Highlights of the Dollar General Half-Price Clearance Sale

Last weekend was another half-priced clearance sale at Dollar General. Here are some of the highlights...

Clearance Price: $6.30
Half Price: $3.15
Coupon: -$3
OOP Price: $0.15 each

Clearance Price: $3.75
Half Price: $1.88
Coupon: -$2
OOP Price: $0.13 MONEYMAKER!!

Clearance Price: $1.95
Half Price: $0.98
Coupon: -$0.75
OOP Price: $0.23 each

Clearance Price: $2.25
Half Price: $1.13
Coupon: -$3 off 2
OOP Price: $0.38 MONEYMAKER!!

Clearance Price: $2.25
Half Price: $1.13
Coupon: -$1
OOP Price: $0.13 each

Clearance Price: $1.50
Half Price: $0.75
Coupon: -$0.50
OOP Price: $0.25 each

Clearance Price: $3
Half Price: $1.50
Coupon: -$1
OOP Price: $0.50

Clearance Price: $2.70
Half Price: $1.35
Coupon: -$1
OOP Price: $0.35

Clearance Price: $1
Half Price: $0.50
Coupon: -$0.50
OOP Price: FREE!!

As I've said before, this is one of my favorite couponing events because it is like a scavenger hunt. Just bring all of your coupons and see what you find!

My Experience at Teavana

Only a few times a year, my mom and I will go to the mall and spend the day walking around. We do a little shopping usually, but not much as retail prices in the mall are so high. One store we like to go into is Teavana because they usually have about five or six tea samples to try, and they always have cute teapot displays.

The last time we were in there, I believe it was around Christmas, we made the mistake of talking to an employee. We had a little bit of extra money and were interested in buying some tea. After telling the sales person that we wanted two ounces of a tea, he filled a bag with just over two ounces, much closer to three. Then, the talking began. Instead of ringing us up, the employee continued to badger us about all of the teas on display, and wafting them all towards us.

Eventually he had us suckered into buying two other teas, two ounces of each, and proceeded to put almost three ounces into those as well. Let me tell you, if you've never shopped there, these ounces aren't cheap. This man was obviously so determined to sell us as much as possible, and my mother and I were being so tortured, that I actually started to laugh uncontrollably at one point, which earned a glare from the salesman. He then asked me if I was interested in what he was showing, and I made another mistake in telling him that I like spice teas, not floral.

After perhaps ten minutes of showing us teas with spice, my mother excused herself and whispered "follow me" to me. We all but ran from the store and didn't stop until we reached Forever 21 on the other side of the mall, laughing all the way.

This whole process took perhaps half an hour, maybe more as time has no meaning in Teavana.

When we got home, we looked up reviews on Teavana and saw that many people had similiar experiences that we had. They fill the bags with more tea than you ask for, and their employees are encouraged to adapt agressive sales techniques. Needless to say, we will not be returning.

My Experience Sugar Waxing

After watching Jazzybum's video on Sugar Waxing, I decided to try it. I was excited for this because it is an all-natural alternative to waxing your legs, and I already had all of the ingredients on hand. After giving it a try, I have one things to say...

Don't do this! Ever!

Never!

It was a nightmare to make!

It was a nightmare to do!

It was a nightmare to clean!

I have never done traditionally waxing, so I don't really have anything to compare this too. However, this experience has turned me off of waxing for life. Firstly, I had much trouble cooking it. I was unsure of how long it was supposed to cook and how "brown" it was supposed to be. After cooking it several times, I worked with it and tried to wax my legs for a long while. I ended up having to reheat it several times, and eventually gave up when it essentially turned to stone in the pan.

The clean up process: To clean the tools and pan that I used, I had to use boiling water to melt the concrete mess I had created. After several repeats of that, it took lots and lots of scraping.

Did it remove any hair? - A few patches on ONE leg...

Was it worth the trauma? - Absolutely not.

This, of course, is nothing against Jazzybum! She has a totally awesome channel, and I suggest you check out some of her videos because she is quite funny.

P.S. I can say with certainty that the plastic tray she used to cool the mixture is in the garbage.

Book Burrow's Grand Opening!

I am super excited to announce the opening of Book Burrow! Book Burrow is an Etsy shop that I have been working on all summer, and I am so glad to finally be able to share it with the world.

Things that will be sold in Book Burrow are wallets, handbags, shoes, book safes, etc. These will feature pages from some of my favorite books, such as, Harry Potter, Divergent, Susan Branch, Neal Shusterman novels, Maggie Stiefvater novels, and more!

Book Burrow Shop

Book Burrow Instagram

Publix Haul (7/15/2016)

Stocking up on salad dressing is awesome because we often get pasta couponing, and we can make pasta salad!

Here's the deal...

I bought six Wish Bone Dressings that were on sale BOGO $2.05.

-I used three $1.00 off 2, making them $0.52 each.

I also bought two Pam sprays that were on sale BOGO $3.07.

-I used two $0.30 off coupons that doubled, making these $0.94 each.

My total out of pocket with tax was $5.69.

These are good stock up prices for each of these items. I will probably print more Pam coupons this week and get a couple more.

Dollar General Haul (7/15/2016)

There are few words to describe the complete chaos that is couponing the Dollar General Half-Price Clearance Sale. For those of you who don't know, this sale makes everything in the clearance section half off, so you can score some really great deals. Mix these with coupons, and you can hit the jackpot! I don't have a complete breakdown of this haul because it was all kind of a crazy blur, but I will tell you that my total out of pocket price was $2.11. Not bad for all of the cleaning supplies I was able to stock up on.

This consisted of...

-3 Large Bottles of Palmolive
-3 Spray Bottles of Soft Scrub
-2 Bottles of Pine-Sol
-2 Bottles of Mr. Clean
-2 Bottles of White Rain Body Wash
-1 Bottle Suave Body Wash
-2 Highlighters
-2 Packs of Mr. Sketch Markers
-1 Paper Cutter
-1 eos

Pros of shopping this sale:

-You can score some really great deals with or without coupons.

-There are more than likely five or more Dollar Generals in your area. These stores are everywhere!!!

-Dollar General's coupon policy is very lenient. As long as you are following the guidelines on the coupon, you should not run into any problems.

Cons of shopping this sale:

-The clearance aisles of certain Dollar Generals can be a bit overwhelming in their disarray.

-It's difficult to predict exactly what will be on sale, how much, and consequently, what coupons to bring.

I will admit that this was a ton of work, but I believe that it was well worth it.

Publix Haul (7/12/2016)

I made a trip to Publix since I was in town and snagged this deal.

I bought six Cesar Dog Food Tray at $0.75 each.

-I used two Publix coupons for Buy 2 Get 1 Free.

-I also used three coupons for $1 off two.

This made these free, plus $0.44 in tax.

I don't have a dog, but I got this deal because my mother and I have recently been selling things at a local flea market. I wondered how some of my stockpile things would go there, and I've done surprisingly well with it. For example...

These sold almost immediately at $0.25 each. My profit off of these was $1.06.

I also had some bottles of Oxi Clean Laundry Detergent that I bought for $1 each, and sold them for $2 each.

I strive to have multiple streams of income, so this is a great thing to fill my weekends with.

Target Haul (7/12/2016)

I love having Hot Pockets for breakfast! Target had these on sale for $2, and I had three $3 off coupons.

Here's the deal...

I bought three packs of Hot Pockets on sale for $2.

I used three $3 off coupons, making $3 in overage.

At Target, you have to have something soak up the coupon overage or the coupons won't come off. Therefore, I bought a pack of Sara Lee bread that was $2.29, and with tax it used most of the overage.

My out of pocket price was $0.64 in tax, or $0.16 per item!

I'm super happy about this haul. We'll be eating Hot Pockets for a while.

Update on Surprise Toilet Paper Deal

I recently read another post on Facebook that said the Charmin deal was still working. I doubted it, but since I was going to be in the area anyway, I decided to check. The deal had already been fixed(it was a computer glitch), but it did give me an opportunity to see what the actual price of it was. A whopping $6.97!!! As I mentioned in my previous post, during the $1 glitch, I snagged 15 of these and used four $1 off coupons. My out of pocket price was $12.39. At the regular price it would have been $104.55 plus tax. I'm so glad I was able to find some during the glitch. This was a great thing to stock up on, and a great price.

Surprise Toilet Paper Deal

As I've probably mentioned before, I avoid shopping at Walmart at all costs, however, I could not pass up this deal. I saw in a Facebook group that this toilet paper was ringing up $1.00, so I drove to three different stores and finally found some at the last one. There were fifteen on the shelf and I was able to reach ten. As I was checking out with them in self checkout, an employee had to enter a code for my coupons. I mentioned to her that there were five more that I could not reach and she went back and got them all for me! She was awesome!

Here's the breakdown...

I bought fifteen packs at $1.00 each.

I had four $1 off coupons.

My total OOP was $12.39 including tax, making them $0.83 each!

This was a great deal, and such a great surprise! I'm glad we'll be stocked up for the summer.

How I Fund My Reading Obsession on $15 a Year

From Little Women to Harry Potter, reading is one of my favorite hobbies, But like all hobbies, it usually comes with a price. We all know that when a new books comes out, it immediately lines the shelves of our favorite stores, making us want to read it immediately. Especially if it's by one of our favorite authors or the next in a series we're reading. However, the price tag usually makes me take a step back and wait a while. A new Nicholas Sparks or Danielle Steel book can be over twenty dollars! So how do I avoid these prices?

-McKay's

McKay's is one of my favorite places in the world! I take all of the books, movies, CD's, etc. that I'm finished with, and trade them there for store credit. They are much more generous when you get their store credit versus when you want to sell your stuff to them for cash. During most visits, I am able to get at least four or five books. (I also get most of my movies here, so it's like getting them free too.) Many people shop and trade their stuff here, so there's always new things to look at. I bought the entire Skinjacker Trilogy by Neal Shusterman here, and just used my trade credit for them. There are also some free bins outside where McKay's puts their rejected books. Most of the time they're full of junk, but sometimes there's some really neat stuff in it. 

-Tennessee R.E.A.D.S.

My local library is set up with Tennessee R.E.A.D.S. so I can download eBooks and audiobooks to my phone whenever I want. The only thing needed for this is a library card, which because I don't live in the same city as the library I frequent, I pay $15 a year for it. It's completely worth it however because I use it SO much. I constantly have at least two books checked out, so I definitely get my money's worth. The only downside to Tennessee R.E.A.D.S. is that you can only check out what your local library has paid for, so it's like the inventory inside the library. If someone already has a book checked out, then everyone else has to wait. This makes it difficult to check out new releases, but it's worth the wait.

-Patience

Sad, but true. Patience saves money on books. As I mentioned before, newly released books are rarely under ten dollars. Despite wanting to read the next book by a favorite author or the next in a series immediately, I know that if I wait a few months, perhaps even a year for some, they will come down in price considerably or will finally be available on Tennessee R.E.A.D.S. After all, there's plenty of other books to read in the mean time. 

Epic Publix Haul! (5/26/16)

I thought for sure something was going to go wrong with this deal and it wouldn't work, but to my surprise, I was able to print all of the coupons, everything was in stock, and all the coupons scanned!

Here's the deal...

I bought...

-Eight jars of Hellmann's Mayo that were BOGO $4.99.

-Eight French's mustards, four regular, two spicy, and two sweet. These were BOGO $1.63.

-Eight Vlasic Pickle Relishes that were regularly priced $1.39.

-Two Daisy Sour Creams that were BOGO $2.49.

-And, four DulcoGases that were on sale $2.99.

I used...

-Eight Publix store coupons that were $3 off a Hellmann's Mayo, a Vlasic Pickles, and a French's Mustard.

-Two $2 off $6 worth of Hellmann's coupons.

-Four $0.50 off French's Mustard coupons. (doubled)

-Two $0.50 off French's Spicy Mustard coupons. (doubled)

-Two $0.50 off French's Sweet Mustard coupons.  (doubled)

-Four $1 off two Vlasic Product coupons.

-Four $3 off any DulcoGas coupons.

-And, two $0.45 off Daisy Sour Cream coupons. (doubled)

Total Retail Value: $97.14
Total OOP: $3.45

Everything in this haul ended up being $0.12 each!!!

96% savings!

Skinjacker Trilogy by Neal Shusterman - Review

I recently finished reading The Skinjacker Trilogy by Neal Shusterman, and I was pleasantly surprised by how good it was.

The Skinjacker Trilogy is set in Everlost, an in-between world where kids who have died go when they haven't yet reached the "light." The main characters are Nick and Allie who find themselves in Everlost after an ill-fated car accident.

Everlost: In the first book, Allie and Nick are thrown into Everlost after knocking into each other on the way to the light. Once in Everlost, they meet an array of characters, ranging from Mary, the self-imposed Queen of Everlost, to the McGill, monster of Everlost, and the Haunter, whom you'd better please if you don't want to be locked in a pickle barrel for all of eternity.

I really enjoyed the first book of this series, but it was just a kicker for the other two books. After reading Everwild and Everfound, I realized that Everlost was just setting up the basic ground work for the rest of the series. That being said, the other two books are awesome!!!

*If you have not yet read the series, and do not wish for anything to be spoiled for you, stop reading now!*

Everwild: The fate of the children of Everlost hangs in the balance between Mary Hightower and Nick, who both have very different ideas of the purpose of Everlost. Nick believes that each and every afterlight should know that they have a pathway to the light if they are ready to take it, however Mary believes that the children don't need to know about the path and that they should make their eternal home in Everlost. Meanwhile, Allie and Mikey travel in search of Allie's parents. Along the way, they meet other skinjackers and Allie learns from them things that will change her perspective on Everlost and her fate.

*Major spoilers!!!* There is a moment in Everwild where I wanted to throw the book across the room! It was one of those moments that remind me why I love reading so much, and it was the moment I realized why Neal Shusterman is such a valued author. Allie is still alive. About halfway through the book, it is revealed that skinjackers are actually still alive, they are just in comas, which is why they have the ability to skinjack. Neal Shusterman built up to this revelation so well, I honestly did not see it coming and it was a phenomenal moment in the book.

Everfound: As the children of Everlost wait for Mary's reawakening, her skinjackers continuously reap souls so that Mary will have more followers upon her return. When a tragic twist of fate awakens Mary too soon, it is quickly revealed what her true intentions for Everlost are. As a war wages with Allie, and her band of misfit characters, versus Mary, and her band of loyal followers, who will win as all life on Earth hangs in the balance?

I found Everfound to be a bit of a slower read compared to Everwild because all of the characters had to come back together. However, Neal Shusterman did this seamlessly, making each twist and turn hold new surprises. I found a few things in this last book a little disturbing however, such as when they trapped Jill in the prize pig. I don't know why, but that didn't set well with me. However, Jix frees her before the book ends, so that made me feel better about it. One thing I loved in this book was how Mary finally went down. She sunk herself into the earth in a locked fridge! That was an awesome ending! If she had gone into the light or been extinguished by the scar wraith, that would have been too predictable. But the fact that she sunk to the center of the earth, in a locked fridge, and she did it to herself rather than have Allie do it was amazing!!!

I give these books and Neal Shusterman a 10/10, and I look forward to reading more of his books in the future.

My Experience Making a Thread Box

I recently purchased a new car (Finally!), so am currently pretty low on funds. Therefore, for my mom's birthday I have been trying to come up with some good homemade gifts. One of the things I found was this origami thread box that I thought was really neat!

Things I Found:

• The thinner the paper, the better!!! I was working with different pieces of paper that varied in thicknesses and I found the thinner pieces much easier to work with. Also, the parts that were made with the thinner paper were easier to open and close once it was finished.
  
• The four little squares on the front were EXTREMELY frustrating to fold at first, but after fiddling with the first two for a while, I finally figured it out, and the last two were much easier. This is one of the reasons it is especially important when you are making something like this to crease the edges really well. I was pressing each fold down with my ruler to make crisp folds.
  
• This can also be customized really easily to match someone's specific needs. I, personally, liked the way that this was laid out. I think it's really cute, but if you wanted, you could have four of the squares or two of the rectangles.
  

I would rank this at a 4 out of 5 difficulty level just because of the four boxes on the front. Other than that, it's really simple to make, and I think it is a great gift idea. 

 

The Visit - Review *No Spoilers!*

My mom and I recently rented The Visit from Redbox. I had heard how good it was by a couple of friends, and I was not disappointed.

The movie opens with the mother of the two main characters, Becca and Tyler, talking about her childhood. It is then shortly revealed that the movie is a "documentary" that the daughter is filming. She is filming this documentary about her and her brother's visit to their grandparents whom they have never met. When they arrive at their grandparents house, all seems normal, except for the grandfather's frequent visits to an outside shed and their grandmother's erratically outlandish behavior. As the week trudges on, the grandparents "normal old people problems" become more and more alarming, and the episodes grandma has at night seems like more than a normal case of dementia. As events grow stranger by the day, terrible secrets are revealed, throwing the entire visit into chaos.

I really liked this movie! I like horror movies that are creepy but don't have a lot of violence in them, and this movie definitely checks both of those boxes. I've also seen many people online saying that it's almost a horror-comedy, and I could see that. There were a few parts that were funny.

The only cringe-worthy parts were when the boy, Tyler, rapped. I'll admit that rap isn't exactly my genre of choice, but even I knew that this was bad. I think he only does it two or three times, but it's definitely worth skipping when he does.

I give this movie a 6.5/10.

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Walgreens Purex Haul! (5/6/15)

Over the course of four trips to Walgreens, I acquired eighteen bottles of Purex laundry detergent this week.

Here's the deal:

The bottles of laundry detergent are normally priced at $5.79. This week they were on sale for $1.99.

-I used seventeen $1 off coupons. (Ten of them were printed from home, but to my delight, some of the bottles in the store had $1 off peelies on them! Score!)

-I also used $1 in Register Rewards that was going to expire on the 8th.

-Lastly, I redeemed $11 worth of Rewards Points.

My out of pocket price for all of these came to $14.13 tax included.

However, I redeemed $6 in SavingStar rebates, making my total $8.13.

This made these $0.45 each!!!

At their normal price of $5.79, eighteen of these would have come to $104.22 before tax.

This was a 92% savings!!!

Pictured above is my laundry detergent stockpile, and as you can see, there was only one bottle of All left from last year's Publix deal, so I was really glad this deal worked out and I was able to stockpile so much.

*If you don't know what SavingStar is, it is a lot like Ibotta. You can redeem rebates for purchases.

Epic Walgreens Deal! Glade MONEYMAKER! (4/26/16)

I went out early Sunday morning and snagged this deal! This Glade Air Freshener unit is normally $11.99. Walgreens had it on sale for card users at $4.99.

-I used a $3 off manufacturer coupon, making my total $1.99.

-Tax made this $2.48, and I redeemed 2,000 Rewards Points and payed $0.48.

-I then received $1 in Register Rewards for my purchase.

-I also redeemed a $3 rebate on Ibotta.

This ended up being a $3.52 MONEYMAKER!

*If you're not already an Ibotta member, please use my referral code when you sign up to get all the perks of being a referral and being on an Ibotta team. Code: nin67q

One Reason I Love My FitBit

I have had my FitBit Flex for about three years now, and one of the reasons I love it so much is because the FitBit software is really motivating for me. Today I received an email saying that, over the time I've had my FitBit, I have walked the entire length of India!

I get an email like this from them about once a month, and I love it! It's such a great motivator to move and be active!