Easter Candy...

Today I was able to leave the kids with DH, so I took the opportunity to get Easter shopping done. I had a general plan, I checked some prices, and I narrowed it down to three stores to get my goodies: World Market, Target, and CVS (had to pick up some prescriptions there, too).

World Market is almost cleared out of the best fstuff! They have great candy...unique and weird candy that is always fun to throw into Easter baskets or stockings at Christmastime. DH loves Abba Zabba (I have no idea why!), and they always have a fresh supply. They also have great Hello Kitty stuff and DD loves Hello Kitty. I am a member of the World Market Explorer program - this is a loyalty program and the benefits include periodic coupons and rewards on food purchases. I always recommend enrolling in loyalty programs and this one is pretty good. I had a 10% off coupon that I was able to print before leaving for the store.

Target has their candy on sale as well. They have Starburst jelly beans on sale for $2 each, then there is a Target coupon for $1 off two bags, and a manufacturer coupon for $1 off two bags. That brings the price down to only $1 each. We needed to stock up on Head and Shoulders and there were buy one get one free coupons in the P&G Saver that came in the newspaper today, so I saved 50% off those, too. I also got some Strawberry Shortcake bandages for only 57 cents with a Target coupon and a manufacturer coupon. The kids are always wanting to put on bandages, so I might as well get them cheap. :-) Just remember to get those Target coupons from their website. They CAN be combined with manufacturer coupons for bigger savings.

Finally, I stopped at CVS. I stopped at the red coupon machine and out spit my quarterly rewards ($9), a $2 off $10 easter purchase, and the reminder that I had a 25% off coupon loaded to my card. I went to the pharmacy and settled that up and then started shopping. Unfortunately, the CVS I chose is incredibly slow at getting their new price tags out; I don't think they had a single tag out. So I grabbed an ad from the front so I could remember which items were included in the extra buck sales. I got 2 M&M bags ($2 ECBs plus a manufacturer coupon), 1 hershey's miniature bag, 1 whoppers robin eggs bag, 1 cadbury mini eggs bag, 1 garnier dark spot corrector ($5 ECB with $15 purchase of garnier and these were marked at $17, but that's wrong; plus $2 manufacturer coupon), 2 revlon mascaras (2 - $2 off coupons and ECB's with $15 purchase, marked at $9.50 each, also wrong), and some new sunglasses for DS. I went to the front, ready for a great trip. However, CVS had a different idea. I tried one credit card and it told her to call. Then we tried another and same thing. For some reason, after using the VERY SAME card in the back, they declined it up front. Who knows. So then I thought (and even said out loud) that at least I was getting ECB's and that would make it all better. FAT CHANCE! April Fool's on me because I had to spend $15 in garnier and that moisturizer was only $14 on sale (!) and the mascaras were ALSO on sale and only totaled $14 (again with a $15 minimum). So I have to figure out if there is anything I need to get to that extra dollar on both. Argh. I was busy loading my items on the counter and didn't watch the little screen to see the prices. :-( I *was* able to save $35 today, though...there is a silver lining I guess.

I hope your experiences today are better than mine ended up! Good luck to you on this April Fool's day...!!!
--Katie