Wrong mall but great shopping!

  Writing this post, I can't even tell you why I went to the mall with my daughter last week. Ohh,...I just remembered...she was looking for a store that sold those crocheted hats ....wrong mall. The mistake we made was we went through Belk to get into the mall area and they were having an additional 50% off sale on items already marked down in CLEARANCE!

 



   Well, you know the hunt was on and the heart was pumping! Unfortunately, for my daughter she had to witness her mother acting like a kid in a candy store. I think she laughed at me a few times.  I was wining, because I knew some of the things I wanted to buy I did not need...but the great prices was calling me.   So, Mama brought a few things..for the upcoming PTO meetings (wink) (.......)

Goodwill Non-Buying Remorse

Local Goodwill, Charlotte, NC

     So, I may be the only person in my family that stops by the Goodwill store on a regular.  Sometimes, I brag to them about the items I found at Goodwill, especially if they compliment it!  I don't know how the items in Goodwill are priced, but I think they are starting to get a little high.  I always go there with the mind set of turning trash into treasure, but sometimes they have it priced as treasure. 
    
     The cause of the higher prices might be the popularity thrift stores are getting from shows like the Nate Berkus show.  One Blogger that appeared on The Nate Berkus Show, Mr. Goodwill Hunting, does amazing transformations of items he finds in thrift stores and started a National "I Love Thrifting Day", where groups of people who love thrift stores get together and make a day of shopping their local thrift stores.  Sadly, I missed it this year, but looking forward to joining a group next year.

       I have to say, after reading some of the blogs dedicated to thrifting, I shop with a different eye than before. I can't buy everything I see...but I wanted to take pictures so I can write about the possibilities...

     This wood table below was $20.  I just love the wood detail and I think with a little sanding and painting it would make a great coffee table.....for someone...it is a little low for my family room furniture.  Hey, for $20 I would even paint it all black.....



$20 Coffee Table

    to look something like this (minus the drawer) ....

$599 at Macy's



It even opens!!!



     This table was also on wheels so it would of been easy to move out of the way on my hardwood floors. For $20, maybe I should of brought if for the project!  I did tear the tag off and walked around the store with it, until I was sure I was not going to get it.  I hate "Non-Buying Remourse"!  Do you ever get haunted by items you did not buy?

    



I need 37" inseam Jeans!

     Okay, I'm about to panic!  School starts in 2 weeks and my daughter has grown over the summer and I need jeans for her.
 



     This is not an easy task because I don't have $50-$100 to spend on each pair of jeans.  So in my hunt, I did a bing search for "women 37" inseam jeans" and came across a site called Tall Clothing Mall that provides links to other stores that sale 37" inseam jeans.  Okay, so I need to book mark this site because I am totally at a lost where to shop for my daughter.  Like any teenager, she is very picky about what she wears.  As I blogged in an earlier post, she loves skinny jeans! 

    

     So anyway, on Tall Clothing Mall I discovered Alloy, who sales jeans from size 0-27 and inseams up to 37".  It just so happens they were having a 20% off sale on their jeans and advertising a 20% off coupon code!  A little disappointed, I could not find any jeans in the clearance section, but the extra 20% off saved me $30.50.  So, tonight I ordered 6 pair of jeans ranging from $23.50 to $31.00.  Not too bad, at least she will have enough jeans to make it through one week of school!

     I'm going to continue my hunt and update you on how the jeans fit!  Did your kids grow a lot over the summer?  Comment below.

Clearance Sales Back At JCPenny!

    

    

     Just when I was ready to get my M.B.A. in the new JCPenny pricing of "fair and square", they are bringing back the clearance sales!  YEAH!! I'm so excited, because I didn't get it. 

    

     I really liked shopping at jcp prior to the change because they would send me text coupons for $10 off items.  I really did great there during Christmas combining my enny rewards with the sales.  I have to say, I haven't shopped there since the change....I didn't have the time to invest on how to make sure I was getting a good deal.  But today (....)

Is it shoe jealousy!

     If you could own a million dollar worth of shoes.....would you?  It's really hard to give a true answer when I'm clipping coupons to feed the family!  To be honest, if my family could afford it, I would have at a thousand dollars worth of shoes.

Beth Shak showing off her million dollar shoe collection on the TODAY show.

     Even now, I kind of judge how much to spend on shoes by how much money I carry in my purse.  If I don't and can't keep $100 cash in my purse then I definitely can't walk on $100.  However, (.....)

Boss Jennifer Lopez Collection at Kohls



Good Morning America Mon, Jul 16, 2012 12:00 PM EDT

     Jenny from the block now known as Ms. Jennifer Lopez is the "Boss" confirmed her boyfriend Beaur "Casper" Smart on Good Morning America.  Ms. Jennifer Lopez just keeps getting hotter and hotter.  Now that she is not on American Idol, she is going on tour in North America. 

     So, all this news about Jennifer Lopez lately made me want to check out her Collection exclusively sold at Kohls.  I tell you, she did not have a lot of items in the clearance section, only 9 garments!  I guess Ms. Lopez is the boss!  However, (....)

 

CVS: $.99 Cent Vitamins

 Another good week at CVS last week, I was able to work out a deal to get 3 bottles of vitamins for .99 cents each:

Nature Valley Mutlti Vitamin -$7.99 regular $10.99

CVS B-1 $3.99 BOGO

I had a $5 off any $10 vitamin purchase - CVS coupon

$4.00 extrabucks back for buying Nature Valley Vitamins

So total for 3 vitamins was $2.98

Other good deal was BOGO pony tail holder for $3.99 

I had a $2.00 off any hair accessory CVS coupon

 making them $1.00 a piece

Total saved on trip was $24.54

Out of Pocket $7.49

ExtraBucks $4.00

**Note, I forgot to get second free vitamins because the signs were taken down and the twins were yelling through the store...so I have to go back to get them.

Blackout Madness

     So last night, seemed like a normal Sunday night around the house.  My husband and oldest son was down stairs watching TV, I was up in the playroom on the computer while the twins were playing, and my daughter was in her room screaming over the phone as she watched the Teen Choice Awards....then...the house went black! (.....)

Back to School Saturday Deals: teenvogue.com

    Shopping with a teen daughter is HARD!  I have a thirteen year old daughter and I'm already getting my mind prepared to deal with back-to-school clothes shopping.  For some reason, I still have not learned to just keep my opinions to myself.  I need to learn to be craftier in suggesting a pair of paints or shirt.  My daughter wants all her jeans to be skinny jeans and shirts to be fitted.....  I guess if I was 6'1 and wore a size 5, I would want a wardrobe of skinny jeans too.....Anyway; I shall prepare myself again for battle! [....]

Dollar Stores equal dollars saved!

     Where to buy Jif Peanut butter?  I hate running out of peanut butter in the house, because I have to hear my husband speech about ..... how its a staple I should always make sure we have it.  Every time, I explain to him that I had 4 jars and I am waiting for the sale to come around again.  Once in while, I will see a coupon for Jif Peanut butter, but it is not on regular rotation like some brands.
   
     Well, I just read an article from Life Inc, a news website for msn.com, that I should be getting my Jif from the Dollar Store.  According to the article, Shop Smart Magazine (the publishers of Consumer Reports), sent out their secret shoppers to different dollar stores such as Dollar General and Family Dollar to compare prices to grocery stores and big box stores such as Target and Walmart.  According to the results,

ShopSmart found big savings – as much as 28 percent – on some brand-name products at the dollar stores when compared to supermarket prices. The best deals were on two-liter bottles of Coke, Lipton tea bags, Planters mixed nuts, Heinz ketchup and Jif peanut butter.


     I have to admit, I am a little surprised about this. I have not shopped in a Dollar store in over a year. I mostly stopped going because I use my coupons at supermarkets that will double the value of the coupon. Now, that fewer food coupons are being released, I may have to visit my local dollar stores to see if I can get these same savings. I am also surprised that Walmart and Target prices were also beat.

     But notice it says "some brands", because they noted that Coffee and Tide laundry detergent had the opposite savings pattern.  The article also noted to check expiration dates on perishables and medicine.  So, the lesson learned for me is, I need to put the Dollar stores into my rotation for  looking for savings.

     Do you shop at the dollar stores?  Have you found big savings?

Big Foot - Wordless Wednesday



    Caught coming out of the closet...the socks is what killed me!

Feathering My Nails

     Last night I was watching E! News and they were discussing a new trend of putting feathers on nails.  I remember last year my daughter came home from the first day of school wanting feathers in her hair.  Now, I guess she will come home wanting feathers on her nails.  This morning I woke up wanting to give it a try, since I just happened to have some feathers in my craft box (.....)



   

My Love for Nate Berkus!: Celebrity Clearance Tuesday

     So one night last year, about 1:00am,  I was flipping the channels and I saw The Nate Berkus Show, who I automatically recognized from The Oprah Winfrey Show.  I was so surprised and excited he had his own show, it has been a love affair ever since.  I have it set to record every day, which my kids are bugging me to go through and delete.  He shares such great ideas that you just want to take notes on, so you can implement them in your own home.     
  
     I would love to have something from Nate Berkus line in my home, so I searched HSN, where he has an exclusive line to see what I could find. 


$9.99 regular $29.99

     I came across these pillar candle holders for $9.99 that are very cute.  They can be used on a fireplace mantle, night stand or dining room table.  I love items that can travel around the home to give a new look to the room.  As I'm writing this, they would also make great Christmas presents for the kids teachers.  (Must of came from the Christmas in July ads....)

     It wasn't a lot of Nate Berkus items on CLEARANCE with HSN.com, but I'm not surprised.  I will have to keep checking back for my heart fluttering find so I can add a little Nate Berkus into my home.
     Do you own anything designed by Nate Berkus, do you watch his show?