I Love Shopping For (Almost) Free

There are these matching shirts that I've been wanting to get for my boys. One says "Big Brother" and the other one says, you guessed it, "Little Brother". The problem is, Carter's doesn't make these specific shirts anymore, so they're really hard to find. Well, the "Little Brother" one is really hard to find. I have found the "Big Brother" one in a few different places online. I did find the "Little Brother" shirt in the newborn size on eBay, but I didn't win it. :( And now it's nowhere to be found.

So one day last week, my parents called and told me about a garage sale that had a lot of baby clothes. I decided to stop by. I know I'm on modified bed rest and shouldn't be going a lot of places, but I was going to go over to my parents' house to use their jacuzzi tub anyway, so I decided to stop by the garage sale on my way. I am SO glad I did because guess what I found? Yep, the "Little Brother" shirt!! Brand spankin' new, it still had the tags on it! And the best part - it was only 50 cents! Although, now I'm a bit worried that it won't ever fit him because I'm told he's going to be huge... oh well. Maybe we just won't button it.

I also found these adorable little shoes for Sequel. Normally, I think baby shoes are a total waste of money. They're unnecessary, and usually only worn a few times (which would probably explain why these shoes look completely unused). In fact, we didn't even have shoes for Isaac until a month or two before he started walking. However, these were just so darn cute that I couldn't help myself. And for 25 cents, I won't be heartbroken if he never wears them.

Then today I realized that I had a coupon from JC Penney for $10 off of a $10 purchase that expires today. I love it when they send me these coupons. I get them about 6 or 7 times a year. Don't ask me how you get them sent to you, I have no idea. I do think that you won't get them if you have a JCP credit card, however. Both J and my mom have JCP credit cards, and the coupons they get are usually $10 off of a $25 purchase. So I guess sending me these awesome coupons is a great way to get me to NOT sign up for a CC. LOL. Anyhoo, my coupon expires today, so naturally, I had  to use it. I found this cute 3-piece pajama set for Isaac on clearance for $10.40. Now, I don't really think that's much of a clearance, but with my $10 coupon, it's a steal! So with tax, I spent a total of 43 cents! Woohoo!

I love it when I can shop and hardly spend any money! :)

A Whole Afternoon of Shopping for $16

This morning I headed out to go to two garage sales. Both advertised that they had lots of boy clothes for sale. I left around 9am because that's what time the first one opened. I wanted to get there right away because usually when I go to garage sales, they tell me "We had tons of boy clothes but they all got sold right away." Toddler boy clothes are hard to find at garage sales! Everyone has girl clothes, but I rarely see boy clothes.

Anyway, while I was pulling out of my driveway, I called my parents to see if they wanted to come with me because the one I was going to was close to their house. My dad said they were going to go to some anyway, so he made up a list and we all went garage sal(e?)ing.

The two sales that I wanted to go to proved very fruitful! Most of the stuff I came home with, I bought at those two.

Here's what I found:

18 month Children's Place PJs - $0.50 each

Isaac suffers from a lack of jammies, so I bought lots of them today.

Winnie the Pooh sweat outfit - Grandma bought this one.

It's 12 months, but Isaac is tiny, so this will be perfect for fall.

3T Children's Place sweater - $0.50

Isaac won't be able to wear this for a while, but I think sweaters on little boys are absolutely adorable, and for the price, I'll store it until it fits!

18 months Children's Place t-shirts - $0.50 each

I found lots of Children's Place clothes today! And it's no wonder I bought them because I like that store. And I have a special place in my heart for boy's polos.

12 month Children's Place jeans - $0.50

These will probably fit him for a while. Like I said, he's tiny.

18-24 month Baby Gap PJs - $0.50

These look smaller than the tag says. I think he'll be able to wear it soon.

24 month Pooh PJ's - $0.50

I told you I bought lots of jammies. These are really cute.

12 month Leap Frog jammies - $0.50

These are adorable! The little frog feet say "Right Foot" and "Left Foot" and the hands say "Right Hand" and "Left Hand." So cute!

Boppy Newborn Pillow - $5

At the same garage sale I also bought some maternity pants for $0.50. I know what you're thinking, and no, I'm not pregnant. But we will start trying for baby #2 soon, and that's all I'm going to say about that. Anyhoo, I almost bought one of these when I was pregnant with Isaac because I've heard good things about them, but for the amount of time a baby would use it, I didn't want to spend $30 plus the cost of a cover. This pillow + cover was marked for $8 and I talked her down to $5. Totally worth it (I hope)!

Then we stopped at the farmer's market for some carrots and green beans. We've come to LOVE green beans in this house. Even Isaac gobbles them right up! I got two bunches of carrots and one bag of green beans for $6.50.

So I spent the afternoon shopping and got tons of stuff, all for $16! Have I mentioned how much I love garage sales?

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

...garage sale season! Or is it Christmas? Oh well, I guess that's a matter of opinion.

Anyway, I though I'd share some of my fave finds from last weekends garage sales. It's all baby clothes. That's pretty much what I shop for at garage sales. It's a great way to satiate my addiction to shopping for baby clothes.

My mom, Isaac, and I went to a couple of garage sales on Friday. We only went to like, five of them because we didn't feel like being out all day. This is the only thing I bought, but it was a GREAT deal.

I got this wind jacket for Isaac for $.25. It's in perfect condition. No stains, the zipper works fine. And it's from Baby Gap. Usually, people who are trying to sell name brand clothing want way too much for their crap. I don't usually care too much about brands, but now that Isaac is getting a little older and a little harder on his clothes, I really can tell a difference. The Gap/Gymboree stuff really is better quality than the others (but usually way too expensive, so I'll only buy it on clearance). Even Old Navy isn't as good. That's been my experience anyway. But regardless, I'm not spending more on it at a garage sale.

Then on Saturday, there was a community wide garage sale at the Alerus Center. Anyone can rent a booth and sell their crap. We went and found a few good things. This was my favorite.

I have a soft spot for little sweat suits. The jacket is kind of a heavier material. This outfit will be perfect for fall. And I paid $1 for it. My little man is gonna look so cute!