The other day, I went to Wal-Mart and was walking to the kids section when I noticed the guy marking down the bath wraps that I wanted!  I have been contemplating making it but knew the material alone would cost me $10.  They had them marked down for $2.50.  I was so excited that I bought mine without thinking about Turkey Butt wanting one.

Of course, when I brought it home, she wanted one just like it.  So I went back the next day and they had marked them up to $5 (regular price $10).  I bought her one but it was painful.  I was still happy to have mine for cheap and now Turkey Butt and I get out of the bath and sit in our wraps for a while together.  She loves it!

So I went to Sam’s Club today and tried to comparison shop.  I have always heard how much cheaper their diapers were so I made a list of my usual regular items and then went to Wal-Mart and figured out how much they were per unit.  I checked a few items I use regularly and usually cost me an arm and part of a leg.  I thought I would let you in on a little secret…

Huggies Diapers: Sam’s  $.2373/ diaper  Wal-Mart  $.2936

Clorox 2: Sam’s  $.1692/load  Wal-Mart  $.1970/load

Oxiclean: Sam’s  $1.162/lb  Wal-mart  $1.96/lb

Surf:  Sam’s $.087/load  Wal-Mart  $.0993/load

Downy:  Sam’s $.0726/load  Wal-mart  $.075

Gain:  Sam’s  $.1257/load  Wal-Mart  $.133/load

Dishwashing Gel:  Sam’s $.0387/oz  Wal-Mart  $.0384/oz

Wipes:  Sam’s  $.0292/wipe  Wal-Mart  $.0232/wipe

Turns out, Sam’s WAS cheaper.  Their organic milk, however, was $.30/half gallon more expensive.  So I will continue to buy my organic milk at Kroger for less than #3/half gallon.

So I was at Wal-Mart today <UUGGHH!!> and was comparing chicken broth.  I usually buy the carton broth as it is usually cheaper.  But to day I noticed that it was $.06 or twice the unit price as the can.  I was shocked to realize that the difference was so much.  I got the cheaper version which was actually not the Wal-Mart Brand at all.  So my chicken broth was $.031 per oz instead of $.06.

You need to keep this in mind at the bulk stores as well like Sam’s Club and Costco.  Take that calculator and watch your per unit cost.  It won’t take long to figure out the good deals from the same savings.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, my hubby and I got up early and headed out for the Black Friday sales.  Let me just say that I had a hard time falling asleep the night before, which I think might have been caused by a yummy latte from Dunkin Donuts.  lol  I forgot to get decaf and so  I only got 3 1/2 hours of sleep.

We headed out and our first stop was Wal-Mart.  I had no circular for Wal-Mart so I had no clue what was on sale.  There were palettes of sweatshirts and pajamas.  People were digging through them like crazy.  It was tempting to get Alligator girl a set of pajamas, but seriously she does not need any and truthfully, they looked really cheap.  I did settle on a hooded fleece Lightning McQueen sweatshirt for Cuddlebug.  It was $4.  While at Wal-Mart, we also picked up some of the dvds that were $2-3.  I was pleased that I got a coat for Cuddlebug for $8.  His old coat from last year is a size 2T-3T and it isn’t oversized like most coats.

When we first arrived at Wal-Mart, it was pretty quiet.  It was about 4:50 am and many people were just standing in the aisles with their carts and waiting.  I had no clue what they were lined up for, but at 5 am it got really loud and then I saw people grabbing tvs like crazy.  Their tvs were at an awesomely low price.  Too bad I didn’t have the extra money.  Maybe next year.

Next, we headed to Target.  They didn’t open until 6 am and it was insane!  People were lined up down the sidewalk for quite a ways.  The line even stretched up to the next largest store in the plaza.  There were hundreds of people in line.  The Target associates were outside passing out maps of the key items they had on sale.  I head an associate say that there were only a few navigation systems and a limited amount of Guitar Hero games. 

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I was listening to the radio and they were saying 2 things that might be of interest to the frugal among us.

1. There are 5 less days between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  So start your shopping early.
2. Wal-Mart is already putting some of their best toys on sale for $10.

So just watch out for good sales coming your way.  The bad part of this is that you would have to routinely go to Wal-Mart to check on the new sales.  Sorry

 Visit Walmart.com and you can get lots of free samples.  I stopped by their site today and ordered samples for Pampers, Frizz-Ease, Chocolate Chex, Listerine Whitening Strips, Hallmark Cards, and more.  I’m guessing that the featured samples will be changed from time to time, so don’t forget to stop by again later for more free stuff.

Thanks for my aunt Rosemary for the tip.

I heard on the news last week that Wal-mart was recalling their Baby Connection bibs due to the amount of lead found in the canal backings. The recall is specific to the state of Illinois. This simply means that the state of Illinois says that the bibs contain more than the acceptable limit of lead in the bibs.

HELLO!!!!!!! If on estate says that there is too much lead in the bibs, then no matter where I live, I am not keeping any of them. You can’t buy lead based paint any more so why would I want to hang a lead bib around my infant’s neck?

The recall involves:

• Baby Connection 2-Pack Easy Wipe Bibs (UPC No. 01468152705)
• Baby Connection 7-Pack Feeder Bibs (UPC No. 01468151077)
• Baby Connection 2-Pack Feeder Bibs (UPC No. 01468102732)

If you have any questions, my suggestion is to throw them out. I can’t see a single reason why you should take the chance with the single most precious thing in your life under the age of 5 (Can’t exclude the other kids and the DH).

Until recently, I have always had a problem with my dishwasher.  I’ve never been able to just scrape my dishes and put them in the dishwasher.  The dishes just don’t come clean.  I moved to a house with a new dishwasher and still had problems.  I even bought the expensive products.

According to Consumer Reports, prerinsing your dishes can waste 20 gallons of heated water a day.  They suggest switching to an enzyme-based detergent so that you can simply scrape off the big chunks and throw the dishes in the machine.  The enzymes get off the stuck on food, so that you don’t have to scrub your dishes before putting them in the dishwasher.

You know what product Consumer Reports recommends? Read more