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Weekly Shopping, Elections
Nov. 4th, 2008 10:28 pmI think I will give in and start a blog for my thrifty shopping hobby. I just need to come up with a name for it. Any suggestions? In the meantime... I can't stop myself from posting about it sometimes. It is so so much fun. I took a week or so more or less off, due to illness, houseguests and crappy sales, but I have already jumped back in this week and had a blast. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, they say. Maybe that's true.
( cut because I care )
Q&A Time!
K, isn't that a total of eight jumbo packages of disposable diapers you have there?
Yes, that's right.
K, don't you... uhh... use cloth diapers?
Yes, that's right.
....
Did you not see how cheap they were?? Okay, just kidding. Well, no, I'm not kidding about the price but I do not buy things just because they're cheap if I can help it. I buy things just because they're free, sure (if I can justify the cost of tax) but I try very hard to not buy things I wouldn't otherwise buy just because I see a good deal on it. It sort of defeats the purpose, if you know what I mean. We are still using cloth diapers, but we started putting her in trashies at night a month or two ago. Her needs increased and my previous night diaper solution started failing. I started noticing that when she was in cloth, she woke up in the middle of the night. I do not like being up at night. I kept thinking that I would just put together a new solution, but I just never got around to it. Maybe later, but at this price... eh. I don't know how high a priority it is, adding one or two diapers a day to the equation. And, we almost always put her in paper before we go out, especially if we're going to be away for the weekend. You can do cloth quite well when you travel, but M and I are fundamentally lazy people and there always seems to be a space issue in the diaper bag.
Are Walgreen's diapers any good?
I hope so! I have only used about three of their cheaper type so far, but they remind me of Pampers. (I bought the Pampers today because they were cheap, but also because I already have some Huggies that will not last her through the night, and I wanted to have some that I knew would, just in case the Wags diapers don't work out for overnight.) The premium ones are supposed to be even better, but so far, the ones I've tried have been good... but no overnight data available yet.
How did you pay so little for them?
Three things. The first is that they're having a Buy One Get One Free on diapers this week, so they're $4.50/ea--already a great price. Then, there are coupon sheets available at the pharmacy for asking about their prescription savings plan--it takes off $2/pack. (Theoretically, there's also a deal that takes off $2/pack on all diapers this month, but it didn't work for me.) And third, the mascara was free after rebate this month (and Almay is B1G1 this week, so there's something else free!) I used a $2 coupon--found at Kmart--on both items in each transaction. The razors were also a complicated moneymaker--I won't get into the details, and the candle was, too. Plus, there's a 10% bonus to the rebate items. The overage really helped, but without it, the diapers still end up being $2.50. For a reference to those of you without kids in diapers--a "sale" on Pampers/Huggies is about $9.50. It's funny because I have seem several of the coupon bloggers who actually do not use cloth for financial reasons. At prices like these, I am wondering how much money we even save--laundry isn't free, after all. Of course, we have other reasons for using primarily cloth, but it's something to think about.
This link explains it step-by-step. This would be an excellent time to stock up on diapers, if you need/will need them.
Aren't you tired of talking about diapers yet?
God, yes.
What do you DO with this stuff?
Stack it in our storage room, drink it, eat it, use it, give it away, donate it, let Evelyn climb on it.
Doesn't it take you a long time to do this?
Yeah, kinda. I spent an hour or so clipping coupons, and maybe a couple of hours writing out a shopping list. (Kroger made it take a long time.. it's usually not that long.) I have maybe spent four hours doing the actual shopping, but that's from two days, and I take my time with it because I enjoy having errands to run with the baby to break up my day. I don't always go to all the stores during the week. My Walgreens, Kroger and CVS receipts for just these two days put my savings at $244, though. That's $35 an hour for my time. ;)
In other news, this is Election Day! OMG I bet none of you even realized that! :) Everyone is all abuzz with the "I voted" today. I did, too, of course. I actually strapped Evelyn into the mei tai and walked down there. I mean, I know that most people wouldn't consider this a monumental undertaking but I live in a rural area with no sidewalks. Also, something I failed to consider was how very uphill the return trip would be. ;) Still, I was only gone twenty minutes, total. There was absolutely no one in line when I got there--the parking lot was packed when I drove by this morning, though. There's something to be said about waiting until four p.m., apparently. In any case, I think that the workout I got means that I can have ice cream, so I'd better go do that before I have to go to bed instead.
( cut because I care )
Q&A Time!
K, isn't that a total of eight jumbo packages of disposable diapers you have there?
Yes, that's right.
K, don't you... uhh... use cloth diapers?
Yes, that's right.
....
Did you not see how cheap they were?? Okay, just kidding. Well, no, I'm not kidding about the price but I do not buy things just because they're cheap if I can help it. I buy things just because they're free, sure (if I can justify the cost of tax) but I try very hard to not buy things I wouldn't otherwise buy just because I see a good deal on it. It sort of defeats the purpose, if you know what I mean. We are still using cloth diapers, but we started putting her in trashies at night a month or two ago. Her needs increased and my previous night diaper solution started failing. I started noticing that when she was in cloth, she woke up in the middle of the night. I do not like being up at night. I kept thinking that I would just put together a new solution, but I just never got around to it. Maybe later, but at this price... eh. I don't know how high a priority it is, adding one or two diapers a day to the equation. And, we almost always put her in paper before we go out, especially if we're going to be away for the weekend. You can do cloth quite well when you travel, but M and I are fundamentally lazy people and there always seems to be a space issue in the diaper bag.
Are Walgreen's diapers any good?
I hope so! I have only used about three of their cheaper type so far, but they remind me of Pampers. (I bought the Pampers today because they were cheap, but also because I already have some Huggies that will not last her through the night, and I wanted to have some that I knew would, just in case the Wags diapers don't work out for overnight.) The premium ones are supposed to be even better, but so far, the ones I've tried have been good... but no overnight data available yet.
How did you pay so little for them?
Three things. The first is that they're having a Buy One Get One Free on diapers this week, so they're $4.50/ea--already a great price. Then, there are coupon sheets available at the pharmacy for asking about their prescription savings plan--it takes off $2/pack. (Theoretically, there's also a deal that takes off $2/pack on all diapers this month, but it didn't work for me.) And third, the mascara was free after rebate this month (and Almay is B1G1 this week, so there's something else free!) I used a $2 coupon--found at Kmart--on both items in each transaction. The razors were also a complicated moneymaker--I won't get into the details, and the candle was, too. Plus, there's a 10% bonus to the rebate items. The overage really helped, but without it, the diapers still end up being $2.50. For a reference to those of you without kids in diapers--a "sale" on Pampers/Huggies is about $9.50. It's funny because I have seem several of the coupon bloggers who actually do not use cloth for financial reasons. At prices like these, I am wondering how much money we even save--laundry isn't free, after all. Of course, we have other reasons for using primarily cloth, but it's something to think about.
This link explains it step-by-step. This would be an excellent time to stock up on diapers, if you need/will need them.
Aren't you tired of talking about diapers yet?
God, yes.
What do you DO with this stuff?
Stack it in our storage room, drink it, eat it, use it, give it away, donate it, let Evelyn climb on it.
Doesn't it take you a long time to do this?
Yeah, kinda. I spent an hour or so clipping coupons, and maybe a couple of hours writing out a shopping list. (Kroger made it take a long time.. it's usually not that long.) I have maybe spent four hours doing the actual shopping, but that's from two days, and I take my time with it because I enjoy having errands to run with the baby to break up my day. I don't always go to all the stores during the week. My Walgreens, Kroger and CVS receipts for just these two days put my savings at $244, though. That's $35 an hour for my time. ;)
In other news, this is Election Day! OMG I bet none of you even realized that! :) Everyone is all abuzz with the "I voted" today. I did, too, of course. I actually strapped Evelyn into the mei tai and walked down there. I mean, I know that most people wouldn't consider this a monumental undertaking but I live in a rural area with no sidewalks. Also, something I failed to consider was how very uphill the return trip would be. ;) Still, I was only gone twenty minutes, total. There was absolutely no one in line when I got there--the parking lot was packed when I drove by this morning, though. There's something to be said about waiting until four p.m., apparently. In any case, I think that the workout I got means that I can have ice cream, so I'd better go do that before I have to go to bed instead.
