Liberal, Kansas and the Ikea 6

So... I'm moved.  Sorta.  My family is still in Arizona for a bit, well until I find housing etc here.  It's been a rough month and what I know now is that I am never moving again.  This is it.  I'm done.  Fini.  Though I've always wanted to see Maine....
lol

My dad in Payson, Arizona

The trip across the country was interesting.  We spent the first night with my dad in northern Arizona where there are trees!  He spends his summers up north fishing and I can see why he likes the area, it's quite beautiful and was a pleasant surprise because when I think of Arizona, I think of hot dirt.

From there we drove to Liberal, Kansas where we spent two days because I got sick.  I got no pictures of Liberal, however it was kind a neat town.  They have statues of Dorothy and others from the Wizard of Oz all over town.  The even have a Wizard of Oz museum, which I didn't see either.

After two days in Liberal, I felt a little better and did a little couponing at Walgreens.  I got the free Lanacane First Aid spray and the free Carmex Healing Lotion. No photos, sorry.

After we left Liberal we headed to Des Moines, Iowa where we intended on finding a motel.  However, apparently Des Moines hides itself from the freeway, because we passed it without knowing it and wound up at a Motel 6 outside of town.  This was the weirdest Motel 6 I have ever been in.  I think they arranged for Ikea to decorate it.  It was all press-board furniture and fake wood flooring that was slick as oil when your feet are wet.  Couple that with napkin size towels, low-flow shower heads and sheets that felt like burlap.  A good time was not had by all.  btw, I heard the other day that Ikea is planning on opening up hotels.  No, really.

The last day we drove from the Ikea 6  to Milwaukee.  I am usually quite the planner, but somewhere I failed to find out that the state fair was in town and all the hotel rooms were full.  We finally got a room in.... Oak Creek, the day after the shooting at the Sikh temple.  Just for the record... Oak Creek is a beautiful town with loads of terrific and peaceful looking neighborhoods.  Such a shame.

I wound up finding a room to rent temporarily in Waukesha.  The Taj Mahal it aint but it'll do until I find a home for us.  So now that I'm settled-ish, I began couponing again.  This was my first big coupon trip weekend since I moved, although I had gotten a few things here and there including my freebies in Kansas (which I repeated in Illinois). 

 First stop was Target.  I pretty much had a day to burn on Saturday so I was in no rush.  It's a little unsettling how friendly everyone is here! lol I was moseying through Target just looking at stuff and was asked a zillion times if I needed help.  Impressed!

I got the light bulbs for $1.19 after stacking a manufacturer coupon and a Target coupon.  I had a $1 Q for the Barilla, a 35 cent Q for the soap and I forget the coupon I used for the Miracle Whip but it was $1.39 each after sale and Qs.

The Hershey's was free with a stack of a mannyQ and a Target Q.

The Nivea was 84 cents after stacking a $2 mannyQ with a $2 Target Q. 

The Dr Pepper was $2.16 each with another manny/Target Q stack.

 These two photos are from my Walgreen's trip. 

I saw the ad for this week a few days ago and even though the water was supposed to be $1.99 starting today, I bought 4 yesterday because I haven't been able to trust the pricing 100% locally.  They were still on sale and I got them for $2.49 each.  2 for me, 2 for work.
The Visine was on sale Buy One @$4.98 get one Free.  I also had two $2 off one mannyQs, so I got them for basically 49 cents each.

The Crest mouthwash was on sale through yesterday for $3.99.  When you buy it, you get a $3 register reward.  I also used a 50 cent mannyQ from a couple weeks ago so this mouthwash cost me 49 cents.

The Mitchum was on sale through yesterday for 2 for $6.  When you buy two you get a $4 register reward making them 2/$2.  I had and used a $1.50 off two coupon and got these for 25 cents each.



 Starting today, Chex Mix, Gardettos and Bugles are 3/$3 at Wags.  There are also 60 and 50 cent coupons floating around out there (I think it's coupons.com that has the 50 cent).  Also, if you buy three, you get a $1 register reward.  So that makes them 50 cents for 3 with three of those 50 cent coupons.  I was able to do this deal first thing this morning to pick up three bags for work.  When I went back to get three more for home... there was a snafu.  The register reward didn't print.  Apparantly, the deal is supposed to start tomorrow, not today.  I'm debating whether or not to call their corporate office and complain.
I didn't get a photo of the Chex Mix before I dropped it off at the office.  And I'm just too lazy to dig the three I bought for home out of the drawer and take a picture.
I also bought 2 more 24 packs of water today because they were (surprise!) on sale for $1.99 which is just too awesome to pass up.

Let it be known that I am vehemently against bottled water, but sometimes you don't have the facilities necessary to fill a reusable bottle every day and that is where I am at right now.  When I have a real home, I wont buy this stuff anymore.

CVS stinks this week.  No freebies.  Not any really great sales.
The ZzzQuil was a last week sale of $4.99 and I had a $3 mannyQ sent to me from the manufacturer plus last week they had a buy one get $2 extracare bux so I got it for FREE. I haven't needed any help sleeping lately (knock on wood) but when our store opens I will be overnight for a year so....
The Olay was a necessity buy and I paid $2.98 after using a $1 mannyQ.  This really shows you just why to stock up when there are great sales.  Ordinarily there is no way I would have paid this much for this.  But thanks to Hugh Midity, I have been fielding calls from major oil companies wanting to install an oil derrick on my face.
btw... I am currently prepping a post on that formidable foe, Hugh Midity.  Coming soon!

 This was my Pick n Save trip.  I can't find out if Pick n Save is owned by Kroger for sure or not, but I will say a lot of the sales seem to be the same as those I find for Kroger.
I have been hanging on to some $1 off the Campbell's coupons for a while just chomping at the bit for a sale.  Well, they were on sale for 3 for $5 ($1.66 each) so I got six of them for 66 cents each.
The frosting flavor thing was free as a prize from Pick n Save's monopoly game thingy.  My daughter has been wanting to try these.
The Club crackers were $1.49 each after sale and $1 off 2 mannyQ.  Cookies were also $1.49 after sale and mannyQ.

This was my Walmart trip.
I got the shirt for work, from blue to green! 
Stayfree were free after ad-matching to CVS and using the $2 coupon from a couple weeks ago.  Hormel meals were between $1 and $1.50 after an assortment of Qs.  I ad-matched the soup to the Pick n Save price to get three more for 66 cents each.  Tyson meat was $1.50 after Q.  Chapstick was 48 cents each after the $1 off 2 coupon from last week.  (interesting coupon.  it was for Chapstick or Preparation H.  one coupon had the potential to cover either end.  ba-da-dum)
Irritating.... I had to buy BBQ sauce.  Why is that irritating?  Because in my stockpile... in Arizona... sit 37 bottles of BBQ sauce from my free Koolaid when you buy Kraft bbq sauce days.  :-/

Anywho... in all I spent $99.85 and saved $110.05 for a 62% savings.  Not too shabby.

til next time....
which should be soon...
Hugh Midity
dun dun dunnnnn

With regards to the people of the
Sikh Temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin