I just got back from Target. I spent $3.72 on $9.35 worth of stuff. Here is what I bought…

• All 2x Trial Size (2 loads) – normally $1.02, used $1 off coupon here and got it for $0.02
• Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate – reduced at $0.97, used $1 off Target coupon here and got it for free
• Nestle Toll House Semi-sweet Morsels – reduced at $1.78, used $1 off coupon here and got it for $0.78
• 3M Command Hooks 2 pack – normally $2.94, used $1 off coupon here [PDF] and $1 off Target coupon here and got it for $0.94
• Gift Tags – normally $0.99, a great deal without coupons or sales
• Crispy Santas 3 pack – normally $1, a great deal without coupons or sales

I also went to Walmart hoping to get some great deals. Nothing much there. I did get some more $1 candy for the stockings. Also they have Lunchables for $1.25! I bought 2 and used 2 $0.55 off coupons which I got here. That made them $0.70 each, which is great since Liam refuses to eat any meat other than the Ham Lunchables. He is a very, very, very, VERY picky eater!

I know that all too well. When we needed $500 to fix Sam’s car I didn’t think we would be able to do Christmas this year. We had no savings left and we had to borrow money from Liam’s savings account to pay for Sam’s car. So what did that leave for Christmas? Well nothing, at first, but I was able to buy Liam a Leapster 2, the Wall-e game for the Leapster and Hungry Hungry Hippos Game. I also bought Casey the Leapfrog interactive dog Violet. All without spending a dime from our checking account. First I got a $20 refund for Luvs diapers since they leaked and they have a leak guard guarantee. Then I got $20 for my birthday (I would rather spend it on my kids than myself). I got a $15 gift card for Amazon.com by submitting reviews on products I own at ExpoTV.com. I got paid $27 from ScrapDish (sales are going up). And last of all I got a $10 gift card for Toys R Us for buying formula. So the total was $92, yet I bought $125 worth of stuff and still had $13 left over, which I am using for shipping costs of free photos and photobooks that I am able to get (over 200 free photos so far).

The Leapster 2 I got at Amazon.com. They were having a short term discount that lasted only a few hours and I bought it then for $43. The Hungry Hungry Hippos Game was on sale for $15 at Walmart and I had a coupon for $4 off (total $54). The Leapster game was on sale (until Nov 26) for $18.50 at Toys R Us and I had a $4 off coupon (total $68.50). Violet was on sale at Target for $15 and I had a $5 off coupon (grand total of $78.50). I think I have done very well.

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I just bought 4-24oz boxes of Kellogg’s Frosted Mini Wheats for just $5.87! Target has a price cut on all the Kellogg’s cereals. Prices vary, but most of the smaller boxes were about $2.66/each. The 24oz Frosted Mini Wheats were $3.29/each. So how did I get it so cheap? They also have a buy 3 get 1 free special and I used coupons. You can get 3 Target $1 off 1 coupons here. And you can get other coupons at coupons.com and the Kellogg’s website. You can use store coupons and manufacturers coupons together which is something I just learned about.