Bargain Hunting

One of the things that I try so hard to do, being a SAHM, is to make Ben's hard-earned income go as far as possible. This means clipping coupons, watching sale ads, buying generic, finding cheap and free activities for the girls and for our family to do and...bargain hunting for clothing.

Cara is usually pretty set because I have, thankfully, saved hand-me-downs from Caitlin and, double thankfully, she was very nice to her clothes. I do try to get her a few brand-new outfits, just to balance things out. Unfortunately, it is harder for Caitlin as I do not have anyone to bless me with some gently-used (and free) hand-me-downs, so I have to work harder to find deals.

I have to admit, I struck gold in this past week thanks to a referral from one of my best buddies to a children's resale shop called Tumbleweeds. If you live in the Aurora/Parker area, you must visit this shop. The owner only sells name brand (think Children's Place, Gymboree), high-quality & gentle used clothing. Before this experience, I haven't had much luck finding a decent selection of used clothes for Caitlin. It seems that kids wear out their clothing before it makes to the resale shop. At Tumbleweeds though, the owner had several adorable outfits with the promise of more to come in a few weeks. I really had to restrain myself and to stick to my budget. I could've easily spent $100 in there! I am proud of my end result though, and the outfits I chose received two thumbs up from Caitlin. Here are my great steals:



L to R:
-Outfit one is from Gymboree and when I looked online, a similar outfit would go for over $40 in the store, I paid $15.99 for both pieces.

-Two long sleeved shirts, one from Gymboree and the other is a Macy's brand. $5/each. The top shirt retails for $12.99 @ Gymboree.

-Outfit two's top is from JCPenney and would sell for about $12 and the skirt is from Gymboree. I found one very similar online and it was $28. I paid $5 for the top and $9 for the skirt.

++My grand total for these outfits *drumroll*--$40+tax plus a $6 credit to use the next time I shop there!++

Earlier this week, a Freecycler posted an offer for girls size 7-10 clothes. Somehow, the stars were aligned in my favor, because I was the first responder and got a great lot of clothes. On top of all of this, the woman said that she would call me if she found anymore clothes. Here is what I received:

Three pairs of jeans, a pair of brown lounge/yoga pants, a pair of brown cords, two summer t-shirts, two pairs of shorts, a pair of pajama pants, three pairs of capris, a pair of pink yoga pants and a black velvet skirt (not pictured).

Now, I will just have to watch sales to get a few more outfits and pieces to complete outfits that we already have as well as under garments. I'm keeping my eye out for Kohl's and Old Navy ads, two of our favorite places to go to for back-to-school shopping.