Bargain Hunting

I have started a handful of posts this week and all of them are sitting unfinished and unpublished. I just haven't felt like sitting still this week at all; every day Henry and I have found ways to avoid the tv, computer and even the house.... which was nice. Yesterday the weather was gorgeous and we played outside for a good while. Today it's rainy, which is okay. I have shows to catch up on, housework to do and then work tonight. I plan on having a pretty lazy day to be honest.

I will say, I've done A LOT of shopping this week. It seems like everyone is having huge clearance sales and while I'm cheap and hate to spend any kind of money, I just couldn't resist. I think I spent a total of $50 this week between J.C. Penney's, Elder Beerman, Sears and Kohls. You won't believe the things I got for that though!

For myself:
A new pair of Levi's ($12 at Kohls - Originally $48)
Gloves ($2 at Penney's - Originally $13)
3 long-sleeved shirts ($5 at Penney's - Originally $18 and $24)
4 tank-tops ($5 at Penney's and $4 at Kohls - Originally $15 and $28)
2 'dressier' tops ($5 at Penney's and $8 at Kohls - Originally $20 and $44)
2 bras ($5 at Penney's - Originally $25)
3 cardigans ($10 at Penney's - Originally $28)

For Henry:
An Osh Kosh jacket for spring ($6 at Penney's - Originally $30)
4 long-sleeved shirts ($3 at Penney's and Kohls - Originally $5 -$10)
1 short-sleeved shirt ($1 at Penney's - Originally $5)
Mickey Mouse Bubbles ($.50 at Kohls - Originally $5)

For Jeremy:

A Reds t-shirt ($4 at Sears - Originally $22)
2 under armour shirts ($5 at Penney's - Originally $20).



















For All of Us: A new comforter set. ($35 at Beermans - Originally $210)

Total: $729
Total spent: $154.50 (minus $105 in gift cards and coupons so really $49.50)
Total saved: $574.50

What!? I feel like I rocked it this week, ladies! Have you came across any amazing deals lately?

Jenn's Jams, thrifty finds & Legos

First, this song: Ed Sheeran - Lego House

I'm gonna pick up the pieces,

And build a Lego house

If things go wrong we can knock it down

My three words have two meanings,

There's one thing on my mind

It's all for you

And it's dark in a cold December, but I've got you to keep me warm

If you're broken I will mend you and I'll keep you sheltered from the storm that's raging on now

I'm out of touch, I'm out of love

I'll pick you up when you're getting down

And out of all these things I've done I think I love you better now

I'm out of sight, I'm out of mind

I'll do it all for you in time

And out of all these things I've done I think I love you better now

I'm gonna paint you by numbers

And color you in

If things go right we can frame it and put you on a wall

And it's so hard to say it but I've been here before

Now I'll surrender up my heart

And swap it for yours

I'm out of touch, I'm out of love

I'll pick you up when you're getting down

And out of all these things I've done I think I love you better now

I'm out of sight, I'm out of mind

I'll do it all for you in time

And out of all these things I've done I think I love you better now

Don't hold me down

I think my braces are breaking, and it's more than I can take

And it's dark in a cold December, but I've got you to keep me warm

If you're broken I will mend you and I'll keep you sheltered from the storm that's raging on now

I'm out of touch, I'm out of love

I'll pick you up when you're getting down

And out of all these things I've done I think I love you better now

I'm out of sight, I'm out of mind

I'll do it all for you in time

And out of all these things I've done I think I love you better now

----------

This could probably be called 'Jeremy's Jams' this morning because he sent this song to me after he left for work. He's sweet like that sometimes. =)  I found Henry two boxes of Legos on clearance yesterday for $4 and a bag of mega blocks for $5 and all we've done is play with them since I brought them home. Especially me. Don't hate - one of the best things about having kids is getting to play with all of the awesome toys again, guilt free!

What is your kids favorite toys? Henry likes anything with wheels but other than his blankets, I can't say he's really 'attached' to anything.

Bargain Buys with a side of Crafty Goodness

I really need to start learning to just take a photo and write a quick blog when I buy something that is a real 'bargain' instead of waiting for weeks on end. I rarely buy anything unless it's cheap. This includes clothes. I really can't get over the price of clothes. I mean - as a girl, I want a fairly large mixture of clothing and paying $100.00 for a pair of jeans just seems ridiculous to me. It'd cost a fortune to stay fashionable!

So I buy things on clearance and with coupons and I ask for lower prices and I haggle and do anything I have to to get that price down.

I've bought 2 pieces of clothing in the last few weeks.

This cute little sleeveless dress that I had planned on wearing to our pumpkin patch wedding (it was canceled due to weather).

Original Price - $54.99

What I Paid - $8.00

It will make a cute summer dress next year. I still need to do a few alterations though. It was on clearance (as in, here-take-it-we'll-pretty-much-give-it-to-you clearance).

Then I bought a pair of jeans from Maurices. I love that store, it makes us heavier girls feel like we're normal but the prices reflect the effort, I assure you.

So I went in expecting to walk out empty handed because even their clearance stuff is usually too expensive for me. These had a price tag, (already marked down a couple of times, mind you) of $89.99 . Yeah, um...no thank you.

But upon looking a bit closer, they were on the 75% off CLEARANCE PRICE rack. Now that I can do!

Original Price - $120.00

What I Paid - $22.50

The catch here was that they were literally six inches too long. Plus they were hugely bell-bottom, which worried me, but I took them anyway because HELLO! Did you see that savings?

So this morning I attempted the 'hem your jeans while keeping the original hem' thing. Guess what? It worked! I LOVE my jeans that are finally JUST THE RIGHT length!

This is my half, I pinned it and then sewed right along the outside of the hem.

The best thing? It's really simple to do.

1. - You pin your jeans where you want them hemmed just like you would for any other type of hemming.

2. - Measure how much you need to take off and divide that in half, but don't include the hem. Then pin the half in place instead of the full amount.

The finished product! It's not completely straight (I'm still a beginner here!) but you'd never be able to tell unless you were really looking at them. And look at that wonderful frayed hem that was part of the jeans all along!

3. - Sew right along the outside of the hem on the inside of the pant. If you have crazy bell-bottoms or flared jeans like I did, make sure your side seams line up!

4. - You can either cut off the excess or just iron it in place (good idea for the kiddos) from there. I cut mine off. Then iron the front side of your jeans so that the jean lays right again.

My directions are never the best, so go check out this tutorial for a more detailed look into the process. Pretty awesome, right!

Bargain Buys - Porch Poolin'

I'm just going to come out and say it. I'm cheap. Like, you-gotta-be-kidding-me-someone-please-tell-me-that's-not-the-price-heck-no-we-don't-need-it-it-can-wait cheap. This can often result in deep self-conflict, constantly questioning myself on whether or not a purchase is necessary, whether it's worth the price that I'm paying, whether I think I can get it cheaper now or later or even somewhere else, and always, always whether or not I can make it (or something similar) myself.

Henry loves the water - like flippin' loves it. Honestly, I don't know many kids that don't. We've spent a huge part of this summer in the backyard with a tub of water, bath toys and a heck of a lot of sunscreen. Notice I say 'tub of water' and not 'kiddie pool'. I refused to spend $12 on a kiddie pool. I mean really - there's nothing to it, it holds a whole 2 gallons of water and my son prefers just to play around the water than in it so why waste my money?

That was until yesterday. I found him a kiddie pool on clearance for $5 and if you want to know the honest truth, I had a hard time paying that for it. It was totally worth it though. He loves it!

Soak in some quick photos - that silly face and total heart-warming smile.

Wanna know just how cheap I am?

His swimming trunks were thrifted. I found them (with tags still attached) for $.50. Yeah, I said 50 cents. Cute aren't they?

The bath toys were a combination of baby shower gifts and birthday gifts. I've never bought a one and he has an entire basket full.

The pool was $5.00, as you already know.

The sunscreen I bought at Target while it was on sale and I had a coupon for $2.00 off. I think I paid like $1.50 and it had a bonus roll-on stick that I usually use for his face. I've had the same sunscreen all summer and we've yet to run out.

Total price? $7.00

Like I said, cheap.

Have one more photo. Henry modeling the hat that I made for him LAST year. Haha...it may have been a bit too big.

What kind of bargain buys have you guys found this summer? Would you consider yourself cheap, thrifty or something else completely?

Bargain Buys - Kohler Toilet and Sink

If you know me, you know that I LOVE a good bargain. Seriously. I could live out of the clearance racks. My ultimate goal in life is to spend less and get more.

Well, one of them anyway.

So today I literally felt like I hit the lottery.

I walked into Lowe's (where I work 20 hours on the weekend), and there it was - the toilet and sink display that I fell in love with months ago but knew I would never, ever in this lifetime pay full-price for. (Let alone half-price, or even a fourth of the price.) They were marked down to $50 a piece and I wanted them. I wanted them bad.

For those of you who are new to my blog. You may not know that my husband and I bought a house from sheriff's auction earlier this year. We paid $10,000. Like I said - less for more. The entire house was finished and in great shape except for ONE room - the bathroom off of the master bedroom. It's completely unfinished and we have a TON to do! So I've been eyeing that toilet and sink combo ever since we moved in, wishing silently that ONE day, I'd be able to afford something that nice.

Here is the toilet:

It doesn't look like anything special I know. But it has this cool curve to it and it's one-piece with this sleek design that looks SOO easy to clean. Retail price? $819.45

Here is the sink:

I. Just. Adore. This. It is so cute and perfect. I am thinking of taking the vanity out of our main bathroom and putting it in instead because I just can't stand the thought of leaving it in a box until we get the rest of the bathroom done. Retail price? $706.63

WOW! I was so amazed at those $50 price tags! I grabbed them and called them mine right away. 

But the story doesn't end there!

Let me tell you something. Never, ever, ever look at a price and think that that is THE price that you have to pay for something. I don't get my discount on clearance items so I knew I was out my 10% so I tracked down the plumbing manager and put on a sweet smile, reminded him just how often I help him out and asked him if he could do any better on the two...

My total bill?  $53.42! For both!

Go ahead, do a little happy dance with me 'cause I'll tell you what - I've been doing a little happy jig all day!

( P.S. - We have an all-store employee meeting at 6 a.m. tomorrow, so if my slap-happy butt posts something weird and random tomorrow, I'm putting total blame on Lowe's for making me be at work so early. Just sayin' )