stuff. I won’t list everything but here are some of the things I got: 2 dvds, 3 cds, long summer shorts for Alligator Girl, bag of Polly Pocket stuff, backpack, books, scarves, Crocs, toys for my classroom, bags of small toys (that I will use for my classroom prize box), 2 LeapFrog singing phonic sets, toy push cars, and so much more.

Today I spent $49.15.  I got lots of things for my children and for my classroom.

Have you been to any good yard sales lately?

Big Book Sale at Ollie’s

If you have an Ollie’s Bargain Outlet nearby, then you might want to check out their books.  Right now they are having 75% off books with a green sticker.  I spent some time tonight browsing through their books and picked up some terrific deals.  I wish I would have had more time. 

 

Here’s a picture of all of the books I purchased. I also got a Baby Genius video about the seasons. I thought this would be great for my preschool class.  As you can see, most of the books I purchased are hardback books.  Most of them retail for $16 or more.  I did purchase a few books that were not 75% off but they were still a deal.

All of the books I purchased would have cost over $200 at retail price.  I only paid about $14 for them.  That’s a savings of about 93%. 

Have you ever shopped at Ollie’s?

Loving the End of Summer Sales!

I am loving these end of summer sales. They are the best time to stock up on seasonal summer clothes for the whole family. 

I have found nice dress sandals for work for $12-20 per pair.  I also bought my daughter some shorts, shorts, and bathing suits.  Many of them were at least 75% off.  During a recent shopping trip, I found five bathing suits for myself and only paid $17 for all of them! 

You don’t have to pay full price for clothing.  If you shop clearance sales, you can pay less for name brand clothing than you would for a poorer quality product.

Do you shop end of season sales?

image sxc.hu

Money Saving Tip: Always Compare Prices

When shopping for groceries, normally you would think that store brand groceries would be a lot less expensive.  This is not always the case.  It is always important to compare prices and I’ll show you why.

 The White House brand 6-pack of applesauce is $1.76.

The Wal-Mart or Great Value brand 6-pack of applesauce is $1.92.  That’s about 8% more than a major leading brand.

Here we have some examples of yogurt.

The Dannon 32 oz container of yogurt is $1.96.

The Yoplait 32 oz container of yogurt is $2.14.

And the 32 oz container of Wal-Mart yogurt is $2.28, which more than any of the other two leading brands! 

Many people assume that the generic/store brand will be less expensive than other brands and so they automatically grab the store brand products.  As you can see here, store brands are not always cheaper.  And I have to tell you folks, these are just two examples.  I have seen many other products done this way. 

If you’re a coupon user, you can get the leading brands for even less money when you use your coupons.  I frequently receive coupons for $.50 off the large Yoplait yogurt.  You can’t get coupons for store brands, which means there’s even less savings.

Today a friend of mine posted a facebook link to this story, Wal-Mart Quietly Raises Prices.  Honestly, I had originally planned to title this article, “Watch for Rising Prices at Walmart” but decided to make this more of a money saving tip about comparing prices, no matter where you shop.  I will say though that I have done less and less grocery shopping at Wal-Mart during the past year.  It is so much cheaper for me to shop the grocery store sales for items that our family frequently uses.  I also try to stock up during triple coupon and super double coupon sales. 

Have you found store brands to be more expensive than other brands?

Today’s Yard Sale Bargains 4/10/10

Today I went out to some yard sales all by myself! There was a community yard sale going on so I got breakfast for the kids and headed out the door. About 1 1/2 hours later I returned with these treasures.

snow boots $.50
gloves $1
baseball glove, Etch-a-Sketch, assorted figures $3

Build a Bear stuffed animal, assorted clothing with bucket $2
VeggieTales dvd $1

Children’s Place collared shirt $1
Old Navy football sweatshirt $.50
long sleeved hoodie t-shirt $.50
undershirt $.25
long sleeved dress shirt $1
beanie baby $.50
stuffed dog $1
Discovery coin counting bank $.50
8 figures @ $.25 each = $2

girls’ jeans $1.25
boys OshKosh jeans $1
3 pairs boys’ shorts $.75 each = $2.25
boys’ long sleeved t-shirt $1
Gap hoodie sweatshirt  $1
Build a Bear magnetic dress up set $1
bead set $1
Judie Bloom chapter book $.25
snoopy notebook $.10

New bread machine $8

I’m excited about my deals.  All together I spent about $33.50.  It’s helpful to find nice clothing for the kids at great prices.  I’ve been wanting a bread machine for a while.  This one was new in the box with instructions.  I’m anxious to try some homemade bread.

Have you been to any yard sales lately?