A MUST READ

Okay, so this is my take on the shopping season.  This year is unlike any other.  The current economy has taken it's toll on retailers, and as "Black Friday" implies it's the day that gets the books in the black --out of the red--- This year, retailers don't want to depend so heavily on just one day... because one day might not cut it.

It leaked that Kmart got the bright idea to run alot of sales now, trying to expand that consumer shopping time.  Makes perfect sense, I -as a consumer- am more likely to spend more November through December than just November 27th alone.  Well, other companies got wind of this and decided to do the same thing.  Smart really.  I've heard it been said that Black Friday might not be what it once was, "One Day Incredible Sales."  Years to come, we'll see.

For now, I encourage that if you're in the market and you see a great deal.... do not haste.  I don't!  Buy now, put in a bag, under the bed, with the receipt, if something better comes in the next few short weeks... I'll return it!  No what if's or I should haves.  Etc etc. 

Electronics right now are insanely crazy.  If you're in the market, start looking.  Yesterday, I found portable DVD players- my mom wants one and my good friend does too.  So I put some on hold.  There's a lesson here.  This was part of the email I got back from my friend:

"yes I got them!!! And I took my sister...she bought 2 and we also bought another one for my other sister! The lady at customer service was AWESOME!!! She actually gave us 30%!! We got 5(3*8' inch & 2*7' inch) portable dvd players for $186 and saved over $600! But guess what? Thanks to you I got 2 of the last 3 8'' dvd players! (my sister got the last one on the shelf).Your the best Nicole!! THANK YOU!"

Follow this deal, KOHL'S 8 inch portable dvd players regularly $169.99.  Clearanced for $69.99, with an additional 25% off all clearanced merchandise that day.  And I had a 15% off total purchase I used also to buy my mom's.  But my wise and clever friend here, talked her way from 15 into 30% off total purchase.  Talk people, if it's an extra 15% that's going to seal the deal for the retailer, they're going to want to do it.  Always try to talk your way into a "good customer/one time discount."  In this case, it saved her a good chunk of change.

Now, for me as I mentioned in a previous post.  This year we want a Blu Ray.  We bought one last year but I ended up returning it because it was an impulse buy.  And we'd already spent $800 on Black Friday stuff, and we really didn't need a Blu Ray.  Since then, our family dvd/speaker set has died.  So this year we really do need one... last year's "great price" was $270.  Just right now, on Target's weekly ad.... $99.  Snap, you know where I'll be tomorrow. 

So, lessons learned:
1.  Black Friday deals are all around us don't be waiting for the one day... buy, save receipt, go from there.
2.  Try to talk your way into an additional discount, haggling is alive and well!
3.  ACT FAST on the specifics you want --like toys-- you can always return but you can't go back in time to get the better deal.  You know all the toys I bought last week for my girls' Christmas.  Not on sale anymore.  If I'd do the exact same thing, this week with those Target coupons, I'd spend $35 more.... considering I only spent $60 to begin with, $35 is 58% more.

Do you're homework, do your preparations to be ready to pounce on sales of stuff you need.  I never have buyer's remorse... and I never buy anything that I know I can't bring back in 2 weeks (unopened, untouched, with receipt of course)
~Tis the Season for Happy Saving :)

Christmas... is D*O*N*E!!!

Let me preface.  I love Christmas.  Love it!  Love the decorating, love the baking, love the music, love everything.  Enter 3 adorable little munchkin girls, and who doesn't love watching their kids get spoiled by Santa.

Last year, presents galore.  Insane, stuff bought 3 months ahead of time... wrapping took the elf nearly 2 hours... while the other elf had to assemble gifts Christmas Eve.  As the girls were opening presents, they were so excited everything was so fun.  Two hours later, we're still opening presents.  Kylie finally said, "Are we done?  I'm hungry, are we going to a movie like on Thanksgiving?"

So I realized, I overload.  I do too much, my heart's in a good place but it's a bad tradition to start.  Sooner end it now, learn the real meaning of Christmas and less relying on gobs and gobs of presents.... toys that end up breaking and going out in spring cleaning.

So I said, "Self... let's play a little game.  We coupon, and we coupon well.  Let's see what we can do in terms of Christmas.  I bet you can do something amazing."  So I accepted my self's challenge.  And now I say, "Task complete."

(sorry, there's a bit of a glare from our bedroom window)

Item Rundown:

Magic Reveal Oven, 2 Magic Reveal oven accessory packages, Easy Bake Oven, Disney Princess tub of 6 games, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse tub of 6 games, Leapfrog My Puppy Violet Pal, Leapfrog Alphabet Pal, Little People Discovery Airport (which ps- is on amazon right now for $57.99...insane), Connect 4 Game.

It is so nice for 2 reasons.  #1 All my Christmas shopping for my 3 girls is DONE!  These are plenty of toys, everyone will be happy.  I just need small little stocking stuffers, nothing major left.  And I refuse to continue to buy, all is done.  DONE.  Reason #2 my total prior to sales and coupons was $195.91.  My total out of pocket with all 3 transactions, including coupons and "spend 100 save 10" etc etc... was $59.91.  I saved $140.

*I spent $60 on all 3 daughters.  $20 each kid.  10 different little gifts, which let's face it... by day 2 they'll all be playing with eachother's gifts anyways... who's is who will go out the window... $60.  SWEET!  And do I really need to spend $200 for it to be Christmas?  I don't think so... not when I can spend $60. :)

I offer up the challenge to you.  Find manufacturing coupons, find store issued coupons, SEARCH EBAY for coupons (so all about that!)... and pounce on a sale.  Keep the receipt in case you find it cheaper.  And, try not to go too Black Friday crazy.  I always do :)  but not this year on toys.  My Black Friday will be Blu Ray Player and dvds.

Happy Saving!!!

RX Update

I was really pleased with myself yesterday.  With the cold weather coming in, the need for medicine is highly increasing!!  Yesterday I was in need of 5 different meds.  Three of which, I already had on hand because of my wild CVS coupon shopping.  Go me! (tylenol, motrin, benedryl... usual kid staples).  But I needed 2 prescriptions, and I had coupons... so I filled the them and had a profit of $30! (FYI: usually pharmacies accept other pharmacy's coupons, so I try to grab as many as I can and keep them on hand.  you never know when you'll need them!)

Book Update

I anticipate the first copy of my book going to publishing around Thanksgiving.  Although, this is just step 1 for editing purposes.  With a little luck, maybe the public will be seeing prints out by Christmas/New Years.... depending on how long the editing process takes and how much I may or may not need to revamp.  EXCITED! 

SAVE SAVE SAVE

I'm long-winded by nature, I have a point, I'll get to it at the end.

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So I realized something... you have a baby and you accumulate a ton of stuff. Then you get pregnant again, and if that pregnancy's a different gender... you probably go through your ton of stuff-- donate a little, buy some new stuff. Then you get pregnant again, and depending on gender again, you donate a little, buy a little.

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So that's the normal person's method. Yes, not me. I've never really gone through my stuff. Occasionally, the nasty spit-up stained onesie I'd throw away. The torn knee jean I'd toss. But I've clutched onto the "well, she can wear it eventually" or "it will just pass down" motto and never done a great big sweep through. So my girls have a TON of clothes, and they're closets are insane. Insane I tell you!!!!! I've been tackling them all week long, dedicating hours and hours. And I learned something. Here I thought I was being "financially smart" by keeping all my girls clothes because I have 3 girls, and let's face it... baby #4 could be a girl. (NOT PREGNANT, just saying) But really, I wasn't being financially smart because the stuff just overloaded closets, drawers, bins, I had no clue what I had.

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So enormous donations to friends who have girls-multiple girls, because let's face it, I have multiples of outfits (bags and bins literally fell out as I opened the car door), 4 massive drop offs this past week to DI, and major organization... I feel super better. I decided what to pass down, what not to pass down. I even found shirts still with tags on them from Kohls, that I brought back and got $$$ back for them.

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However, I realized there were certain things I was in dire need of. Socks/tights/ undershirts/underwear, I refuse to pass these things down. No judgement if you do. I just can't. I realized I had no current shoes for Kylie that are closed toed (in my defense, we wear flip flops like 8 months out of the year... those I have tons of), all are sizes I'm anticipating her to grow into. Great job to me in being prepared, but we need stuff now. I also realized that I have NO fall/winter dresses for Kadyn. All her dresses are summer and Christmas. None much less matching her sisters. This is no good at all. So major shopping later at Kohls (4 hours) and a 30% off discount coupon and a merchandise credit:

I saved nearly $400, and I got a lot of stuff... including Wii games for $10. Madden '09, my husband was elated! Lots of fall/winter matching dresses for all girls... way cute! Granted it's $400 saved from the full price, which I'd never spend anyways... but in everything you do, everything you HAVE to buy, figure out a way to SAVE SAVE SAVE.

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Also this past week was Gymbuck redemption time.... family photo to come of the outfits I bought. My original total was $261, after all sale prices. But with my gymbucks, $10 gift card, 5% off Gymboree discount, my total was $102. More than half off for GOOD QUALITY stuff, Gymboree is about the only thing that will survive multiple sibling pass downs. Target/Wal-mart may be cheaper, but they only survive after so many washings. And Gymboree stuff is soooo stinking cute!!!!!

Granted, I just got rid of a lot of clothes, we don't desperately need clothes... no one's going to go naked. But it's my indulgence, and I'm going to do it anyway... so I might as well find a way to:

SAVE SAVE SAVE !!!

Still here :)

I'm still here... I did fun shopping Saturday night. It was a relief to just put it all away than set it up for a photo shoot. Although I miss not seeing EVERYTHING I bought together. It makes the impact greater.

However, I spent $8 out of pocket, saved $252, and have $17 in ecb. I actually hit CVS again Monday morning for a quick card scan, I love that there's one on every corner!!!

So I'm driving along, I see my good friend who I taught my CVSing ways (she's pretty awesome at it, and I'm so proud of her, her license plate is right: Tate is Great!). Beep beep, wave wave, hi how are you through our car windows, I'll call you this afternoon type of thing:) I get into CVS, I see 2 more fun gals who I've taught CVSing. It's everywhere, YAY! You rock ladies. I LOVE getting happy phone calls, "I bought backpacks for $.99! I stocked up on school supplies for $.09. Deals are out there, are you looking??? We're all just trying to save to send our kids to college, right?!?! Happy Saving everyone.

Exhausted

I'm slightly exhausted. As any mom, I'm super busy running from one thing to the next. And while I have daily demands that I can't and don't want to escape, I feel like I've put some demands on myself and regular committements that are just too taxing. And as I've decluttered and cleaned my house, I'm now looking at my time allocation. I'm very good at keeping up with my house and my cleaning, but my time can be put to better use. I'm never going to finish my book if I'm wasting my time, I'll always need to call my publisher... ask for his kindness and get an extention. I need to make daily committments to my writing, and some useless things are going to need to be shaved out of my life.

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Week after week, I post my couponing pictures. I'm so sorry, I know how a lot of you look forward to it. But posting it is just one more thing to do, that kinda doesn't matter :( And I think you all get it... I coupon. It takes time to instead of unpack my shopping bags (or make my husband do it), set all the stuff up in picture form and then post the details regularly... not alot of time, but over the weeks, maybe it's a waste of time. And I do send out my weekly shopping plan to you all-- after I figure it out, and that takes up a lot of time too. Answering emails, it's a lot. Time that might be better spent doing other things, and getting where I need to on my book. I'm tired of just talking about my book and anticipating it, while the days and days go by...

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I'm sorry to all of you who have contacted me saying such nice things and how my blog is your favorite to frequent and you're there all the time. I see that on my analytics, and thank you! But just anticipate my book that much sooner! I'm doing this "declutter" plan on my life in general to make more time for things that matter and less time on fluff... this is just how it's going to impact my finance blog and all of you.

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None the less, I soooooo appreciate your time to check out my life. But I'm not "The Coupon Lady," I'm The Finance Lady. Couponing's a small bit of my life... and I'll be continuing my weekly shopping trips-- you can count on that--- just not posting them. I'm still going to be around, don't lose touch too much. I'll do little monthly savings updates, and continue to post book updates on my blog. But for now, I really want to get my book finished so it can go off to editing and then off to publishing! :) Then, I can make my way around for marketing... maybe I'll be in your closest, most favorite bookstore!!! Until then friends, Happy Saving!

I'm Getting Excited

I'm all about a good deal. I'm all about saving money, but let's face it... my big hang-up is CLOTHES. I grew up on the East Coast... we get our nails done and shop... none of this camping business :) And I am blessed with 3 little girls, and we shop shop shop!

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I get so excited when it's close to redeeming your GymBucks. First off, yes Gymboree is more expensive. But the quality is awesome, and let's face it... it's VERY hard to find size 8, 4, and 24 months all in the same outfit! (yes my 5 year old is in an 8, she's tall and I have to hem the waist.). But Gymboree can be the right choice when you're buying out of season on their clearance stuff, when you have a discount % off, when you use your Gymboree Visa for another 5% off, and when you can keep the clothes because they are good quality. AND I've got $100 in GymBucks calling my name next week.

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Shall we bust out into song, maybe straight from Saved by the Bell in a Jesse Spano voice....

"I'm SOOO EXCITED!"

Another CVS Trip

Oh yes, I can't stay away... I had great motivation last week to organize closets and cabinets. I really started to think that I should limit my shopping excursions, but it just left a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I want to stockpile, I want to be prepared, and so what if I have alot. I may be in a situation where I'm asked to share, and I gladly will :) And we are fortunate to have alot of storage and cabinets in this house, I just wasn't making the most use out of them...

So, 4 hours later... I'd cleaned through cabinets and shelving, I organized closets- going through boxes I hadn't touched since we moved into this house (hi 2 years ago). And when there's a will, there's a way!!!

Plenty of storage for my shopping excurions!!!

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$3.64 total out of pocket

$4 ecb gained from last week to this week

(bringing my total to $16 to start me off next week)

$138.89 Saved

Item Rundown: 4 12-packs of Pepsi, 6-pack of Slimfast, 3 Listerines, 2 Colgates, 2 Crests, 3 Suave Body Washes, 2 Nail Polishes, 2 Snickers, 2 Gums, 3 bags of Pretzels, 2 Chips Ahoy packages, 1 Oreo package, 2 boxes of 8 Rice Krispie Treats, 2 4-pack Snack Packs, 4 Campbell Soup at Hands, 2 Jifs, 1 OJ, 1 8-count PB crackers, 1 Velveeta mac & cheese, 4 Air Wick refills.

Little Ol' Me

I was checking out the analytics from my blog, seeing how many people come. I was shocked. I've got activity from all the states.... even from different countries! Hey, France... Hong Kong, how are you?!?

I'm completely shocked at the popularity of The Finance Lady. I thought it was just some friends who liked seeing what crazy shopping I was up to. But, it's escalated. I googled me, I came up 2nd... that's crazy! Seriously, I haven't been on Good Morning America or anything... so it's all been word of mouth or word of email. So thank you! :)

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I began my finance blog as advice- suggestions about how to manage your money. I realized not everyone knew the "rules," that I learned from my parents. I started writing and saving really long blog posts and my husband was like no way. You've got to write a book, those are gems.

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So with that... Welcome to the people I don't even know! I'm glad you're here. Small introduction: I'm a housewife, a homemaker, a mom of 3 girls (5, 3, 1). I graduated from BYU in 2003 with a degree in Economics. I love love love getting the most "utility" (happiness) from the least amount of "resources" (money). My husband works very hard so I don't have to work, which I'm grateful for... but sometimes I miss the brain stimulation and the challenges that come with the world outside of the home :) Which is why I started my couponing games. I've created this little weekly challenge for myself, which I post for you to see.

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Ultimately, my finance blog has now become a promotion website for my book. GASP, in what little spare time I have, I'm writing a 19 chapter book. On this blog however, you get to know me, you see how my brain works through my couponing escapades, you see my deals and savings, and you think that I might know something you don't know. And you get interested. Maybe one of these days I'll finish my book (seriously, I will... not today or tomorrow, but soon), and you'll want to read it.

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The Finance Lady book is not all about coupons, surprise surprise. :) There are SO many things you should be doing, that maybe you aren't or didn't even know you should be doing that can save you money. In fact, one of my good friends and I were chatting it up about car insurance because she had a minor fender bender. And I gave her a little tidbit of advice, because I'm not trying to be all "everyone listen to this, I know all" type of thing. So I usually keep stuff to myself, unless it comes up in conversation. So I tell her some stuff, and not 24 hours later she's saved over $1000 a year on car insurance. ---(I should clarify that our county has the 3rd highest car insurances rates in the nation, so you may not even be paying $1000 a year for yours, but our county is very very high) Oh and by the way back to my friend's savings, BETTER coverage than she previously had. Better. No downgrading. Now she knows a little tidbit that she'll never, ever forget. That's what my book's about. And I might include a section on couponing. On the right is my alter ego's email...feel free to email to get updates or hop on the waiting list.

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But for now, welcome to The Finance Lady's Blog, I'm glad you're here, and Happy Saving.

Stack it with Sales

I love taking a coupon and working it to the max! Example: smart coupon stacking= manufacturing coupon, store specific coupon (in this case, Target), and weekly sale discounts.

I can't buy everything at CVS, so this isn't my typical WOW. Let's face it Target doesn't have ecb that pay me, however this took minimal effort. This didn't take anywhere near the effort I put into my CVS weekly transactions. You get what you put into it, but I was still pleased with my purchases. And if I give my girls pancakes before school, I feel like a better mom because I "made" something. :)

Total Regular Price: $25.82 (yikes!)

Paid in Man. Coupons: $7.00

Paid in Target Coupons: $5.00

Saved in Sales: $5.58

Paid out of Pocket: $8.24*

*I know, high for me... but still good deals, and again it took me about 3 minutes to pull together... compared to the 2 hours I do for CVS. Have I ever mentioned that before? Yeah, those preparations are much much longer.

Item Rundown: 6 Ragu's, 2 Wishbone Salad dressings, 4 Eggo Pancake Waffles.

Let it be Known...

... that we are prepared! My goodness, today while I was trying to put my stuff away I realized the magnitude. I mean you see my stuff on my kitchen island, week after week after week.. But my poor shelves and cabinets are busting at the seams. Today's been a great day for food storage with some good case lot deals at Smith's (just because it's a case lot doesn't guarantee a good deal, know your prices!). And now today with my CVS Run. We have food storage, home storage... you name it, I got it! It's even to the point of name what mouthwash you like-- brand and color... and I've got it! I almost want to live off our stuff just to see how long we can go. (thinking out loud: if the only thing I was allowed to buy was milk, bread, eggs, and toilet paper---which we have a lot of, but only about a 9 month supply--- on a regular basis... and if we used our storage for EVERYTHING else... we could make it 3 to 4 years easy. Yes, I said years. Not months. And it's really a good feeling!)

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But shopping's too fun to stop, so my shelves will have to survive... or maybe I need some better organizing (anyone want to help? I'll give you a year supply of toothpaste, deodorant and shampoo! hehe. That stuff I have about an 8 year supply of).... SO

I got a 20% off in the mail this week... random! Never seen or heard of that before. Apparently, I'm a valued customer. Ya think?! :) So it said on the coupon that the 20% was to be taken prior to coupons, well perfect! So I went a little crazy. A lot crazy.

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$2.04 total prior to tax

$15.63 total out of pocket (dang that 8.1% NV tax rate!)

$344.72 total saved

Item Rundown: 1 OJ, 5 boxes of Tissues, 3 Air Wick Refills, 3 Air Wick Freshmatics, 6 boxes of Ziplocks, 1 Trash bag, 1 4 pack Charmin, 2 boxes of Lucky Charms, 3 216-count Huggies wipes, 1 Scrubbing Bubbles, 1 Windex, 1 Huggies flushable wipes, 2 Glade sprays, 1 Swiffer Sweeper dry, 1 Swiffer Sweeper wet, 2 Glade candles, 1 Scrubbing bubbles toilet gel..... next picture...

Item Rundown: 4 things of diapers, 4 bags of Brach's candy corn, 3 bags of Dove chocolate, 3 Tridents, 1 4-pack Charmin, 1 8-count Scott Papertowels, 1 Huggies 216 count, 1 box of Huggies 84 count, 1 bag Almonds, 3 Suave Kid's Shampoos, 2 Kid's Colgate, 3 packs of batteries, 2 secrets, 1 Aussie conditioner.

~It was some fun craziness!!!

Quick Medicine Run

Well, I'm feeling a little better... but Baby Kadyn's sick. Poor thing was up for 3 hours last night throwing up. So, I ran today to get more Pedialyte... somehow I passed the clearance section. I only stopped for 5 minutes.

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Target Clearance + Coupons = FREE

And I paid the tax of $1.26. Somebody's gotta pay Uncle Sam, it might as well be me... since I'm not paying for the items themselves :)

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Rule of Thumb: Your coupons do you no good if they are at home! You must have them with you when you hit the crazy clearances at Target. And there's no rhyme or reason to the clearances, sometimes they're hot sometimes they're not. And what's one price at one Target can be completely different at another Target. You just have to be ready... PS~ They're hot now at the one on Decatur and 215.

$1.26 total out of my pocket.

$30.48 in coupons.
$32.42 Savings from clearances (see all those red tags!!!)

Total Savings: $62.90

Item Rundown: 2 boxes Milkbone dog treats, 4 packs of 4 Olay soap bars (16 total), 5 double packs of Olay body wash (10 total), 2 packs of 4 Oral B toothbrushes (8 total), 2 Loreal Mascaras. (I did get Pedialyte, but that was the full $6 price which is completely fine!)

Summer Sales

So I'm a huge fan of shopping at the end of the season to prepare for next season- clothes, holiday decorations (how do you think I got 6 Christmas trees!??), etc etc.

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So kudos to my Momma! I've taught her well. She jokes and says this is the reason she sent me to college, now she's making her money back! Check out her recent spending on summer items: 8 nice chairs for by the pool (the day before they were $29.99, then the next day $2.99), kites, goggles, chalk, all sorts of summer clearanced items...

It must be the end of the roll of receipt paper, so it might be hard to see. She spent $1.45 total out of pocket, saved nearly $300.00 using store issued coupons since the chairs and stuff were the store namebrand. And she used some ecb to pay for the rest. I wasn't even with her, she did it all on her own! GO MOM!

Saturday Afternoon CVS Trip

Total out of pocket: $2.90

ECB earned for next week: $27

Total Saved: $176.24 Item Rundown: 1 OJ, 3 boxes of Graham Crackers, 1 box of cookies, 4 Tide Stain Releases, 2 Bounce Dryer Bars, 4 Scopes, 5 boxes of Nabisco cracker/cookie stuff, 3 Trident gums, 1 Poise, 2 Welch's Grape Jelly, 1 Johnson's Body Wash, 1 Schick disp. razors, 1 Glade scented oil thing, 2 Cover Girl pressed powder, 1 Enfamil, 4 Libby's canned veggies, 3 Progresso soups, 2 Hannah Montana toothpastes and toothbrushes.

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I'm excited because they're clearancing their summer stuff soon (I marked it on my calendar, I'll be there with bells on first thing that morning)--- outdoor and pool stuff here I come! It's going 90% off very soon... it's nice to be in the know. :)