what can YOU get for 20 bucks??

Lately I've been on a mission (even more than "normal") to save money. To me, it doesn't matter if you're making a six-figure income or scraping pennies together just to buy milk. It makes no sense to me to waste money when you don't have to, especially when it comes to things like food, cleaning supplies, etc.

And just a warning ~ if you're not interested in saving money, coupon clipping or any of that nonsense then you'll probably want to skip this post!

Now, I've been a clearance rack shopper for years. I very rarely spend more than $5 on an item of clothing for my kids. Exceptions to that "rule" would be jeans (but I usually find those on sale at Target for $7-10), dresses (again, usually don't spend more than $10) & holiday clothing. But even for the exceptions, I still try to find this stuff on sale instead of paying full price.

Now, when you shop the clearance racks you need to be willing to accept the fact that you don't have as much of a selection of items. And living in the south where we can wear short-sleeved shirts the majority of the year I can buy clothes for the following year. For example, when summer rolled around I didn't have to buy my daughter any clothes because I had already purchased enough on clearance at the end of the summer last year. My theory is this ~ I'm not going to spend tons of money on designer labels for my kids right now because 1) they don't care, and 2) there will be plenty of time for that when they hit middle school & high school. Plus, they grow out of stuff too fast to be spending that kind of money.

So check out what I found at Target (GREAT clearance racks by the way...I wait til stuff is at least 50% off)

The 2 dresses were reg price (9.99) and I got 3 pair of stretch pants on clearance for $3.48 each. One pair is a size too big for my daughter for next year (or if she keeps growing the way she has they'll be for later this year!)

Total cost: $30.42
$5 off $20 Target coupon -5.00
Total spent: 25.42
(for 5 pcs of clothing = $5 each)

And believe me, that's nothing. I usually get much better deals! But my daughter really likes these dresses and she can basically wear them all year (with the stretch pants and a sweater in the winter).

By the way, I just discovered that these dresses are on clearance at www.target.com and they have free shipping if you spend $50. I'll be stocking up for next year!

*************************************************************************************
I've recently been following Coupon Clippin' Mama and she gives links to some great deals/offers/coupons. By the way, did you know that you can use a Target coupon and a manufacturer coupon per item at Target?? I didn't either. As long as the coupon doesn't state that you can't. So you can pick up some super deals. Found that from clicking on a link on her blog. I can't tell you how many freebies I've signed up to get just in the last week.

Check out what I got for $20.83 (pre-tax) at Target the other day:

If you count, that's 17 items! Here are some of the deals I got:

409 reg price $2.94
sale 1.99
coupon -1.00
.99 each

Wet Ones reg price $2.14
sale 1.99
coupon -1.00
.99 each

Colgate reg price $3.69
sale 2.99
Target coupon -1.00
coupon -.75
1.24 each

Fruit Gushers reg price $2.04
sale 1.75
coupon -.25 (.50 off 2)
Target coupon -.50
1.00 each

And that's just some of the deals. I'm sure once my coupon reserves have built up I can get even more deals. And several items have box tops on them which our school collects so that's an added bonus. I also bought 2 boxes of Nutrigrain bars on sale for 2.39 each and got a free gallon of milk ($3.09 savings). As you can see, if you buy on sale with a Target coupon and a manufacturer coupon you can really save some $$$. Or if your grocery store does buy one get one free and doubles coupons you can save a lot of money that way. We have Publix by me and they do that a lot.

Here's some great links that I've found (most thanks to Coupon Clippin' Mama ~ thanks!)

www.coupons.com

Attention Target Shoppers

Redplum

Krazy Coupon Lady

i heart Publix

Home Solutions

Happy coupon clippin' people!!