That didn't go according to plan.

Dh mentioned how his swim suit broke (it's probably many years old, and it ripped when we were at the water park last time).

I told him I'd look at Kohls online since I had all those gift cards. (Mostly wanted to spend them on *moi* but what is one swim suit?)

Not the cheapest swimsuits ever, but they were on sale, and free with my gift card. Dh even let me pick out a really nice pair that I liked.

While on the site, I decided to look at jackets. I last bought BM a decent jacket when he started Kinder. 3 years ago? I got it at Lands End when I thought the school would be more of a stickler for uniform jackets. (They aren't sticklers, at all). Granted, I have only been looking around since spring, but I just can't find anything. So I started the search anew (& checked several sites). Best deal I found was some nice rain jackets at Land's End. I wanted something light and water resistant. With a hood. Apparently California wear is hard to find. I don't need a full out rain slicker, and certainly nothing fleece or heavily padded. Anyway, $30 at Land's End - found the perfect jacket - and I found a coupon for free shipping. If it lasts another 3 years, and even longer for LM, guess I can't complain. LM just gets BM's old jacket, since it has held up well.

Back to Kohls... When looking at jackets I saw these hoodies that I was looking for about 3 years ago but could not find. (Not for a reasonable price, anyway!) Patience pays off...



Of course, the kids were all excited. They were on sale for $24 each. Nothing I'd get excited about, except I was looking for these so long ago, and I know that is a good price compared to what I have ever seen.

While on the site I also checked out table clothes, since ours is falling apart. With messy kids, I prefer the vinyl kind, but those also seem hard to find. I ended up spending closer to $20 on a very pretty table clothe. Will see how long it lasts! Was a nice splurge.

I found a 15% off coupon, virtually making dh's swim trunks free. I found a free shipping coupon, also. So, I spent about $75 for all of the above. Used my free gift card, and have $75 left.

It was fun to splurge a bit without spending anything.

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I also redeemed my free photobook from Shutterfly today. (Dh got some coupon for spending $20-ish at Target? I couldn't tell you why or what the specific deal was?).

I decided on a 2011 Family theme since I had so many great photos this year. Several camping trips, trips to the beach, hiking adventures, etc.

It took at least 2 hours to put it together, and I paid $3.20 to add 4 pages to the book (so I could fit everything!). Shipping was about $7.99 as I expected. I didn't even look for any coupon codes - I probably should have! Spent about $11 for that - very well worth it.

I also got 50 free prints for being a new Shutterfly customer. (I ordered a photo book back in 2004 maybe? But haven't since, and have apparently switched e-mails, etc.) I didn't order the free prints yet, but may be a project for Monday. Very time consuming. Will focus on printing copies for the kids and for family. I prefer to keep them digital or just print out a very few, myself. But I Can certainly get good use out of free prints.

So, I spent about $41 all told today. ($30 jacket + $11 photo book). Not bad for the haul!

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So, my parents' 40th anniversary is coming up, and I am terrible with gift ideas. BUT, working on this photo book gave me a great idea. We will make them a really nice photo book for their anniversary. I am so excited! We are visiting them today, so I will try to sneak out a photo album and have dh start scanning. I have had some relatives send me some old photos, etc. Will see what we can put together. I've got almost a year, but I want to get started on this project. Sneaking photos from their home without them noticing, may take some time.