Wishful Slacker

Wisconsining

A few weeks ago we snatched up a groupon deal for a hotel in Madison, Wisconsin.  $116 got us a one night's stay, and included in the deal was a $50 room service/restaurant credit.  It was a bit of a gamble, deciding to spend a night away from home (after all, there is no crib like one's own) and in a time of many variables (from Ellie's point of view- "I'm happy, I'm crabby, I'm sleepy, I'M NOT SLEEPY!").  Jim and I have thought back over the last few months and have decided there are several things we should have just bit the bullet and DONE over the summer, like going to a Cub's game with Ellie in tow, for example.  So, that was one force driving the decision to buy this groupon deal- we were willing to take a stab at an adventurous weekend.  Another pleasing aspect was the fact that it was for Madison, Wisconsin.  In the five and a half years that I have lived in Chicago, I had yet to venture the hour north into Wisconsin territory.  Pathetic, yes, and I was ready to change that.

So last Saturday we hung around here until it was time for Ellie's nap, then loaded up the car and trekked north.  We had a most fabulous time.  We strolled around near the capit0l building, did some window shopping, ate some Italian food, and swam in the hotel pool.  I think what made the trip successful was that we didn't try to make it any more elaborate than we three could handle.  So while for some, driving 2 1/2 hours to casually walk around downtown Madison might seem like the most boring thing one could do, for us, it was great!  And what we saw of Madison was lovely.

A challenge with being in a new area with a toddler is that it can be hard to determine what restaurants are baby friendly.  We restaurant-shopped until we saw some kids sitting in high chairs at the Mia Francesca (which also exists here in Chicago, but oh well) and had a really yummy dinner (the kid loves pasta.  Who knew?).  Miraculously, Ellie slept well in the hotel's pack and play, waking just once in the middle of the night and quickly falling back to sleep.  Jim and I ordered drinks to the room after she fell asleep and spent the evening watching college football (perfect, since we didn't want the TV volume to be up too high).

The next morning we went to the Madison Children's Museum, and then we drove home while Ellie napped.  It was even the easiest trip back into the city that we have ever had.  So, lesson learned.  Every so often, it pays to take a chance.

I'm on a roll!

These were from two well-planned trips to Walgreens this week.  :-D 

What ya gonna do but shop?

I'm starting to take some days off from work here and there, now that I am 40 weeks and 4 days pregnant and bursting at the seams.  The squeal coming from my joints every time I stood up is really what propelled this action.  And, what do you know, but over the weekend I actually felt so much better after having stayed off my feet for most of Friday!  My sisters visited me on Saturday and said, completely unprompted, "Well, your ankles and your feet aren't swollen!"

All my friends in Chicago know that I've been clomping around like a sumo wrestler for months now with what seem like the largest ankles in the city.  And just after one day off, they became normal again. 

I've stayed home again today but will plan on heading back in tomorrow.  The most frustrating part of this journey is that this kid is going to make her appearance whenever she damn well pleases (sorry to sound so harsh, my sweet little baby of mine).  If I knew that I could go into labor tonight, for example, I would do everything I could to sleep all...day...long today.  But if nothing happens tonight, then I'll be up all night since I slept all day!  It's a delicate balance I'm trying to maintain here.

I wanted to share one thing I have become somewhat addicted to during these last couple weeks of reduced activity.  I partially blame my friend Michelle for this, since she got me jumpstarted on this path :-)  Anyways, just like they have Groupon.com and other discounted websites for adults, there are also a plethera of discounted websites for babies and kids.  And they all have that "OMGwehavethebestdealnowbutitwon'tlastforlong!!!!!!!" feeling.  It's exhilarating.  Some offer one special per day that quickly sells out if you don't grab it, others offer up a new special once the previous one sells out. 

I've been pretty good about it and have not overly abused our checkbook.  But I've also gotten some awesome stuff!  Like the Woombie, a Swaddlebee econappi and Grandma El's products, all at about a 50% discount from the retail value.

Here are some of the sites I recommend, if any of you wish to fall into a similar addiction.  Let me know if you're aware of any others!

Baby Half Off

Baby Steals and Kid Steals

mama loot
(Chicago-based)

Mama Bargains

Green Baby Bargains

Eco Baby Buys

This is how you do it

I made a killing at Walgreens last night.  The success of saving a lot at places like Walgreens depends on how well you combine weekly store specials with manufacturer coupons.  And, not to toot my own horn or anything, but I've gotten pretty good at it.  Here's my technique:

1) You don't need one, but having a coupon organizer like the one below from The Container Store makes sorting through coupons far easier.  I have the taps on ours labelled "dry goods," "toiletries," "household items," "medicine," etc.  My tab for "cat," has now become "cat/baby," which the cat is a little disgruntled about.
2) On Sunday mornings, I sort out the weekly circulars that come in the newspaper, setting aside the inserts for Walgreens and Target along with the manufacturer coupon sheets that have come out that week.  I'm not a huge fan of CVS, and we don't have many Rite Aids nearby, so that's why Walgreens is my convenience store of choice.  Target can throw out some good specials too, but venturing into a Chicago-area Target sometimes is like walking into the penguin house at the zoo.  There's a lot of slow waddling and waiting in lines. 

3) Sitting down with the scissors, I go through the manufacturer coupons FIRST, cutting out only the ones I think we would ever use (Using coupons is not so you can buy pointless stuff you'd never buy to begin with).  THEN, I finish off with the Walgreens and Target ads.

Why in that order?  Well, if I just clipped a manufacturer coupon for Ponds lotion, then when I see the weekly special for Ponds lotion at Walgreens I instantly remember that I just cut out a manufacturer's coupon for the same product.  If you looked through the Walgreens catalog first, you'd be more apt to forget those store specials when you go through the manufacturer coupon inserts.  Or that could be just me. 

Again, this is the vital consideration here- you CAN combine manufacturer's coupons with weekly store specials. 

To demonstrate my point, I actually wrote down several of the coupons and specials that I combined yesterday during my shopping spree:

• We had a $2.50 coupon good for any 3 Swiffer refills (from the newspaper insert) and a $1 off Swiffer refill coupon that we got from our Swiffer mop starter kit.  Swiffer refills this week from Walgreens were 25% off.  We then got $3.50 off of 4 Swiffer refill products (the pads and liquid refills) that were already 25% off to begin with.  In addition to THAT, Febreze air freshioner was 25% off and we had a $0.50 manufacturer coupon.  If you bought any combination of Febreze or Swiffer products of $10 or more, you got $2 in register rewards (basically a $2 coupon to use for your next trip to Walgreens), expiring Sept 15.
• There was a "buy one get one 50% off" store special for Gillette disposable razors.  We also had a $2.00 off manufacturer coupon.  Now, ladies, boy razors are so much cheaper than those meant for women.  Have you noticed?  You got 4 Gillette Mach3 razors for a little over $6, while Venus disposable razors are almost $10 for 3!  And, I seriously can find no major difference between them aside from the color of the handle.  Anyways, just a side thought there.
• This was a good one- a 10 count pack of Breathe Right nasal strips (which come in handy during bad allergy or cold season) was on sale at Walgreens for just $4 (they're usually closer to $10), AND Walgreens gave you $4 back in register rewards for their purchase.  AND we had a $1 off manufacturer coupon.  Get this, Walgreens doesn't always want you to realize that there are such good specials on some of their products, so sometimes there will be no sale sign at the display.  Another reason why it's handy to do your homework (and they keep their weekly special inserts at the entranceway, which I'll often grab in order to make sure I'm grabbing the right thing).
• Colgate Advanced toothpaste (4 oz tube) was on sale at Walgreens this week for $2.99, plus you get $2 in register rewards.  AND we had a $0.75 off manufacturer coupon.  You can get fooled pretty easily, because the 4 oz tube is one of the smaller tube sizes.  There were other specials on the larger sizes, but our combination of coupon/store special was a better deal. 
• General Mills cereals were on sale for $1.99 each, and we had a coupon that we'd previously been issued by Walgreens for $1.50 off of 3 boxes.   

In the end, we ended up saving $34 after the weekly store specials and manufacturer coupon totals were tallied up.  They print it right at the bottom of your receipt, so you can stare at it with glee all evening.  In addition to those savings, we received $8 in coupons for register rewards and another $1.50 General Mills cereal coupon.  So, basically, my coupon plans involve 2 trips.  The first trip involves using up many coupon deals to get the register rewards.  My second trip involves using our register reward coupons for products that we need that don't usually go on sale, like the 18 containers of Pepcid that I need to buy to get me through the rest of this pregnancy. 

Here's a couple additional tips.  In order to get all this to work, it pays to be organized.  So, as I'm going through the ads each Sunday, I also take out an envelope and a pen.  When I find something for us to get, I write it down and then, if there is a coupon, I stick the coupon inside the envelope.  If there are any particulars on the coupon or sale (which there often are-for example, if it's for 75 ft versus 100 ft of Reynolds Wrap) then I write that down on the envelope too.  The envelope is also handy as you head to the check out. 

 

Sometimes I realize that, even with these combos, it's still cheaper to buy off-brand.  If that happens while I am at the store, I scrap my original plan and will remove the coupon from the envelope and shove it into a pocket or rip it up so that it's no longer stuck in the stack of coupons I hand over to the cashier.  That may seem a bit overboard, but it really makes the whole shopping excursion much more efficient. 

You often don't strike it as big with manufacturer coupons on food at grocery stores as you do with toiletries, especially if you tend to eat more produce and less meat and processed foods.  We still come across good deals on canned and dry goods, frozen vegetables, and things like that.  And some weekly grocery store specials are really good. 

As part of this couponing spree, it sometimes pays to stock up.  Buying two things of peanut butter when you've got a store special and a coupon ends up saving you money in the end than just getting 1 and having to return in a month for more peanut butter at full price.  But, don't go overboard here- it's no good to have a pantry stuffed with 10 jars of peanut butter.  Along those lines, as I've already mentioned, pay extra close attention to the sizes of what you're getting.  More is not always better.  Walgreens runs that 4 oz toothpaste special quite often, and manufacturer coupons are a plenty for toothpaste.  Over time I feel we save a lot more money buying smaller sizes at essentially $0.25 a piece than what a larger collection breaks down into. 

And, to end this, I think it's important not to get coupon burnout.  If you don't feel like going through the coupons and ads on a particular Sunday morning, then don't.  If it seems like a chore than I don't think you'll feel the pay off as much.  There's a price paid for convenience during some weeks, and we don't need to shop for shampoo every week either.  So no pressure!