Bass Pro Outlet

Not long before Christmas the kids & I set out on a mission to pick up some toys from a seller on Craig's List. The kids were thrilled to see snow in our yard. We drove up near the airport to meet her. Once that errand was done I realized how close we were to the mall Heidi & I had visited when she was here. We all decided we'd like to go.

The entrance to the Bass Pro shop was very inviting.

This was the kids first visit. They were amazed at all there was to do & see. Bugs had fun racing this remote controlled jeep.

Then there was target shooting.

And a catfish as big as Bugs! More than half as big as Boo Bear.

Princess loved watching the fish swim.

Sweet Pea helps Princess get a closer look.

The rest of the mall finally opened and we went shopping for a hat for Princess. She tried on this cute kitty hat.

And this stylish beret.

We settled on a cute bright colored hat. I forgot to take a pic. =(

We stopped by the Rainforest Cafe gift shop.

Bugs was fascinated by the hippo.

Elvis pretended to be terrified of the snake. Hee, hee!

Bugs literally shouted for joy when he saw the train!

We were able to find some clothes for Princess as well as a sweet monkey. All Christmas presents of course! =)

Come On Over!

I am excited to share another frugal find with y'all! Last year I shared about SwagBucks. Ever since last fall I've been saving up mine and reached a total of 485! I've been keeping my eye on the prizes waiting for something that was worth my savings. I finally decided on a $20 Target gift card. I saved up until I was able to purchase two. Then SwagBucks slashed their price on their Amazon.com gift cards. I did the math and found out I could earn an additional $5.00 buying the Amazon cards vs. the Target cards. No brainer! Lol! I chose to buy the Amazon cards instead. Again before purchasing I did my research. I wanted to see what they had for sale and if it was a purchase I really needed, could be used to help our Christmas budget or something the entire family could benefit from. I also wanted something that qualified for the free shipping. I was happy to see that an item Elvis has really wanted was marked down. It is the Clone Wars first season on DVD. I had bought a different DVD for him but it only had 4 episodes (1DVD) where this one is 4 DVD's. (This is the DVD I bought at Walmart for $15.)

I got it at Walmart for $15. This one was $28.49! I applied the 3 gift cards I had already purchased with my SwagBucks and it knocked the price down to half. After I take back the DVD to Walmart I'll have the other $15. Yay! I'm very excited b/c essentially I'll get the 4-disk DVD set for the same price I paid for the 1-disk DVD! Happy dance!

This is the 4-disk DVD I bought for only $15 with my Swagbucks!

I encourage you if you are not already using SwagBucks to start. If you do choose to sign up please do so from my blog. Then I can earn bucks too! Look on the left hand column of my blog for the widget. In the bottom right hand corner is a tab you can click to sign up. It is free with no obligation. All you do is use them as your search engine. They reward you with "bucks" which you can then spend in their store. There are all sorts of things to choose from. I've noticed in the last month or so they are rewarding me with bucks more often than before. Yee ha! I still have over 300 bucks left. I think I will buy a Wii game for the family to play. I have my eye on one and have just enough to buy it. With the Super Savings Shipping it will be FREE! Now how's THAT for a bargain?

If you do decide to sign up & use my widget to do so THANK YOU! I deeply appreciate it. =0)

Hunting for Treasures

Everyone that knows me knows that I am a yard sale addict. I absolutely LOVE bargain hunting! A good yard sale can yield a ton of neat things and is like a fun treasure hunt. Plus of course it can save a ton of $$$ too! On Saturday Boo Bear, Sweet Pea, Princess & I set out to hunt for some gifts for Christmas. Boo was able to fill her list. Yay, Boo! I found a few little treasures but was getting doubtful about finding anything to really dance about. Then it happened. We went to one that was off our beaten path. I was so glad I did! It turned out not only did they have many things I was looking for but because we visited around noon they marked everything down to half price! I found my treasures-of-the-day at this sale! Whoot whoot!

I found these at the half price tag sale. I have been looking FOREVER for affordable prints for Princess' room. They were marked as $12 for the pair (a good buy in itself) but I got them for $6!


These were also at the half price tag sale. Also originally marked as $12 for the trio, (usually $10-$16 for each at Target), I got them for $6!!!! So all 5 prints for $12!!!! A steal or what?!?!?

This nice, big basket was $1.

A winter coat for Princess. Only $1.50!

These guys were 25 cents each.

I know I got more trains but they must be in another bag that is not pictured. These will be for the boys for Christmas.

These baby toys are for Princess at Christmas.

Total cost? $5!

Two of the toys are Lamaze toys too!

This & the prints were my BEST finds of the day. I have been looking for a dresser for Princess since before she was born. I found this in pristine condition. Half price sale made it $10!!!!! I was ecstatic!

The drawers were super clean & even lined!

The dresser & prints will be a part of Princess' Christmas gifts. It will be fun to decorate her room.

These will be Christmas presents too.

Trains for Bugsy & Bionicle & Tree Frog for Elvis

A little bug house for Bugsy.

Now he can join the big kids in their hunts!

In addition to the above I was able to find a couple of outfits for Princess for $2,
a few books for Sweet Pea at 25 cents each, a bag of stockings for Princess $2, a large bag of bottles & sippies for a $1, a Gap sweater for Elvis & a Fisher Price train set and tracks for only $4! I'm excited at these frugal finds! I am tucking most away for Christmas surprises. =0)

Great Deals!

In pace with our new life down here we decided to venture out to the stores the day after Christmas. Usually we are way too exhausted to even consider such a move but since we had such a nice, relaxing Christmas we ventured out around noon. There are many, many stores to choose from here way different than back where we used to live. I think that made it a bit more tempting as well. The kids were itching to spend some of the Christmas $ Nana gave them.

We went to Target first. I haven't been to Target since we moved here and it was set up much different than the one back home. We found an awesome deal on a new digital camera for Boo Bear. I had been searching & searching for a good quality digital camera under $100, (Wishful thinking?), and preferably around $80 tops. She has been wanting a camera for quite awhile and saved her birthday $ & allowance for the past 3 months towards a camera. Nana's gift card made up the difference she was lacking. We found a fantastic starter camera and the best thing is it was $15 lower than the lowest priced, positive reviewed camera I had found advertised. Yahoo! I even peeked underneath the sales card that was advertising & describing the camera as it sat on the electronics counter and saw it had just been reduced another $30. So if you add in that savings we got quite the sweet deal. Boo loves it and has literally been taking pictures ever since. She has already filled up an entire memory card!

The kids each picked out a toy or item to use their gift card on. A Star Wars toy for Elvis, 3 die cast Pixar CARS for Bugs, & a CD for Sweet Pea. I found a couple of large towels to fit my rounded body & some bath mats. Mine aren't exciting but things I had been wanting & saving for for awhile. So fun for me! =) The kids are excited because they each have at least a little $ left to go shopping again. Another fun trip in the near future!

Our next search was for shoes. Dave had been wanting & needing some new sneakers. Usually we aren't into brand names but because of his bad knees & my flat feet, (fallen arches from pregnancies), we have each found that New Balance sneakers are the sneakers for us. None have even come close in comparison. Dave's parents had given us some $ for Christmas and this is what we decided upon. (Thanks, Mom & Pops!) Now to find the deals. I had hoped to only spend $40 per pair at the most but the least expensive we could find were $50 each. Not too bad but I had seen them advertised for less before Christmas and was determined not to give up. We stopped in the small Sears near our house and after a bit I scanned the clearance rack. Low & behold what was sitting there but a size 14 New Balance sneaker! I couldn't believe it! I snatched it up to show Dave. We couldn't find the match so Dave went up to the counter to ask the saleslady if she new it's location. And she did! She went in the back and came out with it's mate. On the spot Dave told her he'd take them. Lol! She chuckled and asked if he'd like to know the price. We knew it was in the range of 40% to 60% off b/c of the sign but didn't know the exact price. Guess what? They were $25!!!!!!! I would have done a big ol' happy dance right there if I wasn't so hugely pregnant. =) As it was I was cheering from across the room which cracked the saleslady up. It made it even more of a find b/c we always have such a tough time finding shoes for Dave. Size 14! What a blessing!

My 3rd fantastic deal was found at Michael's today. They have been giving away either a 40% or 50% coupon this Christmas with your receipt. The only catch is that it can only be used on a regular priced item. I decided to see if I could use mine for a cork bulletin board. We need a large one for our office & they are super expensive everywhere I have looked. I went into Micheal's today hoping & praying their bulletin boards were not on sale. How funny is that? A frugal shopper praying against a sale. Lol! To my delight they were back to regular price and I was able to use my coupon for it! I walked out of the store with a large cork bulletin board for under $8! Considering all the ones I had seen in my researching were $35 or more I was delighted! And guess what? With my purchase I received another coupon for 50% off a regular priced item! Isn't that neat?

Our shopping is about wrapped up because of budget but I will definitely keep my eye out for those super bargains. After all Dave has a birthday next month and Sweet Pea has one coming up in March. If I can find a can't resist deal I'll tuck them away for their special days.

Wednesday's Plans

Can you believe it's only TWO WEEKS until Christmas? Anyone starting to panic a little? I was starting to fret a bit simply b/c I haven't finished up my shopping for Sweet Pea. I'm finding it a little hard to shop for her this year. She's at that age where she isn't grown up yet but she isn't a little girl any longer either. She has enough clothes thanks to the great sale last year at the Methodist Church in Lenox & we can't afford most of the tech things all the teens crave. I'm trying to be creative in my selections. The other hard part of shopping is that she is always with me. And she is alert to my every move. There is no hiding anything from this chick!

Thankfully, of his own accord Dave decided he would take tomorrow off of work. We need to go get our Tennessee drivers licenses and that will most likely take awhile. After that he said he will take the kids so I can finish the Christmas shopping. Yay! It will be wonderful to cross that big task completely off of my list. I don't have a ton left to do so hopefully it won't take too long.

Black Friday in Tennessee!

Boy, Black Friday is a whole different experience down here in Tennessee. I think it's because the area is larger therefore attracting more people. The shopping experience was pretty much the same - the crowds, the thrill of the hunt, chatting with strangers - but the rest was very different. The lines for instance. In Walmart we stood in line for over 1.5 hours. I am NOT kidding you! They had a very poor set up. We waited in line only to get to the front to see it was basically a free-for-all. No fair!

We did have 2 bright spots while waiting. First, as you all know I am 20.5 weeks pregnant. I've had insomnia the past 2 nights plus this awful chest cough & cold. I was feeling rotten. At one point during shopping I literally had to sit down on the floor in the grocery aisle. Sweet Pea ran up and got me a bottle of water b/c I was feeling overheated & thought I was going to be sick. After my break we battled the crowds a little more asking where pretty much everything was. They had things set up so strangely. Shortly after I got in line to check out, (the line by the way started near the back of the store), I looked over at a clothing rack to spy a folding chair hidden in the clothes. You didn't have to ask me twice! I brought it over to my cart and promptly sat down. I took that precious chair with me all the way to the front of the line at the end of the aisle. I had to say good-bye when we reached the main area in front of the registers. I can't express to you what a blessing that chair was! We waited again for about 30 minutes in a line at the register. Of course the line didn't move one bit. Argh. There was a family in front of us and eventually the husband went to look for a shorter line. I'm guessing he found one b/c he came back for his family & they left our line. Then about 10 minutes later the second blessing happened. This family's children came back to tell me that there was a very short line down on the other end of the store. I hesitantly followed them, (hesitantly only b/c they spoke mainly Spanish & I wanted to make sure I had understood what they had said to me), and then hurried. Sure enough there was a line with only one other person in it! I thanked them over & over again. They smiled and walked away waving off our thanks. Now how nice was that! We finished up our Walmart shopping & then headed to Toys R Us. Oh my goodness! Another LONG line! At least this one was organized. After that Sweet Pea & I went out to breakfast at IHOP. I was amazed & impressed at the super speedy and kind service we received. I swear we were served our food in about 10 minutes! And they were packed full of people with more constantly waiting. Impressive!

Overall it was a great experience & one both Sweet Pea and I are looking forward to again for next year. We learned some tricks to use and some things to avoid. I'm thrilled with the bargains we found too. It was fun to introduce Sweet Pea to the wild world of Black Friday. Let me tell you she was one surprised girl! Lol! She had a great time.