Thrifting or Bust!

As promised, I went thrifting on Saturday with my mama and Turner.  The main goal was to get 9 month clothes for Tu, and maybe some other goodies for the house if I found any (we needed an outdoor rug desperately…if you can need an outdoor rug desperately).

We started out at a thrift shop in a small town.  We confused consignment shop with thrift shop.  This particular thrift shop would take ANYTHING.  I saw half empty bottles of shampoo for sale.  I did get a potato masher for $1, so I call it a win.  The place was more fun for the people-watching.  Zach and I have been watching Big Love (HBO show about polygamy), and I felt like I was in the show!  Potato masher and an experience?  I’ll take it.

Second stop was Castaways Consignment in Washington.  I was much underwhelmed.  I was half looking for a pair of jeans, but they didn’t have any long lengths in my size.  Also missing were any 9 month clothes for Tu.  I found exactly 2 items that were 6-12 months.  After I left, I realize I paid $7 for each item.  A little (A LOT!) ridiculous for second hand.  I am not proud of that.  I was just so excited to find something!

Third on the list was a new consignment shop in Washington, called New 4 You.  The store carries new accessories.  It’s smaller than Castaways, but I really liked the décor.  They only have women’s clothes and accessories, and this mama found a super cute scarf for $5 and it was new!   I tried on a pair of jeans, but tiny back pockets on a big butt look like regular sized pockets on a huge butt.  NO THANK YOU.

After New 4 You, we went to Peoria.  I’ve heard good things about Wee Wares from several people, and it was a success!  Tu got three pairs of shoes, a dress, and two pairs of shorts.  All this was only $27 including one pair of shoes were StrideRite, which are not cheap new.  Again, we had a lot of trouble finding 9 month clothes, but what we did find was good.

Even though Wee Wares was better than the other consignment/thrift shops, I still didn’t have enough to outfit Tu for the spring.  Target just so happens to be just down the road from Wee Wares.  Jackpot!  Well, “jackpot” might be a little overkill.  Does everyone have a baby in 9 month clothes right now, or do they just not stock as much?  Either way, I decided the way to go was comfy.  I got a bunch of onesies and cotton pants.  She even got a bicycle onesie for PawPaw Brian (he’s a big time bike rider)!  I also got an outdoor rug at the Target.  They had almost all of their Threshold outdoor rugs on “clearance”.  Sidebar;  .99 off $12.99 is not a clearance.  $6 off $12.99 is a clearance.  Naturally, I chose the only one not on clearance, but the extra .99 didn’t hurt too badly.  Last on the list was formula (we are so lucky that we had the most luck with the Up&Up brand of soy formula since it’s half the price!).  Out the door, I was $138 poorer.  

So, I failed at the second hand shopping game; bust.  Do you have any tips?  I’m excited for garage sale season.  .50 is more my style than $7 for second hand.   

In Love with a Shark

Sorry I’ve been slacking with the blog posts.  I’ve been busy VACUUMING!!!  We bought our new Shark Navigator Lift-Away Pro on Sunday.  I shopped around, and we ended up going to Wal-Mart (not my favorite place, but they did have the best buy this time).  

This is really the first time I’ve looked for the best price.  Usually I’m all about the convenience factor.  If I’m at Target, and what I want is at Target, I get it at Target.  I checked online retailers as well as brick-and-mortar stores.  Wal-Mart was the lucky winner.

Since Turner was a little fussy, the Shark even got to ride shotgun home (I ride in the back when she decides to fuss, so our car ride home is more pleasant).   For ease of assembly, I give Shark 5 stars!  My stubborn nature usually doesn’t include following directions, and I didn’t need them!  Everything snapped right together.  Before I knew it, Shark was practically pulling me across the living room.  The brushes are strong, so hardly any pushing is necessary.  It also has some handy tools:

• Pet hair attachment.  We don’t have a pet, but it’s great on the couch.  
• Crevice Tool.  I have every intention to use this… I did notice it has some vents toward the top, so it won’t suction to EVERYTHING.  I hate the sound the vacuum makes when that happens.  I’m afraid it will explode.
• Hard floor attachment.  Oh man, this is amazing.  It’s a brush-free vacuum head with a washable, “Swiffer Duster”-like cloth that attaches behind it.  What the vacuum doesn’t suck up, the cloth catches.  Simply wonderful.  You actually detach the regular carpet vacuum head and attach the hard floor head to the wand.  Blew my mind.  

Sharkclean.com has some other attachments (hello vacuum-under-appliances tool!), but we’re good with these for the moment.  

The “Lift-Away” part happens when you lift the canister and motor off, so you can just carry that where you need to go.  If you need to get something up by the ceiling, you can lift it right up there.  My biggest beef (should I say tofu since I’m vegetarian?) with my old vacuums was that the wand was a nightmare to get more than two feet from the vacuum.  I’m glad to say it is no longer an issue.  I think I’ll vacuum tonight!

P.S. Zach just vacuumed with the old vacuum last Tuesday, and I picked up so much just 5 days later with Shark!  The dirt and dust reached the fill line.  I’m so glad we got this before Turner’s crawling days!

All in the Name of Research

Let me just push my glasses up on my nose here… Alright.  

A couple months back, the vacuum crapped out on Zach and me.  I’m not even sure what brand it is.  All I know is after two and a half years it’s dunzo.  Luckily, Tutu is not mobile just yet, but that day is approaching quickly.  We decided to use part of our tax return to buy a new one.  Zach set a limit of $200.  It’s a good thing I have him around, because I was all set to blow a huge chunk of money on a Dyson.  I wanted to find concrete evidence (via customer reviews) that a Dyson was not the best.  So, to the Google I went.  I found a website that ranked the best vacuums of 2013 (the models that are currently out), and Dyson was not top dog!  I couldn’t believe it.  

Shark is now top…fish?  My mama got a Shark Rocket (it is a stick vacuum with a small canister at the top) and loves it.  I’m not sure it would suit our needs, though.  1) She is much better about regularly vacuuming than Zach and me, and 2) she has mostly hardwood to vacuum.  Our house has three rooms on the main floor and an entire second floor with new carpet.  New carpet=lots ‘o fuzzies.  I’m afraid I would be emptying that little canister after each room.  No bueno.  I’m already reluctant to clean, so I don’t need extra obstacles.  On Amazon, you can sort your search results by highest average customer rating, and Shark Navigator Lift-Away Professional Upright was number one.  This matched the results of the website I saw before.  Oh, and did I mention it is only $199?!  Winner!

Since I decided the Shark and I could be very happy together, it was time to comparison shop.  I looked at Amazon (since I was already there), Target (some great sales on vacuums right now!), Bed Bath & Beyond (since they almost always have a 20% off coupon), and Walmart (I don’t like to shop there unless I have to, but I do make exceptions).  It pains me to say it, but Walmart had the lowest price.  They have it listed for $178, and it’s in stock at my local store.  They had an interesting offer as well.  If you got the Shark, you could choose a hand-vac or steam mop for just $30 more.  Guess which girl’s mama needs a steam mop!  This one’s mama!  That steam mop is usually $60.  So, even though a BB&B coupon would make it $160ish there, the $30 steam mop is too good of a deal.  

I promise to report back once we’ve used the new bad boy a few times.  I’m hoping to be so excited that I can’t help but write a post all about it! Keep your fingers crossed!

Duh na…..duh na….. duh na duh na DUHNADUHNADUHNA!!!! (Jaws theme…)