Target, eBay & Updates!

Sorry I haven't updated in a few days. Been kind of busy with work and such. Haven't done much this week until today.

Today we went back to Target and this time with a plan. To make a long story short... we got 150 jars of baby food, 3 pairs of baby pants, 1 shirt and $30 worth of diapers. Our total bill was $117, we left only paying $16 (: The sixteen dollars basically payed for the clothes and a pack of diapers. I will say though, the poor cashier kid had to put in 50 coupons by hand. He probably hates me, but at least he has a story to tell his friends. "Some crazy guy came into the store today..."

eBay. I'm going to talk about eBay now. I have successfully sold two text books for an accumulative amount of $1.04. I know they are worth more than that but oh well. I sold those about 2 weeks ago. Now for the interesting part; For our baby shower my family was going to buy our dressers we wanted for the nursery. They're not horribly over priced at about $230 per dresser and they match our furniture. We know they're sturdy and be put to good use for years to come. That being said, certain family didn't want to buy said furniture ahead of time in case they go out of stock or something. What are the chances? Well I'll tell you, the chances are very good. In fact, they are so good that one of our dressers went completely out of stock until February 2008. Back to eBay. We were frantically searching the internet for anyone that might have one of these dressers. We got "out of stock" from over 10 retailers. Our hopes were fading when we came across the ONE and only auction on eBay for this "golden dresser". It started at $1.00 and only had one other bidder. I outbid him at $50. He outbid me to $100, I went to a maximum bid of $150 (eBay automatically bids for you until it reaches your maximum, other users can't see this). He went to $130 and stopped. I was afraid he might "snipe" and try to outbid me in the last 30 seconds. I was not about to let that happen! I had two computers in front of me, one hand was hitting refresh on the browser while the other one was on the second computer ready to place a bid up to the store price of the unit ($240). It felt like my heart was about to explode from the anticipation. Alas! I won the bid! Hands down! $100 cheaper than store price! The dresser is supposed to arrive tomorrow, so I shall let you know if it came in one piece, if it's the right color and what the condition is. The seller is very highly esteemed on eBay with over 6,000 positive feedbacks (98% of the total feedback). We ordered the second dresser because we found it with free shipping, so each unit cost us about $230. We had to pay outrageous shipping for the eBay auction but it panned out.

Last week we also got the rest of the blankets for the crib, so that's done. Decorations should be near finished this week as we have letters ready to be painted and mounted on the wall and decorations ready to hang. We have the lamp and the window curtain. Last piece of furniture we need to get is the rocking chair for Courtney. We might get a book case from Target. (no, we can't get coupons for that!)

In other news, work is going well. Brian and I are about to finish a project (or two) this week and in the following week are looking forward to some massive upgrades to our video & design system with the latest and greatest technology to make our jobs easier and more efficient. We have a lot of bottlenecks in our work-flow right now and can potentially get things done faster in the very near future once our gear all comes in. I'll probably make a tech-geek blog about it when it's all setup. Right now all I have to say is "xServe" (x2).

Now some photos...

"Todays Target Run"

ABUSE the system!

So last night we decided to go use and abuse the system. The Target system! We needed to start stocking up on baby food so Courtney discovered the wonders of money saving through "coupons". These said coupons are a wonder. We had hoped to save over 80% of our money. I love the internet. We printed 56 coupons and they look fantastic. Worth the ink and paper I say.

As we left for Target we couldn't help but feel like bandits, about to get away with a bank robbery. We cautiously entered the store, keeping our eyes open for a manager. To secure the deal I found customer service center and asked if we could use more than one coupon on multiple products. He said yes, in turn this made us feel better about stealing from a large corporation. Truly, this felt very illegal and immoral.

Once we found the glorious baby food jars (and tubs) we started loading up. We had only gotten about half way done and felt like we couldn't possibly get more, thus we were only half way there. You can't help but feel nervous when you know you're stocking up on food with a long shelf life for only pennies a product. Each jar cost $0.52. Our coupons vouched that we can get 2 jars, then get $1 off. This means we spend $1.04, get a dollar off, then spend $0.04 for two jars! We keep loading up.

Cart, Half-way full...

After about 35 minutes of filling our cart we finally make it to the cashier. We made sure to choose someone that looked nice. We went for an older lady with out anybody in line. Fortunately the particular Target we went to was quiet. Upon presenting the amount of food we had filled our cart with (which didn't entirely fit on the entire length of the conveyor belt) we asked if she can take coupons. She asks "How many?". Out of my pocket I pull out a pile 56 coupons all nice and organized in the order which she should scan them. Our total at this point was about $90. By the time we got rang up for the initial total Courtney had left because she found the situation to be funny! I was left standing there with someone behind me in line, patiently waiting for the cashier to scan through 56 pieces of paper that didn't exactly scan with ease. Meanwhile Courtney is off giggling in an aisle just out of eye-site. I do forgive her, as we were in fact robbing the store with little pieces of paper. We left with spending $15 for all things Gerber. 150 jars of baby food, 2 boxes of baby rice, 2 boxes of finger foods and a 44 pack of Huggies. We did not have a coupon for the $10 pack of diapers. Our receipt was a mile long. Well, at least 10ft, actually.

We had done it! We got away with it! Now we have to carry these up 3 flights of stairs to our apartment and then blog about it :(

Just kidding, I don't mind blogging. Admittedly, we did not do as well as some of Courtney's online mommy cohorts. I have heard stories about people that make a plan of attack, and wind up being owed money by Target. $12 to be specific. We go again this weekend to a different location (preferably a Super-Target) to try this tactic again. Only this time, we are to formulate a plan and buy precisely what we mean to. No longer are we amateurs. We will rise and conquer the free baby food! Some of these vouchers do end this weekend, so we must be swift, quick to the punch.