Another Target Bargain

Target's kids room decor aisle had these canvas 14x14x14 collaspsible totes marked down to $4.98 so I picked up a few. I might have waited if I thought there would be more on the shelf with the next mark down, but I figured these might go quickly.

I've put one to use, storing my 12x12 scrapbook papers and other craft supplies. Any of them will fit nicely on this shelf I have in storage and will make an appearance at my next semi-permanent residence.

Target Stationery Deals

The prices of each of these items shown in the photo ended in a 4 so it was a now or never buying decision that cost me $9 (before tax). All items are from Target's stationery aisle:

3 - Hot Hues 6-pack of boldly printed file folders
7 - Hot Hues adhesive seals
3 - Rub-on letters
1 - Silver metallic tape the Dymo labeler (mine was a gift, but I know she paid $18 because it was marked down from $24)

When that Dymo tape is marked down to $1.24 (from $6.99) I buy it because I'm label crazy. I even own a Label Buddy, which was a back to school clearance find. What does one girl do with two labelers? I make labels, duh! No really, it is not just organizing and labeling containers, but for use in paper projects. At times I want an embossed courier font and other times I want a block font on shiny tape and thanks to gifts and my bargain hunting, I have options!

I have some loose ideas of what to do with those file folders and it won't be to stick my paycheck stubs in them and hide them away in my vertical filing cabinet. A project looms in the distance...

My Best Target Find

I'm turning this week into an all-Target posts all week!

Cap's comment on a previous post reminded me of one of my best Target finds: a Sony mp3/CD/tape/radio boombox.
A few years back, I was looking for a radio to keep at work and happened to find this model marked from $108 down to $34. I should have bought the other ones and sold them on ebay or to the many admirers my boombox had.

The best thing about this is obviously the mp3 capability and being able to burn a mp3 CD with about 180 tracks so there's never a lack of music (notice, I didn't say good music). Plus, my car has a mp3 CD player so I am covered wherever I go!

But I know, what you really want to know is how I scored an apartment with wood paneling on the walls - another day, another post, my lucky readers!

Instead, delight me with a comment about your best Target find!

Target Dollar Week

Since I don't buy the newspaper, I read the Target ad online. I also subscribe to the RSS feed so I can read it in my Bloglines, although yesterday morning it was not working properly.

This week is Dollar Week and the coupons from that book I mentioned in my previous post can be used this week for additional savings on household products, food and certain apparel.

They have two types of paper shredders on sale. A couple of years ago I bought a criss-crosss shredder with wastebasket from Walgreens for $10. It can be loud, but I love it - confetti!

The Rubbermaid Roughneck totes are on sale. I like the 18-gallon totes because once filled, they are still pretty easy to lift over my head. Since it is the Roughneck type, if you drop it, it won't crack the way those hard plastic storage bins can. I know I've done it.

In the stationery/scrapbooking department, tape runner or 70-ct. cardstock sheets are $5 and there is 10% off all other tools and adhesives, and other selected paper.

Target Clearance Finds!

As I cruised the perimeter of the Target checking the endcaps, I was lured into an aisle I never noticed before. Paint. And maybe no one else knows it is there and that's why the entire aisle was full of red clearance tags: chalkboard paint, stencil paint, decorative paint pens and all sorts of implements for painting. I thought of my sister and niece when I saw the chalkboard paint because it was under $5, which is reasonable. I bought it at Michaels when I had a 40% off coupon because it retails for $9-12. If you're not familiar with chalkboard paint, it is paint you can put on anything to turn it into a chalkboard. I painted the top of a (free to me) tray table.

The other side of the aisle was furniture feet pads, wall hooks and various fastener kits, which at 2.50 is cheap, but if you have a Dealz you might be able to get similar kits for a buck. One generous trip I sprung for a screw kit for my dad and a picture hanging kit for my mom because I am that thoughtful of a daughter :)

Also, the Target March 26 newspaper ad supplement is DOLLAR WEEK. I know this because Target sent me a booklet of coupons that I am guessing I can maximize the savings by using these coupons next week. Anyone else get this coupon book?

I wonder if the Target dog (Spot?) has a blog?

Hydrogen Peroxide

As I picked up a 16 oz of hydrogen peroxide 3% for 84 cents, I started thinking of how I use this product:

• cleaning minor cuts and abrasions
• as a mouth rinse
• to rinse off my toothbrush
• for blood stain removal
• to loosen ear wax buildup (those ear wax removal kits are a higher percentage of hydrogen peroxide)

Proceed with caution on the last two because some people have had negative results in putting hydrogen peroxide in their ears.

Sale: Meijer 10% off

I heard the radio spot for Meijer's Everyone is an Employee Saturday (March 25, 2005) sale and went to the web site to find out if it included groceries. It doesn't. The 10% off applies to general merchandise and electronics, including already clearanced items.

Of course, you have to be a certain type to brave the Meijer super saturday sales and sometimes Meijer on any given day. And that's all I'm going to say about that before this turns into a rant about families who insist on bringing the whole family shopping and block the entire width of an aisle. And no, this isn't one those educational field trips where the children are helping calculate the best price per ounce or track the cost of the cart's contents.

Vacuum Food Storage

I eat salad every day because if I don't, it wilts and is gross within days of purchase. My schedule is such that I cannot go every couple of days and buy fresh fruit and vegetables.

One day watching a HGTV show (Mission Organization, I think) the homeowners were told to use vacuum food storage containers to keep their fruit and vegetables from spoiling so quickly. After that, I was looking for these containers and only saw the FreshVac Plus from Target. If it weren't for having a gift card, I might have said $25 for three containers was a bit much. On the otherhand, if it preserves the food a little longer as stated on this chart than it should be worth the investment in the long run. (Warning: the moldy strawberries photo is gross!)

(nearly) Free Stuff: $100 gift card

I have the Citi Simplicty credit card, which gives you a bonus 10,000 points with your first purchase. Those 10,000 points are enough for a $100 gift card to various merchants. It should come as no surprise that I selected Target. jackpot!

Citibank Reward cards

St. Patrick's Day: Nick Lachey

I was looking at the referral stats for my page and noticed someone landed on this blog looking for information Nick Lachey's visit to Cincinnati for St. Patrick's Day. He attended the grand opening of The New Dubliner. WCPO has a short blip about it. If he was still in town Friday night, he may have attended UC's NIT game, which I wasn't watching since I was preparing to cheer on a different team of Cats!

In order to tie this in with the general focus of this blog, other PF bloggers are posting what you can get for $300k. I'll tell you that for about that price a certain someone and his father purchased a 3 bed/3 bath house in the Cincinnati area. Remember, you can access public records and know this, too! ;)

Forensic Accounting

I used to think I wanted to be a private investigator until I realized I would probably spend most days sitting in a car documenting a workers' comp claimant who is putting on a new roof or painting a house. Not that there is anything wrong with that, just not nearly as exciting as what I expected.

Entering offices during off hours to copy suspect's emails and checking out bogus vendors sounds a little more like my style. Maybe investigating white-collar crime through forensic accounting will be my third career!

Spring Cleaning report

It has been a busier than expected break, but totally worth it!

I'm pleased with the winning eBay bids and even more so with the quick payment of my terrific bidders, which means I could get those items packed and in the mail. Big ups to the quick turnaround on that project.

My parents are downsizing with a move in a few months. We hauled off boxes to a rented storage unit so a little "designed to sell" magic can be employed on their house. I posted furniture ads on Craigslist for them and they had someone swing by and buy one piece.

The basement has a garage sale pile that is quickly building. Every year, their township has a free garage sale weekend (no need to file and buy a permit), which is a great time to have a sale since there's so much traffic to it! Then, the following weekend is clean up the township where you can take nearly anything to their dumpsters to be disposed. After Thanksgiving Day, it is probably my mom's favorite day of the year!

I answered a lady's notice on the Freecycle Network™about wanting empty and clean jars or other craft supplies, but she's yet to pick them up. It might be true that you can't give some stuff away.

In what is quite possibly my best move of 2006, I talked Dad into depositing his rolled coins that have been collecting dust on the floor of his closet into an ING Direct account. I won't disclose the amount, but Mom and I got more than a few looks while making several trips into the bank with "cookie tins." We did call ahead to make sure there was no limit and to warn them, but I guess we were an oddity. Once we reported this to Dad he said, did you get the coins in the dresser? Mom ended up making another trip! Before anyone bags on him for being a person with money in his mattress, his reasoning was if he deposited it, it would have been easily spent long ago. Fair enough. Now it is in a "mad money" savings account collecting interest, not dust :)

DIY Haircut?!

So James of FIRE...2018 thinks I should have gone for a DIY haircut. Unfortch, I had one too many DIY haircuts from my parents to want to continue down that route in adulthood! Besides how can I pass up 50% off services from a seasoned hair stylist veteran who always keeps my look current and rolling in the compliments?! Call me vain, but if my haircut hasn't been noticed in the last 6 months, it's time for a change! I was happy to see the Budgeting Babe is on the same page as me when it this matter.

I can't explain to you the difference in self-confidence that comes from a good haircut. Self-confidence translates into evey aspect of life, from work to relationships. So, while some prefer to splurge a bit on weekends out, gambling, cars, clothes, shoes, golf, skiing, etc., I splurge on my hair. It's relaxing and gives me a shot of self-confidence.

My friends think I am crazy to drop the kind of money I do at a salon, but it's just a matter of priorities. In my "spending plan" (others call them budgets), I plan for haircuts and they go for dinners at wineries. I like something that lasts longer than a couple of hours, they prefer a consumable, to each her own!

Altered: Typewriter Stand

As previously mentioned, I keep a wishlist of items I hope to find when I'm out thrifting. Other times, my parents happen upon freebies and bring them to me (He buys foreclosed homes and those can be a treasure trove for someone like me!). That is how I acquired this typerwriter stand.

I needed something for the heat press I use for my business.

It was puke green so I taped the wheels and sanded it down to spray paint it yellow. I finished it off by decopauging some pin-up girls to the top - it adds a little zest!

Except for the spray paint, which I didn't already have a color I liked or enough of it, I keep these supplies on hand so I can quickly complete a project.

Supplies: sand paper, blue painters tape, 2 cans of spray paint, drop cloth, white school glue*, water and a foam brush

*For decoupaging, a mixture of half water and half white school glue will do the trick

More from the Mailbox!

I received my free Kraft cheese nips (offer no longer available), which is a good thing since I got my haircut and will have to cut back on some spending for the week.

No, actually I am fortunate that my cousin offers his styling services at half price! But even with a discount, I am not getting my hair highlighted while not fully employed because it isn't that important to me.

A Perpetual Birthday Calendar

My aunt has a piece of paper with 12 columns for the months and 31 rows for the days and for the corresponding birthday, she writes the person's name and year. It is great if you have either small handwriting or only one birthday per day.

When I saw that Stampin' Up! sells perpetual birthday calendars with long lines for writing multiple names on one day, I had to get one, er, some!

The afterglow of stamping and enjoying mine so much had me thinking I would make some for friends without regard to the fact that most would rather have no gift than a hand-crafted one. I suppose I could have given a blank one, but then that's just bizarre, you know?!

When I came back to my senses from my craft-induced haze, I decided I needed to unload them. Those blank calendars are on eBay and going for a steal! They retail for $7.95 (plus shipping & tax), but you can get two for the starting bid of $4.99! TWO for 5 bucks!

Not a crafter? Leave it un-decorated and just use the calendar part!

Make It: Scrabble Bracelet

I picked up a Scrabble game for a quarter from a church rummage sale. Then to Scrabble lovers, I committed a crime. I glued three of the tiles to a disk and loop bracelet to make a uniquely personal bracelet for myself.

Yesterday, I spent the day with my Gramma. We went to lunch, ran errands, got ice cream and watched a couple hours of HGTV where I dozed off -- oh, to be a lady of leisure!

Gramma is on a purging kick, so I helped myself to the mint condition 1976 Deluxe Edition Scrabble game with its spinning turntable and burgundy tiles. Don't worry, I am not de-facing this one. My parents have this edition, my brother-in-law bought one off eBay for my sister and now I have my own!

If she had Acquire (bookshelf edition) I would have taken that, too, but instead I got Yahtzee and gas money for driving her around town!

Make It: Luggage End Table

When I go to garage/rummage/tag sales or flea markets, I take a list of items I'm interested in finding. There's a show on A&E called Find & Design and every episode the host gives the same advice.

A couple years ago, I was eager to find a hard-side luggage to make into a low end table that would provide storage. I lucked upon this one and since it was missing its strap, I talked them into selling it for $3.

Even better, when I asked my dad for a piece of scrap wood to serve at the base, he rounded the corners for me! I picked up 4 casters for about $12 total and screwed them into the bottom. Then, using hook and loop tape (most people know this product by a brand name - do you know what it is?!) I mounted the luggage to the wood base. My reason for using the hook and loop tape was that I didn't want to glue or drill holes into the luggage and knew I would be able to remove the tape if I wanted, but I haven't!

A $15 re-purposed project!

Spring (break) cleaning

Midterms are over and I am officially on spring break, which means spring cleaning!

Since winter break I have been neatly sorting boxes of items that are now appearing on eBay

When I look at my piles of stamp sets, books, Star Wars and Mickey Mouse bedding and other random bits (need a Kilarney's inflatable shamrock?) I am reminded that I've got a bit of my dad's packrat tendency, but then as I view the organized groupings I see a little bit of my mom's influence!

Speaking of my mom, she sent me an email last week enlisting my help to de-clutter and haul to items to a rented storage unit so that their house looks appealing when it is put on the market in a few months. We took photos and listed some furniture on Craig's List and hope that some lucky buyer will come our way!

by the way, good luck to Jane Dough who was looking for some motivation to get her goodies listed on eBay!

Free Stuff: cleaning up at the mailbox

Normally when I open my mailbox, it is grocery store flyers or empty. Buuuuuut yesterday, I received free samples of Degree deodorant and Head & Shoulders shampoo, which is perfect timing since I'll be headed out of town this weekend.

Then Brown, nearly knocked down my door and I'm glad he did because he had some chocolate bars that I have been touting as my fave since finding them post-Halloween 2005. Can you imagine how popular I'll be among my peers for passing out free candy during midterms?! Hoorah! (that's for you, SL)

I see Jane Dough is bzzing, too!

Also, Brown had the shower cleaner that is easy and exciting to use because it requires nearly no effort. After pushing the button and shutting the curtain, I stood on the toilet and peered over the shower curtain to watch it in action! For people like my mom and I who are allergic to chemically produced scents, this cleaner isn't overly stinky.

If you would like to "bee" a BzzAgent and test and sample products, drop me an email UDANDI at GMAIL dot COM with your name and email and I will send you a referral.

Chair-ished: Raggedy Andy Rocking Chair

After my other chair post, I decided I would share another chair from my collection. My first chair. I'm not sure if this is the reason I collect chairs, but it is dearly cherished.

As a child, my grandparents bought each grandchild a rocking chair to keep at their house. When we would visit, we would drag those chairs out of the basement and up the stairs.

Each chair fits our personalities. My sister's was a traditional wood rocker, my brother's was wood with a little music box on the base so when he rocked it played a tune and mine was Raggedy Andy (get it?)!

Have you even seen such an awesome rocking chair?! And have you ever seen a Raggedy Andy rocking chair? I have yet to meet another person who had one, but I doubt I'm the only one to have something so unique.

Given my gramma, I believe it was a garage sale find and it has had that snag, but otherwise it is in good shape, given its age. Today, it resides at my parents house for my nieces and nephew to enjoy, along with the other two rockers music box and all!

Cheap Lunch!

On my last grocery trip, I picked up two Lean Cuisine Chicken Club Panini because I had a store coupon for LC meals, they were discounted and wanted to try them.

I used the self checker, scanned my coupon and following the directions on the screen I handed it to the clerk. Looking at my receipt when I got home, I noticed a mysterious extra savings in coupons and can only guess the clerk must have also scanned the coupon thinking I had not done it?

I know it shouldn't be so challenging to read a receipt, but the store in question has hard to decipher receipts. Last time I had a question, the manager was equally confused and ended up giving me $5 cash because neither one of us were sure I got the $5 off my total order for buying 5 Healthy Choice meals.

If you are a frozen dinner eater, jump over to Mapgirl's Fiscal Challenge for her reviews. Take note with FD #3 she also had a tricky receipt!

One Man's Trash

...could be my treasure, especially when it comes to chairs!

Last summer after dinner at one of my favorite burger places (Arthur's for the Cincinnati readers), my friend and I were walking back to my car when I spied this chair sitting next to the dumpster. I checked for wobbly legs (none), sat down and said it's mine!

Had it not been after business hours, I would have gone on a little hunt to find out which business got rid of it and if they had more.

The legs and base are solid wood and obviously it needs to be re-upholstered, but I am waiting to do that until I am in a more permanent living space and know where it will fit in with the decor.

Though I think it would have fit through the door opening of my Tercel, I was glad I had my new car with fold down backseats and rear hatch!

Satisfaction Guaranteed

Last night, I returned the disappointing pretzel dough for a full refund - thanks Kroger! And thank you to reader BohemianMama for reminding me to look at the packaging for a "satisfaction guaranteed" note!

related posts: Store Brand Loyalty

Free Stuff: $25 from ING Direct

What's the catch you ask?

1) You have to deposit $250 in an ING Direct savings account
2) You will need to email me at UDANDI at GMAIL dot COM with your name and email address so I can send you a referral email
3) You are comfortable with me earning $10 referral bonus based on you receiving your $25 bonus (I scratch your back, you scratch mine, right?!)

Now through April 15, you could earn 4.75%!

This savings account is linked to a checking account and can be set up to make an automatic monthly deposit, which is ideal if you're saving toward a big purchase. Or deposit your earnings from selling your crafts or your tax return and use it as start-up funds for an online biz or to purchase more supplies!


CONTEST!
Open an account, become an ING Direct customer and become eligible for a contest in which one lucky customer will win $15,000 and another 25 will win $1,500! From March 1 through May 31, 2006. Rules and details provided after logging into your account.

Contest: National Craft Month

Even though udandi is off-line, I want to continue the tradition of sending out a goodie pack to the person who share the most inspiring project, complete with instructions and photos, in celebration of National Craft Month!

It could be a food craft, paper craft, knitting, furniture building or refinishing, etc. Everyone is encouraged to enter!

To enter, post your complete entry to blog or Flickr account and drop the direct URL in the comments of this post or email me at UDANDI at GMAIL dot COM.

All entries must be posted or received by March 31, 2006 for review by the office udandi team (aka my DIY family). Items of goodie pack are still to be determined, but it won't be lame, I promise.

My Friend Flickr

I love looking at photos!

It used to be when I was looking for an image or inspiration I would log onto Google images, type a word and browse the photos. Now, fulfills that need and more!

If you like interior design, may I recommend the Fresh New Spaces group? Members not only share photos of their spaces, which look like they could be in magazines, but some add notes explaining their bargain finds.

Others are posting what they're making with their print Gocco, this lady makes some deliciously creative cakes and notmartha just posted about her photo tutortial for making a door draft stopper.

Find your inspiration at Flickr!