Shoes

Almi grows out of shoes so quickly!! I seriously only get about 4 or 5 months out of them before they start to get too tight and squeeze her little toes. While she was at her teacher's house this past weekend I ran into the thrift store to see if I could find any water shoes for the beach. I came out with three pairs of shoes. To be honest, I'm not completely comfortable with her wearing used shoes with growing feet and all but I figure as long as I switch them out with brand new shoes (which she wears more often) she should be OK.

I found the water shoes, which look like they have hardly been worn at all and a pair of brand new Old Navy sneakers. New for $3.93. Yay! The third pair I picked up were definitely worn but they only cost $2.92 though so I couldn't leave them there. I figure she can wear them with socks if they don't come clean enough for my liking and will be for rough and tumble days or when we go hiking until I can get around to purchasing the Keen's I have been eyeing. In the meantime, $11.43 isn't bad for three pairs of shoes.

December Thrifting

Since she's growing out of her 2Ts rapidly, I thought I should pick up some 3Ts when I was at the thrift store today. I had two pairs in my hand for her but I couldn't bring myself to buy the pair that cost $2.49 (I know, sorta kicking myself now but everytime I buy her clothes someone gives me handmedowns so I am holding out for those just in case). But I did find these:


It wasn't until I was in line at the second thrift store where I was purchasing myself a pair of pants that I realized that they are so similar. We can dress alike. Yay! Always wanted to do that.

Here are mine:

Could you make out the price?

Mine were $6.99.
Hers? $0.95!

While I was there I picked up this festive mini cutting board. Great hostess gift for someone this season. $3.93.

Finally, how cute is this little tin bucket? The ribbon is nice and crisp and clean. I picked up 4 of them at $.040 each. I was going to make her teachers ornaments for their gift but instead I think I will just fill these with tea or candy.

Sick Day

I took off yesterday because I have a sore throat. I am sure my sore throat was brought on by my staying up too late every night trying to get things done. I have to, it's the only time I have when the little one is asleep. She hasn't been taking naps in daycare this week so she is more cranky at night but that means I can put her down easily by 7. Then i can eat dinner, do dishes and focus on my list. If i went to bed at 9 when I am tired i would get nothing done but if i stay up til midnight i can accomplish. Five hours sounds like a lot but there are a couple of hours there where i am not super productive because i am tired (either 8-10ish or 11-1ish) but I push through because it is quiet and uninterrupted time.

But it also makes me sick which is a huge negative. Duh. But somehow I don't remember that when I am doing it.

So, I took a sick day today. Ah, a day to rest and relax and get some sleep.

Not.

I had to get up to drop her at daycare. Here she is outside of my school looking as cute as ever in the gifts my cousin's family sent her. My cousin's wife works for Ralph Lauren and sent her a vest, coat, mittens, hat and scarf! Nice, good quality stuff! And she looks so cute in it!

So I drop her off and by then I didn't feel quite so awful so I stayed and wrote my Christmas letter and then printed out my to do list.

Here it is:

(This wasn't all for today!!! Just the things floating around in my head..)

After I printed out the list I was going to run to my appt. and then go to sleep. Instead I...

* went to the doctor to get bloodwork
* went to T@rget to a few Xmas decorations, stocking stuffers and the gift for the exchange
* browsed in a shoe store (browsed in a shoe store! -- I forgot how fun that is!)
* came home and checked email and blogs
* gathered another bag for Goodwill
* called the consignment shop and explained my dilemma
* dropped my stuff off at the consignment shop (they said I could drop it off a day early! yay!)
* picked up my check for $14.90 waiting there for me
* drove to the neighborhood thrift store and dropped off my items instead of Goodwill

Can we say productive?! I forgot how easy it is to get things done without a toddler in tow!

Funny story: I was in T@rget checking things off my list when I looked up and couldn't find my list! Can I tell you a feeling of panic washed over me?! I needed my list!! So I searched for it. Back to the candy aisle where I picked up some candy canes. Back to the stocking stuffer area where I got some items for the gift exchange. Back to the Christmas trees where I pondered buying a fake tree. Back through aisle after aisle of lights, ornaments, wrapping paper, ribbon.. until I found it and breathed a huge sigh of relief!

(had to document it for the blog!)

Oh, and this, too. Look at my car before the thrift store drop off!


Yeah, I could have made a nice chuck of change if I had only sold each thing for $1 but it feels good to A. get it out of my house but also B. knowing that even if I didn't make any money off of the stuff (other than the write off) someone else is going to make good use of the things when they purchase them and that isn't a financial gain but it does bring me a great deal of satisfaction.

While I was at the local thrift store I found two items I could not pass up.
Look at this T@lbots dress I got!

A rich chocolate velvety beauty. So cute for the holidays. And these boots!

Love. Total cost? $21.17

Minus the $14.90 I made earlier in the day bringing total cost down to $6.27.
Not bad. That's a price a broke momma can justify.

All in all, a very productive and satisfying day. I didn't rest or clean the living room for the couch delivery but I napped two hours when I put Almi down and eventually turned in shortly after midnight.

Wheelin' and Dealin'

My mom sent me money for a new car seat. The old one I got for free from some insurance company for attending a presentation on child safety. It was fully functional but I wanted a top of the line one, especially since I drive an older model car. Here she is in the old car seat. She had no problem with it. LOL


But I headed to Buy Buy Baby to get her new one. I wanted top of the line safety features and the one I chose cost about $375. Very expensive, but when it comes to safety it's hard to justify scrimping and saving. I still felt a bit overwhelmed by the price since, though, especially since I do most of my shopping in thrift stores nowadays so I decided to get the price down as best I could.

First, I took some items I had gotten from my baby shower back since they were geared for a much younger child. That got me a store credit of about $100. Then I brought along a 20% off coupon Buy Buy Baby had mailed to my house. There were a whole bunch of brands and high priced items they said it couldn't be used for and I was sure Britax would be one of them but it was not! Score! Another $75 off. Then with the combined baby shower gift cards and end of the year gift cards, my $450 purchase (carseat, car window shades and her bike birthday gift) was only $55! Now that's a bahgin!

Look what I saw when the old carseat was taken out. Ew. LOL


Here she is the first time in her new carseat. I asked her if she liked it and she said yes. :)


Riding in true comfort, as a princess should.

Free Cheerios!!!

Yes, all these boxes of Cheerios are in my house. And on my counter because I have nowhere to store them. But why I have them is pretty cool! I read on a blog a tip about saving money and using coupons. She said that grocery stores have a sale cycle and eventually everything will be on sale. The key is to clip coupons and then use them when the item is on sale. In other words, don't shop when you need something and are forced to pay whatever the selling price is that day, but buy it before you need it when it's on sale. And use a coupon. So, on to the Cheerios. I had these .75c off coupons from my doctor's office of all places. Yesterday when I bought one box (when we were out of them --exactly what you are not supposed to do) I was pretty happy to find they were on sale for $2.50. With my coupon I only paid $1.75 for the box, right? Not bad. But when I got home I realized they had doubled the coupon so I only paid $1.00 for the box! Really not bad!! And then I remembered the article so I decided I should go back and buy some more. We go through Cheerios really fast at our house.

But there's more. Here's the really amazing part! I learned when I went back that if you bought five boxes the price went down even further from $2.50 to $1.50 a box!! Unfortunately I only brought 3 coupons with me because I could have gotten five boxes for free! But I was still satisfied. Five boxes of Cheerios for $3.00. Not bad at all!

Crafting and Cookies Make Everything All Better

I had a lovely day today! I woke up early and looked at craft blogs. I got some creative ways to decorate my house for the holidays... which will last through January over here since I am getting such a late start.


Then I got to the thrift store just when it opened and picked up some great Xmas gifts! I am so excited to give them because they are really, really nice and oh, so economical!

Then I got a wonderful massage.

Now I am about to bake cookies (...yeah, i ate all the ones I baked earlier in the week! lol) and get ready to do some cool crafts. Look at these awesome snowflakes I found on Crafty nest!



They are made out of Popsicle sticks! So easy and so simple yet elegant. Love them! I also love this idea which I saw on Little Big Nest:



How cute is that?! I think I have a stick in my backyard I can use and I bought some mini ornaments today at the thrift store for $.90!

Ok, gotta run! Cookies and crafting are calling my name! I'll post photos of the results!

No Plastic Toys!

You know what is one of my pet peeves? Seeing brightly colored plastic toys strewn all over people's living rooms. Primary colored, hard-a**, easily breakable, unoriginal toys in every room in a house. I really hate that. The thought of my peaceful home-- which is just coming together and becoming the decluttered, feng shui space I have been dreaming of my whole life --suddenly being littered with the latest D!sney paraphernalia and battery operated toys that play the same song over and over again and other assorted plastic junk was not making me happy. 'Just wait until you have a child,' I've been told, 'You won't have a choice.'

Well, I beg to differ. To be fair, I thought they were right even though I hated to admit that. And before I realized a way out of this, I admit a lot of time was spent trying to think of a way to house them so I wouldn't have to see these eyesores on a daily basis. I researched wooden toy boxes, bins, hanging nets and baskets. I also spent hours trying to figure out which room would be best for a playroom where I could just shut the door and pretend they didn't exist.

But then it hit me! Just don't buy any! What a wonderful solution! I mean, seriously, I don't have to have toys in my house that are going to drive me crazy when there are so many that won't. I wouldn't mind a dollhouse and stuffed animals and musical instruments and wooden puzzles in my living room. That sounds charming actually. Kind of like the olden days. Downright quaint. I love it! And these types of toys, along with art supplies, sensory play activities, cooking, playing outside and reading lots and lots of books will help develop her creativity and imagination.

I suppose as she gets a little older and gets influenced by her friends and advertising she may ask for a specific toy she has seen on TV and that will be ok. I remember begging my parents for Barb!e dolls but my mom didn't think she was a good role model with her overly sexy body and clothes so Barb!e never appeared in my house. I got Raggedy Anne. Now don't get me wrong, I loved Raggedy Anne (renamed her Caroline) and I carried her everywhere but I do remember being disappointed at never receiving a Barb!e. I also remember playing at a friend's house when I was in the 5th or 6th grade and discovering she had about 20 Barb!ies (and the townhouse and sports car!) shoved in the corner of her bedroom. She clearly hadn't played with them in a while but I dying to play with them so we did and I was as happy as a clam.

I think my mom was on to something and I understand what she was trying to do... and she probably didn't want to see all the junk either! But I also know that gifts are to bring joy so I think the solution is you can ask for one thing you want. I can deal with one ugly plastic toy or one overly marketed D!isney toy in my house if that's what she really wants and I can supplement it with a bunch of other good quality, imaginative toys that will last years and years.

The other day I was at the thrift store and came across this!


$15. Looks brand new... even has the $85 price tag still attached. Not only would I not mind this in my living room but man, how cute would this look under the Xmas tree? She won't be home for Christmas this year (and I don't have a tree) so maybe I should save it for next year. What do you guys think about toys and marketing and excess? Am I being too controlling?

Thrift Store Thursday

Adorable!
$2.11.
Brand new, with tags!

And sorry for my outburst the other day. I was PMSing. I have it under control now. No more whining. It's only been a little over 4 months.

Thrift Store Thursday

On Sunday I decided to try a different Goodwill to see if there were some better items. I came across these. Well, actually, I peeked in where it said "employees only" to see what they hadn't yet priced and put on the floor and I spied these two chairs. Luck would have it that all furniture was half off so I got them both for only $15.00. They are in excellent condition. I am thinking about taking them into school to use at my classroom library for the year and when summer hits I can take them to my beach house... If I own a beach house by summer, that is! :-)

Here one is next to another chair on my porch (a gift which needs a fresh coat of paint)

The two together. Nice, huh?

Thrift Store Thursday

I used to have a pair of boots just like these! I wore them out. I thought about replacing them but couldn't really justify it when I have other boots in my closet. Then I found these. No, they're not leather but they fit and they only cost $5.25. Sold... to the broke girl trying to save for an adoption! LOL

Thrift Store Thursday

Love these! They are practically brand new and fit perfectly. I paid $5.95.


And how about these Banana Republic pants? The picture doesn't really do them justice. Next time I will post pictures of me in the clothes that I find. But just believe me when I tell you that they fit perfectly, too, and cost me a whopping $2.50! I am so excited for fall weather!

Thrift Store Thursday

Check out this little doll cradle. So cute! I wonder how old it is and what little girl used it in the past. OK, that's starting to scare me... LOL. But still cute for $3.93!

Trift Store Thursdays

I have a new fun idea! I will post what great finds I come across at thrift stores on Thursdays. I'm gonna call it Thrift Store Thursdays (or TST for short). Today's entry is this nifty little rocking chair I found last week. Sure, it could use a little sanding and a fresh coat of paint but not bad for $3.43!


In other news, I caught a cold on my third day back to work. I couldn't even make it a whole week! That's sad. I thought by successfully following my new schedule (sort of) I'd be able to stay healthy but no such luck. Darn germy kindergartners! I guess the germ lesson I gave today was one day late!

Lilly Pulitzer

... for $3.75.
Yup.

Mom's Visit

I convinced my mom to come visit me so we could have some one on one time - a girls weekend! She arrived Saturday morning and stayed until Monday night. When I first picked her up from the airport, on a whim we drove to find the house where she spent her childhood summers and the house where her father used to visit as a child. We were able to find the streets though the houses were no longer there. It was great for her to be able to see those places as an adult and I enjoyed doing that with her. What else did we do? Well, we went to a huge flea market. It was blazing hot--about 94 degrees. We walked around but didn't buy anything except these amazing authentic tacos. My mom was such a trooper! What else? Oh, we got our nails done, ate out--a lot, saw Julie & Julia (loved it!), went to the National Cathedral for Sunday service and talked and laughed a lot. I also had a lot of fun taking her to the thrift stores and boy did she get into it! No surprise there really as she is the queen of consignment shops and sales-- must be where I got it from! She bought me so many nice things for my daughter!! So sweet! It was fun. Here are some pictures from the weekend. Thanks for coming to visit me, Mom! I enjoyed hosting you! Sure wished we lived closer!

Bargain Shopping Pt. II

Part II - CVS and the ECBs

Do you shop at CVS? I do, all the time. It's very convenient. Did you ever notice at the end of your receipt where you sometimes see that you have earned some Extra Care Bucks? I used to see those but I didn't use them very often. Well, I have learned that you can stock pile them and use a bunch on one shopping trip. If you look in their weekly circular you will see items that will earn you ECBs. If you buy those items, plus use coupons from your Sunday paper, you really don't pay all that much. I wasn't a believer until I tried it. Two weeks ago I went to CVS and purchased items that earned me $11.00 in ECBs. Now granted one of those items was eyedrops and I didn't really need eyedrops, but I figured I may need them one day. The thing is, the eyedrops cost $7.99 and the ECBs earned on them was $7.99 so they were basically free. So, why not?!

OK, so back to this week. First I looked at this week's circular and looked for items that would earn me some ECBs. Then I looked for items on sale for which I already had a coupon. Some of the items I didn't need right away but knew I would at some point (like toilet paper, toothpaste, etc.) so buying them cheaply made sense. Here, my friends, is the result of all that hard work.


And the best part? The total for all those items was only $6.10! Seriously! The allergy medicine and the batteries were free (coupon on the end of previous shopping receipt). The Colgate was 2 for 1 and I had a $1 off coupon. The candle was free (coupon in Sunday's paper). The other items were either very cheap or earned me more ECBs --except for the Vitamin Water.. I was just thirsty! The best part, though, was that I alos returned a rain poncho that I had purchased last spring and got a credit of $7.35 so I left the store with all those things plus $1.45!

Give the ECBs at CVS a try. You might be surprised at your savings!

Bargain Shopping Part I

OK, seriously, I have taken bargain shopping to a whole new level! Before this year I never paid much attention to what things cost. If I wanted to go out to dinner, I did. If I wanted an iPod, an iMac or a new camera I bought 'em. Since I was never terribly extravagant (I bought my car used and I actually like clothes from the GAP, etc.) it was never much of an issue. Well, my new reality is that I am not making as much as I should be this year plus I'm about to be adding a baby into the mix. As challenging as this year is going to be (budget-wise) I can actually say that I am grateful for it-- that I can see truly see the silver lining-- because for once in my life I am putting myself on a budget and am paying attention to spending. The lessons are numerous --being mindful of waste and excess, learning to live more simply, exercising delayed gratification, understanding what it is like to be without, learning valuable habits which I can model for my daughter, etc. and it has been a humbling, eye-opening learning experience.

Part I - The Thrift Store

The old mindset is gone-the one that was 'too embarrassed' to shop in thrift stores. And let me reiterate. We're talking thrift stores not consignment shops. I still shop in consignment shops but sometimes those shops are dare I say, expensive? And besides, shopping in consignment shops is considered trendy or funky. You're cool if you wear vintage- or unique or different. But thrift store shopping is completely different. We're talking stores of the Goodwill/Salvation Army ilk. Stores where I used to donate to (still do) not shop from (unless it was for a costume party). The first time I went into one of the many enormous thrift stores in my area, truth to tell, I was a bit embarrassed. Call me elitist or snobby or pretentious but I didn't feel like I belonged in there. My mindset was still in retail. I was used to the clean, bright department stores with the impeccably dressed cashiers and a pianist in the corner giving my shopping experience a dash of cultural flair. I was used to knowing where to look to find my given size, a generous dressing room to try on my selections and having my clothes wrapped in tissue before being carefully placed into nice large shopping bags.

Thrift store shopping requires a paradigm shift. You have to throw that retail mentality out. the. window. The moment you walk in the front door the musty smell will hit you in the face and trust me it gets worse from there. There are some things I have come to expect including

* screaming children darting in and out the clothing racks
* clothes with stains or tears
* spending a lot of time looking and not having much to show for it
* dressing rooms filled with clothes and locks that don't work
* employees who don't speak much English
* cheap plastic shopping bags
* poop on the floor (OK that only happened once.. but ew!)

I know it sounds awful but it's really not. It did take some getting used to and for me that took about three trips. On the fourth trip there I didn't mind seeing the college students giving me that pitiful look of feeling sorry for me doing real shopping as they were just in there searching for an outfit for a 70s party. Was I embarrassed? A twinge perhaps but it swiftly passed because I realized they are still stuck in the overpriced retail mentality; they just don't get it yet. Maybe they won't ever, but I am sure glad that I did. Thrift stores aren't for everyone but the pluses, for me, outweigh the minuses. What are the pluses?

* the sales people aren't pushy and don't follow you around
* saving boatloads of $
* the feeling you get when you leave with your cheap plastic bag bursting at the seams

I have found some incredible deals in our area thrift stores and I almost feel sorry for the knuckleheads who haven't discovered them yet and still pay $60 for a blouse when they could have gotten a really nice one (often new ones with the price tags still attached) for $6. What started out as a way to get some inexpensive clothes for my daughter has turned into something totally different altogether. I now look in other parts of the store to see if there is stuff for me or for the house. Here's an example. I saw this nice sweater there yesterday. It's brown with pink trim. It looks brand new, it's comfortable and it has a scarf attached to it. Great for work.


Cute, huh? And it only cost $3.50! (On Mondays everything is 50% off!)


To all of you who still turn your nose up at thrift stores, I say give it three tries and if you still hate it, fine..but I am sure there will be others like me who will cross over to my side. And the giddy feeling I get when I am told what the total is will keep me coming back for more!


to be continued...