today at Target

I braved the snow and went to Target this morning.

And actually, I didn't know it was going to snow. Otherwise I probably wouldn't have gone. But I did get some fabulous deals that made it all worthwhile.

Gain dryer sheets, $4.34
-Use $3.00 coupon from newspaper
Final price: $1.34

GE 100 watt four pack light bulbs, $2.99
-Use $1.50 Target printable coupon
Final price: $1.49

Up & Up face wash, $2.19
-Use $1.00 Target printable coupon
Final price: $1.19

Colgate sensitive toothpaste, $3.49
-Use $1.00 Target newspaper coupon
-Use $1.00 manufacturer newspaper coupon
Final price: $1.49

Up & Up cotton balls, 100 count, $1.14
-Use $0.50 Target printable coupon
Final price: $0.64

I noticed today at Target that the 100 count bag of cotton balls is $1.14 and the 200 count is $2.39. So much for buying in bulk being a better deal...

Kleenex 4-pack (large boxes), $6.29 + Kleenex single box, $1.59
-Use "buy three get one free" newspaper coupon
Final price: Maximum savings limited to $2.25
*When I got home and went through my receipt I noticed the checkout woman had accidentally given me a credit for the large pack worth $6.29 instead of the single box for $1.59. So bonus for me!

Target has a deal this week where any seven frozen food items you buy will get you a $5 Target gift card. I bought 21 items and ended up with $15 worth in gift cards. Here are some of the better frozen food deals:

Market Pantry frozen vegetables, $1.04
-Use $1/4 Target printable coupon
Final price: $0.08 each after the coupon and gift card (gift card savings are approx. $0.71 per item)!

Market Pantry juice concentrate, $0.87
Final price: $0.16 each after the gift card

Market Pantry potatoes (hash browns, tots, fries, etc), $2.09
Final price: $1.38 each after the gift card

And of course everything doesn't have to be Market Pantry. I tend to buy it because it's cheaper. However, I did also get some Tombstone pizza and some Lean Pockets. All frozen food is good for this deal! Just make sure you count how many frozen items you have to take full advantage of this great bargain! (A special thanks to my pastor's wife back home for mentioning this deal to me!)

Great savings today. The bottom of my receipt reads "YOU SAVED $47.12," a savings of 29%.

Not bad for just a random day of grocery shopping with only about $16 worth of coupons, but I am sort of wishing I had purchased even more frozen food items...

a heck of a day

Today was one of those days.

One of those days where you want to hide under your bed from the entire world. Work went okay until about the last two hours when I was trying to wrap things up and more and more stuff just kept getting handed to me. I got out about 20 minutes late. What stinks about billing by the hour, is that if I work 20 minutes extra, I don't get paid for it.

I finally made it home and had just taken off my coat when Darren asked me to email him something he needed off the computer. And then he got mad at me when I couldn't find it right away, but really it was because he was telling me the wrong name. And somehow it was my fault.

Then I opened an email I'd received and it was the end of me. I'm done with today, I've decided. Can it be tomorrow??

Why I Love...

my BellaBand.

My dress pants failed me this morning.

I put them on, zipped and buttoned and hooked all the way up, and realized it was going to be tricky to hold my breath all day long so I didn't bust a seam.

Then I remembered my BellaBand. I immediately unbuttoned my pants (they were still zipped) and whipped out that beautiful stretchy piece of material.

Worked like a charm. My pants aren't falling off, and I'm not dying from lack of oxygen.

Aldi

One of my co-workers swears by Aldi.

Swears by it.

We had a conversation about it yesterday at work, and after listening to her repeatedly tell me how much money she saves, I realized I must be missing out on something.

In case you don't know what Aldi is, it's a grocery store that sells generic products at a super-low cost.

You also have to deposit a quarter to use the grocery carts. But you get it back.

And you have to bag your own food. With your own bags. Otherwise you have to purchase bags.

These are things that are good to know before you go for the first time...


So anyway, tonight I went to Aldi. Almost everything I purchased was cheaper than buying it at Cub or Target. I had a cart full of food and my total was $44.48. Sometimes I don't pay the best attention to prices, but it seems like almost everything was a pretty good deal. Here's what I got:

-Carrots, $0.60 per lb
-Apples, $0.90 per lb
-Cantaloupe, $1.49 (this is Cub's rock-bottom price for cantaloupe)
-Strawberries, $1.99 per pint
-Milk, $2.19 per gallon (comparable with Target's regular price)
-Red onions, $0.75 per lb
-String cheese, $2.49 per 12oz (I haven't figured out how this compares yet)
-Chunk cheese, 8 oz, $1.49 (I rarely see cheese cheaper than this at its lowest)
-Granola Raisin Bran, $1.99
-Pineapple, $2.49 (this seemed about average for sale prices at Cub)
-Fiber Bars, 5 pack, $1.89 (I pay more than this for Cub brand fiber bars)
-Baked beans, 28 oz, $1.29
-Sour cream, 16 oz, $0.99
-Fruit snacks, 10 9-oz packs, $1.79
-Thousand Island dressing, 16 oz, $1.19
-Almonds, 12 oz, $3.79
-Yogurt, 6 oz, $0.35 (this is about half of regularly priced brand-name yogurt)
-Pickles, 16 oz, $1.19
-Vanilla sandwich cookies, 18 oz, $1.49
-Bananas, $0.35 per lb
-Tortilla chips, 13 oz, $1.19
-White bread, $0.79
-Kettle chips, 9 oz, $1.99

How do these deals look to you?

surprise

Guess what people ask when they find out I'm pregnant.

"When are you due?"

Guess what they ask next.

"Are you going to find out what you're having?"

And the answer, my friends, is a resounding NO.

Twice I've gotten this response: "You're crazy!" (And you know who you are...just kidding, love you both!)

But mostly, I get this one: "Good for you!" I'm not always entirely sure what they mean by that, but I choose to view it in a positive light.

I love surprises. Always have. Always will. Especially when I know they're going to be a good surprise. I don't care whether we have a boy or girl. I'm certainly not going to love either one more or less. Nor do I feel like I need to stock up on blue or pink outfits. It's going to be August and I will have onesies. Plus, I'm sure everyone else will go slightly crazy and supply me with enough clothing to last ten children, let alone one.

We also don't need to decorate anything; our place is small and the crib will be in our bedroom. I wasn't planning on putting up a border or anything like that. Every large item we purchase (i.e., crib, stroller, etc.) will be gender-neutral, because it will have to last through all our children.

So since I don't need to know, I don't want to know. I'm one of those people who doesn't like to know their birthday or Christmas presents. And I certainly don't open them up to peek! I love the anticipation of knowing something fun, something exciting, is going to happen, but not knowing exactly what it will be.

Best. Feeling. Ever.

Saint Paul Winter Carnival

Darren's parents came down to the cities two weekends ago and we went to the St Paul Winter Carnival.

The parade went on the entire time we were there! It was definitely over an hour long.

The ice carving area is in the back of this picture.

There had been hot air balloon rides earlier that morning.

We didn't go.

Watching the parade.

After we had enough of the parade we headed over to the ice carving area in Rice Park.

Darren and his dad.

My in-laws.

An ice bar.

We had seen on the internet that on Saturday there was snow sculpting at the fairgrounds, so we headed over there after the ice carving to check that out.

things I miss

There are a lot of things I miss now that I'm pregnant...

-I miss not waking up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom.

-I miss Diet Dr Pepper.

-I miss pants that used to fit right.