Target Practically Gives Stuff Away

Lately, I've joined the ranks of hard-core Southern couponers.  After seeing regular Facebook posts from people who saved more money at the store than they spent, I spent hours online researching, asking questions, sounding like an idiot, and deciding to go for it.  I was one of those people who made an "I-eat-healthier-than-most-people" statement disguised as a question... "But they don't make coupons for things I buy, I don't eat processed food, so how do you save money if you don't buy Hamburger Helper?"  (Apologies to my friends who have said similar things... I'm not actually judging you, I'm saying it comes off badly when non-couponers say that.  Its completely ignorant.  I can say that  -- because I was the one publicly making  ignorant comments a few months ago.)

Well, guess what, they DO make coupons for things I use.  Some recent purchases that were for super cheap or even free, all thanks to combining coupons with store sales (and don't tell me that you healthy people out there don't use these items!)  ::

• olive oil
• frozen bagged  veggies (straight veggies, no sauce, preservatives, etc.)
• canned tomatoes (diced, whole, pureed, etc.)
• canned beans
• whole wheat pasta
• Cheerios
• shampoo 
• baby wash
• disposable diapers
• baby wipes
• jarred baby food (Don't hate, didn't  you read my last post about all the travelling I've done recently?  Can't take homemade baby food on the road/plane.)
• Aleve
• toothpaste 
• razors (just got a really nice 5-bladed one!)
• shaving cream
• ziplocs
• nuts (peanuts, almonds, etc.)
• deodorant
• make up
• laundry soap

Anyhow, there are loads of blogs out there about couponing, and I don't want to repeat what's already been written.  My point is about my Target trip today.  I had some returns to make to Target, so I decided to quickly see what deals Southern Savers listed for this week.  I figured, since I was going there anyhow, might as well score a couple of things.  Jenny (the blogger at Southern Savers) lists all the sales, and matches the items with coupons.  She has a section for Target called "Freebies,"  which as the name implies, are items you can get for free.  Generally, its stuff from the travel and trial section.  Most coupons say something like "not for trial size," but they ARE good for travel-sized items.

So, today, here's what the deals were available.  I decided to stick with only the freebies, as it was going to be a quick shopping trip.  I picked up 4 items  ::  Tide laundry soap (travel packet), Dove deodorant (travel size, perfect for my toiletries bag), and 2 Benadryl itch relief sticks (with all these Bama bugs, I am blowing through the anti-itch cream already this year).  I only had to pay the tax, which was $.52.  Total saved, $6.48.  Score.    It took a tiny bit of pre-planning, checking Southern Savers, printing out my list and gathering my 3 coupons (one was $5 off of 2 Benadryl brand items) from my stash.  

See?  With preparation, it is possible to spend very little on groceries and personal care items.  Lately, I average about $45 a week on groceries, which includes mostly items that are on sale (like produce... no, they usually don't make coupons for produce, but all stores run sales on different produce every week), and a few items not on sale, like my favorite spice, cumin.  ;)   Southern Savers has a couple of great tutorial videos on how to use coupons.  It *does* take time and planning, so don't get discouraged  if you want to do it.  My initial time commitment while learning was high.  Now, I spend less than an hour a week planning my shopping trip.

I Don't Even Know Where I Live

I knew I had been travelling a lot recently, but I made a count ... in the last six months, I've been to New York, Florida, Louisiana twice, and Indiana twice.  That's six *huge* trips.  They were all worthwhile, because I got to see my sister get her master's degree, my brother get his B.S., visited dear friends in the northeast, spent time with my Grandpa before he died,  then later went to his funeral and I also went on vacation with our little family of four.  Sometimes in the middle of telling someone a story, I literally trip over my words many times when I start to say the location of the story.  Where DO I live again?!

Travelling can sure be exhausting and I am fairly certain after our last plane ride that I will not attempt to fly with my two small children unless I have my husband with me.  I couldn't have done it without him.  There is just too much gear to juggle, and two little boys who need me to be sharp and on the ball when it comes to safety, food, entertainment, naps, and lots of "why's."  Perhaps I'll be game to fly as a solo parent when the youngest child is 3 or 4, and who knows when that will be?!  ;)

As I unpacked for the sixth time, I was thinking about what kinds of systems I like to use for travelling.  You know, some decent order on the road.  A few bullet points  ::

• I ALWAYS fly Southwest, if I can.  They have the best customer service, best luggage policy (2 free bags per person), the best flight attendants, and the best seating system.  I was fortunate that for our most recent (and fairly long) flights that there were empty seats.  I put my "lap child" (age 7 months) in an empty seat, after rescuing the infant seat from the stroller we had checked plane-side.  No way did I want to spend 2 1/2 hours --and let's be honest, potentially MUCH longer -- with a wiggly baby in my arms.  I also knew he'd sleep better and longer in the car seat than in my arms.  It made me realize that it probably would be worth it to buy a seat for him next time we have a long flight, in order to guarantee him a seat.

• I keep a dedicated laundry bag in our largest suitcase.  It is the suitcase I generally use for all my stuff, along with the 2 kiddos clothes, baby monitor, white noise maker, etc.  Once I return home and do laundry after a trip, I wash the laundry bag and shove it back into the suitcase, ready for the next trip.  I also keep a small stash of powered detergent in there.

• Speaking of white noise, oh yes, I bring the white noise maker.  It has made all the difference between good sleep and me being supremely annoyed that someone woke baby/preschooler/daddy/me up.

• I used to fly with a portable DVD player, but that sucker was huge and heavy and I have significantly slimmed down my carry-on.  Now, I use my husband's ipod, which has a couple of kids' movies, as well as old school Transformers episodes on it.  We also take the ipod with us whenever we do a marathon Ikea run.  The baby is content in my sling, but the preschooler can't tolerate four hours of shopping (can you blame him?!).  I generally set him up in a cart, with a blanket or pillow and the ipod.  We get lots of comments from other parents!

• A friend of mine made a little see-through bag that I like to carry snacks in.  The bag is sort of the non-disposable version of a ziploc and you can see right away what you're looking for.  In general, I like to contain as many things as I can, so I often end up with several smaller bags inside by carry-on, like the snack bag, Mr. Potato Head bag, ipod & accessories bag, and so on.  I seriously hate rifling through a bag, unable to find what I want and creating a bigger mess as I go.

That's it for now.  Do you have ideas on how to travel well, with or without children?  Any disasters you'd like to share?  Oh gosh, I can think of one that involved a very sick 2-year-old, a 4-hour flight, diarrhea, vomit, and running out of diapers.  It was awesome.