Happy New Year!





Wishing everyone a Happy New Year! Been buying a little bit here and there of some kid-friendly party food. We celebrated early this evening as the kids are both a little under the weather. We blew on party horns, shared resolutions and toasted each other. The children put coins out on window sills, on the stairs and by all the doors. This is a Filipino tradition to invite wealth into the new year. (Told with the caveat about superstitions, of course.)

We also had noodles for long  life (an Asian tradition) and black-eyed peas for early supper. And whoopee pies for dessert, because, well, they just seemed appropriate!

Dollar Tree Christmas Clearance 50% Off!

Our area not only has gigantic Dollar Trees, we also have mini-versions called $1 Spot or something akin to that. They had plenty of napkins, placemats, gift bags, oven mitts and regular Christmas décor for $0.50 as of December 26. So, it might be 75% off in a couple of days.

Since we moved here with hardly anything, I have been using folded dishtowels for potholders, much to my family's dismay and fear for my safety. I was glad to happen upon these red mitts for $1 a pair. The downside is they are both right-handed mitts, with plain red cloth on the back side. Maybe all the left-handed ones sold out. They fit both hands, it's just the right hand will be unadorned.

That's my vanity revealing itself.

Love Dollar Tree and Target's Dollar Spot? You might like this Pinterest page: http://pinterest.com/lianec/ideas-for-target-dollar-spot/

Almost FREE Lotions at CVS!

Aveeno lotions $0.50 each!

My baby girl had eczema the day she was born. We've tried lots of creams and lotions and Aveeno brands work the best for her... well, Arbonne lotions work the best but I don't have coupons for those.

CVS has many types of Aveeno creams and lotions up to 12 oz on sale for $4.99, including their Positively Ageless line (regularly priced at $9.99). Plus buy 2 and get $6 ECBs. PLUS the limit is more than 1... some say it's 12! As you can see I bought 4 and there were plenty on the shelf. With the $3/2 Aveeno coupon, they were only $0.50 cents each.

 These would be great teacher gifts for Valentine's Day too!

I got the 411  for this deal from reading the comments at Hip2Save.

Target- 50% off Barbie Furniture Set

Right before Christmas, I found this Barbie Furniture set (combined in a long box) for $29.99 from $59.99 and picked it up after much deliberation. Later I found a similar set on Amazon for almost $100 if the pieces are bought separately. I didn't feel so bad after that. (Now, they have this same set for $54.)

Many other toys are also now going on clearance. And in a week or so, clearance will reach the long awaited 70% off mark. It's hard to resist going everyday waiting for it to happen but it might be January 6-10 based on info from last year.

While it's easy and just plain fun to get carried away with all the excitement of these clearance sales, it's important to go in with a budget. I always reserve some Christmas money from the grandparents for these sales.

Target Christmas Clearance 50-70% off!

Target clearance reported now at 50% off bagged candy, 70% off toys, Dollar Spot, and other goodies. Like $0.75 for Andes chocolates and Terry's chocolate orange for $1 or so, if you can find them! Goldfish is $0.50 and with the regular flavors. The chips Milano cookies should be $0.75 each. I picked up mine a few days ago at 50% off because the shelves were getting bare very quickly and I wanted to make sure to get some snacks for New Year's Eve.

If you still have that $3 off Threshold or Home Placemats, you might get some for free. These were not with the Christmas items but would be with the other regular placemats. I was able to get two for free when the coupon first came out. We used them as wall hangings. These placemats are thick and very pretty.

Lastly, if you are a fan of Totally Target, you'll notice she sometimes gives away cute gift cards like these. I thought you would pay for the cute toy plus put money on the giftcard. But these are completely FREE! I've been keeping my eye out for these and found 3 so far. They are reloadable so I put money in it first and use it to pay for my regular transactions. That way, they will be sitting in the closet empty, waiting to be reloaded and given as gifts for little people next year..











Pizza Coupons and Food Lion Sale= $1 Digorno!

I was so surprised to learn about a Food Lion coupon for $5 off any $5 purchase in my email. Thanks, Tiffany from Young and Frugal LVA for the heads up. Coupon good through Tuesday.

Digorno is on sale for $5 each. They have a great selection including half cheese and half pepperoni. One of us at home thinks pepperoni is too spicy so this was perfect last family movie night. With the coupon Buy 2 Get 1 Free and a $2 Food Lion catalina for 3 pizzas, plus the $5 emailed coupon, I paid only $1 for each pizza!

Cheez-it is BOGO and I had $1.50 coupons from Kelloggs Family Rewards, so only $0.50 each. These non-cheddar flavors are awesome, especially the Pepper Jack. Don't forget to input the Kellogg's codes inside the Cheez-it boxes at Kelloggs Family Rewards. That's where I got the $1.50 coupons.

I also bought small Toblerone bars from the register for $.59 each using a $1 off 2 coupon from the newspaper.

CVS: Save 50% on Toys and Chocolates at !

Target is my fave place for Christmas clearance BUT it's frustrating to find most items I waited for 50% clearance gone on Dec 26th!

So I was so happy to see CVS had plenty of toys, including Discovery Kids cameras, on clearance. The Lego-type minifigures was $3 with a vehicle, 3 minifigures and 3 tools. The girl's jewelry music box with dancing ballerina was only $5. They also had $2.50 harmonicas, mini-dolls, kitchen gadgets, emergency car kits, bath robe sets! Lots of stuff 50% off.

As for the candy, Hershey's Kisses were $1.99 already. With the $2.50 off 2 CVS Q and $1.10 off 2 manufacturer's Qs, they come out $0.20 each! I went ahead and separated the colors into baggies, red for Valentine's, green for St. Patricks, the rest for decorating cookies or just to eat now.

Super Cheap Dice Games at Target

I just came back from Target with 2 Yahtzee games pricecut at $5.99. I still had 2 $2 manufacturer coupons. And I used a $2 Target store coupon. Plus, Hasbro has mail-in-rebate for lots of their board games. Buying just 2 games qualifies for a $5 rebate. That comes out to $0.50 a game!

$11.98 =2 yahtzee
-$4 manuf q (no longer available)
-$2 target q
-$5 Hasbro MIR
---------------
$0.98 for 2 games

I've had the manufacturer's coupon for a while because my Kroger had them BOGO. But I kept forgetting to check everytime I went to the store. Then, yesterday, I did check and of course they were back to regular price.
 
How glad was I to see them on sale at Target! Our kids love playing Skip Bo. So, I'm hoping they will also like Yahtzee. There were otherboard games on sale. Check Kerry's post at TotallyTarget for the latest on toy price cuts.

Save Money on Meat with $5 Mail-In-Rebate

Save $5 for any beef or pot roast purchase from any grocery store (or butcher shop). Find the rebate form on Food Lion's website. I saw it on the first page, bottom right corner with a Blue Moon beer bottle logo. The coupon is really a mail-in-rebate that prints a whole full page.

The best part NO beer purchase needed at all! And the rebate is good for 9 states: FL, GA, KY, MD, NC, SC, TN, VA and WV.

Here is the fine print:
This rebate is valid 12/1/12-1/31/13 for residents of FL, GA, KY, MD, NC, SC, TN, VA and WV who are legal drinking age.  Must be 21 or older to participate. No beer purchase required. Maximum of ONE (1) $5.00 rebate will be awarded per address/household. Expires : 1/31/2013

Want to send a nice $5 surprise to a friend? The rebate is one per household. But if you buy more beef or pot roast between now and January 31, use a friend's address and get the rebate check sent to them! This is perfect for elderly neighbors and others who wouldn't necessarily coupon.

Thanks to Tiffany for posting this and to A Super Savvy Saver for the fine print details. The lovely photo is from Kroger's ad this week, $3.49 a pound. Sometimes I buy it and have them grind or cut it for stew meat.

Discovering this town through the eyes of our children has been a great adventure. This weekend, we were able to take part in a few Christmas festivities.

We saw colonial Christmas dancing and sampled baked goods made from recipes of the period and took a couple of house tours. The children visited with Santa too, without having to wait in line.

We visited the Capitol and saw Virginia's copy of the Declaration of Independence. It only drizzled a little and somehow the camera captured the raindrops.

Horses named Adam and Eve took us on a carriage ride. They were such lovely horses.

Free children's Christmas crafts: puzzle-piece reindeer, Christmas mouse from Kisses chocolates, silver bells from paper cups and more. Now I don't have to come up with any Christmas crafts at home!

We also saw a boat parade where all the boats were decorated with Christmas lights. The viewing was up on a nice hill. They had a bonfire for roasting hotdogs and also served veggie burgers, cider and cocoa.

And all these events were free to the public. What a nice way to enjoy the holiday spirit!

Save on Christmas Presents for Neighbors

Since we are new to the area, we don't really know our neighbors very well. Except that they are the nicest and quietest ladies ever! This morning, we packaged some FREE Glade candles bought at Target with cheap chocolates from CVS bought last week. We've also given these presents to teachers and Sunday School leaders.

 

 

Cost breakdown for these gifts:

$.12 Christmas bag at Walgreens

$.17 for a whole bag of Hershey's chocolates from CVS

$1.25 overage for 5 Glade products from Target

Free curling ribbon from our neighbor



Only 17 cents a bag of yummy chocolates!

I found these deals from Totally Target and Hip2Save. A few coupons and easy deals and we actually got paid to give these presents away!

Super Cheap Deal on Christmas Cards at CVS!

CVS has another Hallmark card deal:

Buy 3 Hallmark cards $1.99+ = $3 Ecb (limit 1)

I've done this deal a couple times and it also works for $0.99 cards like giftcard holders or Christmas cards. So buy 3 for $2.98 get $3 ECBs. For even more savings, there is also a $3 off 3 cards CVS coupon. They are good for any type of card, like birthday or thank you cards.

BUY 3 cards, $2.98
Use $3 off 3 CVS coupon (they will price adjust to $2.98)
=FREE + $3 ECBs

A while ago, there was also a coupon for $2 off 3 cards, but's it's gone now. If you happen to have it, that's a $5 moneymaker! Which is perfect for me because I also need to pick up eggs and milk at CVS. It would be nice to also get these for free!