Buttons n' Bows

I went to the consignment sale Thursday night to look for a new costume for Noah. We didn't find anything as we were NOT the first ones in the door to run over to grab the best! lol! I did find some very good deals though. I have already put Noah's pants into wash, but I found him some great corduroy pants pretty much exactly like THESE. I paid $3! They are the Kelly's Kids brand, though I didn't realize it when I bought them... I just thought they were a good deal and in great shape regardless of the brand!

I also found Katie two pairs of dressy/casual shoes for the fall and winter. I am SUPER picky about used shoes..I don't love buying used shoes at all, but for this style which won't be worn very often and in such fantastic shape, I will go for it! These were $3 for each pair!


And, my splurge item. I was undecided about it but when Katie tried on the jacket she absolutely loved it, so I went for it. $7 for a two piece leather jacket and skirt outfit!
I need help deciding what to put under it...thoughts/ideas?!?!

Katie and Noah also each picked out $1 item from the toy area. So, I spent $18 and got a great variety of finds in my opinion!

Thinking, Pondering, Musing....

I have several things on my mind as of late. Things that have been in the works and thoughts for a while. I hope to share them sometime soon when a decision is made, but I would like to ask for your prayers toward us every so often if you happen to think about it.

And now on to something completely different!

I made an exciting discovery tonight....I was getting out the fall and winter clothing bins and discovered that Katie and Noah both have plenty of clothes for the cool weather. I will be picking up a few things for Noah because he didn't end up getting quite as lucky at the post winter sales this past spring, but as cool weather comes they will be warmly provided for and I am so thankful for that! They both have a very nice 4-way coat that will probably last them each two more seasons. Katie has enough shirts to wear a different one every day for a few weeks probably! Osh Kosh was VERY lucrative at their end of the season sales last year for her! I am just so very grateful that they are already provided for this year with only a few odds and ends to add as far as dress pants or sweaters.

The bad side of that is that I really don't have a lot of clothes to put IN the sale! :( However, they did both decide finally grow some bigger feet, so we have lots of shoes to put in! AND we have cleaned the basement out a little more and have found some more things to put in. I hope to have a yard sale at the end of the month. Is September a good month for a yard sale??

Anyway, keep us in your thoughts please, and be thankful for the little things... like not having to go out and buy new clothes for fall!

Sweet Day at Publix!

I have kind of slacked off on my posts about saving money on my coupon shopping trips. I guess I am so used to saving enormous amounts of money that it isn't as "big" of a deal anymore. I do want everyone to know though, that I AM still saving enormous amounts of money and this is one "whim" (couponing) that has not been placed to the side!!

I did not take a photo of my buys for today...most of it needed to go straight in the freezer/fridge, but here is the breakdown:

What I bought:
4 pints of Starbucks ice cream
( free! can't wait to try it! one is chocolate chip coffee! Mmm!)
4 packages of Morningstar Farms frozen "meats"
($1.39/each)
3 bags of Dove chocolate
($1.15/each, yeah, I didn't need these...or did I?)
6 (4pk) Yoplait Yoplus Yogurt
(.25/each)
1 loaf of Pepperidge Farm Oatmeal bread
($2)
1 gallon of milk
($2.25)
2 containers of Reddi-Whip topping
(.50/each)
(Noah begs to buy this all the time for waffles, so it was finally a good deal!)
2 bags of Back to Nature granola
($3.79 for both)
1 bar of Velveeta Cheese
(.80)

Total: -78.25

Sales: -35.17

Coupons: -21.16

Total after sales and coupons:
$21.30
Total Savings:
$56.95

I just love coupon shopping! Other than the sweets I bought this week, I really bought healthy stuff! I really love Dove dark chocolate...those three bags will last me for MONTHS and MONTHS! I only spent $21 and I don't really need much else this week, but Kroger is having an awesome sale on Pillsbury dough products, which I love to have on hand for quick recipes. Not the healthiest thing in the world, but in moderation! ha!

Two Things...

ONE: I don't really approve of a store calling their sale "Dollar Days" unless the prices are, in fact, ONE dollar. Otherwise, it should be called "Dollars Days." It's not a "sale" to get paper towels for $11 TARGET! Good grief!
Unless you mean that during this sale you will be taking "dollars" for payment? Hmph.

TWO: Who in the WORLD would want to get either of these things for a gift for someone?! These are both available at Walgreens with your own personlized image. I will save you the agonizing decision though, I would rather have a mousepad! The boxers are $19.99 by the way. I apologize for my lack of tact if you have actually ordered either of these items. I just can't imagine sporting my camisole with pics of my kids on it
"Hey, look at this from Katie's recital, isn't that cute?" "It's not enough for me to remember the sunset from our cruise with my memories
or with our awesome digital photos,
I want to be able to think about it all the time, even when I hit up the public restroom."
I am glad they offer that satisfaction guarantee...because I just really thought this would look BETTER than it does on a pair of white boxers!
I am definitely going to need my money back!

I don't think it is a good thing for me to read the sales circulars!

Black Friday Buyer's Remorse....

Ah the emotions of a 27 hour day!!!!

My experience started yesterday morning at 6:30...when Noah woke up crying and had to be fussed over and brought into our bed where he tossed and turned until 7:30 and then I was able to sleep until 8:30. At 8:30 we got up to get ready to drive to Newnan for Thanksgiving lunch. We stayed there until 2:30 or so and then we headed back home to do dinner at Cracker Barrel. Well, after that we came home and I finalized plans for my outlet adventure.

Me and three of my friends arrived to our local outlet center at around 10:30pm to join the line of people waiting among the "first 300" to get a bag with free pajamas and goodies. At midnight the line started moving and we were able to get our bags. The nightshirt was pretty cute, but the other goodies not as much...just some coupons and a Vitamin Water and Fuze. ha.
I have to say, the standing in line for an hour and a half wasn't truly that bad, especially with fun people to pass the time with...but I cannot believe how many people were out during the time we were there, with their very young children with them! Come on people!!!

Anyway, we then spent until about 3am browsing around the outlet stores. Gymboree had their kids pjs for $5.99. We all found some and stood in a thirty minute line to check out. No kidding! The line was completely wrapped around the store. Needless to say we ALL found more stuff besides our original awesome deal! First buyer's remorse!!! I got really cute outfits for the kids to wear in their holiday picture and to gatherings though!

Second buyer's remorse: NOT buying something. The GAP outlet had their sweaters for 50% off. I really should have gotten one. I was trying to actually buy Christmas stuff though and didn't want to get it for myself. The thing is though...I have lost 30 pounds since last Christmas and my pants and shirts are all huge! With the exception of 1 pair of jeans I bought this summer and some tee shirts, I really don't have clothes that fit. They actually had nice, soft, long fitting and crew necked sweaters. I can't remember the last time I found that combo in a sweater. I usually have to compromise on the length (show my back in the back, you know what I mean!) or the neckline...scoop low cut or something. *sigh* I am really really regretting not buying at least one of those sweaters!!!

Third buyer's remorse: NOT buying something else. Old Navy had their jeans (incorrectly) marked 50% off. They were taking the signs down, but had to honor anyone who already had them in line. I could have had another pair of pants that would actually fit well for $14.75. Should have gotten a pair! Agh!

Fourth buyer's/shoppers remorse: Arriving home at 3:30am and leaving again and 4:20am to head back out to shop! ha ha! It was fun at the time and I guess I was running on adrenaline, but when it was 11:00am and I was just heading home to rest, it was a pretty rough time!!!!!

My mom and I met at our local Toysrus because it was a good location and parked my car so I could go out to Wal-Mart and K-Mart for some doorbusters. The line at Toysrus was backed all the way across the entire parking lot!
We hit up Walmart first where all the deals were gone before we got there, then to K-Mart where she was able to get everything she wanted to get. So, that was good. I just had still not bought anything I needed for the kids, so we then blitzed through Toysrus (nothing good enough to stand in line for) and then to the Dollar Tree. Our local Dollar Tree always has some cute stuff for stockings. Then back to Wal-Mart after the crowds had cleared to do more stocking stuffer shopping. Oh, somewhere in there we ate the Chick-fil-a breakfast buffet! YUM!

I got home and laid down to rest for a couple of hours and I am thinking when I get out my Wal-Mart bag there may be some yet to come buyer's remorse....ha ha! I really had wanted to head down to the Disney Store to get some tees for the kids to wear to Disney and I still haven't made it to Target!!!! I can say though, that there is no way I would have survived Kennesaw today!!!

Oh well....my husband also did his own shopping while I was out. Sitting on the couch next to the kids he was able to get some good deals from Amazon.

So, there you go...that was my 27 hour holiday shopping experience. It really was a lot of fun, but just one of those things you KNOW you are going to regret doing, but go for it anyway!!!!