Christi Tivitt, KY
TRU Mania
I have been couponing and rebating for six and half years and in that time have come across many great deals that left me smiling from ear to ear. I have more than enough shampoo, toothpaste, toilet paper, paper towels, and canned items to last my family a lifetime! All of the wonderful Amazon deals that I have been fortunate enough to snag before being lifted-- sheets, towels, cookware, dishes, appliances, toys, to name only a few.,-- I have given as gifts for Christmas, baby showers, weddings, birthdays, etc. And who can forget the awesome freebies we received from Pampers when they accepted Pampers Points. My daughters have literally worn a path in the yard driving their FREE motorized Jeep around and around the house a zillion times a day. Although all of these deals are noteworthy, none compare to my Toys R Us finds.
When I read on Chit Chat that people were finding toys clearanced at 90% off at Toys R Us, I began planning my point of attack. I knew that there were at least two TRU stores within 60 miles of where I lived and three other TRU stores in Louisville, KY. Louisville was a two hour drive (to and from) but I had no doubt that I could hit all three stores in one day if I got up with the chickens. After planning my route, I set out with the valuable TRU printout in handa list comprised of all the 90% off deals that RMCers had stumbled upon. In my first excursion, I found Wiggles On-the-Go Activity sets for .49 and .89 (regularly $4.99 and $8.99 respectively); a Fisher-Price Barney Cash Register for $1.49 (regularly $14.99); a Fisher-Price Musical Finger Paint Magna-Doodle for $2 (regularly $20); a Dora the Explorer Clings Map for $1.19 (regularly $11.99); Leap Pad Phonics cartridges for $1.50 (regularly $15); and two 1:18 scale Hall of Fame sports cars for $2 each (regularly $20). Floating on cloud nine, I eagerly left that TRU in hot pursuit of driving to the next one. I was seriously pumped to see what other great deals could be discovered. Amazingly at the other two stores in Louisville, I found over 75 books, most of which were those really nice Play-A-Sound books, ranging from .40 $1.30 each. I also found boo cues of stickers and tattoos, Lisa Frank folders and book covers, Hot Wheels cars, playground balls, Imaginarium 20-piece sidewalk chalk sets and party supplies; all of which I only paid pennies for.
A few days later, after revisiting RMC to get the updated list of the TRU deals, I set out for the Bowling Green store with my mother by my side. She was so excited about the deals that I had previously found that she wanted to be apart of it. Unfortunately we didnt have much luck at this store as it was obvious someone had beaten us there. I had my suspicions, but when I went to check out, the cashier confirmed them for me when she said, Wow, I cant believe you actually found these. A lady was in here yesterday and bought two shopping carts full of 90% off toys. I thought she wiped us out. I knew then that my competitor could only be an RMCer! Who else could be so successful at finding unmarked toys? Despite the bad luck we were having, my mother never lost faith. She walked up and down each aisle searching and scanning. I nearly jumped out of my skin when she yelled, I found something, Chris! It wasnt just something; it was a very large something. She had found, not one, but two of the electronic stationary ride-on toys that everyone was talking about on Chit Chat. The boxes were terribly faded but both the Fire Truck and the Police Car were in mint condition and each only a mere $3.99. The look on my mothers face will forever be embedded into my brain.
Although I only made the Louisville and Bowling Green trip once, I visited the Owensboro TRU store quite frequently. In fact, so often that each time I walked through those sliding doors, the employees greeted me with Here comes the Queen. They soon learned my objective to seek and to find all unmarked clearance itemsand yet, they were always pleasant and shockingly helpful. I nearly fainted the first time one of the employees actually volunteered to help me find some of the CD-ROM, GameBoy and Nintendo games that were clearanced. On more than one occasion, they carried my large items to the customer service desk while I continued to shop as well as climbed ladders to retrieve items from the top shelves. I never heard one huffed complaint and never saw a roll-of-the eye. However unusual, it was quite an awesome feeling having the cashier equally share in my own personal glee.
Some of the items that I walked away with were: a Hello Kitty CD/FM Boom box for $5; four Timex kids watches for $1.50-$3.50; a Home Depot 15-pc Tool Set for $1.50; a Kodak Advantix camera for $1.50; nine Bell bicycle kits (helmet, knee pads, etc.) for $1.30 each; an Oshkosh Snuggli child carrier for $2.99, an Evenflo child carrier for $2.99; and two Playtex diaper genies for $2 each. Actually, the diaper genies were free after I used the TRU in-store coupons that were printed in the February Baby Sale ad. Talk about excellent baby shower gifts!
After eight visits to the same store, I figured my luck had to be running pretty thin but my addiction couldnt keep me away. This time I ventured out with my three daughters in tow (ages 7, 5 and 2). Being the little pros that they are, they were more than ready to scan, scan, scan and that is exactly what they did. Somehow we ended up in the Barbie aisle (surprised
NOT!) and in less than an hour we had found a Barbie Playhouse for $2, a Karaoke machine for $8, three Volkswagen Micro buses for $4.98 each, two Barbie Style Heads for $2.25 each, a remote control Sports Car for $3, three Barbie Fantasy pools for $1 each, a CD player for $1.70, five Barbie Bath & Bubbles for $3 each and many other Barbie items. In addition to the Barbie deals, we also pounced on the Polly Pockets --finding one Totally Treehouse for $1, two Hangin Out Houses at $2 each and ten Fashion Malls for $2 each. Needless to say, my girls were in heaven!! The hardest part was convincing them that they couldnt rip open the boxes and have a Barbie gala immediately upon arriving home. Instead, however, they helped me price some of their Barbie treasures for a yard sale we had a few weeks later. Little did they notice that in the midst of all the Barbie items they found, a few were missing from the yard sale tables? Humm
I wonder where they are? Perhaps they will reappear one day soon.
I will never forget my TRU excursions. In less than 6 weeks and 10 trips to five different TRU stores, I purchased approximately $1,900 worth of clearanced items and ONLY a whopping $190 was deducted from my checkbook. I might add this was quickly accounted for at our yard sale a few weeks later...but hey, thats a whole other story.
**************************
Christi Tivitt
|
Photo Comments
|
|
Hi, I thought I would tell you about my amazing deals I found at tru, I found a lot of what you had mentioned including some in the picture but only paid a penny each! I did pay 90% off on some items but I guess I had heard about these deals late after the 90% markdown because most were 1 cent.
Nov. 26, 2007 By:
Liz
-------------------------------------------
|
|
|
This is unbelievable and how long did these trips at TRU take? Just curious? 
Feb. 10, 2007 By:
Shelly
-------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
