Yeah for the consignment stores!!!

Today my favorite local kids consignment store was clearning out all of their summer stuff. Fill a bag for $15. Are you kidding me??? You know I'm all over that!

So here's what I got Katelyn to put up for next summer (And really a few pairs of stretch pants that she'll be able to wear this fall and next spring also!)

2 bathing suits for next year (one is Old Navy)
1 pair of pajamas (Disney Store)
3 pairs of jean capris (1 pair Sketchers, 1 pair for this summer)
1 summer dress (new with tags on it)

4 pairs of cotton pants (2 pairs Gymboree, 1 pair Lands End)

3 pairs of pants (1 pair Baby Gap, 1 pair Oshkosh)

1 skirt

1 pair of skorts
2 tank tops (Carters and Children's Place)
3 t-shirts (2 Gymboree - 1 still with the tags on it!)

Do you see that this is 21 items...many of them name brand....two things with the tags still on them...all in great condition...all for $15!!!

And then I had $4 store credit that I couldn't use on the sale but I got her a really cute pair of jeans and with the credit they only cost me $1.

Pretty good haul for $16. The total consignment store price for all of this stuff was $85. Can you imagine what it would have been retail? Pretty good to save 80% off of the consignment store price! For all of you who tell me that Katelyn is always dressed cute...thank you. Please know, it's not because I spend much money. I let everyone else out there spend $25 for a pair of jeans at Gymboree and then I buy them for a few bucks. :)

The really awesome thing is...because this is all name brand stuff, when Katelyn is done with it and I sell it at a consignment sale, I'll make far more than the $16 I paid for all this stuff.

Ahhh...I love a bargain!

One day my daughter is going to revolt and refuse to wear all of this second hand stuff...but until then....

I love yard sales!

Today my subdivision and another subdivision up the road had their neighborhood yard sales. Cha ching! You know I love a good deal. And honestly, I love roaming through a yard sale. I know there's lots of junk...but I love it when you find the treasures. People get rid of some seriously good stuff....for cheap!! I'm all set to sell Katelyn's old stuff at a consignment sale this fall (get much more than selling it at a yard sale) and I've been giving all my clothes away to our clothing bank at church...so I just didn't have it in me to have my own sale today for all the odds and ends around my house..so I went to check out everyone else's sales.

I spent a total of $6 and got Katelyn 2 pairs of pajamas, 2 pairs of pants for the fall, one t-shirt, one sweater for this winter, a dress for next summer, a shirt for me for 50 cents! (It's great to lose weight...but I can't wear any of my clothes from last year and there is no budget to buy a new wardrobe...plus, I have no plans to stay in the size I'm in now anyway!!), a little play dustpan and broom thing for Katelyn (brand new in the wrapping for a quarter) and a glass pitcher (like new and exactly the same one I've been wanting to buy that's usually $15...I got it for a buck.) Whew....successful morning. I'm not sure why people buy new clothes for their toddlers. They grow so fast and all they are doing is climbing and playing and running anyway. Katelyn moves so fast you can't even see what she has on. :) I got Katelyn about $50 worth of clothes this morning for $4.

The church had a bushel of peaches donated for our kids. We ate them last week, but they weren't going to make it through the weekend...so I am canning 3/4 a bushel of peaches today. I'm making a bunch into jam and then I'm just canning the fruit that was still in the best condition. Definitely didn't want to throw away that much fruit...

The farm where we get our produce from each week is having a bumper crop of squash and zucchini right now and since we are "shareholders" in the farm as members of the CSA...we get our cut of the harvest. This week between mom and dad and I, we got 14 yellow squash and several zucchini...along with all the other vegetables, herbs and berries. I'm going to make a batch of rasberry jam when I'm done with the peaches. I'm trying to figure out how to get squash into everything I cook. I found a recipe for pizza crust that has a bit of wheat flour in it, but it's mostly grated squash...I'm going to try it out. I'll let you know how it goes....

We're still here...

Whew, it's been a busy few weeks. There's a big church here in town that has a children's consignment sale twice a year. It's a huge event and I was fortunate enough to get to be able to be one of the sellers in it. Katelyn has grown so much that there isn't ANYTHING she wore last summer that she can wear this spring/summer. But getting everything organized and tagged for this sale was a big ordeal...well worth it for the extra cash though!!

So, here was my trip to Kroger last night...I spent $23.00...Pretty good for three boxes of cereal, milk, shampoo, toothpaste, three boxes of Fiber One bars, ice cream, salmon and 6 pounds of fresh ground turkey (along with some other odds and ends.) !!! Some of you have asked where I get my online coupons and what websites I like to look at. I get most of the coupons at www.coupons.com and I like the following "frugal" sites: www.mommysavingabuck.blogspot.com, www.freebies4mom.blogspot.com, www.couponcravings.com, www.dealseekingmom.com, and www.centsiblesavings.com

I have gotten tons of valuable info off of these sites...(Beware, it's addicting.) I haven't paid to rent a movie from RedBox in a couple of months, I've eaten out multiple times for free and I've gotten a heads up on great coupon deals from retailer sites...lots of free samples and coupons have come my way. My grocery budget for this month is $100 (food, paper goods, health/beauty/diapers) and I think I'm gonna make it! (Of course I do try to stockpile stuff when it's on sale and I have coupons so I'm never paying full price for anything unless it's a staple item that I absolutely have to have.)

And it is possible to eat healthy (I even buy a good amount of organic items) on a budget. Last night I ate salmon, broccoli and couscous with curry, feta and tomatoes. Yummy!

And then there's Katelyn. Have I mentioned lately what a fabulous child she is? She's happy and fun and talking more and more. She can count to 10 and recognizes most of her letters by sight. We're working on colors. She knows a few...but mostly when you ask her what color something is she says, "Purple." Grammy and PaPa are coming in a few weeks and will be out here for the next 6-7 months at their new lakehouse (35 miles northeast of Lexington). We can't wait for lots of time to play with them. Katelyn says her prayers at night and gives me the list of all the people in her life...Grammy and PaPa always get the mention! Katelyn just started using the big girl cup with no lid at meal times. She's really good at it. I just put a little water in the cup, but she loves drinking out of it. I was looking at pictures of her in China earlier and I just can't believe how much she's changed in the last 11 months. It's amazing. She's such a big girl...but she still likes to cuddle with mama so I guess it's okay. :)

There are two families from our area that are in China right now adopting little girls from the same little orphanage Katelyn is from. I'm so excited that she'll have the opportunity to have others nearby that have come from the same place. From rural China to the bluegrass...three little girls. The world is smaller than we think.

$12.42 buys more than you think

I love grocery shopping. I know that's not a cool thing to tell people when they ask what your hobbies are, but I'll just come clean...I really love grocery shopping. Getting the most I can for the least amount of money is a game for me. Some people like the Wii I like the Sunday ads and my coupon organizer. I've recently discovered the world of internet coupons. You can print off all kinds of extra manufacturers coupons online. FABULOUS!!! So below are the treasures from my trip to Kroger this evening.....All this for $12.42. I got all the toilet paper for free. The cans of vegetables for a total of $.45. The loaf of bread for $.25. All three multipacks of yogurt for $2. Both boxes of cereal for less than $2. This food will go far around here. My hobby is paying off. I saved almost 70% on groceries this week.

And because I know that there are some of you (dad) who will get mad at me if I just write about coupons without posting pictures of Katelyn....Here's her eating the fruits of my labor.

Good thing I like a good deal on groceries, because this kid is happiest when she's eating!


And when she's finished, she likes to play.

So silly....