Extra 25% Off Clearance at Marshalls

Marshalls is having an extra 25% off clearance through Sunday (I think).  Add to this the fact that a lot of the clearance is already cheap and you can score some great deals.  I bought three shirts, one pair of capri pants, one down/feather-stuffed throw pillow, and one enormous tablecloth for $30.84.

Go forth and shop.

Deal Alert: $9.99 Shoes at ShoeTrader

ShoeTrader has a bunch of shoes on sale right now for $9.99 with free shipping and free returns. Use code 943706 if the prices don't show up correctly in your cart. There is no good way to sort the items, so be prepared to be frustrated. However, if you have the patience there are some cute things in the midst of some frankly hideous stuff.

I'm trying to stop buying unreasonably tall and/or uncomfortable shoes due to joint problems. I've been getting rid of my unreasonable shoes but let me tell you it is no easy task to find cute low-heeled shoes!!

Here's what I bought:


Green linen sling back sandals- originally $35:


Sofft (love this brand for comfort!) leather sandals- originally $70:

Black leather sandals- originally $60:

Boring but functional leather loafers in tan and black- originally $40 each:

Original total: $245

Paid: $50 shipped

Not bad.

Express Sale

Right now Express is offering an additional 20% off their clearance. This is the time to shop there!!! I bought three button down shirts that were plain colors (I have too many patterns) for $7.99 each. They are a cotton/poly/spandex blend and have a beautiful cut (long, good button placement aka no gaps, wide cuffs, darting to make it fitted, etc.). Express' woven shirts hold up well, but beware of their knits which tend to pill after washing.

Vitamin Deal: Great for the Hypochondriac

At Puritan's Pride, they are offering 8-cent shipping until January 27th. They are also offering a "buy two, get three free" deal on all products. The product has to be the same item and same size, however. This would be a great deal on things you take a lot of, like multivitamins and Vitamin C. Go through ebates and get 7% back.



On a side note, I was recently listening to a neuropsychologist give a lecture. He said that if a person takes a bunch of multivitamins and supplements, it's safe to say that they have some health-related anxiety. As a person that takes 5, soon to be 6 varying supplements each day, I can say that this is probably true. I am really healthy, though. :P

Clearance, Clearance Everywhere

*Run to your local Old Navy! Starting today (I don't know when it ends!), they are having an additional 50% off of clearance prices. I only bought a tank top for myself but got a bunch of clothes for my niece and nephews for a couple of dollars a piece.

*J.C. Penney also had a bunch of kids clothes for a few dollars a piece. I bought a couple pieces for my gift tub. There are sales throughout the store, but the women's clothes will become cheaper than they are now.

*Express is offering an additional 20% off clearance. I bought a sleeveless leopard print wrap shirt and a cute necklace for under $15 total. The shirt is a bit too big, though, so I will have to alter it or exchange.

Walgreens Deals

Here is my weekly rhapsody to Walgreens. I purchased: 2 Infusium Conditioners, 1 Infusium Shampoo, 1 Herbal Essences Shampoo, 1 Aussie Shampoo, 1 Aussie Conditioner, 2 packages of 3 Venus disposable razors, 2 Oral B Indicator Toothbrushes, 3 100 count Excedrin, two packs of gum, and two packs of computer paper. Total retail value: $91.93.

I paid: $17.46 out of pocket. Subtract from that the $10 coupon off my next purchase that I received and a $2.99 Excedrin rebate that I will send in= $4.47 total.

It took some patience studying the ads to figure out what coupons that I could use and how I could work the Register Rewards coupons in my favor (I checked out three times and alternated the P&G and the Novartis orders). Plus I had about $9 leftover on a couple of gift cards. Now that's what I call good shopping!

P.S. While I was taking the picture for this post, I realized how odd it is to be lining up HBA items on a table in the breezeway to take a picture of them.

Nalgene Coupon Code

Get 25% off your order at Nalgene with the code BC2. I found this code at www.retailmenot.com, such a cute coupon code site!

Anyhoo, don't get the pretty colored bottles. Get the ugly white with blue print made out of HDPE so you don't get nasty chemicals leaching into your water. I use plastic bottles all the time for water so I bought three 32 oz. narrow mouth bottles and one 16 oz. narrow mouth bottle. I am excited about the narrow mouth since I ALWAYS spill down my front. I have limited eye-hand coordination, okay?

Reason Number 12,879 Why I Love Walgreens

Two Sunsilk conditioners, one Sunsilk shampoo, a 20 count bottle of Advil PM, and four packs of college ruled filler paper. I paid $7.60 out of pocket after coupons, and I will get $7.00 back in rebates! Yay!

Frugal Tooth Whitener

I found this Natural White 5-Minute Tooth Whitener at the local Dollar Tree store. The clerk told me that one customer had come back in and purchased 11 packages of it! As your trusty frugal guinea pig, I had to buy it and try it. It is made in the U.S. and has the standard tooth whitening ingredients. You are supposed to use it 2x per day for five minutes. However, I am lazy, so I use it 1x per day while I am in the shower (~15 minutes). My teeth are fairly white to begin with, but I do believe it is working. I particularly like it because it whitens slightly further back into my mouth than Crest Whitestrips do. When I went back to purchase another package of it for future use, I found that they were nearly sold out, but you may be able to find some at your local store. They were located with the toothpaste.

Frugal Eyewear Version 2.0

Last year, I blogged about my quest to find frugal eyewear. You can read about it here. As I posted before, I have crazy prescriptions AND the bonus gift of a gigantic head. Don't worry- my head does not appear gigantic in person. It is only when buying hats and glasses that the enormity of it becomes apparent.

Anyhoo, these factors complicate things a bit. I wear toric contact lenses most of the time, but it is important for me to have glasses to let my eyes rest sometimes. I get a year's supply of lenses for about $116; $101 after rebate at Wal-Mart. When I first started wearing lenses (13 years ago!), my poor parents had to pay $300 for ONE pair of lenses that had to last a whole year. Needless to say, that was a disaster, but the contact situation is now under control.

The cheapest glasses at a store such as Wal-Mart still run $300+ for my prescription. I do get the optional "compressed" lenses to reduce the Coke-bottle-ness of my prescription. I also found last year that cute plastic frames tend to hide the thickness of my lenses. Last year, I got glasses at www.39dollarglasses.com for about $118. I was happy about that but I decided to try and go even cheaper this year. I wound up using Zenni Optical for a total of $68 shipped. I'm a happy camper and will update when I receive them!

Outlet Shopping: Using Coupons

Before you visit your favorite outlet mall, stop and visit their website to see if they have any printable coupons that you can use. If you live near a Chelsea Premium Outlet, right now they have a $10 off a $10 or more purchase at Naturalizer. This is how I got the shoes for the fashion show so cheaply. Always prepare before shopping!

Cheap Laptop Alert

This week, Office Depot is featuring a Toshiba Satellite Notebook computer for $349.99 after rebate. It is available in stores and has limited availability online. The price is $549 and the mail in rebate is $200. From what I hear, Office Depot rebates are slow, but they do eventually arrive. I have been wanting a laptop for awhile, so I went ahead and ordered since this is the cheapest deal that I have seen. One caveat: apparently it runs on Microsoft Vista, which makes it run somewhat slowly. You can purchase some extra RAM to make it work more quickly, but I'll see just wait and see how slowly it runs when it gets here. I am supposed to get several really nice free items with various coupon codes and delivery was free. I also went through Ebates to get 2% back and I put it on my credit card (to be paid in full, of course) to earn points rewards.