joyful strength: thrifting

Yet again! This is how I roll. Welcoming the new year, looking for deals, and thrifting. I have to bring my boy up right, you know? He got a little birthday money from his great grandpa, and so we went off to the thrift store.

When I go to the thrift stores, it's super dangerous (read: expensive) for me if I don't have a goal in mind, a specific item or two that I'm looking for. Sometimes it's jeans for Brad, a fresh new skirt for me, a certain size picture frame, or some clothes for this toddler that grows so quickly.

This time around, I figured I better start the size 3T stash of clothes for Joshie. My slim little guy needs adjustable waist pants, so that was on the top of the list. I figured that "Great Grandpa Ed" would probably want him to have some sort of toy, too.

Toddler shopping strategy is to ask for what you want immediately before or immediately upon entering the store. This time, it was a football. No football in sight, but a basketball sufficed. On to the toy section so that he could hold and play with whatever toy we were going to end up going home with.

Joshie spotted the vacuums. He wanted them.

And then the Little Tikes construction vehicles. The big, bulky, hard-to-hold kind. And he wanted that instead.

And then the vacuum again.

Then a transformer.

And then?

I saw two Little Tikes cozy coupe cars. They retail for between $45 and $55 new. And both were marked $4.99. Oh, okay, then. So out of the cart went the Josh, and into a car, and around the store. We parked one up front so that we could reserve it as ours.

Meanwhile, there was a $0.99 construction helmet that he fell in love with. Fine by me. I managed to find him a pair of almost-new Children's Place jeans, like these, for $3.99. Then a set of Carter's cotton pajamas, like these, for $2.99. And the icing on the cake? A J. Crew half-zip rugby-style heavyweight pullover, not quite a sweatshirt, but a thick tee with a cute little leather pull on the metal zipper...for $0.99. Hooray!

Then we were back to the toys again for another diversion so that I could continue to shop. I spotted a set of five wooden puzzles, marked $4.99, and added that to our pile. Heading toward the checkout, I saw a poor, lonely Nalgene, for just $1.99.

And then I remembered that I had a coupon for $3 off a purchase of $10 or more. Woohoo!

So our entire pile:

Cozy Coupe Car - $4.99 (retails between $45 and $55)
Construction Hat - $0.99 (similar $5)
Carter's pajamas - $2.99 ($15 on sale right now, regularly $20)
Children's Place jeans - $3.99 ($10 on sale right now, regularly $16.50)
Crewcuts pullover - $0.99!! (similar $40)
Cute wooden puzzles - $4.99 (original price tag $23.95)
Nalgene water bottle - $1.99 ($9)