Not to be outdone by this weekends deals...

I had said last week how I am a member for Kmart's reward points. Now, I know what you're thinking.... Kmart?? Well, there's one down the street from my office so I get quick office supplies there often. One time while I was checking out they offered me their rewards card. I never thought about it again, until.... I got an email for $3 credit. No minimum needed to be spent. I thought, shoot, I'll find something for $3 and get it free! And so it began. Now I get these $3 off about every few weeks. I use them for make-up and toiletries I would normally just get at target. A lot of times I ONLY spend the free money, but sometimes I will spend a few bucks. These were today's finds. 

You can see the loreal blush was $3.24. Guessing it was probably in the $8-9 range normally. And the Rimmel mascara was .74 cents. Normally was probably around $5 I used my $3 credit. I spent $1 out of pocket. $1!

Hoping I like them!

A little bargain hunting.

I had done a post last week about my deal finding. I wanted to give a few examples of what it is I do and what I have gotten the past few days. 

This weekend we went into pacsun. Not a normal spot for us but we had brought the babies to play at the mall play area so we popped in. Straight to the clearance I went! Found a few pairs of shoes I liked but they were on clearance for $20 each which I was absolutely not willing to pay. The sales kid informed me a lot of them were mis marked. He scanned them quickly and I was pleasantly surprised. I got the following:  

These were in clearance for $6

I also got these headbands in blue and red for .90 cents. 

These for $4.50!!

Total spent was $13!!! $60 worth of shoes. $12 worth of hair accessories. And I also got a nail polish for a gift for .60 cents. 

Elliot and Holden's wish list.... Or mine.

And 

I'm loving these things from H&M kids. 

For Elliot 

And for Holden I'm loving everything!!

If you haven't been there recently you've gotta go! 

A great weekend in the books!

Daddy had recently taken the babies to the play area at the mall, and they loved it! So after I had a quick hair trim we all met at the toys to play, play, and play! The babies had a blast, and it was a nice free fun thing to do. We then ventured to a few shops, and then to lunch. We all shared a wonderful lunch and then hit up baskin Robbins for a few scoops. It was a great early afternoon for all! I hit up some clearance racks and was able to score two pairs of shoes, two headbands, and a nail polish from pacsun all for $13!!!! Can you believe it. It originally retailed for $56 and I got it all for $13! Score!!! Any who just a quick weekend post. Hope you all had great love filled few days. 

I'm a total bargain shopper, are you?

So I LOVE clothes, shoes, handbags, and accessories. But, like most of us we live on a budget. We made the very consious decision that we would not put our babies in daycare even if that meant living on a tighter budget. We hope we can continue this until they are in school. So with my husband staying home that means not a lot of shipping for me.... Or does it? I shop every weekend. All the time. Now that doesn't mean I buy everything, or buy everything I want. I always try to find the best deal possible. Here are some of my shopping on a budget tips. Hope you find them useful. 

#1

Garage sales in the spring and summer. Check them out on Craig's list before you go. Always have a plan. On Thursday people usually post what they are selling and sometimes pictures of what they are selling on Craig's list. I will make a list of where I'm going to go based on what looks the best. Always go to the obes that look best to you first. Even if they are further away. The good stuff goes quick. I look for newer neighborhoods as they tend to have young children, and when I am garage saling 99% of what I am looking for is for my babies. Sometimes I find something for momma. Also look for sales in upper class neighborhoods they tend to have great housekold items, and decor, and usually are well priced. When you are garage saling always ask for a lower price. I know its tough at first, but once you do it a few times you'll get the hang of it, and no it's not rude. Every garage sale I've ever had people ask to lower the price, and you know what? I price it knowing that! So if you find a great sweater for your little one and it says $1 ask if they'll take .50. What's the worst they can do? Say no, so what! Always shop for seasons ahead of time, if it's summer start getting your children's winter wardrobe. My kids are always dressed in Gap, Carter's, old navy, Gymboree, and children's place, and 95% of it was from garage sales. 

# 2

Baby consignment shops

I know a lot of cities have these now, and let me tell you they are amazing! I have a few here in my town and I use each one for different things. The main one I use is other mothers. I use them to take in all my things we are not using anymore, they go through and take what they want and give me a credit to the store for what they buy. It's usually only a small percent of what I paid for it, but then I get credit for what I need. So I'll bring in outgrown clothes, shoes, and even baby gear and they give me credit in exchange. I have a routine when I go in there. Shoes first, then outfits, Jammie's, then accessories. Sometimes clothes, but often this is not my best spot to find clothes. Mainly it's good for Jammie's, toys, and shoes. Especially shoes! I get the babies footie Jammie's mostly from here. Usually Carter's footie Jammie's are between $2-3 a pair. Compared to the $20 for new. And I always make sure they are clean, free of stains, and the footie part looks new. For shoes it's hit and miss, but when it's hit its amazing!! I get lots of robeez, jack and Lilly, converse, and vans for less than $8 a pair. That's the mosh I've spent there on shoes and that's because they were $40 a pair normally. Sometimes I find them new in the box with a nordstrom price tag still on them. We also have another store called lollipop lemon drop. This is more of a boutique baby store with new and used things. Lots of handmade new things, and even woman's! I go here to look for myself a lot, and to look at shoes for the littles. They tend to get really high end baby shoes at about 40-50% of the retail price. 

#3

Clearance racks 

I can't say it enough! Why would you ever pay full price? The only time I pay film price is if I LOVE something. Like have to have it. Dream about it night have to have it. Other than that we try to never pay full price. When we walk in a store whether it be target, old navy, nordstrom rack, anywhere really we walk straight to the clearance racks. Target always has them and sometimes they are up to 70% off! Old navy has a ton of clearance and it's fairly priced too. If you like simething just wait a week or two. It will be on the clearance rack by then. Often times 50% off what you almost paid for it a week ago. 

#4

Email list/coupon list

I know it's annoying to get emails everyday from stores, but a lot of times you get deals you would never know existed if you didn't get those annoying emails. Some great ones I'm on is Carter's, the body shop, DSW, kmart, kohls, and old navy. Just got a spend $20 get $10 off at the body shop this morning! I got $3 off any purchase a kmart yesterday. I get a lot of beauty products there, sometimes I go and just use my $3 off on a few little things and get them for free! A lot of times on the weekend old navy will send a 50% off any one item that day coupon. DSW has rewards so sometimes I will get $10 off a $10 purchase. I'll go there, go straight to the clearance and get a pair of shoes for free or a few bucks. 

#5

CRAIGS LIST!

I use Craig's list for everything. I sell on there. And I buy on there. I look daily. I look in two places. The baby and kids section, and the clothing and accessory section. Here's a great example. I have been wanting a northface jacket forever, but refused to pay $200 for one. So I started looking daily on craigslist at the end of this summer. I saw some here and there but they were either priced to high or not the right size. Then one day there they were! Three from one seller, all in my size. We met up, I picked my favorite. Tried it on, and $30 later I got my northface jacket! I also get a lot of kids things from here. Shoes that are new in the box for $5-10. I bought almost all of Holden's baby gear here while I was on bed rest. His Boon high chair, his bouncer, his jumparoo, and then some. All for 50% of retail or less. 

Those are just a few of my tips. Hope they help you become a bargain shopper. I will say this is a lot of work, but I save a ton. Everything has to be washed, sanitized, and sometimes depending on the item it can take a while. But my kids are always dressed nicely, and in style and I get asked all the time where I get their clothes. When I respond "from a garage sale" you should see peoples faces. 

Let me know if you have any questions. Happy hunting!

Pictured outfits. 

Holden's chambray shirt from target, bought at a garage sale new with tags for .50. His H&M pants were bought off of an Instagram closet for $6. His shoes were robeez in the box from other mothers for $8. Elliot's sweater is Gymboree from other mothers for $5.99 and her leggings new from target for $4. 

Kirkland Jammie's from a garage sale for $1 like new with a cupcake pattern. 

Vest is from Carter's purchased at a garage sale for .50 and his onsie is from a pack of 5 bought on the clearance rack during summer at caters for $11 for 5!!

My $30 northface coat. 

Carter's Jammie's from other mothers $2.99

Am I the only crazy person that....

Paints her nails like every other day? (Every day?) I seriously am OBSESSED! I feel like I have to try every new polish on the market. I think, oh this one will last a week, this one says it dries in minutes, this one was in my new magazine, and so on. I don't even want to know the amount of money I spend on nail polishes, top coats, files, buffers, and removers. It's truly rediculous. Luckily, my amazing husband just puts up with it. Most men would cringe at the amount of times he sees my "nail box" come our of my closet. Here's just a few of the most recent! 

Well, 3rd times a charm.... Maybe

This is the third time that I tried to write a blog, I guess we'll see if this time it sticks. I guess I'll tell you little bit about myself other than what's in the about me section. My name is Kimberly, and I'm a mother, wife, and lover of God. I moved to the Pacific Northwest 11 years ago to be with my husband Kevin, and I haven't looked back ever since. We've been married for seven years, and together 11 years, these have been the best years of my life. I became a stepmom to my stepson Addison 11 years ago when Kevin and I met. The best day of my life truly came four years ago when birthed my beautiful baby girl Elliot Parker. But, not to be outdone by her 16-month-old brother Holden Jagger he is the joy and the breath of my life. We are finally starting to get adjusted to being a family of five, that's a big family don't you think? Some may think it's weird, but my husband is the one that stays at home with our babies. I work full-time, and have been with the same company for the past 10 years. I must've started there when I was like 14! My posts may seem random sometimes, but this is just a spot where I feel I can open myself up to everything ME, hope you enjoy.