$4.50 Say What??!!!

It's been a couple weeks since I've posted, not because I've been working on some deep well-thought out blog piece , but because I've been mouse hunting, or more accurately, mouse avoiding. Our house was built in 1924, so has the predictable nooks and crannies that are perfect for the little critters to sneak into when the weather turns cold. What most houses lack that ours generously provided until last week, was a mostly unused bag of dry cat food forgotten by its owners in a dark corner of the basement. We'd been confused in the last few weeks because we kept hearing mice in the floor radiators (charming, I know) but not finding droppings anywhere and couldn't figure out how these mice were feeding themselves if they weren't trying to pillage the kitchen or visiting the traps we set out . Well - mystery solved. Not only did we find the food source, we found about 1,000 pieces of mouse poop. On the positive side, my house is cleaner than its ever been because of how truly horrified I was to discover we'd had multiple roommates I didn't know about. The downside is that every time a radiator creaks I jump out of my skin. I also generally avoid coming downstairs after the kids are asleep (which means no blog writing) lest I see one of the little devils. We're hoping to evict the last of our tenants in the next few days and hopefully my blood pressure and attention span will then return to normal.

Back to this long promised post though. Consignment, why aren't we all doing it all of the time? Truthfully, I didn't get into shopping consignment for my kids until we had O and I was only working three days a week, which allowed me to spend a little time in brick and mortar stores. Anyway, the amount of clothes that two little people required and then promptly outgrew every three months was beginning to make my head spin a little. Also, having two kids prompted me to start thinking a bit more about the environment and what a strain my little nuclear family was putting on it through our consumption habits. (I always donate the kids' clothes if I don't sell it, but I was more concerned with how much new stuff we were purchasing, which obviously requires manufacturing and shipping etc.)

It was my nanny who told me about a store in my area called Once Upon a Child, that not only sold secondhand kids' stuff, but also bought it on the spot. My budget-loving self was more excited about this than a trip to Ikea (man do I love me some Ikea). Truth be told, consignment shopping takes a bit of patience and sometimes a strong stomach (you gotta smell the coats and shoes you buy, y'all) but for the most part, especially if you go to a well maintained store, finding deals is easier than getting your toddler to eat an old cheerio off the floor (so easy). Also, if you don't have time to shop in person, there's always sites like Thredup, which sells consignment online. By way of example, I picked up the above beauties for J for $4.50. These boots are Totes and would have easily cost $25 to $40 in store or on Amazon. I also got O's boots for $3.50 and his winter coat for $6.00. These savings alone cover my Starbucks habit for a month. In short, what are you waiting for?