"How do you do it?" My shopping secrets...

Since my little family is all tucked in bed, and it is only 7:30 at night, I thought I would write a blog that i keep meaning to write. I am glad that Jason can home and crashed since he has been working 80 hour weeks recently.

Anyway...So, I get asked all the time how I manage to find such cute little boy clothes, how i afford to dress Brayden like a little baby gap model, Where i shop, etc., etc. We can't go anywhere without people commenting on Brayden's clothes or how cute he is. I know people are suckers for babies but sometimes it gets a little extreme. For the most part, I get a kick out of watching peoples reaction to Brayden. They always come up to look at him and comment on how cute he is and on cue, he flashes a huge smile and tries to say a few words and leaves everyone oohhing and awwing. I just get a kick out of it and stand ther and think, "It's only a baby people." haha. Brayden is such a ladies man already! But all in all people are so sweet to Brayden and I.I don't think that I dress Brayden all that well. Somedays he just sports a onsie or his diaper since his favorite outfit is his birthday suit. I don't really care about clothes brands. I just like Brayden to look cute. I have no biased between walmart, gap, or any other brands.

So, when Brayden was born, Jason and I made a deal that I could dress our children if I didn't try and dress him. DEAL!

Of course I love shopping but i don't do it so much for me these days. I actually can't remember the last time i bought clothes for me..its been months! I do most of my limited shopping for Brayden these days since the kid is growing like a weed and grows out of everything left and right.

So where do I shop for Brayden? Gap? Gymboree? Polo? Nope. I get 99% of his clothes at thrift stores! Yep that's right. Thrift stores! I know some people have issues against that but i don't. You save so much money. So here is the awaited secrets to finding terrific clothes at thrift stores...

1. Good Will and Salvation Army are great. The DI in Utah dosn't work for this plan. Salvation Army is generally cheaper than Good Will. Consignment stores generally dont give you great deals on clothes only toys and books.

2. You don't have to get anything that is worn out or stained or has holes or a problem. Just get clothes that look brand new and lots of times there is clothes that are brand new with tags still on them! Infant clotehs are great to buy at places like these since they grow so quick and generally they are in terrific condition!

3. Location, location, location! Thrift stores in lower income areas are not going to have great stuff. Find thrift stores in upscale neighboorhoods and cities. Generally, people that have more money don't mind paying full price for expensive clothes. They then donate it and you buy it! I have found terrific stores all over the country...california, atlanta, and hawaii. You just have to try a couple stores to find which ones tend to have the newer more upscale clothes.

4. Take advatage of the sales. This means that on all holidays there is a 50% off all apparel sales. So clothes that are 1$ or 2$ are half that! What a bargin!

5. Go about once a month to see what new donations came in.

I also love Target's 75% off clothes rack. You can get clothes really cheap then too.

And the biggest rule to live by...DON'T BUY CLOTHES AT FULL PRICE! IT ISN'T WORTH IT! (ok somethings are worth full price but the majority of stuff isn't)

Here are some of my best buys recently:
-3 brand new old navey parkas for Brayden at
.75 cents each. I stocked up for the years to come. I couldn't pass up some great deals!
-20 pieces of Baby Gap clothes for 10$...5 of which still had tags on them..anyone wanting to know of a great thift store that is a designer baby meca of a thrift store in atlanta let me know!

So there is it is...my big secret...my child may look like he dresses good but he looks good for less. Take it for what it's worth...Even though I may not think he dresses all that cute i still love a great bargin!
there you go...you have some of secrets now.Have fun shoppers!