Confessions of a Shopaholic!

Yes, it's true, I love to shop. I don't get to do it very much anymore. I'm married to a saver. The good news is that we agree that the money we have is God's and He gives us some to manage. He's truly blessed us. The way we've found to compromise our spending habits is to use the Crown Ministry's envelope system. We don't do cash in an envelope, but rather have digital envelopes. I know how much is in the envelopes I need to use and can spend as necessary. My personal envelope was negative this weekend. Good thing I decided to return those shoes that weren't comfortable enough wear walking in Washington DC!

Even though I'm a spender I love getting a bargain. Sales and red stickers my weakness. The thrill of the hunt on the clearance rack is inexplicable! You have to be careful, though because sometimes the red sticker price really isn't that great of a bargain. Target is notorious for this!

Last week I got a call from my sister that Gymboree was having a major sale. Ordinarily I would never shop there. $40.00 for a pair of pants for Micah? I think not. But I like the sound of clearance, especially when Christy said she saw some things marked $3.99! I loaded up the kids last Monday and we made the trek across town. I found some good deals. I paid a bit more than I may have if I'd gone to Target, but these clothes are much better quality than what you can get at a discount retailer.

Micah has quite a few hand-me-downs from Charles, Jackson (my cousin Vince & Sheila's son), PJ, and cousin Ian. But as I was getting them organized a few weeks ago I realized that Micah is quite a bit smaller than Jackson & Charles were at this age. Micah's still wearing 9 month onesies and some 12 month one-piece outfits, but the shorts and tops that are 12 months are still big. So much for the summer wardrobe I had in my closet! I noticed all the winter clothes were sized 18 or 24 months. I think they may all be too big, especially this fall when the weather begins to get cooler. So, I found some things in 12-18 months which I hope bridge the gap. I'm so curious to find out what percentile he's in when we go for our one-year check-up in August.

I'm also building a wardrobe for Charles from garage sales, clearance racks, and hand-me downs. I got him a few t-shirts, a pair of shorts, and a shirt for Easter. I think the one for Micah may be too big at Easter, but we'll see.

My finds at Gymboree:

Yesterday after the birthday activities I went to the Just Between Friends consignment sale. I went a little crazy getting things for Charles...it's not often they have much of anything for little boys. I'm a snob at the consignment sales. I only buy good brands. No Target, Wal-Mart, or Okie Dokie stuff from Penny's. I get stuff that I wouldn't normally buy because of the price. I got a Gymboree shirt (labeled that it had always hung to dry...just like I treat my boys' clothes), a GAP blue shirt (we can take family pictures in this one because there's one in Micah's hand-me-down box), a long sleeved Children's Place polo, a almost brand new pair of GAP jeans (the consignor was working and told me her son had only worn them twice), a pair of nice Levis, and a pair of jeans that was $2.00 (these were a little worn but were CHEAP). I also got Micah two one piece summer outfits. One was a Carter's romper with the tag and was marked $3.50. I also got him a sleeveless romper that was Talbot Kids. I didn't know Talbots made children's clothes. Once again, I felt a got some good clothes at reasonable prices.