My First Consignment Sale

I've been to dozens of consignment sales before, but always as a shopper. I have never "had enough stuff" to make selling worth it, so I never looked into it. Lately, I've had a serious case of getridofcrapitis resulting in a tremendous pile of clothes, gear, and toys that we just. don't. need. Things that are outgrown, unused, and unwanted - things that we could get rid of to declutter while making some cash.

I've held onto so many old clothes from the kids, things that I absolutely adore, and while I'll keep my absolute favorites, the chances of us having another kid that aligns with that exact sex, size, and season are slim. Considering I built up these wardrobes inexpensively through consignment, there's no reason I couldn't do it again if the reason presented itself (don't worry, it won't for a long time).

I've been collecting things up for a while now, keeping boxes in each kid's room and throwing things in as they've come up. Out of sight, out of mind and honestly, I haven't missed any of it. Time to go! I am such a pack rat at heart, but living in an apartment, I just can't keep everything. There are plenty of others out there who would love to buy it on the cheap, so why not.

A few days ago, I logged into my Just Like New consigners account and started checking out the prepping process. Lesson #1: Start prepping earlier. Giving myself two weeks to inventory, tag, and organize everything is not enough time! I truly had no idea what it took to prep for a sale, so you get to benefit from my procrastination! Here is what I've learned from prepping for my first sale.

Finding a Sale
Aside from thinking I didn't have enough stuff, I didn't know what sale to take part in or how to find one. A lot of times, I found out about sales last minute - entirely too late to enter as a consigner.

Consignment sales typically run on a seasonal rotation. Following the organization on Facebook or signing up for their newsletter is a great way to get a heads up about their next sale. Mark you calendar for consigner deadlines and start gathering up items!


Gathering Supplies
I didn't even think of what I'd need for the sale while I was saving up my items. What I should have been doing was saving those ugly plastic store hangers and safety pins all along. Now I need to go buy cheap baby hangers and a box of pins, which are inexpensive, but I'm here to make money not spend money!


Pricing Items
How do I know what something is worth?! A good rule of thumb is to mark it for about 40% of the original price. Adjust the price up (comes with accessories, is new with tags, or a high end brand name) or down (older, a little worn, or a lower end brand) from there.

Brand is an important factor in selling clothes. Knowing how a brand is perceived is very helpful in pricing it appropriately.

• Bargain Brands: Circo, Granimals, Just One You, Genuine Kids, Jumping Beans
• Mid-Range Brands: Old Navy, Children's Place, Osh Kosh, Carters, Crazy 8
• Higher End Brands: Gymboree, Gap, Polo, Hannah Andersson, Janie & Jack

Size also affects how you should price things. Infant items will flood the "market" since babies go through clothes so quickly. They're usually in better shape and huge quantity. Price these competitively or in bundles. Toddler clothing (3T and up) is harder to find in good shape and there will be less of it. Toddlers are harder on their clothes and wear them for significantly longer than infants. A good quality, clean, well priced toddler outfit is like gold at a consignment sale!

Prepping Items for Display
Think of times you've gone to consignment sales. Some are organized and neat and some are overwhelming panic attacks waiting to happen. For the good ones, what make them good? Items are clearly marked, organized, and displayed well. This is a "store" after all. Some sales have strict guidelines for items, but not all do. That doesn't mean you can send things all willy nilly - this is about appealing to the buyer!

• Avoid the temptation to bag clothes, even multi piece outfits. Hang them on hangers that fit the clothes so they look nice and are easy to go through. Button buttons, zip zippers, trim rouge threads, iron flaps and pockets flat. Look at it and think, "would I want to buy this?"
• Use ribbon or string to sell books in sets (tape would ruin the covers). 
• Leave batteries in electronic toys so people know they work. 
• Package up small things like socks, hair accessories, burp cloths, etc. to be sold in sets. Some sales have a minimum price (the sale I'm doing is a minimum of $2) so you may need to bundle things to get to the minimum price. 
• Sell things in outfits, even if they didn't come together. This can be appealing and help justify a minimum price. It can also keep you under a clothing item cap, if you sale has one. The sale I'm doing has a 100 clothing item cap, BUT one tag = one item, so selling four pairs of pants together = one item. 
• It is understood that items are used, but make sure everything is clean and stain free.

Recalls and Damage
This goes without saying, but make sure you're only trying to sell good quality stuff. This isn't the place you get rid of your garbage. If things are ripped, stained, or missing pieces - throw them out. Be checking items (especially baby gear and car seats) for recalls as selling recalled things can be illegal in some states (and, c'mon, it's just not right). The Consumer Product Safety Commission is a great place to get this info.


Consider Season and Future Sales
Sales will have restrictions on what you're selling to keep it streamlined and interesting to buyers. Swim suits at the spring sale and snowsuits at the fall sale - that kind of thing. Keeping the sale schedule in mind, only sell holiday related items that could be used between that sale and the next. For this fall sale, I have a few Halloween and Christmas things, but am saving my Easter and 4th of July things until the spring sale.

If you're approaching an item cap, start putting things aside for the next sale. You don't need to sell everything at once - be strategic!

Dropping Off

For this sale, I had to schedule a drop off time to meet with volunteers and get my stuff registered. This can be a painfully long process if you're not prepared. Don't be "that person" holding up the line. Before you go, have items clearly tagged and organized by size and type of item. Rubber banding hangers together by size and gender is helpful for transportation.

Volunteering Benefits

Consignment sales run on volunteer power and working a shift or two can really do wonders for your experience. I've seen a few different benefits for volunteers from increased profit to getting to shop significantly earlier than regular shoppers. One sale I heard about, if you worked enough hours, you got 100% of your profits! Regardless of benefits, definitely consider giving a bit of your time to help the sale run smoothly. 

Clearance, Donation, and Pick Up

While you're working on your inventory and tagging, you'll have the option to include items in the 1/2 price day (usually the last day) and to indicate whether you'd like to donate the item after the sale or pick it up. Make sure you're paying attention to what you're marking down. For me, if it's something I think could sell at the next sale (multi-season clothes, accessories, toys, etc.) I'll pick it up and give it another try. If it's seasonal and I don't think I could sell it elsewhere, chances are I'll donate it instead of holding onto it for an entire year. 

So there you have it, a crash course in consignment prep. Like I said, rule #1 is to give yourself enough time. I sat down the other night and had to input like 200 items into the database so I could print tags and it was not fun. If I had given myself a few weeks, I could have done a few things a night and kept a little more sanity in my life.

Who am I kidding, that sanity would have been wasted anyway!

Have you consigned before? What are your favorite tips?

Cook for a Day, Eat for a Month

I see these things all over Pinterest - "A Month of Freezer Meals," "Once a Month Cooking." I always wondered what they were about, but never took the time to look into these plans. When we realized that our lack of meal planning was causing us to spend 50-75% OVER our food budget each month, however, we needed to fix something.

I started surfing Pinterest for some ideas and quickly realized two things; there are A LOT of casseroles and most of them involve meat. It might just be me, but its been my experience that casseroles are on the harder side to make healthy without compromising taste and when it comes to saving money, mixing in some vegetarian dishes is good for the body and for your wallet. So, what to do....what to do.

I spend about 4 hours one night looking up recipes that would "freeze beautifully," if you will, but fit our ideal meal planning schedule....aka, not night after night of casserole. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy my fair share of chicken cheese based gooey goodness, but c'mon.

We found 25 recipes that yielded 35+ meals that we threw in the freezer and have been thoroughly enjoying trying each night. The hardest part? Remembering to take dinner out of the freezer the night before!

Here are there recipes we pulled from...

• Spinach Lasagna Roll Ups
• Beef Stroganoff
• Baked Beef Ravioli
• White Chicken Enchiladas
• Turkey Meatballs
• Tomato Basil Burgers
• Black and Bleu Burgers
• Breakfast Burritos
• Fire Roasted Veggie pasta
• Teriyaki Honey Chicken
• White Veggie Lasagna
• Cilantro Lime Chicken
• Summer Squash Casserole
• Creamy Tomato Orzo Soup (to pair with grilled cheese)
• Aztec Quiche
• Italian Chicken Roll Ups
• Spicy Black Bean Soup
• Best Ever Meatloaf
• Pizza Dough
• Make ahead ground beef for tacos, sauce, sloppy joes, etc. 
• Spanish Chicken and Rice
• Lentil, Kielbasa, and Garlic Soup
• Grilled Pepper, Onion, and Sausage Calzones
• Chicken Spaghetti
• Hot Roast Beef Sandwiches

Some things that we made that didn't necessarily need recipes...

• Marinated Grilled Chicken (put in gallon sized freezer bags, for grilling)
• Frozen waffles and pancakes (freeze on a cookie sheet, then put in freezer bags)
• Sweet potato fries (freeze on cookie sheet, then put in freezer bags)
• Breakfast smoothie kits (sliced fruit frozen on a cookie sheet, then put in small bags)

When it comes to marinating chicken ahead of time or creating burgers (to freeze between sheets of freezer paper, then bagging up) the possibilities are endless. Also, since we cooked a whole chicken for the shredded chicken in the enchiladas, we froze the resulting chicken stock in a silicone muffin tray. When frozen, when popped out the perfectly portioned 1 cup stock blocks for later use.

To freeze, we used a combination of zip top freezer bags and aluminum trays with lids. For soups and marinades, we froze the bags as flat as we could so they'd store easier later on. For things like meatballs, hamburgers, sweet potato fries, etc. we froze them flat on a cookie sheet for a few hours, then put them into a bag so they wouldn't stick together. And where do we put all of this food? Let's just say, I'm glad we have a chest freezer. Best $100 I've ever spent on Craig's List. 

For a long time I thought that I didn't have time for this whole "cook for 10 hours" thing and the truth is that I still don't. That doesn't mean we can't meal plan like this though. Jeff and I spent a few hours each night for 3-4 days and made all of this food. You know what? IT WAS SO MUCH FUN! Seriously, I hate cooking, but that week was the most time we've spent together and alone in a very long time. Will we do it every month forever onward? Who knows, but to some extent, we hope to cook together like this more often. 

So what does the family think of our new recipes? Its been awesome! Like I said, the hardest part now is choosing what to eat and remembering to thaw it in time. ;-) Our favorite recipe so far, hands down, has been the Spinach Lasagna Roll Ups. SO delicious. The kids even loved it and asked for seconds. 

If you think you can't do this, I promise that you can. There is no all or nothing when it comes to making freeze ahead meals - make a few, make a ton. Just make 1-2 for the week, or spend a weekend cooking for the next 6 weeks. Its up to you!

I'm going to keep on saving recipes that I love on Pinterest, so follow along if you want to see what we're whipping up!

Follow Jen (All Four Love)'s board Freezes Beautifully on Pinterest.

Coups for Troops

It is not a secret that I'm sort of a crazy coupon lady. Every Sunday, we get two papers and I go to town with my scissors! Then I check out what's available online, check out the circulars, and make up a shopping list for the week. Charlie even "helps" once in a while shredding the unused ads. Hey, its good cutting practice.

Inevitably, there are coupons in the circulars, however, that I won't use and unfortunately, there end up being coupons that I don't get to use and they expire. I used to throw these away (well, recycle them), but I recently found a much better use for them!

Did you know that military families overseas are able to use manufacturer coupons that are up to 6 months expired?! There are several different organizations that coordinate coupon shipments to families overseas, but I use The Krazy Coupon Lady's program to send mine in.

What kind of coupons can you send?

The only coupons accepted are manufacturer coupons. This means that you can't send store specific or restaurant coupons. Other than that, any will do! Food, toiletries, baby items, cleaning supplies, pet supplies, etc.

How do you send them?

To help with sorting, there is a specific way to send in your coupons. First, sort your coupons into ones that are expired and ones that are current. Then, sort each of those piles into non-food and food related coupons.

Then pack the coupons in baggies (instead of paper clips or rubber bands) by category. I stack all non-food coupons together and all food coupons together, separating expired/not expired with a index card.

Voila! You have nice, neat packages of much needed coupons to send off! Stick them in an envelope and make sure you have enough postage on it.

What is food vs. non-food?

You'd think this is pretty cut and dry, but it can be confusing. For instance, pet food would go under non-food items, but gum and mints would be considered food. Medication and vitamins are also considered non-food. Really, it has to do with where the families can shop for those items. Food items are found at the commissary and others are found at the post exchange or base exchange, which is like a department store.

Where do you send them?

The Krazy Coupon Lady has two coordinating centers depending on where you live. You sort them and send them in and they coordinate where they go.

If you live West of the Mississippi:

KCL Overseas Coupon Program
Amanda Brumbaugh
10960 W. Bridgetower Drive
Boise, ID 83709

If you live East of the Mississippi:

KCL Overseas Coupon Program
Brandy McDowell
2930 Aubrey Drive
Paducah, KY 42003

I save up coupons for about a month, then send them in all together. If you coupon, please consider sending yours in too! They really help families stretch their dollar. Happy couponing!

I am a sucker for a good clearance sale!

While I love Christmas, I REALLY love after Christmas sales. One of the best places I've found to score stuff after Christmas is Target. The day after Christmas, all of Target's holiday stuff goes on 50% off clearance (food goods goes to 30% off). A week after Christmas, it goes down to 90% off. Yes, you read that right - 90% off. Food only goes down to 70%, but hey - that's not bad either.

(picture from TotallyTarget.com)

Looks like a hot mess, right? It is. This is not a sale you bring your kids to. That being said, Charlie joined me for an afternoon of Target-ing. 

There is always a bunch of obvious stuff on clearance; ornaments, wrapping paper, trees, stockings. They get picked over really quickly. Except the Justin Bieber wrapping paper. There's ALWAYS plenty of that.

What about "stocking stuffers" though? Or dish soap with snowflakes on the bottle? Or holiday print Ziploc containers? ALL considered holiday stuff! Some Target stores do a good job of gathering up everything and putting it in one section. Most, however, do not. This makes for awesome hidden treasures all over your store. 

This is my haul from two Targets this afternoon. Ta da!! All of this cost me under $20. Seriously.

Of all of this, the Santa hats, ornament hooks, stickers, green cup, ribbon, and M&Ms were actually in the clearly marked clearance section. The hair brush ($.50), Burts Bees ($.29), and eos ($.29) were all in the health and beauty section for the purpose of stocking stuffers. Yes, they're 90% off because the package has a snowflake on it. The kid dining sets ($.89) and baking pans ($.99) were in the kitchen section. The kid dining sets have absolutely nothing to do with Christmas and the baking sets have red/green labels. That's it. The pajamas ($.79) and the slippers ($.79) were in the kid section. All of this was completely not marked as on sale. 

This load of stuff was from a second trip. More pajamas ($.89) and slippers ($.79), a Steelers Minnie Mouse set ($1.99), Christmas pjs ($.89), Kid Made Modern drawing kits ($1.49), Lego luggage tags ($.29), e.l.f. make up sets ($.49), and Christmas boxer briefs ($.49). Our Targets still haven't marked down the Method soaps and detergents, but will this week from $3.49 to $.34 each.

Also, I'm not a hoarder - most of this stuff is for friend's who couldn't get to Target or their Target sucked. Thank goodness for regional flat rate boxes!

How did I know it was on sale then? Two wonderful websites called All Things Target and Totally Target. People scour the store looking for sales, how to stack coupons, and generally how to get the most bang for your buck and compile it on these two sites. It was like a scavenger hunt!

You can follow their blogs or check them out on Facebook.

There are similar, but smaller sales after all major holidays and big season changes (like when the citronella candles are swapped for ice melt and shovels). Keep an eye out and you too can get crazy Target deals!

Fitness Friday: Saving Money on Running Wear

As a new runner, I'm still getting into the swing of things. I don't like investing a ton of money into a new hobby until I'm sure I will continue with it.....plus, I'm frugal. Really, really frugal. The problem with being frugal is that you get what you pay for. I'm not looking for low quality = cheap stuff, I'm looking for quality stuff at an amazing steal. It's a great time of year to find deals on just about everything, so I've been keeping my eye out for deals on work out clothes.

I started at the outlets on Black Friday and discovered something surprising. Even at places like Adidas, Nike, and New Balance, most women's work out clothes = t-shirts and yoga pants. Cotton yoga pants are just about the worst thing you can wear running outside in the winter. You sweat, the cotton gets wet, and you quite literally freeze your ass off. I did find a nice cold weather hoodie at Nike for 60% off on Black Friday. It's quickly become a favorite, running or not. I stopped by the Under Armor outlet and they had a lot of good winter wear, but it was very pricy. As a "congratulations on starting to run!" present, Jeff bought me a pair of base layer pants (40% off, but still $29.99) and I found an amazingly warm, comfortable hat on clearance for $7 (originally $19.99). It's deals like that, that I love!

So, I had a hat and base layer pants. Can't exactly run in just that without attracting a lot of attention! Surprisingly, I found some really comfortable and warm tops and pants at Kohl's. They carry two brands (Cuddle Duds and Sonoma WarmWear) and with the coupons and sales they always run, they are very affordable. With sales/coupons, I got a WarmWear long sleeve top (hot pink with thumb holes!) and a pair of fleece leggings for under $20 (originally $19.99 and $26.00). Let me tell you, whether you run or not, fleece leggins are THE BOMB. I think I wore them to bed for a week straight after buying them. Another pair or two are certainly on my to buy list. Kohl's was also a good place to find sports bras and comfortable, wicking socks.

My favorite place so far to score work out wear deals is Ross and TJ Maxx. I found an Adidas Climawarm jacket for $16.99 (originally $65.00) and a pair of Adidas Climalite capris for $9.00 (originally $36.00). Granted, I can't use the capris until it gets warmer, but that's a great deal. Plus, the jacket is HOT PINK. A girl can't have enough hot pink stuff.

On Tuesday, it was about 35 degrees out and I went out in fleece leggings, a sports bra, long sleeve WarmWear shirt, a t-shirt, Climawarm jacket, fleece scarf, and my comfy UA hat. I was plenty warm!

Awesome blogging/running news! I contacted SPI Belt about doing a review on one of their belts and they want to work with me! So, keep an eye out for the review!

Things I learned running this week...

• I need to invest in some good breathable gloves. The gloves I own are cotton, which is no bueno. My hands eventually get warm and almost sweat, but at first its chilly!
• I don't mind the cold, but the wind can kiss my butt.
• Speaking of wind, I wonder if they make running shoes that aren't vented. Hmm...

Black Friday, ahoy!

Every year there is mounting contention about Black Friday and what it does to this country. Don't get me wrong - the stores that are opening earlier and earlier really need to take a chill pill and stick to the "Friday" part of Black Friday, but really - what's so wrong with boosting the economy a little and creating extra shifts for people to work? Most retail employees know its coming and, from those I've spoken with, enjoy the extra pay. While I obviously don't agree with the crazy, stampedes of Grandmas throwin' bows, I love myself a good sale and don't mind standing in line for an embarrassingly long time to get it.

That being said, my sister, Christina, and I killed it on Black Friday! I had been doing some sale shopping over the past few weeks, but at this point I think I'm pretty much done buying (and wrapping!) for everyone on my list. ::brushes shoulder off:: At first glance, it seems early to be done, but really there are only about 3 weeks until Christmas and two of them I'm going to be super busy at work. When else would I get it done?

Knowing Target would be absolutely insane for the first few hours, we started at Kohl's to take advantage of some of their lower key sales like bath towels, sheets, pillows, and kid clothes. We found some really great stuff! The store was surprisingly tame and people were very nice. We were in and out of there in an hour. Thanks to their online sales starting Tuesday, I already have my new Kitchenaid Stand Mixer on the way. I've wanted one of these bad boys for years and years - finally pulled the trigger and bought one. With $15/50 Kohl's Cash on top of rebates and additional coupons, it was a steal at about $200 (original $450).

And its hot pink, of course. Gonna be making LOTS of cookies this year with this new little friend.

Target's sales were kind of a let down, to be honest. If you weren't running full speed, knocking people over to get at a flat screen, you were left with sales on PJs and movies. That being said, we scored several awesome movies on Bluray that we've had our eye on. I was able to get the kids a few Disney movies for $6-$10 each (originally up to $25 each) as stocking stuffers.

WalMart had a few good sales, but we weren't going NEAR there until the insanity ended. Last year at midnight, that place was a shoulder to shoulder fire hazard. We ended up finding Matchbox cars for $.60 each and toddler underwear and pajamas for about 60% off. Wow, how Black Friday shopping changes when you're a Mom!

My favorite places to go on Black Friday are the craft stores. Awesomely lame and I love it. Michael's had some great sales on scrapbooking supplies, Christmas decorations, and frames and JoAnn's had their 70% off sales for flannel on Friday and fleece on Saturday. I scored almost 20 yards of various print fleece for about $40 (original over $200!!) I'll be making the kids car blankets and a new bed for the dog. I made Landon's Ninja Turtle blanket yesterday before they left and I'd say he's enjoying it already.

Now to finish wrapping and put up the Christmas decorations! It's my favorite time of year!

The Holiday Change Over

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving! Yesterday was a long day of family, cooking, cleaning, and eating. Today was a long day of family, cleaning, eating, and shopping. Pretty good two days, I'd say.

For the past two years, we've gotten together with friends of ours (who have an equally small family) and made one big dinner together. Its fancy - especially since they really know how to cook!

They made the turkey, dressing, yams, and gravy and we made the mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, and baked corn. Plus, my favorite apple pie for dessert. YUM. I am in pregnant lady fridge full of left overs heaven. C has already polished off the yams, but there are enough mashed potatoes left to feed an army.

We ate dinner at around 3pm, which is right at the end of nap time. This is the best picture of C (and his adorable turkey shirt) that I could get - the blank "I just woke up...someone had better feed me soon..." stare.

Despite my peeling/stirring/mashing arm still being sore, it was wonderful to see everyone and eat delicious food. Post food coma, came shopping!

Usually, we're the crazy people that go to Target at 9pm and stand outside freezing for a few hours before being unleashed into the store. This year, the sales were SO good online, we hardly had to go anywhere to get everything we wanted/needed.

For us, Kohl's was the clear winner this year. We got a new knife set, the Corning Ware bake ware I've wanted since we got married, and a few of those cute hooded kid towels for C. Everything was on sale, had a rebate, a coupon, free shipping, AND Kohl's cash. We paid maybe 25% retail cost. Woo! We stopped by the store today for kicks and I scored an armload of summer clothing for C and the baby on clearance for a whopping $25 after sales and coupons. Their sales are still going on and are still quite good, so definitely check it out.

Knowing we'd need them, I also stalked a few cloth diaper websites for deals on newborn diapers. I was able to get all of the covers, cloth wipes, and Snappi fasteners we'll need for the baby and the Aden & Anais swaddle blankets I've been eying. Coupled with Babies R Us having a BOGO on Tommee Tippee stuff, we're almost totally stocked and ready for this baby. Crazy, huh?

The only place I physically needed to go to was JoAnn Fabrics. Their sales were good, but not get up at 5am good. Its not like they were going to run out of fabric or something. I picked up the fat quarters I'll need for the baby's nursery decorations as well as the fabric for her baby quilt. I am absolutely in love and can't wait to start this blanket!

It was a busy few days, but a good few days. I'm so glad the weekend is still before us. Maybe we can get some relaxing (and crafting) in there! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and a trample-free Black Friday!

Passing it On

I firmly believe in Momma Karma; you pass things on and things will be passed to you. Kid's clothes, shoes, and toys are entirely too expensive and are gone through so quickly, its ridiculous to be buying everything new all the time. Consignment is great, but you don't get a lot of money in return. Yard sales increase your profit, but who has the time? Just pass it on.

I finally got up the energy to go through all of C's baby clothes to pare down what we had in storage. We had three small boxes and one huge box (one of those big 25 gallon tubs) of clothes just sitting in the closet. I've gone through them in the past and given away a few bags of things, but this time I meant business. While we're not necessarily done having kids after this one, the odds of us having another boy born in the same season as C is just not worth the chance. We wouldn't have another until C was at least in kindergarten, so why hold on to boxes of clothes for 3+ years?




It was sad to see some things go, but refreshing at the same time. I sorted everything into piles for friends with little boys, consignment, donation, trash (some things were pretty stained) and things that would work with this little girl. There's no reason a girl can't wear "boy" denim, Christmas pajamas, and footed sleepers with elephants on them. Oh, and rocket ships and robots. She'll wear those too.

 
The earthy part of me is excited to see these clothes get yet another life; I bought many of them through consignment or received as hand me downs.

Now that we have more room, I can start collecting things for the baby and sorting through the girly hand me downs we've been generously given and lent. Of all the boxes of C's stuff, there is one small one left of things that don't yet fit him, out of season clothes that still fit, and baby things I just couldn't bear to part with - even if we never get to use them again.

Irrational? Probably. That's parenthood for you.

Consignment 101

I love consignment sales! You've heard me go on before about the awesome benefit of hitting up consignment sales - its the easiest, cheapest way to outfit your kid(s) with clothes, toys, and gear.

The next three weekends, there are sales across the area and I can't wait. This morning I stopped by one of the smaller sales this season and made out like a bandit - I was quite shocked. I was on the hunt for fall/winter clothes, wooden puzzles, shoes for C and gender neutral sleepers for the newbie. I ended up getting:

Two pairs of track pants, Dr. Seuss Converse sneakers, four long sleeve shirts, six onesies, three sleepers, one two piece outfit, a hanging closet organizer, a Melissa and Doug wooden puzzle, a Lego Duplo table with a ton of blocks, and a Little Tikes easel.....all for $56. Can't beat that! All of the clothes for C were good quality brands like Osh Kosh, Gap, and The Children's Place and the baby clothes were all Carter's.

You can find consignment sales near you by checking your local Craig's List or the Kids Consignment Sales website - a national listing of sales. There are usually fall and spring sales, so plan accordingly!

Here are some of my favorite tips for shopping consignment sales:

1. Check what forms of payment they take before you go. Some take credit/debit, but smaller ones may only take cash. Be sure to bring enough money!
2. Try not to bring kids with you if possible. I had to bring Charlie this morning and while he was well behaved, it was hard to tote around my loot and push his stroller all while keeping him occupied. 
3. Bring a large bag or laundry basket. Some sales have big bags (like Ikea bags), but some do not. 
4. Write down the sizes/seasons and items you're looking for before you go - especially if you're keeping your eye out for nieces, nephews, or friends. 
5. Find out if you can shop early! First time or pregnant Moms, volunteers, and consignors can often per-register to shop before the general public.
6. With few exceptions, if there are more than 3-4 of any one kind of toy on the table, chances are its an annoying or uninteresting toy that parents were happy to get rid of.
7. Be picky about clothing brands. Don't spent $2 on a Granimals shirt from WalMart when it costs $3 new. $4 for a pair of gently worn Osh Kosh or Levi's jeans? Much more worth it. 
8. If you find a large item you want (stroller, big Little Tykes play set, etc.) pull the tag off and bring it up to pay. You can physically pick up the item later on after you pay. 
9. Consider what can be cleaned and what cannot. Stains in clothing are probably set, but most toys and baby gear can be thrown in the wash or wiped down to look like new. 
10. Check for recalls. Typically, consignment sales and children's resale shops are not permitted to sell recalled items. If you have any concern about an item, however, (especially if it looks old or worn) check recalls on your smart phone or don't buy it. Its not worth the risk.
11. Most sales have a 50% off day on the last day. I usually try to go to sales the first day and the last day to cover my bases for selection and deals.

What's the best steal you've gotten at consignment? What are your favorite consignment shopping tips? Happy shopping!

Weekend Business

Its that time of year again! GARAGE SALES! I am the direct descendent of what I consider to be the garage sale guru. My Mom was not only a crazy good buyer, but she was an amazing seller - making over $1,000 during the most epic of her annual sales.

While we didn't exactly make a grand this weekend, we did get rid of a ton of stuff we've had set aside in boxes labeled "yard sale." A nearby school district was having a huge community yard sale. $15 bought you four parking spaces (two for cars, two for your stuff) for six hours. We got up early, set up shop, and sold our crap. The cool part? All of the selling fees went towards a "Newspapers in the Schools" program. Yay education!

We were able to unload a ton of books, movies, and video games, a few electronics, an old PS2, all of J's old comics and comic book cards, and a ton of baby clothes and toys. Stuff that was literally just taking up space. When all was said and done, we'd made $215! Thank goodness too, we could really use it as we prepare for J to be out of work all summer. Stupid 10 month education jobs. The budget is going to be tight, but we've been couponing and stocking up like crazy lately. More on that later. ;-)

Aside from our selling success, the weather was absolutely beautiful, and C was an angel. I brought the entire toddler entertainment arsenal - bubbles, chalk, blocks, cars, and of course snacks, but we really didn't need to do too much entertaining. The spot next to us was a darling retired couple who spent the whole time talking to C and playing with him. The man's name was Charlie as well and he got a kick out of our C in his little Hawaiian shirt.

C played and we hung out in the nice weather - it was a wonderful day. I also scored some neat stuff from other sellers! I got a 1960's metal bread box, a basket that sits on the steps, a dozen Ball canning jars, and a neat lazy Susan for my craft supplies - all for $20. The bread box alone is worth more than that! Unfortunately, we were the ONLY booth with boy clothes, but that's alright.

Decorating our spot with his beautiful artwork.

Nap time! Don't worry, the windows were all down! :-)

We were pooped after the sale (getting up at 5:30am and all that) so we spent the rest of the day just relaxing. Sunday was Mother's Day and after a super yummy breakfast and wonderful presents from my guys, we did some shopping, some playing, and some time outside. What a lovely weekend!

Mmmmm Breakfast!

I Like to Buy Stuff I Don't Need....Yet

From time to time, it just behooves my wallet to stock up on things or buy them when its cheapest and not necessarily when it makes sense. This weekend, I single handedly bought all of Charlie's birthday presents and summer 2012 clothes.

Yes, I realize that we're moving and I just bought more stuff to move. See the first sentence of this post.

The sales were just too good to miss! On Friday and Saturday, Toys R Us had a buy one get one free sale on all Fisher Price 0-36 months toys. Not their normal 20% off or even BOGO 50% off.....buy one get one FREE. C'mon, how can I miss that one?

In October, he will be the proud owner of the Lil' Zoomers Speedway, Shake and Crawl Racer, Stride-to-Ride Dino, and Swirling Surprise Gumball Machine (with extra Roll Around balls). I saved $80 (almost 50%) with this sale. My wallet is happy and we now have yet another box labeled "Charlie's Toys."

I also got him an extra set of Lil' Zoomers, but gave them to him now since I realized that he didn't have any toys that actually *do* anything - just blocks, cups, etc. These things are awesome and he loves them already. They shoot across the carpet when you push them and you can tell he wants to follow, but just doesn't know how...yet.

Another can't miss sale from this weekend was the twice annual Once Upon a Child bag sale! Every January and July, our local Once Upon a Child puts all of their going out of season stuff on clearance for an all you can stuff into a shopping bag is $15 sale! Its like a mini Black Friday - all the price savvy Moms in the area line up outside the store a few hours early with their Starbucks and size list. Once the doors open, its pretty maddening. The store isn't that big and is VERY full making it quite fun to shop while dodging all of the small children and pregnant women.

Don't let them fool you though, they're throwin' bows too. I know, I was one of them last year.

Assuming Hoping my little peanut stays on the same path growth wise, I bought a ton of 12-18 months tanks, shirts, shorts, and bathing suits. Currently, at 8 1/2 months, Charlie needs 6-9 months one piece outfits (for the length), but can still wear 3-6 months and even some 0-3 months shirts if they're separates. He's just a skinny kid.

After some tight rolling and careful placement, I was able to stuff my $15 bag with...

3 bathing suits
11 polo shirts
6 pairs of shorts (denim and khaki)
1 pair of khaki pants
1 pair of overall shorts
6 tank tops
6 Hawaiian shirts
6 t-shirts
1 sleeveless zip up hoodie

And a set of 8 Fisher Price Peek-a-Blocks that normally retail for around $20. All in all, I saved $147 on consignment store prices. I can't even imagine how much I would have paid retail though. Most of the brands are Osh Kosh, Levis, Baby Gap, Gymboree, Ralph Lauren, and Carter's.

Check out Once Upon a Child - chances are, there is one near you. If you get on their email list, you will get a heads up to sweet sales like this. Even if they don't have a bag sale, the normal prices are still incredibly reasonable considering the quality of the clothes they accept to resell.

So yes, I now have a huge box of toys and a smaller, yet equally useful box of clothes, but you know what? For $100, I've covered birthday presents and 6 months worth of clothing. I'll take it.

Money Mondays

Okay, to be honest, I probably won't write about money every Monday, but I'm feeling alliterative this afternoon. Money. Lately, Jeff and I have been trying to figure out how to make our little money turn into big money and thanks to advice from financially sound friends and a little planning, I think we are on our way.

For some reason, most of my generation is fine with being in debt. We own it - its just a way of life. Starting out at 23, fresh out of college owing $30K? That's not bad at all! To our parents and grandparents generations, however, we are lunatics for accepting such a financial fate. When I graduated, I started paying $215.16 a month and knew that it was just going to be part of my life to pay that each month for the next 20 years. When all was said and done, I would have paid back the $30K I owed and another $20K in interest. That's right, $20,000 in interest alone. I was okay with that. WTF was wrong with me? How is that possibly okay?!

Jeff also has $30K in loans, so together we are a veritable financial nightmare. Could it be worse? Totally. We were fortunate to go to relatively inexpensive public school, get grants and loans, and assistantships in graduate school. All that aside, $60K is still ridiculous.

Well, we're done paying minimum and are ready to tackle this debt (as well as the rest we owe on our car) little by little. Our goal is to be debt free in the next five years. That means we'd have to pay $12,000 a year towards loans (plus interest, but I don't want to do that crazy math) to meet our goal. If we're both employed and watch our budget, why isn't that possible? Especially if we're not paying for housing? We would save tens of thousands of dollars in interest this way. I can't even imagine what we'd do with all that money.

We made up a list of things that we're already doing to cut costs. Some of them are:

1. Cloth diaper, breast feed, and make our own baby food. Huge savings right there.
2. Use grocery store points to save on gas.
3. Clip coupons, subscribe to coupon blogs, and look for sales.
4. Shop consignment and accept hand me downs.
5. Sell (or donate) things we don't need anymore.
6. Cancel subscriptions we don't use. Netflix DVDs, I'm talkin' about you.
7. Get cell phones that don't need data plans.
8. Buy produce from the farmer's market and local farms.
9. Use cloth towels instead of paper towels.
10. Make gifts instead of buying them.
11. I cut Jeff's hair instead of him going out to get it cut. Over the last 5 years, that's a ton of savings.
12. Sharing one car.
13. Set up automatic bill payments to get a lower interest rate.
14. Borrow books from the library instead of always buying new.

And a list of things we need to get better at in order to further save money:

1. Stop eating out so much. I love to eat out, but need to reign it in for a while.
2. Don't use credit cards. We each have two and use them responsibly, but don't really *need* to.
3. Drive less. Everything around here is accessible by a bike, which we both have, or the bus.
4. Order less from online. Its too easy to just buy something we want. Damn you one-click check out!
5. Be better about not wasting food. I'm terrible at checking expiration dates. Oops!
6. Keep up with my check book. If I knew how much money I had, I wouldn't spend as much!

Will we be debt free in five years? I have no idea, but this plan is more than we had before. Step one is for someone around here to hire the fabulous middle school teacher I'm married to. With two full time incomes, we can rule the world!

Blow Out Sales = Crazy Pregnant Women

This morning, our local "Once Upon a Child" consignment shop had a huge blow out sale - anything on clearance you could fit into one of their plastic shopping bags would be charged as $10 total.

Wait...what?!

Yes, $10. Now, the prices there are typically reasonable (considering many things still have tags on them), but everything for $10? Time to get shopping.

I showed up before they opened at 10am and there was already a line of eager pregnant ladies and Moms (kids in tow). For a visual, I must mention that this is not a big store. Its a little shop with A LOT of stuff crammed into it. When they opened and handed out the bags the scene was a little reminiscent of Black Friday.

Despite not knowing whether we're having a boy or a girl, I think I made out pretty well. I ended finding quite a few gender neutral outfits (or at least what I would consider gender neutral). I even found things in the 12 months size that would work for a boy or a girl! I snagged 5 pairs of overalls, 6 pairs of jeans, 19 onesies/sleepers, and 12 outfits (tops and bottoms) between 0-12 months. Many items were name brand (Eddie Bauer, Osh Kosh, Gap, etc.) and some still had tags on!

And the rest...
.

Don't worry, you're not crazy. There are some outfits in there that are definitely for a boy or definitely for a girl. Towards the end of my shopping spree I had a little more room in my bag (somehow) and managed to squeeze in some adorable dresses and shirt/pant sets. I couldn't resist!! There aren't many and, hey, we'll end up using half of them.

My total came to $10.50 with $198.50 worth of discounts applied. Score. My mother would be proud.