I recently had a disagreement with a friend about a popular clothing store – whose name I will not mention. Said friend who is a professional, and can easily afford to shop at high-end stores, was trying to convince me to shop at said clothing store.

It’s true that you can’t really go wrong with $7.90 basic camisoles, but my issue lies with the quality of the clothing. In fact, after referring to it as “disposable fashion”, my friend agreed and further added that that’s the beauty of these cheap clothing chains: You can just buy new clothes once you get sick of the old styles!

I completely understand her pov, but at an early age, my mom taught me about QUALITY by making remarks such as, “Don’t wear cheap shoes…they’ll ruin your feet!” and “Only buy shoes from Country #1, #2, or #3”. And somehow, these remarks are still with me today as a consumer.

Buying my own clothes and shoes, I first look at the material, whether or not it’s easy to wash, will it pill up, style/wearability – will it be something I will wear on more than one occasion, and yes, I also look to see what country the item is made. If all those above mentioned factors check out, then I check out the price tag!

And it is for the same reasons listed that I will not step foot into that debated store. It may be nice to look at the dizzying array of styles, prints, and colours, but buying it to wear is another story!

With Back To School as an official retail season, there’s no doubt that you’ll pick up some clothing for yourself as well. So is your take on disposable fashion to leave it on the rack OR grab the deals and head straight to the check-out?

Right now, Livingwell.ca is offering a printable coupon for $4 off Tylenol Muscle Aches & Body Pain medication. So if you use this popular over-the-counter, why not print off the coupon, use it when it goes on sale, and have it handy for the next time you need it?

Click here to print off your coupon!

While browsing on Amazon.ca I noticed that they have several childrens DVD’s on for a fairly decent price.  Most of these titles are a little older but still could make a nice gift or at these prices to simply add to your collection at home.

Happy Feet (wide screen) – $5.00

The Sword In The Stone: 45th Anniversary Edition – $10

Hercules – $9.99

Harry Potter and the deathly hollows – $14.93

There is also some pretty decent deals on TV Shows and other movies.  How I Met Your Mother Seasons 1, 2 & 3 for $21.49 each Season 4 for $19.99.

Check out amazon.ca’s Movie deal page here for more deals on movies and tv shows.

Amazon Canada also offers FREE Super Saver Shipping on eligible items over $25.

I recently blogged about Sun Butter and how it has become our nut free alternative to peanut butter for our children for school.  While it may not pass the taste test for everyone it sure surpassed our expectations from the previous brands we tried.  When we wrote to Sun butter to thank them for making such a qaulity product that passed the ultimate taste test with our 2 children they emailed us a $0.75 off coupon.  You however do not have to email them if you would like a coupon.  Just click here to fill out an online survey at their site and they will email you a coupon to your inbox.

Bulk Barn has a $3 off printable coupon that is good until Thursday September 8th 2011. The coupon is good for purchases of $10 or more.  May be a good way to pick up some things for back to school snacks.  We also buy our dog biscuits here for a fairly decent price for our 2 dogs.

Print coupon here.

Click here to view the Bulk Barn Flyer for your province.

Until September 4th visit your local Chapters Indigo Store and ALL books and magazines are on special for Buy 3 Get 1 FREE!

This is a perfect time to stock up on those novels you’ve been eyeing.

Who is your favorite author Canada?

Click here for details

This is a pretty decent deal that I think deserves mention on its own. BBC’s Natural History Collection, including Planet Earth, Ganges, Wild China and Galapagos (which is great even on its own!) for $45.99 with free shipping, on Blu-Ray. There is also a marketplace seller with a price of $38.99, but it’s a new seller, so I’m not sure how good of an idea that is (plus shipping is then $3.49, so the price difference isn’t huge). This set includes 1150 minutes of television.

Due to the bad weather on the East Coast (Hurricane Irene) Old Navy has extended the friends and family sale until August 31st.

Click here to print off your coupon. (Facebook)

No Facebook? No problem click here to print.

P.s.  Aren’t those girls hoodies just adorable!

School officially starts in just under a week!  It’s such a bittersweet time for me, while I’m generally happy not to have to listen to my boys fight constantly all day I get sad that my babies are getting that much bigger!  I have a 5 and 12 year old and they are very excited to go back to school!

In June the boys never brought home a back to school list so I’m kind of in the dark what exactly they want them to bring.

Heres my list so far:

Backpacks, lunch pails, paper, pens, pencils, crayons, markers, pencil crayons, binders, erasers, rulers, calculator, math sets, a reusable bottle for water, indoor shoes.

Is my list similar to yours? Is there anything I am missing that is essential?

Have you completed your back to school shopping?  I got quite a bit of my supplies in the US a few weeks ago. I spent less then $10 on all the pencils, crayons, pencil crayons and markers.

Until September 3, 2011 if you buy one of the below HP computers priced $699.00 or more at Staples you’ll receive an Xbox 360 4GB console. It is a student only offer and ID must be presented in store but it also says the offer is available online so I’m not sure how they’d check ID that way. Delivery is free on orders $50.00 and up.

Participating Models:

DV6-3240CA, DV6-3270CA, DV7-4260CA, HPE-500F, DV7-6197CA, and H8-1020.

Visit the Staples website here.

After initially posting that I saw Future Shop and The Source is doing the same thing. Their offer only goes until September 1,2011.

Visit the Future Shop website for participating models and to place an order.

Visit The Source website for participating models and to place an order.

Swiss Chalet announced on their Facebook page today that if you registered for their Rib Nation Contest and are located in either Nova Scotia or Kitchener-Waterloo (these were the top two winners) you can recieve a coupon for Free Half Rack of BBQ Ribs with the purchase of any entrée this Wednesday night after you play their Rib Nation game on Facebook.

Not in KW or NS? If you click on the Special offers tab you can upgrade your 1/2 rack rib dinner to rib and chicken combo.

Bring in any used empty ink cartridge to Staples this week to receive $20.00 off a Kodak ESP All-In-One Printer. The printers start at about  $100 and they claim to have the cheapest ink (the replacement cartridges shown in the flyer ranged from $10-$20). These printers all are WIFI enabled to make wireless printing from your PC, laptop or smartphone easy. Don’t forget the paper, all Staples brand photo paper is BOGO free (must be identical item).

See the printers here

Order your copy of Cars 2 today at a special price of only $24.95 for the Blu-Ray DVD Combo pack!

To earn 200 points order Cars 2 before October 31st 2011. Points will be added when credit card is charged. Then use the Disney Magic Code to receive 125 more points!

Click here to order

This one is sure to be a huge seller just like Cars. Who was your favorite character?

Happy family movie watching!

Until September 18th spend $125 or more before taxes at any Thyme Maternity store and get $100 back in Thyme Cash. This deal is valid in store only … and lets face it, it’s quite easy to get up $125 when you’re buying Maternity gear!!

DETAILS ABOUT THE THYME FASHION CASH PROMOTION
Each $50 Thyme Fashion Cash coupon is redeemable from October 9 to 29, 2011 on a subsequent purchase of $100 each or more (before taxes).

Celebrate those baby bumps!

Please Mum is having a store wide sale in both their actual stores and online.  You can save between 60-80% on almost everything in store.  There are some exclusions though; new boys demin, sleepwear and outerwear.  However, rain gear is on sale for 50% off and other outerwear is on sale for 30% off.  Also, shipping is free on orders of $50 or more.

Click here to shop at Please Mum online.