Shopping For A Bargain

I coupon. I shop the clearance racks.  I love a good bargain.  Saving money where I can so that we can do other things that may not be discountable (is that a word? I guess I'll find out when I spellcheck this entry ~ either way, it's staying, because I like the word).  I digress.  Sorry, I do that sometimes.  Every January 7 July, Target resets their toy aisle. They mark down the toys they need to get rid of, so they can bring in the latest & greatest mother load of things that my kids will see on TV & announce that they just HAVE to have.  when I tell them no, they tell me that they will ask Grandma & Grandpa. (9 times out of 10, Grandma gets "it" for them, & is the hero.  Yay for Grandma & Grandpa; saved me a few bucks!!).

So it was getting close to that time of the month.  I was stalking the aisles at 2 of my favorite Target stores.  I was reading the blogs & Facebook pages of the masters of bargain shopping.  The day came; I was ready for some 70% off on toys.  It is great to stock up for upcoming birthdays & to have several Christmas gifts tucked away.  It's really neat to have a little arsenal of gifts for when my children get invited to a birthday party; it's a great feeling to give a gift that retails for $30.00, & knowing that you scored it for $9.00. 

I purchased several items to donate to a local organization that has childcare on the premises.  Two of my children have birthdays coming up in a few months, so I was able to scorea few things for them (YAY!). Then I saw it.  I had to scan it, as the tag said it was only 15% off (not good enough for me to justify purchasing it. The scanner showed that it was marked down to 50%, good enough for a 'family' gift for this spring/summer.  When I got to the car & checked out my receipt, this toy rang up at 70% off!! (YAY).  The kids were going to love their Gigaball, a giant inflatable ball that they could climb inside off & push each other around in.  How cool is that? You can climb inside of a giant padded ball & have your siblings knock you around? I was fairly certain that they'd love it.

I was right.  The girl saw it first.  She climbed into the back of the minivan & squealed with delight, "Sam & Adam come here!!  Oh gosh, this is AMAZING!!  Come & look at this!!  It's a giant hamster wheel......for PEOPLE!!!"