I love a bargain just as much as the name brand!

Who doesn't love dressing their kids in Children's Place, Gymboree, Old Navy, Baby Gap, and all the other fun and cutesie stores?  I wish I had all the money in the world to just walk in to one of those stores, buy a whole seasons' wardrobe for Olivia and not think twice about the price tag.  The unfortunate truth is that will probably never happen.  But I've found a pretty neat alternative.  Consignment sales!!  I know I've mentioned them before.  I am seriously obsessed.  They happen twice a year and I try to wait patiently.

This time even more so that in times past.  When you have a baby shower, you are gifted with all sorts of clothes.  The baby arrives and so do more gifted clothes.  If you are lucky like me, you may get some great hand me downs from a friend too.  Well, that got us through until now.  I've supplemented from finds at the consignment sales here and there, but I haven't had to do any major shopping.  Until now...  We are about a month away from spring here in Texas and Olivia's wardrobe is all fall and winter.  I purposely haven't been buying because I didn't know what size she's in.  But now, as I have a closet of sweaters and long sleeve shirts, I'm having a little bit of anxiety.  The sales are twice an year and are for the next two upcoming seasons.  I am having to buy her entire spring and summer wardrobe.  Here in Texas, that's basically mid March to early November!

So last Thursday I hit my first sale of the season.  It was one I had never been to before, but someone was advertising for it on the facebook consignment pages that I frequent.  I figured I'd give it a try.  It was free to get in (some charge) and kids were welcome (some only let you bring kids during certain times).  I figured I didn't have anything to lose.

And I left with all of that!  The most expensive outfit was the "jean skirt" and tank top.  It's from Children's Place and it was $4.  See that pink and orange dress?  Old Navy for $1. LOVE it!  Normally orange isn't my thing, but that 3 piece outfit is from Children's Place and it was $2!  I figured even if she only wore one part of the outfit, it would still be worth it!  I wasn't "in love" with that bathing suit, but it was cute enough for $1. That white embroidered tank and shorts--$1 each, both Children's Place.  They are so cute!  I was able to try most of it on Olivia when we got home.  There are two pieces that aren't going to make it through the whole season, but the rest fit pretty well.  Even if she doesn't wear it all season (or the orange tank probably won't be worn at all because it's tight), I can re-sell them for more than I paid!  I learned from the cheap shopping trip what size to focus on for the upcoming sales.  I also realized once I got home that out of the 13 items (some were paired together), 9 came from the same seller.  That ended up being to my advantage I think, because she had such great prices.  I got everything pictured above for $25.  That's with our ridiculous 8.25% sales tax included.  Not bad, huh?  That's like ONE outfit at most stores.

Then on Sunday I went to my second sale of the season.  It's my least favorite, but I thought that if I walked out with even one or two buys, then it was worth it.  There was actually more there than in times past.  It's suppose to be "designer" clothing too.  I could have bought a ton more, but after paying $1 and $2 for items, I was having a hard time justifying $8 and $10 (used!)dresses.  Even if they were from the Gap.  I knew I had a few (better priced) sales coming up at the end of the week, so I tried to be choosy.

I got all the above for about $40 (tax included).  Even though the prices were higher at this sale, that still averages out to about $4 an outfit.  Most were Old Navy.  A few are brands I'm not familiar with.  The two in the bottom right are swim suits.  She is set now.  The green one was my splurge.  It was $8, BUT it's Gymboree and it still has the tags on and the plastic pieces attaching the top to the bottom.  A brand new Gymboree swim suit for $8?! Yes, please.  I wasn't able to try these on Olivia yet, but they are all 2T and some are 3T so they should fit.  Some might bet too big at first.

I have another sale that I am going to on Friday morning.  Then, my all time favorite sale is Saturday night.  It's the biggest one.  It's run by two Christian women. The prices are fair, they are meticulous about only allowing well taken care of pieces, and the selection is huge.  I really wanted to volunteer, so that I could shop a pre-sale.  I couldn't commit to it because of Michael's second job.  Luckily, my friend is consigning a few things, so we get to shop slightly early.  It was so important to me, that I made Michael make sure he would be home (no kids allowed to pre-sales) so that I could go.  I can't wait to see what kind of bargains I will find!  I'll be sure to share with you. :)