Headaches and More Fun

Ugh.  My migraine has subsided, so I'll try to update now. :)

I'm not going to recap my Target trip from Saturday morning because it's not really that exciting, it was mainly things we needed (carpet cleaner, Band-Aids, fruit, bread, etc), no fabulous deals.

I will show you the cute things I got at Hallmark, though.  My local store has their clearance marked down to 75% off, and I was in desperate need of gift coverings of some sort that weren't for Valentine's Day.

Isn't that elephant gift box so cute?  Luckily I have somewhere to store all this, as I have no one in particular to give a gift to in that box until our friends' baby's first birthday next year.  What can I say?  I like to be prepared!  I've had some of this years' Christmas presents since Dec 26 of last year.  Where to store them?  Pack them up with your Christmas decorations.  They'll be ready and out of the way.

I have the perfect friend to give this bag to!  The ribbon and shred paper will be used with my wonderful cupcakes and cookies that I apparently plan to make up.  Oh, I'm such an optimist!  I probably should start baking now so I can have it down by Christmas.  Haha.

In total, I spent about $7 on my whole Hallmark purchase.

 

Speaking of Christmas, Jimmy has informed me he thinks he broke our Christmas tree putting it in storage last year.  I told him that was fine, I'll let him know where the best deal on the prettiest tree is for him to get up at the crack of dawn on Black Friday!  Let me tell you about the nightmare of buying it in the first place.  Sears had a pretty tree on sale a few years ago for $99 on Black Friday.  They had a $10 off coupon, too, so I was all set to buy an $89 tree.  I want to say they were opening at 4 am, but I believe when I was discussing what time to get up with my right hand man, er Mom, her exact words were, "4 am?  How many people do you really think are going to be up buying a Christmas tree at 4 am?"  Apparently, a lot.  We did compromise and go at 5 am.  I got the little tear card, paid for my tree, and we went and got in the pickup line.  We were about 6 people from the front (after about an hour in line), and they informed the people who had purchased the exact same tree that they had no more.  Whomever was in charge did not put out only enough slips for the trees they had, and Sears' inventory system apparently leaves a lot to be desired.  By then there were 4 or 5 of us who had purchased non-existent trees.  After a lot of back and forth, one manager said they would give the same discount percentage off any other tree, and another said they'd sell any other tree for the same amount.  So I ended up with a gorgeous 8 foot tall prelit tree for $89.  (It was originally around $350.)

I say Jimmy gets to go this time mainly because we didn't consider how we were getting this thing home.  A kind man in the Sears parking lot offered to load it into our car.  Then we barely got it into the house, and then it stayed downstairs until my Dad (Jimmy was in the military at the time so out of town) carried it upstairs.  I say we barely got it into the house because my mom kept laughing at my dog Daisy, who was poking her head out of the bedroom blinds.  And we may have been a little delirious from being up that early and spending almost 2 hours in Sears. :)  Anyway, even with both of us, it took a few minutes to get a huge 80 pound box in from the car to the foyer.

But I digress.  I then went to Rite Aid.  Not a good idea to go shopping when not 100% as I've mentioned before, and today was another example of this.  My RA Video Values coupon was for $5 off $25, my total was $19.  How I was that far off is beyond me, but I threw some things in the buggy.  I needed chips, of course, and I needed a Gatorade.  Note the caramels are for another cooking project I have on my to-do list.  Oh but that will be an interesting post once I step in the kitchen.

 Sorry for the reflection off the stove, it must be too clean.  Haha!  In total, after all my coupons and Up Rewards, I spent $12 out of pocket.  Not fabulous, but considering the normal RA price alone on 8 roll Viva is $12.99, it's not too bad.  I'm just too spoiled and expect to pay pennies on the dollar for everything all the time.  I have to realize that regardless it's a $30 savings, so I did do really well.  Plus, I truly did need paper towels and I don't think you can ever have too much tp!

Until next time... :)