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.