The Frugality Fiend Strikes Again!

Once Upon A Child is having a "Grab Bag" sale (fill their plastic bag with clearance items--all you can stuff into it for $12/bag!) and the kids and I attended early this morning.

To paint you a picture...I have a sinus infection and feel like doo doo; Josiah kept waking up last night--4:30, 5:00, 5:30am, etc (yes, I call that "last night" 'cuz if the sun ain't up, it ain't morning in my world!); and he woke Kyleigh too early this morning as well. So none of us were feeling super. Chris had to be at work at the same time the store opened, so I had to take the kids with me. My pal Kelli was going to help me out by watching the kids while I did my bargain shopping, but poor thing woke up with no running water in her apartment so she and her son had bigger things to worry about! Luckily, my kids' "Auntie" Natalie came to the rescue! She lives near the store, so she came by to entertain the kids in the play area while I loaded up my bag with goodies!

*I just have to say I'm so grateful we have friends who
love us and love our kids--and I'm grateful to live near
such friends again! What a blessing!*

I had scoped out the racks yesterday to get an idea of whether there would be a decent amount of clearance items to choose from, and I found something I'd been wanting for each of my kids (not clothing-related)...

Instead of paying $20+ for this Bible, I got it in mint condition for just $4.50 (almost sadly, it doesn't look like the pages had ever been turned). As soon as I showed it to KyKy, she asked, "Ooooh, Mommy, is (it) KyKy's diamond?" Hahaha I don't think I knew what diamonds were at 2 yrs old, but her daddy's in the biz so we're in trouble! Ha!


And this is to be one of Josiah's Christmas gifts! Kyleigh has one in pink plus some stories she enjoys, so I was excited to find him one in blue along with some stories of his own, and rather than $50+, I paid only $12. Yay!


Okay, back to today...


In total we took home 41 items for $12 + tax, so we paid approximately $0.30 per clothing item. Not too shabby! (Somehow a few of Siah's things aren't pictured--oops) And we know a friend who didn't make it to the sale this morning so we're gonna get together and let her pick from the loot! While I only got 1/3 as much for KyKy as I did for her brother, I was still happy with my finds. And actually Kyleigh gets things passed to her from my baby sis, so her closet needs tend to be less than Siah's anyway. My heart actually desired to search out deals for my baby sis as well as my many nephews and niece, but my body just wasn't having it. I filled my bag and I was wiped out. Hopefully at the next event like this I'll be able to leave the kids at home and take backup just for the shopping!

I may be looking cruddy on the outside, but I'm smiling at my savings on the inside! Kyleigh's 10 items alone would have cost me exactly $45---and that's at the already low consignment store prices. Josiah's 31 items would have cost me $107.50 at the consignment store prices. And some of my kids' new clothes still have the tags on them from the original stores, like The Children's Place, etc. So I saved approximately $140 off the bargain prices, and who knows how much more off the original store purchases! I thank the Lord for opportunities like this that allow us to meet a need (and share with others) without spending beyond our means. He is good!

~~~OOOH, and to top it all off...
FedEx dropped off our FREE paint today! Thanks to this promotion by Glidden (and Cayla for telling us about the giveaway!), we now have a sample can of paint! Woo hoo!