Extreme shopping at Kohls!

Hi all!  I decided that it would be WAY easier if I just started a blog than sending out tips to various people all over the place!  I'll touch first on the Kohl's inquiries as that is what sparked most of the crazy attention- then later I'll get to my entire process and this will be a great way for me to share my recipes and health finds to everyone too.

To get extreme savings at Kohls:

#1) Go to: Kohls.com and sign up for sale alerts!
Shortcut here: http://www.kohls.com/upgrade/registration/sale_alert_signup.jsp
the more unique e-mail addresses you have and can enter in here, the more $5 of $5 coupons will be sent to you via-email.  If this seems like too much work to you, then see step #2

#2) Go to: http://www.ebay.com/ and search 'Kohl's coupons' in the auctions search engine.  The best way to buy coupons for Kohls on ebay is to sort by auctions ending soonest and closely watch them in their last minute.  Bid with a max bid of at least $1 more than the current bid in the last 15-20 seconds of the auction.  You will typically always win the auction if a) you bid close enough to the end of the auction and b) you put a max bid in so that if someone else has a 'max' bid already, you will beat them.  I normally will get 5 of the $5/5 coupons for around $2 on e-bay.  Sometimes sellers will post 10 $5/$5 coupons in one auction and those are great too.  I try to bid on only the ones that say "Sent today/ Use today".... Then I can guarantee that they are codes that will be e-mailed to me within an hour of my payment.  Watch for expiration dates closely as well as auctions that have a "Valid only in.....(certain states).  As far as I can tell the codes that I have been sent electronically are valid nationwide. (As well as online)

#3) Watch and listen for the good sales at Kohls.  Currently it is the end of the winter season (I know, not necessarily for you all in AK) but our local Kohls has sweaters and lots of wintery tipe of clothes on their clearance rack.  Last weekend all the clearance was up to 90% off and there was an 'unadvertised' sale that ALL clearance was an ADDITIONAL 25% off.  It also helped that my friend Crystal found us an ADDITIONAL 15% off coupon online.  I had 14 of the $5/$5 coupons as well as 1 $10/$20 coupon and the 15% off coupon in tow. 

#4) Know what coupons you have before you go and make yourself have a mindset to get only what your coupons allow and NOTHING ELSE!  There will be another day to get more with more coupons, but you could easily talk yourself into that ONE item that is retail and throw your super shopping into a financial whirlwind quickly.  Since last Saturday I had 14 of the 5ers, I shopped with the mindset that I was getting 14 transactions of just over $5 each and 1 transaction of $20.  Since the clearance sale was go great, I was having to put 2 items in each transaction to make $5 before my extra 15% off coupon!  Most of the kids clothes were $2.40, $3.80, and $4.60 (before the unadvertised 25% off all clearance was applied).  The adult clothes were more like $7-$12 before the extra 25%.  Here is an example of how stinking cheap some of the stuff was:
Chaps 1/2 zip Mens sweatshirt: 
Retail $48.00 Clearance Price $7.80 - 25% = $5.85 - $5 (Coupon) = .85 - extra 15% coupon = .73 cents!
FOR A $48 shirt!!!!  You CAN'T beat that!!!!  Not even at a garage sale typically!!!

#5)  DO NOT SHOP FOR YOUR CURRENT SEASON!  You might be lucky enough to find a piece of clothing that will work for the current season, but my advice is stick to the clearance racks only!!!  This works super well at Kohls, because they ALWAYS have clearance racks.  I would have to say I have at least 1/2 of Alexia's school shopping done for next year because I went a size up on her stuff (sometimes even 2 sizes) and I probably only spent $7 on her!  At the end of the summer I will do the same thing for the following year.

#6)  Stock up on essentials.... if you LOVE sweaters and there are a ton of them that you like and fit you... WHO CARES if you have to wait until next year to wear them?  You are getting new clothes for darn near free....... Since Tyler will be 1 next week (I know- I can't believe it either)..... I am stocking up on whatever I can get for cheap for him.  We all know that kids go through clothes like crazy, so if you can get a pair of pants for less than a dollar, you won't be so mad when they get paint on them or a hole in the knee.  I only found 2 pairs for him on Saturday- but they were both size 2T.  I don't mind storing them for a while :)

I think that is about it for Kohls....... Next post, I'll start talking about the other ways I get super deals.

HAPPY KOHLS SHOPPING!