Plan of Attack

We all know I like a good bargain. Well, I more than “like” a good bargain… I stalk something until I find the best deal and then I jump on it like a spear wielding warrior and claim it for my own!

Since I also happen to hate clutter, I work really hard to keep my bargain buying under control. It’s great to get a good deal, but if you don’t actually need the thing in the first place you didn’t REALLY get that good of a deal, did you?

With baby stuff, it is easy to become buried in baby clutter so I’m extra careful to not buy things that we don’t need. I was really lucky to receive a bunch of things handed down from friends and family and will be returning them or passing them on as soon as we’re finished using them.

Since Jack is a growing boy, whenever I see something cute in the clearance section I grab it up and put it in a drawer for later. This works especially well at Target, where I find adorable shirts for $1.50 each. However, at the rate my little butterball is growing I’m going to need more clothes stat.

So in that ‘totally great timing’ kind of way, I just heard about Tot Swap and can’t wait to go! In a nutshell, Tot Swap is like a children’s yard sale on crack. It’s a huge consignment event that is held in four different locations around Maryland. Of course, I missed the one closest to me, but there is one being held in Gaithersburg later this week.

I don’t have enough stuff to consign myself (and I’ll probably just end up giving most of my stuff to friends anyways), but I am super excited to go to the sale to stock up. Apparently they have everything from children’s clothing to outdoor play equipment, so I’m sure I’ll find everything I want and more.

Which brings us to the point of this post – if there is everything I want and more, how do I keep from going into a deal buying frenzy and bringing home a ton of crap that I don’t really need?

My plan is to write down a list of things that I ACTUALLY NEED for Jack and try to stick to it. I’m also taking my awesome friend, Lindsay to keep me in line. Of course, that will probably backfire and the two of us (with my baby strapped to my chest) will probably run around squealing about how cute the clothes are and buy 10 times what we need.

So, I’ll let you grade me. Here’s what I think I need:

• Little boy clothes 6 month – 12 month sizes. Nothing bigger at this time, since I’m not entirely sure how quick Jack will grow.
• An activity gym toy thingie to keep at my mom’s house (we have one at home that a friend gave us and he LOVES it).
• Any type of cheap organizing boxes or baskets – I could totally use this in other areas of the house.
• A few toys for the crawling-to-walking upright stage – maybe 1 – 2 for my house and 1 – 2 for my parent’s house.
• Books. You can never have enough books!
• Childproofing stuff – mainly outlet covers.

I’m going to the sale on Friday and I’m going to try really hard to stick to my list. I’ll report back and let you know how it goes.

I do have a task for you – am I missing anything?

Jack is currently 4ish months old, so any suggestions for “must haves” that I’ll need for a baby between the ages of 5 months – 1 year would be appreciated! Leave me a comment here, on my facebook page or tweet me @JoulesDellinger.