Cheaps McGee

It's no secret that I like a good bargain.  It's also no secret that I find them.  If I come home from shopping without a crazy good deal, that means I haven't purchased anything.  It's a hobby and slight obsession of mine; the manufacturer's suggested retail price is The Man and I like to stick it to him.  Boo-ya.  Anyway, there are some things that I don't have to have a super deal on, mainly because they are necessities. 

That being said, I went to Target today (where I found the following 70%-off: dress for $7.48, leggings for the girls 2 pairs black, 2 pairs hot pink for $1.50 each, and cute shoes a size too big for Ty at $3.88) to buy shampoo and conditioner.  In the past I have purchased shampoo and condish at Costco, but I got sick of having a huge bottle in the same flavor too quickly.  The stars aligned just right in the shampoo aisle as I picked out my Pantene Pro-V hair washers:
Original price for 28 oz. bottle: $7.29 each
Sale price: $5.50 each
Promotion: free travel-size shampoo with purchase (ended up being out, so I got 10% off instead!)
Store coupon I had: $1 off
Mfg. coupon I had: $3 off 2

Is that like the best deal ever?  No, but it was real nice to come out with 2 big bottles of shampoo for less than the price of one.  :)  That's all.

The REAL challenge lately has been trying to furnish and put together the house we just moved into (renting for a year) for less than $468, aka our puny tax return.  So far, we're doing pretty well and have gotten lots of stuff off of our list.  Is it decorated beautifully?  Heck no, but we do have couches to sit on, a dresser for the girls' clothes, a TV stand, random organizational things, a decent kitchen garbage can, some wireless xbox connection thing, and other Lowe's odds and ends.  We still need, however, some blackout curtains for Ty's room and a few other small things that will have to be purchased with the $70 we have left.  Let's just say that Craigslist has been scoured and the key to finding furnishing deals for 2-hand stuff is patience...and a bad housing market so people are moving away and want to sell their stuff for cheap.  (Just trying to look on the bright side here!) 

I'll admit: trying to do stuff within a strict budget has been a little bit fun.  It kinda ups the ante of the "find a bargain" game.  I should apply this to more (as in all) of our financial areas.  The problem I have with that is that then I may have to pass up on good deals because it's not "needed" in our budget right then...  Dilemmas.  My apologies that this has gotten so boring and long.  Oops.  I guess that's what happens when Russell starts back up being gone all day!