The Other Side of the Coin

For the past few weeks, I have been preparing items to sell in an upcoming consignment sale. I will be on the other side of the consignment sale for a change. My husband says I will probably make enough to cover all I have spent in all of the consignment sales for the month. So far, I have only spent about $25 if you do not include the $8 I paid for babysitting. I sure hope I make that much.

Because I am obsessed with the thrift store, ok not obsessed, but I do go there every week at least once. I pick up things that are good deals thinking that I may resell them at a later date. I tried to sell directly to the used kid toy/clothing retail store but was really unhappy with the return on those items. (although the maternity stuff did well). So needless to say, I have a lot of items that I can consign to the upcoming sale. There is a limit of 200 items and I plan on meeting that limit.

I have been pricing items about 1/3 of the retail price or the price I find on the internet which could also be an ebay price. Surprisingly, the toys are priced much higher. I really hope that the toy items will still sell. But I have some great brands such at Fisher Price Little People and Playmobil.

In order to rake in the most money, you have to volunteer some time to the sale either before or during to receive the highest percentage. So I will be volunteering as a cashier during the sale. This way I will be able to see what sells and what does not. I have chosen to have my items returned to me as opposed to donating them with the exception of a few items. This way I can try to sell them again in March during the next consignment sale season.

I have about 130 items ready to go and went through the remaining items and have more than 200 so I will combine some books together so I can meet the 200 maximum.

Make Plans Make Dinner

My husband takes for granted my planning and shopping for meals and food. He is always surprised to find that other people do not plan or shop in the manner in which I do. Every week, I decide on 4-6 meals that I will prepare for the week. I try to have a couple chicken, a "beef", a fish or seafood, and a vegetarian one. From the recipes, I draw up a list of what I need to make each meal and then add the other items we need onto the list. I then consult the Internet sites to see what good coupon match-ups are at the grocery store as well as at the drug stores.

This is nice because I don't have to worry "what's for dinner?" I just choose from the list, this makes it a lot easier especially if it happens to be a day that I am working. Another way I save time preparing dinner is I have cooked, sliced chicken in the freezer that I can pull out that morning for any recipe that calls for cooked chicken.

I guess I am a planner, I mean I am a planner. If you want to save money- you have to be able to plan your shopping and meals otherwise you can't save money.

Game Face

The other day I was talking to my husband about the upcoming consignment sale season in town. For the last 3 years, I have attended a local consignment sale every weekend during the month of September. The first year it was no problem, as I was not leaving behind a little one for him to watch over. After my daughter was born, I would reserve every Saturday morning during the month for the sales and would discuss and negotiate my going to the sales by myself.

So I was telling him about the upcoming sales and describing each one to him, which ones were well priced and which ones were more expensive and my theory on why. I am also going to be a consigner this year, so I will get to shop early for one sale. Unfortunately, the other great sale in town is on the same day and in order to make the most money from my consignments, I need to volunteer during the sale so I can not make it to both. But will still have at least one sale per weekend to attend.

Some friends and family have mentioned going with me to the sales. I do not mind going with someone else, I rather enjoy it BUT they need to know that there is the everyday me and then there is the bargain shopper me. These are two different people!

For certain sales, I like to be there when they open especially if I am looking for something specific such as this spring when I was looking for a toddler bed. This requires arriving at the sale location at 8 am! Other sales, I am a little more lax about and can arrive later or may even prefer to attend the afternoon half-off sale. Because I am not looking for a lot of stuff this year, I am only planning on going to one sale right when they open.

Because of my "extensive" thrift store knowledge - I am not willing to pay high prices for certain items. I will pay more for barely worn shoes (toddler sizes) and pajamas as these are not easy to find at the thrift store. Because I do not purchase my daughter's clothing in retail stores, I am totally unaware of the "going prices" for clothing. I mean $12 for a shirt? On a good day at the thrift store, I could get 8 pieces of clothing and a few books for that!

So I am willing to go to consignment sales with others, but I have a playbook for how I move through the sale. If I arrive early, I do not waste my time looking at the clothing, I go straight to the big stuff and toys. I search for diaper genie refills, Dora toys and this year I will include anything Mermaid or Princess. Once I have thoroughly searched through those areas I will backtrack and go to look at the shoes and clothing. This is not your ordinary day at the mall-- this is consignment sale season!

2T or Not 2T

When I was a child, the changing of the season signaled the day in which I would have to try on every item in my closet and parade them in front of my mother. My mother would inspect each piece of clothing making sure it fit and was in good shape. She would pull out the hand-me-downs I'd received from my sister, cousin, and neighbors and have me try on all of those clothes as well. After the pile had been sorted through my mother would go back through the clothes and evaluate what was left. She would draw up a list of items that I needed. The list would look something like this: 1 blue turtleneck, a red sweater, 1 pair blue jeans, brown corduroys, green long sleeved shirt and socks.

I never thought anything of this process that we would endure twice a year at the change of the season, except that I dreaded it. At the end of the process and a few shopping trips, I would have a complete wardrobe that consisted of several outfits but that was also fully coordinated. I could wear any number of shirts with a particular skirt that also matched several pairs of pants. I grew up thinking that everyone did this.

By the time I reached high school I was evaluating my closet by myself. When I went to college I found out that not everyone evaluated their clothing this way. I was so surprised when my friend fell in love with a skirt and took it back to our apartment only to find she did not have something to wear with it! I had learned to review my closet choices in my head before making any purchase!

When it came time to purchase a work wardrobe, I developed color schemes that every piece I purchased would have to match. I had a red-black-grey and orange-green-brown, if I kept these color schemes in mind when purchasing, everything I bought would be interchangeable.

So now I am evaluating my daughter's fall wardrobe. This fall she will begin wearing one size and probably grow into another by the end of the season. Because she is 2 1/2, I know I will not be able to have her try on all of her 2T clothes to see what can be worn this fall. So I will have to put all of the clothes in her closet and learn by trial and error. Fortunately, I also have purchased some 3T clothing at the thrift store and have a few hand-me-downs. So I will use both sizes and just put things aside as I realize she has outgrown them.

I did however, analyze her clothing and put outfits together to see what she has for the season. I came up with my own list of items to pick up at the fall consignment sales: black turtleneck, red turtleneck, white turtleneck, red tights, light pink long sleeved shirt, and a black cardigan.

I know that with those few items she will have a complete fall wardrobe whether in 2T or 3T and that every skirt or pant choice has at least one matching top to go with it!

A Stranger in my Kitchen

Over the past week, I've been on limited duty - not quite bed rest, but not active duty. It brought back a memory of my mother-in-law (MIL). She died shortly after we were married but the short relationship I had with her made a mark and I often think of her and the struggle she endured. On one visit she was confined to the bed. All through her marriage she had cooked spaghetti with meat sauce for her husband on Monday nights.

We happened to be visiting on a Monday and I offered to make the spaghetti dinner. With my MIL upstairs in bed, she directed me on how to make her spaghetti sauce. She told me which dish to use for each step, how much of each spice to use as well as where everything was located.

Fast foward to this week. As I was resting in bed or on the couch, I watched as my husband cared for our daughter and prepared meals for us. I tried my best to bite my tongue and let him do it his way because he knows what he is doing.

So why do I feel the need to walk him through everything?