Clearance + Coupons = SCORE!

I had a fun time shopping at Target today.  I had two of the big bottles of Tide on my list.  I recently purchased some in the smaller bottle, because of a sale and some coupons that made it a better price per ounce, only to find that it drips all over the place when the cap is put back on (weren't those supposed to have a no-drip design?).  I figured I could set it aside and use the big one until there was room enough to dump the rest of the smaller bottle in.  Since I use both Tide Coldwater and regular Tide in my machine, depending on the type of load I am doing, I needed two.  I had one $1/2 coupon, which wasn't particularly great.

I visited the clearance aisle at the end of my trip.  They had marked down filler paper and notebooks quite a bit. I had seen them right after school started, but their idea of clearance then was double their sale prices from before school.  This time, however, they were one cent less.  I wasn't completely sold on buying them yet, but one of the brands of wide-ruled notebooks had a sticker on the front that said "$5 in Target Coupons Inside," so I flipped one open.  There was a coupon for $1/1 Tide inside!  There were also coupons for Tropicana, Quaker Oatmeal Squares, Life Cereal, Chewy Granola Bars and Instant Oatmeal, Danimals, Nature Valley, Energizer, Kellogg's and Frito-Lay.  Not all coupons were the same in each, but if you are buying for a big family for next school year, you are sure to get more than you need.  They all expire 10/31/10.

I didn't think much of anything other than the Tide.  But, when I got home, I was putting away some tortilla chips (Mission brand were $2/bag), and I found an empty Quaker Instant Oatmeal box in the cupboard.  I thought to myself, "hmm...any coupons inside? that could stack with the Quaker coupons I just got..." and sure enough, there were five coupons in the box, four of which would stack with the coupons I had just received.  I already had two printable Life coupons for $1/2, so now all I need is a great sale, and cereal will be extremely cheap next month.

The one other unbeatable deal at Target that I found this week was Playtex Sport 36 count for $7.14.  Buy two, get a $5 gift card.  If you've been getting the paper for a while, and/or have signed up for Playtex samples in the mail, you probably have at least $1/1 coupon in your binder.  That makes it a great deal!