In all seriousness, I really am a cheapskate. I just love to sniff out a good deal, and lately I've discovered a few blogs and web sites that help me better accomplish this. As a SAHM, saving money is a necessity. Should I ever become a millionaire though, I think I would still check out the sales fliers and hit the thrift store. Why pay full price when you don't have to? The following are some recent examples of my quest for thriftiness.
The kids outgrow clothing continuously. I am fortunate to have a couple friends who pass along their boys' clothes for Colin so I have done little clothes shopping for him. Riley, on the other hand, requires a little more outfitting. I love checking out the sales racks a Children's Place and buying out of season clothing one size up for the following year. I generally pay $2 for shirts and $1 for skirts. I can often do better than that though when I scope out garage sales in neighborhoods of people who are willing to pay full price for expensive brands of children's clothing and subsequently purchase so much of it, their children hardly wear it causing it to be in nearly perfect condition. I have found clothing at garage sales with the tags still attached. The following picture shows some recent acquisitions for Riley's fall wardrobe. I paid $1.25 for them - not per piece, but $1.25 for ALL of them.
I have pretty specific tastes when it come to home decor (colonial and federal style but not of the upper classes, more of what you would have found in a farm house in Lancaster County, PA,) so it can be challenging to find just what I'm looking for. Occasionally I do manage to hit the jackpot. I found these pewter tavern mugs at a garage sale a few weeks ago. I tried not to grin too large as I talked the previous owner of these little beauties down to $4 for the set. Wooohooo, or should I say huzzah! New, these would have cost me at least $25 each.
I do like some vintage items as well as my antique and reproduction pieces. For someone who loves pewter and wrought iron, it's a little ironic that I also like milk glass. The candy dish in the middle belonged to my grandmother so technically it was free. I remember her serving nuts in it at Christmas. The small mixing bowl was purchased last year at a yard sale for $2. I had recently seen a blog where a table was set with milk glass goblets. I decided they looked so nice I'd keep an eye out for some. Low and behold, I was in Goodwill later that same week and found seven goblets identical to the ones I'd seen in the blog. At only 25 cents a piece, felt I could justify them taking up a little more cupboard space. I'm now on the lookout for at least one more to complete my set. I found someone who has some on e-bay, but he wants $10 a glass. Ha ha and another ha. I'll keep looking at garage sales and thrift stores.
I want to preface this by saying this is not a great picture of me but it was the best I could do with the camera sitting on the dining room table. You should have seen the ones my four-year-old tried to take. Here is an example of thrifty adult clothing. The pants were brand new from Kohls and are the most expensive item I'm wearing at $8. The cute striped shirt was a Goodwill find for $3.50. The big ole honkin' mama purse (large enough to hold diapers, wipes, two sippy cups and snacks) is a Liz Claiborne and was found at a garage sale for $2. The previous owner apparently never used it as it is in perfect condition or at least was until I made several outings with it and the kids. It still looks nice and gets the job done. If you're keeping track, that $13.50 for the whole outfit. Stacy London, eat your heart out.
I have pretty specific tastes when it come to home decor (colonial and federal style but not of the upper classes, more of what you would have found in a farm house in Lancaster County, PA,) so it can be challenging to find just what I'm looking for. Occasionally I do manage to hit the jackpot. I found these pewter tavern mugs at a garage sale a few weeks ago. I tried not to grin too large as I talked the previous owner of these little beauties down to $4 for the set. Wooohooo, or should I say huzzah! New, these would have cost me at least $25 each.I do like some vintage items as well as my antique and reproduction pieces. For someone who loves pewter and wrought iron, it's a little ironic that I also like milk glass. The candy dish in the middle belonged to my grandmother so technically it was free. I remember her serving nuts in it at Christmas. The small mixing bowl was purchased last year at a yard sale for $2. I had recently seen a blog where a table was set with milk glass goblets. I decided they looked so nice I'd keep an eye out for some. Low and behold, I was in Goodwill later that same week and found seven goblets identical to the ones I'd seen in the blog. At only 25 cents a piece, felt I could justify them taking up a little more cupboard space. I'm now on the lookout for at least one more to complete my set. I found someone who has some on e-bay, but he wants $10 a glass. Ha ha and another ha. I'll keep looking at garage sales and thrift stores.I want to preface this by saying this is not a great picture of me but it was the best I could do with the camera sitting on the dining room table. You should have seen the ones my four-year-old tried to take. Here is an example of thrifty adult clothing. The pants were brand new from Kohls and are the most expensive item I'm wearing at $8. The cute striped shirt was a Goodwill find for $3.50. The big ole honkin' mama purse (large enough to hold diapers, wipes, two sippy cups and snacks) is a Liz Claiborne and was found at a garage sale for $2. The previous owner apparently never used it as it is in perfect condition or at least was until I made several outings with it and the kids. It still looks nice and gets the job done. If you're keeping track, that $13.50 for the whole outfit. Stacy London, eat your heart out.
I've been thrifty with home improvement as well. I love to watch HGTV but the downside to that is I see little projects I'd like to complete all around my house. Not desiring to return to work anytime soon, I've opted for some creative makeovers of existing items (Riley's bed for example.) I've never liked the light in our bathroom. It was white with white frosted froo-froo shades. I was able to fix that with a can of black spray paint and some new shades from Lowe's. OK, I did buy the shades brand new and not on sale, but I still spent a lot less than if I would have purchased a whole new light fixture. 
Finally, my buddy Becky introduced me to a blog that taught me how to make the most of my CVS card. The body wash and face wash were both free from CVS after extra care bucks (used like cash for subsequent CVS purchases.) All I had to do was watch the fliers for the deals. The shampoo and conditioner was another great deal. The cost of shampoo really drives me nuts. Why pay $5 a bottle or more for something at sits on your head a minute before you wash it down the drain? These bottles of Tresemme were on sale at CVS for 3 for $10. Not too bad of a deal - a little better than the usual Wal-mart price. I decided to buy 6 bottles bringing my total to $20. I already had $15 in extra care bucks, so I only paid $5 out of pocket. But wait . . . there's more! I also got $10 in extra care bucks. Basically CVS paid me $5 to take 6 bottles of shampoo off their hands. (Cue the hero music.) The giant tub-o-Dial wasn't a CVS deal but I did save a lot. I bought this gallon of hand soap for $7 at Big Lots. If I would have purchased the equivalent amount of hand soap in those little containers they're usually sold in, it would have cost me $44.
There you have it. I'm a total cheapskate - and proud of it. I know it's generally considered impolite to tell how much one paid for an item, but I believe that allowances can be made when one is illustrating frugality. Besides, that rule was meant to discourage people from boasting about how much they paid for an item, not how little. I hope this post encourages all my SAHM friends. If you have other ideas on being cheap . . .a-hem, I mean thrifty, please let me know.
