smooth swap.

I have a friend who is the couponing queen.  I actually saw one of her CVS receipts, and from that store only since the beginning of the year, she had saved over $7000!  I have to admit, I am a bit jealous.  I wish I had the time, patience, and skill to figure couponing out.  I went to a class once, but I left so confused that I didn't really get too into it.  The best deal I've gotten is a free razor because I figured out one deal and I was quite proud.

About a month back I asked her if she would be interested in swapping stuff.  I would give her some of my clothes for some of her stuff.  I gave her about 3 bags of summer clothes and here is what she gave me.

Quite cool, huh?  I thought so.  This is definitely over $100 worth of stuff that I don't have to buy for a while.  Then a couple weeks later she brought me a bag of dish soap, allergy medicine, toothbrushes, gum, and some kleenex. 

I thought this was a pretty good swap.  I have tons of winter clothes that I don't want so I may see if she's up for another swap.

Do you coupon? Do you ever swap stuff like this with others?

It's fun.

my favorite purchase of the weekend: it's odd.

This past weekend I went shopping at the mall since I now live 5 minutes away instead of 50.  Must.Stay.Away.  Although I purchased a few new items for myself, my favorite purchase of the day is a bit strange, but I have an obsession with these things. 

Hangers.  Not just any old hanger, but the heavy-duty, store hangers.  You know what I'm talking about.  The ones that you ask for every time you buy a new piece of clothing.  Or at least I do. 

I have so many because I always ask for them at checkout.  I love them because I hang up most of my clothes to dry and the hangers prevent the shoulder marks, plus it's super easy to hang up my pants. 

I am now the proud owner of probably 30 new hangers and I couldn't be happier.  I went into Delia's with my little cousin because the store was going out of business.  As I walked in, the store was mostly cleared out with just the skeleton of the store left, but on one wall a sign read 'Hangers: fill a bag for $2.' 

Come again - $2, you say?!  Yep, I was sold. 

I proudly crammed as many of those beauties as I could into the bag and walked out with a smile. 

I am thrilled to stick these in my closet and put them to use.  I'm so weird, but it's exciting!

Does anyone else love these as much as I do?!

Such a good deal.

I like to shop at Aldi because you really can save a ton on groceries.  Maybe not 50% like they claim, but I would say probably 30% or so, or maybe it's just what I buy.  I went the other day and spent $60 and I really didn't get a whole lot of stuff, but $20 of it was on two pounds of hamburger, a bag of shredded cheese, a thing of Muenster cheese, and a couple blocks of cream cheese.  I think you can get better deals on meat and cheese at other grocery stores that run sales. 

But you wanna know what I think really is a good deal there???  I have been getting ours there for a while now, well this is our second pack, but I really like their toothbrushes!  Yes, a toothbrush of all things.  I bought a pack of 2 for like $1.79 and I am impressed with their quality.  I get the soft ones and I feel like they do a good job and work just as well as the more expensive ones I have tried in the past.  I go to the dentist tomorrow for a cleaning so we'll see if they really work that well based on whether or not I leave without any new cavities. 

Next time you're there, check out their toothbrushes and try them out for yourself.  Why spend $4 for one when you can get two at Aldi for so cheap.  I think you will be surprised!