the dahlbys: 'Tis the Season

(To the tune of a very famous Christmas carol)

‘Tis the season to go shopping
Buy buy buy buy buy, buy buy buy buy
Oh how I love consignment sale hopping
Buy buy buy buy buy, buy buy buy buy

Slightly worn but what a deal - O!
Buy buy buy, buy buy buy
Buy buy buy
Meg’s closet might bust it’s seams – O!
Buy buy buy buy, buy buy buy buy

It is a twice annual extravaganza around here . . . the local sundry consignment sales. Hosted by churches, neighborhoods, and entrepreneurial moms, these sales promise great deals on gently used children’s items. Clothes, toys, baby gear – you name it, they sell it. I even saw someone reselling plasic baskets at a sale this week – like the kind you took into the shower with you in your college dorm. Hey, whatever sells.

I’ve become quite a fanatic about these. Of course I don’t just buy anything – oh no, I’m picky – but I will go to just a

bout any sale to search for those precious few items. Far or near, I’m there if the buying is good. I always ask Jim if he’s upset about the money I spend at these sales, and he always replies by telling me that he would much prefer me to spend $75.00 on a dozen outfits than to bust out that kind of cash for 2 or 3 things.

Consignment sales are SO much fun. Most of them are run by volunteers, and if you volunteer to work you are appropriately rewarded with the ability to shop the night before the general public. If you sell your items at a sale, you are also granted this (fabulous) privilege. I do both. Sell and work, depending on the sale . . . I LOVE to shop early. Come on – when can you get the best stuff? When is inventory at its peak? The night before the sale officially begins, of course!

This season – barring in mind that we are spending as much as a very nice, brand new, fully loaded CAR (or SUV) on the basement project – I’ve limited myself to just $200.00 TOTAL across all the sales I visit. That’s not much -- $200 across 7 or 8 different consignment sales. But, I know Meg needs only a few things for her summer wardrobe and Kate really needs nothing (except BIBS, BURP CLOTHS, BATH TOWELS, WASHCLOTHS, and DIAPERS, if you were wondering). I’m being good and keeping the spending under control (at least I’m trying to be good).

Two sales into the season – plus the stop at Chocolate Soup this weekend, which I factored into my budget because it WAS clothing – I’m at a total of $110.00 spent. Yikes. That has forced me to really rethink my strategy. Do I need to go to ALL the sales? No, probably not. There are two more good ones this week that I will enjoy, and that will be that. Unless I happen to have any money left, those will probably be my last two opportunities to fish through the racks and find the gems that will become staples of our summer attire.

Tis the season for consignment sale shopping. Somebody stop me before I start looking I the 3T and 4T racks “just in case they have something super cute for next year . . .”