Brance, Lauren & Haddie

I love bargain shopping.  Which is a good thing I guess, since we’re not exactly rolling in money, though certainly all of our needs are abundantly met.  I enjoy taking whatever money we have budgeted for particular things and making it go a long ways.

When I was a teenager this often resulted in me buying what my parents and I have since laughingly referred to as junk.  Of course, they weren’t that blunt back then.  But it is true,  I would excitedly come home from a shopping trip with a bag of clothes that more often than not didn’t fit, were damaged or just out and out ugly.  Sometimes it was a combination of all three.  I remember one pair of pants in particular that when I showed my parents, in spite of their best efforts, they could not hide their true feelings.  There is nothing nice to be said about a pair of bright lime green polyester pants, even if one did only pay three dollars for them.

I like to think that I’ve grown up a little since my teenage years and that I’m not so quick to buy something just because it is on sale, regardless of how cheap.  There has even been the rare occasion in my adult life where I’ve even paid full price for some article of clothing. Though I do hope that even if the Lord chose to “smite” me with money, as Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof so funnily desires, that I would still spend it as carefully as possible.

Brance kept Haddie for me this morning so that I could have a little break.  It was so cute, Haddie gave me a big kiss and waved goodbye  as she and her dad walked out thedoor this morning to run a few errands.  I hardly knew if I should smile or cry, she is growing up entirely too fast!  So while they were busy about their errands, I decided to visit a few stores kid-free, which makes shopping so much easier.  Peebles was having a good sale today which I happened upon by accident.  Brance is in desperate need of clothes (many of his shirts are wearing holes out in the elbows, not to mention the dated prints), so I ended up having him meet me there to try on a few things.

For $77 I was able to purchase 2 cotton women’s sweaters, 3 women’s summer tops and 6 men’s tops, all of which fit, aren’t damaged and are cute (at least I think so).