Ok so I have to take a moment and bask in my money saving glory. As I mentioned in my last post about money, I'm really trying to save and get out of debt. I happen to have a slight addiction to shopping though. Not so much shopping for designer things or big ticket items, but the smaller stuff really kills the budget. Too much on groceries due to spontaneous purchases, too much on clothes because of a sale, etc. etc. So I've been on the lookout for the greatest deals that will stay within my scarily tight budget and still make me feel like I'm not missing out. It helps when bill time comes around and I realize 99% of the money I make goes to other people with nothing for me to show for it.
I've tried to be patient when I get a gift card and only spend it when I think I can get a super terrific deal. Sadly, at this point, I've pretty much used them all. But I feel like I've gotten far more bargain hunting for far less than I do when I'm winging it. So it's a win-win. Check out these deals!
Express-I had a really great plan with this one. But I got just the tiniest bit carried away. If all had gone to plan, I would have gotten $150 worth of clothes for $25. I needed work pants but every time I go they don't have any my size. Come to find out this last visit, they don't really stock my size so I'll have to get them from the site. Boo! However, since spring is around the corner I decided I would feel better about spending the gift card if I got myself a work skirt instead. They were also having a sale on shorts with buy one, get one 50% off. Last they had a super cute skirt that I just really wanted. It's springy and colorful and very different from what I normally get. Here's how that all added up. *Because of the coupon I had, none of the Express clothes could be clearance. It blew my mind to shop in the regular priced section!
Full Price:
Work skirt-$59.90
Fun skirt-$34.90
Shorts-$44.90
Other shorts-$44.90
Total $184.60 ouch!
The savings:
No $200 for 4 things for me! I had coupon to save $50 on a $150 purchase, one of the pairs of shorts was half off from the sale, I had $49.81 on a mall gift card from Christmas, and $25 on an Express gift card for Christmas.
Grand Total: $45.02 Not nearly so shabby.
Still, that is more than I had planned on spending and definitely counts as my big splurge. But I reigned it in for this next one.
Victoria's Secret- Ok I still feel a little ashamed about this one. I got my sister a bra for Christmas of 2009 that didn't fit her quite right. So she gave it back to me to return which I did...a year later. oops. So I ended up with a merchandise credit. I held onto that for a bit and when I had a couple of good coupons, I pounced.
Full Price:
bra-$26.50
underwear-$11.50
hip hugger underwear-$11.50
Total $49.50
The savings: Can I just mention how much I love getting good quality, cute stuff guilt free?! I had a coupon for $10 off any bra, the merchandise credit for $29.80, and a coupon for a free pair of the incredible hiphugger underwear.
Grand Total: $0.12
Yes, you read that right. I had to dig around in my purse to find the change graveyard for this one. How awesome is that?! Plus, now is their secret reward promotion. It's a card that could be worth up to $500, but at minimum is $10. If you spend a certain amount this month, you get one that you can come back and use next month. You don't find out how much is on it until you buy something, but who cares?! A minimum of $10 means I can at least go get another cute pair of underwear for free. Hell to the yes folks...hell to the yes.
And last is a quickie that I just came across today. I signed up for the Living Social emails. They send out a deal a day local to your area. I haven't been very interested in most of them, but today they had a 2 movie tickets for $9 promotion. That's like paying matinee price or less for a full priced ticket! I like to find deals on things the BF and I can do to stay entertained so I went ahead and got that too. My 12 cents is telling me it's all good, but my $45 is tsk tsking me. Oh well, not every deal can be a dollar or less.
Awesome shopping job! Where did you get the coupon for VS? I am in need of a new bra.
ReplyDeleteyou're my hero!
ReplyDeleteSorry for the delay Rachelle! I get their coupons in the mail. It's totally worth getting on the mailing list I think. Every coupel of months I get a free pair of underwear coupon along with a really killer deal on bras.
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