What a day.

The past 24 hours has been ruff to say the least.

I was so sick last night, I think my nose ran a 5k marathon.  Whatever chemist that came up with Musinex is a freaking genius and I love you!  Nothing stops a runny nose like they do.

Then if you read my rant you would know that I am not loving Target right now but I decided that I would try out a third store....how refreshing....the sweet girl that worked at the register was excited to see my coupons and was not nervous at all.  Thank GOD!!  So I walked out with 12 Revlon beauty tools for FREE and 4 Aquafresh toothpaste for FREE!!  WHOOPeeeeee!!  :)

Unfortunately my great trip to Target turned sour when I was putting my stroller in the trunk I dropped and shattered my iPhone 4. 

:( eeekkk!  

 I should have listened to my hubbs when just last night he asked me to use my Otter Box.

Rant: Target managers hate coupons

After stopping by 2 Target stores yesterday I am convinced that Target managers HATE couponers and don't understand that it is OK to get items for free using coupons.


I went in to purchase 10 Revlon beauty tools using this combination.  The first coupon is a Target coupon for $5 off 2 Revlon beauty tools and the other two is $1 off 1 Revlon beauty tool.  According to Target couponing policy you can stack Target and MF coupons.

The issues I had at the first Target (in Vernon Hills IL) was the manager litterally said to me....well I am not giving you these items for free so I am not accepting these coupons!  WHAT!  Does this store manager not know that Revlon will reimburse them for the face value of the MF coupons PLUS $.08 handling fee?!  HELLO....you are making $.08 for every coupon your store takes in!!!!! 

The second store that I went to was on Addison in Chicago.  This store manager said that I could not use these coupons on the lower priced nail files because they were not "beauty tools".....UMMMMM....please look at the picture on the coupon....THERE IS A PICTURE OF THE EXACT ITEM I WANTED TO BY!!!!  She still said no....and when I pressed her she said well now I am going to decline all your coupons and I walked out of the store with NOTHING!!!

Target has gone out of their way to advertise their couponing policy and has printed and mailed out Target coupons and even text them to my phone.  I think Target needs to educate their managers on the coupon policies and the benefits of coupons in their stores!

CVS Free-Bee of the day!

Let me start off by saying I LOVE CVS!

The free-bee of the day is Revlon ColorBurst lip gloss and lipstick.

Here is how it is done....

Use this coupon from a Walgreens Revlon display from today.  (but since it is a Manufacturer Coupon it will still work.)

Split the transaction into 6 transactions.

Transaction 1: Pay $4.49 get $5 ECB back.

Transaction 2-6 use the $5 ECB making the item FREE and a $5 ECB will print out on the bottom of each receipt.  The last transaction will print out your final $5 ECB that you can save for your next "Free-Bee"

I am in the diaper selling business...

Being a stay at home mom and wife I have made it my job to save money any way possible.
I am an avid couponer and bargain shopper, but lately I have also been a diaper deal hunter and seller.

Here is what I do....

After I find my super deal of $3 per pack or less I purchase the diapers and sell them on craigslist.com for $5 each.  So far I have made over $100 profit selling diapers and have amassed at diaper stockpile of my own up until size 3!!!  More than half the diapers that I have sold I got for free using coupons.  It feels so good to be able to earn a little extra doing my favorite things...shopping and saving!!

Huggies diapers are on sale at CVS for 2 for $18....doesn't sound like a deal?

Let me tell you how it is done....

Buy 3 packs at $9 each = $27
Use 3 $3 off coupons from last weeks Smart Source insert = $18
Use a CVS $3 off $15 or more on baby care coupon = $15
I used $9.79 in ECB from a previous purchase = $5.21 + tax
AND
Get $10 ECB on purchace of $25 or more on baby products.

So when I sell them for $5 each on craigslist.com I am making a profit of almost $10 that I get to use on other fun stuff!!!

September 11, 2011

9/11 is a special day in my family.  On that day 10 years ago my Titi (aunt in Spanish) Lillian was working on the 97th floor at Marsh McLellan on the first tower that was hit on 9/11/01.  She had just a week before changed her scheduled work time from 10am to 8am.  She was a wonderful Christian woman and mother to my cousin who was 11 years old when her mother was taken so tragically.  This year my family was in NYC.  Here are some pictures of our trip....

Rant: Evil, Stupid, Ignorant Chicago Bus Drivers/Riders

As a driver in Chicago I have been annoyed with the aggressiveness of bus drivers and now that I am a rider I am annoyed with their attitudes even more.

I have a newborn.
She is 3 months old
So when I go out into the city I have a lot I need to take with me.
Not to mention that she has to ride in a car seat in the stroller because she is too little to sit up.
So I am sorry if my baby is in your way....but that is just too freaking bad!
GO AROUND! 
Would you get all pissy with a person in a wheel chair because their wheels are too big....no....why not....because they can't walk....well guess freaking what....NEITHER CAN MY BABY!!!!
And I don't know if you want to walk all over Chicago with a baby in your arms, a diaper bag and any shopping bags you may end up with but I DON'T!
I will be bringing my over sized stroller ON THE BUS and you can just get over it....AND NO, I will NOT be folding it up.
WHY you ask...let me tell you why...because holding the baby, diaper bag, shopping bags, lunch bag, and carrier she is in will take up more room and take twice as much time putting back together then it is worth.
...SO FYI...
I am doing you a freaking favor by NOT folding it up! 

IN YOUR FACE EVIL BUS DRIVER and STUPID RIDERS!!!!!!

I feel sexy!!

I feel sexy!

It hit me all at once today while I was buttoning up my jeans.  It is the first time since I have had my baby that I feel this way.  As a matter of fact as soon as the feeling came over me I started shouting for joy and jumping up and down!!!  My bestie told me that I would feel good about myself around 3 months in....and she was right.

So this is for any mommies or mommies-to-be....you will feel like your own person again...just give it time.

Yay!  I feel sexy!

CVS Free-Bee of the day!

Free! Free! Free!

I have been obsessed with coupons lately, especially CVS.  I live right down the street from CVS and I have made it my personal goal to walk to CVS everyday and today was no exception.  The first thing I do when I walk in the door is scan my CVS card in the red box.  Last week everyday I went I got a $1 off a pack of Orbit gum.  I didn't spend any of these until today.

Here was my deal:

Orbit gum is buy 1 get 1 free at $1.37
--I bought 8 packs of gum and used 5 $1 off coupons = .48 subtotal

Hearshy candy bar is $.99
--I bought 1 bar and used a $.79 CVS red box coupon (even though it said "FREE") = $.20

Big Chill bottled water $1.49 + $.05 bottle tax
--I bought 1 bottle and used $.50 CVS red box coupon = $.99

It looks like my cashier scanned the $.50 coupon twice which was an error but thanks.....

Subtotal: $1.22
Saved : $12.48

Not a bad trip :)

No College Football????? WHAT?!?!?

I grew up in the south, mainly Alabama, where college football is a way of life.  Everything is about football.  So when I moved to Chicago I was unprepared for what was going to be my new reality.....

NO SEC FOOTBALL!

Not only is Saturday in the Fall just another day up here, to make it worse, Alabama (the #2 ranked team in the nation) was not showing on TV!  Sitting at home donned in my Alabama gear....ALONE....I felt so disconnected from my normal life.  So out of touch with what I felt was my reality.

Thank GOD for Houndstooth Saloon, the local Alumni Saloon that televises every game (including basketball and baseball games)!

 

HUGE sigh of relief.

Scarlett and I caught the bus and met up with my fellow southerners in Wriglyville where we cheered Alabama and enjoyed Dreamland BBQ sauce.  Inside those saloon walls, where the wallpaper is houndstooth and the ceiling is crimson, we are surrounded by Southern tradition and best of all the spirit of football!  

On my way home all the mid-western Chicago-ites were wearing their Cubs gear and all I was thinking was....."I sure do miss home!"

MammaTribe on Facebook

Blake and I downsized our driveway recently anticipating he would get a transfer to downtown and he would be taking the train....that didn't happen....and now I am left at home with a baby all alone.  Normally I would feel trapped but for some reason I feel like I have been liberated.  I have been walking all over the place and even taking the bus **gasp**. 

Last week after I attended  the tye-dye party, I was invited to join a Facebook group called "MammaTribe".  

MammaTribe is a Chicago based group of mammas that hosts events for (mostly) new mammas.

What a great idea!

 Every town should have one of these sites.  

The Facebook page was started by 6 ladies and is now over 150 strong and hosts so many fun events.

Today, Scarlett and I went to the pool for an event!  Even though it was just 3 ladies that came we had a great time.  The coolest part is that it was just one bus ride down the road and I feel like I am finally getting to enjoy the city in its full glory. :)

This was Scarlett's first time in the pool.  I am still not brave enough to don a two piece yet but felt pretty good about myself in this old one piece I pulled out of the dust.  I do wish the hubby was with us but I sent him some pictures to make him jealous. LOL.

I can't wait till our next meet up and meeting more city mammas.

 

What we did today.

This morning Blake and I decided that we would sleep in and spend the whole day in the house....BUT....our landlords called at 9:30am asking if they could come up AND bring up an inspector.  UGGGG!!  So much for sleeping in.  I bought us some time by telling him that I was nursing sweet sweet but it wasn't 20 minutes and heard the knock on the door.  I can't stand it when people show up unexpected.  I need at least an hour or 2 to get the house ready.

Then, we took sweet sweet to her 4 month doctor appointment (which I don't understand since she just turned 3 months old 3 days ago, but whatev's).  I love our pediatrician.  The clinic she works at was the one suggested by the hospital but it seems like I am the only person that goes to that clinic with private health insurance.  Its kinda gross in the waiting room and it seams like all the kids that come in there are in serious need of a bath and a Kleenex.  What is it that is so hard about some of these ladies that they can't keep their kids faces clean!!!  To make it worse we ended up waiting for an hour in the hall (because I refuse to sit in the dirty and loud waiting room.  I have a way of making the best of waiting in the exam room....I take a hand full of band-aids, anti-bacterial ointment or rubber gloves for every 10 minutes I wait.  So we left with a diaper bag full of stuff...don't judge....I hear you judging....lol.