TotallyTarget.com

My Dad and His Prize Antique International Engine at an Engine show in '09

Hey All! Good news, my Dad came through just fine and he’s out and in Recovery! WHEW!! Took longer than they thought, but he is in good shape and will now be well on his way to getting better. I am thankful too, that my older sister will be driving up there for a few days to help my Mom out a little bit since they plan on keeping him for about a week. I am sooooo relieved, and THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH for all your positive thoughts! Ahhhh, I can breathe again!

Hey all, just wanted to Thank You so much for all the kind words and well wishes for my Pops. I found out late this morning that they were not going to do the surgery until tomorrow, and when I was unable to talk to him right away, I decided it was a good time to weed and clean the yard and rake out all the old mulch. Even though it is crazy hot here, it still felt good to take out my frustrations on a rake for a couple hours. 

I finally got to talk to my Dad this afternoon and we were on the phone for two hours, and I can say he sounds much better than he did last night- so it was a big relief for me. Last night he sounded so weak, and today, he sounds more like his feisty self, and I feel much better about him going into surgery now. I think he finally got rest and the antibiotics are helping. But surgery is definitely tomorrow, and I am anxious for it to be over.

I told him he made it onto the blog, and I could tell he was feeling better- ’cause he said “Oh Kerry, For Crying Out Loud!!! I’m going to be fine!” Big difference from the man I talked to last night. I’ll let you know how it goes when he’s out of surgery tomorrow. I hope it’s early. Thanks so much again for your support. It is much appreciated.

I am a little distracted today, okay, it’s been a couple days and today it’s worse. My father was admitted to the emergency room 2 days ago with Pneumonia. As a result, he has a pretty severe Pleural Effusion (sp?) (from what I understand- this is fluid in between his lungs and chest cavity). He has 4 large pockets of this fluid and was transported to another hospital yesterday, and should be having surgery today or tomorrow to remove it.

My Dad will be 74 this month, and has Crohn’s Disease, among other health problems. Yet has never let his health or his age monitor his activities. He is always busy working on something labor instensive, even though he is retired. He lives in the woods in Massachusetts, chops his own wood, plows snow, makes his own cement, shingles, etc. He volunteers in his community, is involved in a Gas Engine Club, has helped build his own house, and is always busy  doing or building or fixing something. He does not know when to say when and realize something is not right and thiat it may be time to give himself a rest. My guess is he has been feeling poorly for a while and has probably had Pneumonia for some time, but refused to give in to it.

I can tell by his voice, and from what my Mom says, that he is very weak right now and in a lot of pain and I am nervous for him. Being over 1500 miles away does not help, and if I am not around as much, it is because I am busy climbing the walls. I will feel much better when it is over, and I hear word from my Mom, as he should feel some relief immediately once it is over. It’s all I can do not to hop on a plane, but according to my father- who I spoke to last night and sounds awful- that’s ridiculous of me since he’s not even sick. Uh… yeah, Okay Dad! Cross your fingers that all goes well…

I am hoping this is a new offer from Starbucks, and that you will be able to print two more $1/1 coupons, but I am not postitive. If it’s not, at least those of you who haven’t grabbed it yet, have a chance to do so. Just go HERE and fill out the form to request the couponThe coupon is a pop-up, so you may have to disable your pop-up blocker.

$1/1 Starbucks Via *Possible Re-set* HERE
$1/1 Wisk Detergent HERE
$.75/1 Ban Product x30 days after print  HERE
$1/2 John Morrell Hot Dog, Smoked Sausage, or Lunchmeat (Facebook Q) x12/31 HERE
$1/5 Michelina’s Traditional Recipe or Authentico *Possible Re-set* HERE
$1/5 Michelina’s Lean Gourmet Products *Possible Re-set* HERE
$1/1 Scotch Reusable Tabs or Strips x9/30 HERE
$.75/1 Scotch Pop-Up Tape Desk Grip Dispenser x9/30 HERE
$1.50/1 Dove Cream Oil Body Lotion or Hand Cream, any (excludes ETS & Energy Glow) x9/7 HERE
$1/1 Cortizone 10 Product Including Easy Relief Applicator x30 days from print HERE
$1/1 Activia Dessert 4 pk x30days from print HERE

You can also go HERE to fill out a request form to receive snail mail coupons for Whole Fruit Bars.  You will need to allow 6-8 weeks for delivery.

-Thanks for most of these to Steph at Printable Coupons & Deals!

If you aren’t signed up for the Right@Home newsletter from SC Johnson yet, they offer a regular e-mail newsletter with coupons for a variety of different products they make like Windex, Glade and Scrubbing Bubbles. Just go to Right@Home, and fill out the form to sign up. They also offer a number of sweeps, great rebates and they always seem to be very generous with their free sample gift packs and coupons! By getting the newsletter, you will among the first to hear about these offers.

Okay, so if I had music on my blog, this post would begin with some real soap opera kind of music, as I know many of you have experienced quite the drama from doing the Unadvertised Schick Disposable Gift Card Deal. Thanks to Karen who wrote her thoughts to me in an e-mail, I am now fairly convinced that at many stores, the register is seeing the gift card as a coupon and creating overage of not just $5 but $10. It’s almost like it is crediting the Gift Card twice in your transaction. But not in a good way.

For example, Mitchell and many of you- I am guessing whoever was doing this deal and this deal only in one transaction bought 2 Schick Disposable Razors, and watched as their first $3/1 coupon scanned in at .98, and the second at $0. So here is what I think is happening- for some reason when you buy the Schick Disposables (and this may be true for any Gift Card Deal now with the new register software), the register attaches a $5 credit to each package of razors you buy:

Buy 2 Schick = $10.98, and before you hand over any coupons, the register has attached a $5 credit to each item and sees your total as being .98 cents. This is why when the first coupons scans, the register will only take off .98 cents since the system won’t let the register go into the negative. And as a result your 2nd coupon will scan in at $0. But the register still sees it as you owing the $10. after it took only one of your coupons and morphed it into a .98/1.

Now I think the varying amounts are due to those of you who threw some other things into the mix or perhaps found the razors priced higher. I was hoping that if you purchased a couple other small fillers that their cost would not matter, but all it did was give you more of your coupon value back. For example, today I asked Mitchell to do a little experiment. He bought 2 Schick Disposable Razors, and 2 paper folders for .15 cents each- and his total was now $10.98 + .30 = $11.28. He then used the first $3/1 Schick coupon and guess what? It took off $1.28 instead of only .98 this time. 

So then we did experiment 2, in which I thought you may have to have at least 2 items, but it appears that the amount is what matters, not how many items you have. So you just need 1 or more items in your transaction you aren’t using a coupon for- that cost enough in order to cover the coupons you want to use. Mitchell bought 2 Schick Razors & a Total Effects Body Wash to test this theory: $10.98 + $5.79 = $16.77, he only used 2 $3/1 Schick coupons and they went through fine.

So what’s a shopper to do? Is it that they are really trying to do away with accepting coupons on Gift Card Deals? Or is it just a glitch in the register. Are we really going to have to have enough overage made up of items with no coupons in our basket every time to absorb the $10 the register is considering coupons? And why is it $10 and not just $5 that the register seems to be crediting?  Feel free to add your thoughts, suggestions etc… I am starting to get dizzy

Don’t know what we’re talking about? See my posts and reader comments HERE, HERE and HERE.

-Thanks so much to Karen and to Mitchell for trying to sort this all out!

Don’t miss out on the Tax Free holiday to buy back to school items.  Listed below are the states and dates along with links for additional information.

-Thanks Carie at Saving Money in Missouri and Katie at Coupon Maximizer for the list! 

Here are some FREE events going on this weekend. While many may seem to all have consistent national participation- it is always wise to call your local location to be sure they are participating.

BORDER’S BOOKS SPECIAL KIDS EVENT
Saturday, July 17th at 2 pm.   Borders will be celebrating the movie release of  Ramona and Beezus by having  Storytime, Games, Giveaways and more. There is a store locater HERE.

MICHAEL’S CRAFT EVENTS
Saturday, July 17th 1 pm-3 pm. This Saturday you can learn how to create fondant cut-outs at the free Wilton Fondant fun demo. You can see these and other upcoming events at Michael’s HERE.

LAKESHORE LEARNING CRAFT
Saturday, July 17th. 11am – 3pm. This Saturday’s project is a Sandy Beach Scene made from sand, seashells and collage materials. Go HERE to see these and other upcoming events.

AC MOORE
Saturday, July 17th. 1pm – 3pm there will be a Scrapbooking Demo, It’s a Shore Thing.  Go HERE to see these and other upcoming events at AC Moore. (Store Locater is HERE)

PETCO
July 17th 11am-1pm. Join PETCO for a Reptile Rally where there willbe a meet and greet with bearded dragons, feeding time, and an opportunity to ask specialists questions. You can go HERE for more info. Reptile Rally will not be held in all PETCO locations, so contact your local store for details.

-Thanks to Amy of Who Said Nothing in Life is Free for the roundup!

Also- as a reminder, the Target Arts & Wonder Free Family Event started yesterday, and will continue through July 18th. Target always sponsors both free and discount admissions to arts and cultural events nationwide, however, over this weekend, there will be a great many museums and performing arts centers offering FREE admission to events. You can go HERE and choose your closest city and look for Arts & Wonder marked events to see what’s free in your area!

DISCOUNT ACTIVITIES WITH GROUPON
You can also sign up and receive a daily email from Groupon with coupon offers for savings at up to 90% in a city near you. Groupon focuses on the benefits of collective buying power.

Visit the Site, choose your city and enter your e-mail. Each day they feature something cool to do in your city at an unbeatable price. Everything from dicounts at restaurants and other small eateries, Comedy Clubs, Spa Visits, Mani-Pedis and so much more.

Each offer will require that enough people join in on the savings that day, but it’s a popular site and the number of offer sign ups are reasonable so the quotas are often met. If you want to find out more about how it works, you can click on the banner to visit the site, and see if there is a city close enough to take advantage of some of the great deals. You can also check out the FAQ and they even have a short video which explains how the program works in more detail.

Mountain Dew has reached 1 million fans on Facebook and to celebrate they will be posting a unique offer for their Facebook fans.  Today is the day this special somethin’ should go live.

They had this to say on their facebook page:
“Whether you are a green DEW drinker, avid Diet fan, DEWmocracy supporter, or even a Pitch Black fanatic… THANK YOU! We just reached 1 MILLION fans! To show our appreciation, we will be offering a unique offer for just our Facebook fans. Stay tuned… more to come.”

 You might want to “like” them on Facebook and keep an eye on it today in case it is a freebie or a really great coupon!  I’ll be out this morning, but will check on it when I get back,  but you can tune into their facebook page HERE.

-Thanks Savvy Spending & Mojo Savings!

There are several new coupons available up on RedPlum this morning including Kellogg’s including new Kellogg’s coupons for Pop Tarts and Mini Wheats Cereal. Here’s a list of what I see new at zip 90210 and you can take a look HERE to see what else you see.

$1/2 Kellogg’s Pop Tarts toaster pastries (8ct. or Larger) PRINT
$1/2 Kellogg’s Frosted Mini-Wheats Cereals (14.5 oz. or Larger) PRINT
.75/1 Newman’s Own Salad Dressing PRINT
$2/1 Whiskas Dry Cat Food or any one Whiskas multipack any variety PRINT
$1/1 Any Endust Product PRINT
$1/1 Garnier Nutritioniste Cleanser or Moisturizer PRINT
.55/1 Hillshire Farm Smoked Sausage Links PRINT
$1/1 Centrum Ultra (100 ct or larger) PRINT
$1/1 LaCross Beauty Tool purchase of $2.00 or more PRINT
$1/1 L’Oréal Revitalift product PRINT
.35/1 Hillshire Farm Deli Select Lunchmeat PRINT
$1/1 Osteo Bi-Flex Liquid Joint-Aid 6-Pack PRINT