Easter Idea!

Okay, I can't help myself...I have to mention gifts and gift baskets again! I know that it may seem like I am getting redundant, but I think you can really come up with some neat ideas if you just don't rule anything out. Sure we all see the great deals on toys and imagine them as a great gift, but you can turn everyday items into cute gifts as well. Below I compiled some of the more recent deals that I have mentioned into a men's gift basket. I think this would be a great college care package or great Easter basket/Valentines Gift for a male teen or adult!

Let me start by saying that I did get this neat sport themed basket after Easter last year for $1. I inlcuded the Dove Mens body wash deal that I mentioned a previous Target post (deal and coupons, still active). These body washes came with the smaller gray body washes shrink wrapped to them for free. I put in a Quatro Titanium Razor that also has a battery powered trimmer on the handle, this is free via the mail in rebate in yesterday's (2/7) paper and retails for $10-$12! I used the Old Spice travel body washes that I mentioned in my previous post as fillers. Target still has several kinds of these on clearance and I was pleasantly suprise to find that they have once again lowered the clearance price. Last but not least, you will notice the Pictureka card game that is also still available at Target for only $.24. The total for the basket and all the goodies pictured? $5.50

Remember, just because you know how much you spent doesn't mean the gift recipent will have any idea. 

Quick Target Deals!

I was in Target today and had just bought my Sunday papers so I hadn't yet had a chance to sit down and really match up some deals. While I am still organizing and laying those out, I thought I would mention a few I couldn't help but already notice. In the P&G today, you will find a coupon for "Get any Herbal Essense styling product free with the purchase of any Herbal Essense shampoo, conditioner, or styling product". I know that several other sites are reporting that you can get Herbal Essense Shampoo or Conditioner for $2.99 and get a styling product for free. But here we like to what? Think outside the box! Herbal Essense is not my usual conditioner brand, but I am less picky on my shampoo. I did a quick check of the coupon and quickly saw that this does not exclude travel sizes. So, I got my ANY shampoo that I paid for (travel size at $.97) and also got my styling product (leave in conditioner $2.99) for free. It gets even better. The free leave in conditioner had a travel size of hairspray shrink wraped to it for free! Lets break this down....I got a travel shampoo, travel hair spray, and a full size leave in conditioner for $.97!
We aren't done yet! I also notice a coupon for $1 off any mens Old Spice body wash or deoderant (this Sunday's paper).  While in the travel item aisle, I did a quick sweep and saw that all the travel sized Old Spice body washes are on clearance. I got two at $.68 each for a total of $1.36 and used the $1 off coupon....I paid only $.36 for both! I know these are small, but what do I teach? Volume!!! Who cares if they are small if you can get 5 of them for $1.80! Be sure to check the size of the wash, some of them were only about 1 oz and others were closer to 3 oz!
Finally, I want to mention that Target is still running their clearance event. I took a stroll through the make up and quickly noticed that about every brand had something on clearance. This means that because clearance items and amounts can vary greatly by store, some of us might be able to use those Cover Girl and Mabelline coupons to get some really cheap beauty products!
I will be posting a lot more Target deals soon, but these were just a few that were so good I couldn't wait!

Putting It Into Pictures!

As I have mentioned in the past, I think visual aids help people comprehend things so much better. So I took a trip to Target and wanted to let you see some of the deals and ideas I have posted.

Okay, I know the above picture may not look like a whole lot, but that is just the first part of my bargains! I wanted to show you the items that I got for FREE....100% Free! I got a bag of Stacy's Chips, a pint of International Delight flavored coffee creamer, 4 Johnson's baby shampoo, and two Johnson's lotions. Remember my previous post about gift baskets? Well, if you don't have a baby of your own these shampoos and lotions would have you well on your way to an awesome basket! The two Johnson's lotions are from their body care line that they market for adults as well.  Great to keep in the car or purse in this cold dry weather. 

 

Here is the rest of my shopping bounty! I used many of the coupons that I have been telling all you about and ended up getting:

Stacy's Chips = Price $3 = Paid $0

International Delight Flavored Coffee Creamer = Price $1.79 = Paid $0

4 Johnson's Baby Shampoos (Travel Size) = Price $4/4 = Paid $0

2 Johnson's Lotions (Travel Size) = Price $2/2 = Paid $0

Internet Explorer:

http://bricks.coupons.com/Start.asp?tqnm=za4tfgc35648152&bt=vi&o=9992&c=JB&p=2a46GNLK
Firefox:
http://bricks.coupons.com/Start.asp?tqnm=za4tfgc35648152&bt=vg&o=9992&c=JB&p=2a46GNLK
AND
Internet Explorer:
http://bricks.coupons.com/Start.asp?tqnm=za4tfrf36989938&bt=vi&o=9723&c=JB&p=YG9zesJH
Firefox:
http://bricks.coupons.com/Start.asp?tqnm=za4tfrf36989938&bt=vg&o=9723&c=JB&p=YG9zesJH

2 Dove Men's Body Wash with a Travel Body Wash Attached = Price $7.98/2 = Paid $2.98
Used coupons in previous post from coupons.com and target printable coupons.
2 Dove Men's Bar Soap (4 bars and travel body wash in each package, 8 bars total) = Price $7.98/2 = Paid $2.48/2  
Used coupons in previous post from coupons.com and target printable coupons.
2 Dove Ultimate Visibly Smooth Deoderant (women's) = Price $7.28/2 = Paid $3.28/2
Catch these on sale and you can usually get them for under $1 each.
Internet Explorer:
http://bricks.coupons.com/Start.asp?tqnm=qjxpdcq36754225&bt=vi&o=56460&c=DV&p=p1fhUijM
Firefox:
http://bricks.coupons.com/Start.asp?tqnm=qjxpdcq36754225&bt=vg&o=56460&c=DV&p=p1fhUijM
2 Airwick I-motion Fragrance System- These are the ones you can set to spray every 7, 15, or 30 mins and they have a motion detector so that if there is an excessive amount of traffic they will spray.
Price = $15.98/2 = Paid $5.98/2
Used the coupon at coupons .com and stacked it with the target printable coupon
2 Glade Room and Fabric Refreshers = Price $6.98/2 = Paid $2.98/2
Used two $2 off coupons found on the actual bottle of spray in the store. Unfortunately, greedy people often steal all the coupons off of the bottles but I looked all the way in the very back and sure enough there were still some left.  

So my total today should have been $52.99 before taxes. I paid only $17.70 before taxes!

Another Good Deal While You Are At Target!

In one of my previous posts about the deals to be found at Target this week, I mentioned that you cold get Dove Men+Care soap for only $1.24! I know that alot of guys out there aren't big fans of bar soap (even though this is not supposed to be drying). So for those of you who did not get the Sunday paper or those of you looking for a deal on the body wash...don't worry, I am here for you! Below is a link where you will find the $1.75 coupon that was in the paper as well as $1.50 on the body wash. So simply print, then hit your back arrow to resend and you can print a second copy! Couple these coupons with the $1 off Target coupon and those of you who thought you were gonna miss out can now get in on the deal! Both the body wash and bar version are on sale for $3.99 this week so you can get the bar version for $1.24 and the body wash pack for only $1. 49. Can I get a Woo-Hoo on this one, haha?!

http://content.dove.us/dimensions/coupons.aspx

http://sites.target.com/site/en/spot/nat_coupons.jsp?coupon_1=show&coupon_2=show&coupon_3=show&coupon_4=show&x=81&y=20

My Little Pony Deal!

 

Okay, this is an awesome one! Even if you do not have little children, but you have little girls in the family that you will be buying birthday and Christmas presents for, you are gonna want to get in on this one. Right now at coupons.com they have a "Buy one, get one free" My Little Pony coupon. Sounds good right? Wait, it gets even better! At Target the have 'My Little Pony' dvds that have a peel off coupon on the front that states "$5 off any my little pony purchase with the purchase of this dvd. I assumed that meant $5 off one item...no, it is $5 off each pony. I know this may sound confusing so let me simplify:

Buy 4 My Little Ponys at $5.64 each and one 'My Little Pony' dvd at $9.99 = $32.55

Use 2 Buy one, get one coupons for the ponys. You are now paying for two. Total with dvd now = $21.27

Now, the peelie coupon on the dvd takes $5 off each of the two ponys you are paying for.

TOTAL FOR 4 PONYS AND A DVD = $11.27!

You Can Have Your Cake and Eat It Too!

 

I have a little "keep a look out" tip for you all. Alot of times after the holidays you get all your decorations put away and the last thing you want to think about is baking holiday food, right?

Well this can be a little over looked great deal. I got this Halloween cake mix and icing after Halloween. All the Halloween merchandise was on clearance and this was in an entirely different area in the store, so it doesn't get noticed as much but is still on clerance as much as all the other seasonal merchandise. By coupling items like this with coupons like the $.50 off Betty Crocker icing coupon that is currently on coupons.com, I got the cake mix for free and the icing for under a quarter. But isn't it old? No, these items are made right before the holiday they represent and often have an expiration date much later than the regular cake mixes on the shelves...meaning these were made way later....meaning they are actually fresher. I made this cake set tonight and it had an expiration date of late Feb. So now is a great time to poke around and find a Christmas version or wait till after Valentine's day to get the Valentine's version, just don't forget your coupons.

Another great idea with these is that what actually makes the little colored dots on in the cake is a little sprinkles packet you stir in. Leave this out and you simply have a white cake that is good for any occasion. Can't stand to waste the sprinkles? Easy solution. I have on many occasions run upon a large container of multicolored sprinkles on clearance at places like Walmart. Just keep a look out in the baking goods aisle. I picked one up for around $.50 that had little multicolored dinosaur shapped sprinkles (pictured right). 

                                     

I have used this to shake a few dinos on sugar cookies, cupcakes, sundaes, and even gave good ole plain oatmeal a shake and my son wolfed it down. Also pictured above is several other of my awesome holiday sprinkle finds. These have a super long shelf life and you can use them for all sorts of thing if you just think outside the box, as I always say. The red sprinkles can be used at Christmas and Valentine's day. I have used the green sprinkles for Christmas cookies, St. Patrick's day, and Easter/Spring cakes (gave the 'grass' on a cake some sparkle). 

So, if you want to use the sprinkles that came with your cake but you don't want it to look like a Halloween cake in Feb, just stir in the seasonal sprinkles and then give a shake of multicolored sprinkles and the cake will just look like a rainbow of colors. For the icing, don't forget your color combos. For example, if you have red icing that was a Christmas seasonal item, you can add a few drops of blue food coloring and then you have purple! (red+blue=purple) 

Experiment, it can be fun....and cheap!

HOT UPDATE!!!

Hot update to my Target Deals post earlier today! Just been informed that at many locations the travel games are marked down to $5.24. This means instead of getting them for $.99, you can score some great Easter basket fillers or stocking stuffers for only $.24! Yay!

**If any of you ever discover any updates like these or any other great deals you have scored, please feel free to share and help us all out in the "comments" section. I received this update via email and it was appreciated, but you can leave it in a comment in case I don't check my email for awhile that day! Also, don't forget to become a subscriber or follower so you don't miss any deals!