the shopping...

I don't know if you guys get as excited as I do about shopping, but man, do I! I mean, I'm sorry, but who doesn't like shopping? (my sister ;) )

To clarify, when I say out of pocket, that does not include the amount spent on the Groupon.

In chronological order:

12/30
When we arrived in NJ, I had to pick up 1 last Christmas gift for one of my sister-in-laws. I found out that she really likes Hollister, so in I went.

Hollister was having a sale 40% off everything in the store. I purchased a hoodie for her (reg $39.99) and 2 tanks tops for myself that were already on clearance (reg 19.99, marked down to 12.95).
After 40% off:
Hoodie $23.70
Tanks: $7.74 each
Total: $39.18 with NO TAX!!!

I was able to purchase 3 things for less than the price of one! YAY!

My daughter loves Disney. I decided since I was already in the mall, I'd check to see what they had on sale. Her favorite princess right now is Ariel and my in-laws had themed her whole Christmas around Ariel. They had an ornament (Reg $9.50) with a mark down tag for $4.50. Already this was a good deal. I took it to the counter and when the clerk rang it up, it was actually only $2.99!!! Wow! After adding the 7% tax of $.21, I paid $3.20 for an Ariel ornament that was orginally $9.50!

Deciding that I would explore the mall some more, I ventured into the Sock Drawer. Aerin and I had just been saying we needed to buy socks and they had some decent deals, so why not?

I got 2 pairs of leggings: $25
2) 3packs of socks $10
Total: $35 with NO TAX!

12/31

We went to Maratene's Fine Wine and Spirits to get some libations for the NYE celebration.

I purchased 2 bottles of wine and 1 bottle of Shane's favorite beer and 1) 4 pack of mini champagnes.

The wine was on sale: regular $20 and $15.
I paid $20 for both.
$ 8 for the beer
and $15 champagne
Total: $43
Groupon -$20
Total due $23

Towards the end of the night we realized that my 1 memory card for my camera just wasn't going to cut it. Even though we were downloading the pictures onto Aerin's laptop each chance we got. So we stopped by Wal-Mart on our way to John and Crystal's to get another one.

I purchased an 8 GB SD card.
$19.88
Tax$1.66
Total $21.54 - Paid with gift card I received for Christmas.

1/1

This is one of the deals that I am the most proud of. We went to the Body Shop to use the Groupon I had purchased. I love the Body Shop because they have a large line of products that do not contain artificial dyes. I am allergic to the most common, Red # 33-40. We happened to get there just at the right timing because they had 1 XL Complete Body gift set left. I asked how much it cost and was told $100, but everything was on sale being after the holidays, so they would check the price. It indeed was on sale for 50% off. That made it $50! I used my Love Your Body discount card which took another 10% or $5 off, making the new total $45.

Original Price: $100
Sale -50%
New total: $50
Discount Card-10%
New total: $45
Groupon -$40
Subtotal: $5
Tax $3.77 (8.375% NY sales tax)
Total out of pocket $8.77

To sweeten this deal even further, I looked up all of the products online. The total value of everything I received in the gift set, if purchased individually, $160.

I had another gift to buy and stopped by the calendar kiosk in the middle of the mall. Everything was 50% off. I purchased a calander and a gift envelope for my aunt.
Calendar: 13.99(reg) 6.99 sale
Envelope: 1.00 (reg) .50 sale
Total: 7.49
Tax .63
Total due: $8.12

Forever21. How I love this store! Even more so that the one in Times Sqare is FOUR FLOORS!!! OMG. Now, I didn't get any insanely good deals in here, but what I bought wasn't expensive either.

I got 2 knit coverups for work. They were $6.80 each (cheap for work clothes!).
Subtotal: 13.60
Tax: .60 (4.375 % NY clothing tax)
Total: $14.20
The good news about this is even though it's not the best deal, I can write it off on my taxes at year end.

1/2

Probably my biggest accomplishment of the entire trip was my purchases at La Petite Coquette. In French, it means "the little flirt". It's a ladies lingerie store.

I purchased 2 pairs of panties, 3 bras and a nightie.

Regular Prices:
$20
$25
$30
$79
$24
$85
Subtotal: $263
tax would have been: $11.50
totalling: 274.50

Sale Prices:
$10
$10
$10
$10
$20
$20
Subtotal: $80
Groupon -$75
New Total: $5
Tax: $3.50
Total due: $8.50

WOW!

We stopped to get tea at Argo Tea.

I purchased a travel infuser mug and a fall tea gift set.
Mug: $19.95
Tea: $9.95
Subtotal: 29.90
Tax:$2.50
Total:$32.40

Later that evening, we went back to Times Sqare to shop some more.

The Disney Store in TS in AMAZING. We purchased a Belle jacket for Caylie. It's a size too big, but I did that so she would be able to wear it this winter and next.
Regular Price: $39.99
Sale Price: $19.99
Tax: .87
Total: $20.86

We also stopped in to Toys-R-Us on a mission to find a yo-yo for Caylie. She has started to like them and I have a good friend that is on Team Duncan USA. He is also the National Sales and Marketing Coordinator for Duncan Toys. So, of course, I was looking for a Duncan. I found a blue Duncan Butterfly.

Price: $5.99
Tax: $.53
Total: $6.52

Next we went to Aeropostale. Shane found a shirt and I got a hoodie that said NY or Times Square.

Shane's Polo Regular Price $34.50
Sale Price: $12.99

My Hoodie Regular Price $44.50
Sale Price: $24.99

Subtotal: $37.98
Tax: $1.66
Total: $39.64

American Eagle had a LOT of good sales going on, but at this point we had spent a good bit of money. So, I limited myself to a small purchase.

Their Aerie Department (which is undergarments and pj's) had the best deal. $15 for 5 pairs of Aerie favorite panties.

So, regular priced at $7.50 each, that would make a savings of $4.50 each or $22.50 total, making them $3 a piece. I grabbed 5 of those.

They also had socks on sale, Regular $8.50 each, Marked down to $4.16 each.

So, 5 pairs of panties at $15
2 pairs of socks $8.32
Subtotal: 23.32
Tax: $1.02
Total: $24.34

Also, you got an additional pair of panties for FREE! So, that brings the total down to $2.50 each, saving $30 just on them alone!

Ok, so to recap on our shopping.

We spent out of pocket: $285.27

Breaking that down:
$31.82 was Christmas gifts
$14.20 Business Expense
$30.58 gifts for Caylie
$21.54 was spent on a gift card I received for Christmas
$187.13 was spent on myself and Shane


Total Savings from Sales:
$467.50 plus the respective sales taxes. (this does not include the Groupon Value)