Bargain shopping adventures

So, I could basically write a whole book about what's gone on with me all week in my quest to find the greatest deals in all of Spokane. But I'm sure it would be boring, so suffice to say it involved dragging Seth around to an average of 3 stores a day, every day last week. I did want to document the specifics of my shopping trip yesterday though because I felt like it was the cherry on the sundae that was my week.

I spent hours in the morning painstakingly going through the ads and coupons from the Sunday paper and matching up with what I already had, seeing what items we actually use, etc etc. I put together a pretty awesome deal at Rite Aid that was going to get me over $45 worth of cleaning supplies and moisturizer for under $9. Now, this is rookie level savings believe it or not. But for me it... was... awesome.

It all started because I had a coupon for $1 off any 2 Cascade gel dishwasher detergent. And Rite Aid had 45oz Cascade gel on sale 2/$6 with a $1 "Up" Reward which is (if you don't shop at Rite Aid) kind of like a rebate but better because there's no forms to fill out and mail in or submit online. So basically it was going to be 2/$4 which works out to about 4.5 cents an ounce. I also had a coupon for $5 off a $25 purchase and they were having a big Buy 1 Get 1 Free sale on some other cleaning supplies. ANYWAY, long story short I went to 3 different Rite Aids only to find the shelf devoid of 45oz Cascade gel at each one. Boo! At the 4th Rite Aid the sale price tag was stuck on to the shelf where the 75oz size was sitting so I gave it a shot. No such luck, they rang up at 5.99 each but since I had already finished checking out (and survived the skeptical cashier ringing up my SIXTEEN coupons), I was kind of exhausted and REALLY thirsty I just headed back out to my car.

I pounded the Powerade Zero I had bought and with renewed energy I hit a 4th Rite Aid and they didn't have the right size either.

Aside: before you judge me for wasting gas or something I did want to mention that I was going out to the valley already to run on the trail and there were two almost right on my way. Then later I was up on the South Hill to go to Safeway and there are literally 3 Rite Aid stores within about a 1 mile radius.

After Rite Aid #4 I got smart and called the 5th one (I know, I'm a little slow). Yes, they said they had the size that was on sale, so away I went. I walked in and they HAD NO 45oz CASCADE. Ugh. Totally disgusted I managed to track down the girl I had talked to on the phone and while she went to investigate the case of the missing detergent I had the cashier refund my previous purchase of the larger size. When he gets done I look down the aisle and see my helper standing back by the detergent with the manager basically scratching her head. I wandered back to see how things were going and she explained that the 45oz size on sale must have too many phosphates so they probably weren't going to even get it in. They said what they could do was give me the larger size for the sale price. I actually felt bad about that and said that wasn't really necessary but they pretty much insisted and I caved, I mean what do I look like, a saint? So I got 150oz of Cascade detergent for $5. FIVE DOLLARS. That's about 50% off Wal*Mart's online price, which was the cheapest I could find. Besides, I never would have bought it at Wal*Mart anyway because I hate going there and normally I would have just waited until we ran out and then buy it at Fred Meyer whether it was on sale or not.

In conclusion, over the last two weeks I have used over $160 in coupons and sent in for over $75 in rebates. That's $235+ in savings which doesn't even factor in my savings off of the shelf price by paying attention to what is on sale.

We are ALL stocked up now on quite a few things so I think I'm going on hiatus from shopping, briefly, to reflect on what I've learned and more importantly let the adrenaline drain from my body.

Tomorrow Seth will be 9 months old. Where has the year gone?