Second Hand

Why didn't I think of this before?

If you have kids, you know how quickly they grow out of their clothes.  It is so annoying to have to spend good money on clothes that you know will not last (especially as there is only so much unisex stuff I can buy the babe).  I pretty much buy the kids stuff at Target, Costco, and the occasional outlet mall, but I still find I spend more than I'd like to.  Honestly, I'd prefer to spend it on clothes for me that will last for years to come (because, as I've admitted before, I can be selfish at times).

So, when I stumbled upon a second hand store having a 50% off sale, I quickly realized how much I could be saving if I made this part of my regular shopping pattern.  The little guy and I were stranded in the way out suburbs of Northern Virginia having the oil changed and tires rotated on our car yesterday.  After grabbing an iced coffee (for me, not my son), we made our way over to a depressing and run down mini mall.  I didn't have very high expectations.  Boy, was I wrong.

We made our way into this second hand store with trepidation.  But once I got into the kids clothing section, I started grabbing stuff and piling it on top of the stroller.  I was getting brand name clothes which had barely been used for ridiculous prices like $1.25 for LL Bean snow pants, $4.00 for a fall jacket, $2.00 for Polo dress shirts.  It was crazy!  I ended up spending $27 and getting 15 items.

Second hand shopping certainly worked out for me this time.  The fact that the store benefits a shelter for victims of domestic violence made the experience even more worthwhile.  If they had a website, I'd include it.

Not sure if I can make the ridiculously long drive out to this store with any frequency, but I'll certainly be looking into what is going on closer to home.