On one hand, I’d like to show you what a great deal I got today. On the other hand, I deviated from the plan, so the math really doesn’t follow through as closely as I had hoped for.

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Total cost of everything above: $9.12.

But!  You also have to consider that the High School Musical game was marked $24 on clearance.  All clearance toys are reduced 50% right now, making it alone $12 before my funky couponing, and the rest free!  The HSM game was an impulse purchase because I have a cousin that I think will like it when her birthday comes around, and it really wrecked my plan because I didn’t have enough coupons with me to do three transactions… but it’s still a good deal anyway so I wanted to share.

There’s a $5/$20 toy coupon available.  It expires 8/31/09.  Download the coupon here and print as many copies as you need.  You can only use one per transaction.

There are also $5 coupons available for the Pictureka game at coupons.com and couponbug.com. I was able to print two from each of those sites, and from the other computers in my house.  The games are priced $5.99, making them $.99 each after the coupon.  I found them hanging on a strip next to the card game section, not on the hooks themselves.

So, the optimal plan is to buy three Picturekas at $5.99 each.  That comes to $17.97.  Pick up one more toy item for $2.03 or more and your total will go above $20 so you can use the $5/$20 coupon.  Hand it over first, and then the $15 worth of coupons.  Ta da! Free (or near-free) games, free $2 filler toy.  There were plenty of toys on clearance for around two dollars at my store today, so it shouldn’t be hard to find something that a child in your life might enjoy.

I have a couple more coupons left, so I’ll probably be going back with them soon. The first transaction was near perfect, coming to fifty cents before I added a case of water just to calm my cashier’s nerves. (I left that out of the picture and calculations just to make it easy–I was buying it anyway but I didn’t plan on doing it in the first transaction.)  She was a little freaked out by the total going so low.

Now, what will I do with four Picturekas?  We might keep one, use a few as gifts, or maybe throw them in the yard sale. Doesn’t really matter… they helped me get a birthday present for three dollars less than the clearance-clearance price.

(Might I also add that opportunities like these are great for stocking up on presents for all those birthday parties your kids are invited to, or as stocking stuffers, or for donating to toy drives near the holidays?  Giving back to your community doesn’t always have to cost a lot!)

This deal was posted a bunch of different places, and I honestly can’t remember where I saw it first.  The first Google result for a blog that I read is Money Saving Madness.  Let’s just give the credit to her.