Oh, How I Love A Good Deal

I can't help it. I want the best for my kids. Maybe it comes from the fact that I was the last of eight, yes EIGHT, children. Lots of hand-me-downs. And after my dad died, mom wasn't able to afford to buy us name brand clothing. So I want all those things for my kids. Call me selfish, call me a snob, whatever, but I want my kids to look good! With that being said, we cannot afford to purchase these name brand items either! With everything that happened with Jackson's premature arrival, and with him not being able to go to daycare, and me having to stay home with him, we are on the biggest budget crunch of all time.

When I was pregnant with him, it was the complete opposite season of when I was pregnant with Dalton. I carried Jackson through the summer, and I just couldn't see buying an entire new maternity wardrobe for work, so I hit up a lot of resale shops, and borrowed a lot of stuff from friends. And now? Still hitting up those resale shops! It's very exciting to find a NICE pair of khaki pants, name brand, for only $3.00. Let's face it...children grow. And buying clothes is not something that is negotiable! They will attend church, they will go to a nice restaurant (as soon as we're free from Jackson's home arrest!!), they will need nice clothes.

So when Chris brought home an advertisement from work for a local consignment sale, I knew that I would find a sitter for a few hours and go shop til I dropped! And that's exactly what I did. I went the first day of the sale, bright and early when they opened at 9:00. Which is hard for me to get both boys ready, to the sitter, and then back across town to the convention center by 9:00!! (I was about 30 minutes late, but that's not too bad.)

The first day I spent $144.00. You may think that sounds like a lot for kids' clothes, but this is what I got for only $144.00.

For Dalton:

2 long sleeve button down shirts

1 short sleeve button down shirt

2 pairs of khaki pants

2 pairs of khaki shorts

2 long sleeve polo shirts

swim trunks

wind suit (you know, because he jogs so much!!)

3 pairs of pajamas

4 short sleeve polo shirts

2 tshirts

backpack

And, seriously, how freakin' cute is this outfit?!?

For Jackson, he was born at the opposite season as Dalton. At first, I thought the clothes situation would be okay, because he was so little when he was born. But he's growing so big, and the seasons are not overlapping as well as I thought they would. BTW, we went to the doctor today for his LAST synagis vaccine, and he was 14lbs, 3oz. So I got the following:

swim trunks
1 pair of shorts

1 tshirt

1 shirt/shorts set

1 shirt/pants/hat set

1 shirt/pants/socks set

3 sleepers

So, that was that. Tons of stuff, really, for $144.00. But it gets even better!! After the first two days of the sale, everything goes to half price!! So I went back for that too!! And I secured the following for only $70.00...

For Dalton:

A Nike jogging suit (I know, the jogging, again, but it was $3.00!!!!)

2 long sleeve polo shirts

4 short sleeve polo shirts

1 pair of shorts

1 hoodie jacket

1 long sleeve button down shirt

1 tshirt

1 Sponge Bob Square Pants DVD (he is in love with Sponge Bob right now!!)

The only thing I wish I could have found for him were Jeans, but this is the age when boys are really playing hard and apparently, jeans are hard to come by in good shape.

For Jackson, I got the following:

6 polo style onesies

1 hat

1 pair of Nike shoes (mainly just because they were so freaking cute)

1 tshirt

1 polo shirt

1 onesie/pant set

1 pair pants

AND, I got a new diaper bag! I must have six diaper bags in the attic, plus the new one I got as a gift for Jackson, but until you use them, you don't realize that they aren't right. Either too small, or too hard to open when you are balancing a poopy screaming baby on one arm, or whatever. And now that I've had this bag for the last week or so, I can honestly say that I love it. I can fit a change of clothes for J, diapers, wipes, bottles, bibs, an extra blanket, binkies, a change of underwear and pants for D (let's face it, he's 3, sometimes you just can't get to the bathroom quick enough), PLUS throw my wallet in there and books to entertain Dalton (perfect for pediatrician visits!!).

All of that, for just over $200 total!! And yes, they are all name brand. Old Navy, Gap, Gymboree, Children's Place, Calvin Klein, Nike, Polo, Tommy Hilfiger, Eddie Bauer. AND, if you look really closely, you will notice that some of my purchases still had the original tags, they've never been worn!! All of that without going to twelve different stores and scouring the clearance racks, and for better prices!! I ROCK AT FINDING A GOOD DEAL!!

So, hopefully, my shopping is done for the year for the boys. Well, except for socks and underwear and diapers. :)