A Mom's Bargain-Hunting Bliss

I love a good sale. I love the hunt of a good sale; I love the excitement and the “Noooo way….YES!” emotions that overtake me when I find an incredible steal of a deal for me and my family. Yesterday I felt like a high-roller winner in Vegas. It was that good. I woke up in the morning to discover I didn’t win the $640 million lottery jackpot, but I enjoyed quite a bargain jackpot of my own.

It all started when I checked the East Greenwich Patch "Five Things You Need to Know Today" section. Listed at 9 a.m. was the semi-annual clothing sale at the Unitarian Church on Kenyon Road. It was the final sale day — stuff all the clothing you can in a bag for $5. Usually I’d be a bit skeptical, figuring there would only be scraps left and nothing in the correct sizes. I decided to take a chance.

Jackpot! This began what was a day of bargains galore. I spent $10 total for two bags stuffed full of clothing items. Each piece cost me a whopping .48 cents.  I hauled out brand names like Children’s Place, Old Navy, Nine West, Calvin Klein, and Justice for me and the kids. Some will be put away until my girls grow into them; some were gobbled up by my mother-in-law and some I can donate to friends. I was on a roll.

Next stop was Flip Boutique, a trendy women’s consignment shop in West Warwick. They were sponsoring an Easter event with two other businesses to
benefit Easter Seals of R.I. Flip Boutique was running a promotion with certain
tagged items for $5 each. I stopped in to check it out and scored a trendy spring outfit for a fraction of the original retail price. A Bebe brand tunic with on-trend colors of tangerine and pink in a Tory Burch-esque print and a cute "The Sak" handbag in pink. My grand total was $10. The bargain gods were smiling on me and I wanted to roll the dice again for one more steal of a deal.

My final stop is certainly hit or miss. But in the past I’ve scored some terrific deals at the North Kingstown Salvation Army. Don’t believe it? How about a Combi stroller in excellent condition for only $30? J Crew white pants for $2 or Lucky brand jeans for .99 cents? I’m fond of buying jeans here — hey, I’m a mom with two pairs of little messy kid hands on me. My youngest is in the habit of using my pants as her personal napkin. For $2 a pair I don’t care what she wipes on my jeans. Some trips yield nothing but today, well, like I wrote, the bargain gods were smiling on me. Four pair of pants cost me $4. I bought Ann Taylor Loft jeans that fit perfectly, Banana Republic brown dress pants, Old Navy pants and Ralph Lauren preppy capris, all in my size.

To cap the weekend of bargains, my husband called and said he found the exact style of dining room chairs I’d been searching for for over a year ... at Building 19 and they’re $40 each. All I can say is, “Vegas, baby, Vegas!”