I heart $hopping

I LOVE to shop. Oh my goodness, it relieves stress better than a hot bath with candles and aroma therapy. It works better to cheer me up than chocolate cake and ice cream. Shopping causes euphoria in me and it makes me want to do the happy dance.

But my love of shopping does not mean that I have maxed credit cards, or that I spend money on anything just for the sake of buying something, even if its a great deal. Sometimes I "shop" without buying anything. When i do that, I feel most proud of myself; but it doesn't happen very often.

I'm a deal seeker. Hard-core. Although I know many people who do get better deals than I do, for the most part I fare really well. I am most successful when I grocery shop. I usually walk out of the store with a receipt that says I saved from 50-60% and my savings vary from $50 to $100. I use coupons, sales, and rebates. Yeah, its time consuming, but I LOVE it. It helps me de-stress and gives me motivation to find better deals. I grocery shop at two different stores that i think have the best deals and are the most location-convenient to me. Sure, I don't do one stop shopping, but that isn't fun to me. This is my hobby. I save my family money. And I'm good at it. I always try to out-do myself.

Next come my two favorite places. Target and Walmart. Oh my goodness! The deals I have gotten are incredible. i try really hard not to pay full price for anything-ESPECIALLY clothing. I always go straight to the clearance racks/bins/aisles and I always find something that's a score. I usually pay under $4 a piece for clothes for all of us. And I think we dress pretty nice. We may not fit the cover of a fashion magazine, but we always looks clean and presentable. You would be surprised at how low things can be priced at these two stores when they are trying to liquidate their inventory for the season.

I especially love Target because I believe they are higher quality than Walmart and they have their own store coupons which you can stack with manufacturer's coupons. last week I got a fantastic deal on some fruit cups with a Target coupon and a manufacturer's coupon. I paid 24 cents for a four pack. I'm so awesome! I also enjoy some major stores at the mall. The clearance section is great, too!

Tonight I'm headed to Target where they have almost all their toys on clearance at 75% off! They have this "sale" every year and last year I scored big. Tonight I hope to find the items I want and that the selection isn't depleted by the time I get there! I'm soooo excited! I'm totally doing the happy dance right now.