Garage Sale Mania!

Evan and Chelsea flew in from Chicago on Friday morning. We were trying to think up cheap entertainment for them while here, so we decided to hit up the neighborhood garage sales. At the first stop we found the prices to be unrealistic. The sign for childrens' clothes read: "All Outfits $6.00." If any of you regularly hit up the garage sales you know this is ridiculous. I told Chelsea to pick out the things she likes and take them to the owner and say, "Will you take $20.00 for this stack?" So she spent quite some time choosing what she liked and then she took my advice, and it worked like magic! Chelsea was in bargain heaven! She came home and tossed everything in the washer, then laid them out to revel in her frugality. A few hours later the owner of the garage sale (a neighbor) called us up and said, "Everyone has been telling us that our prices are too high, so we are lowering them. We just wanted to let your kids know, so if they want to come back everything is half off. Evan and Chelsea hopped in the car and went back, loading up their arms with what was still cute and name-brand items. Chelsea feeling more confident in the bartering process said, "Will you take $10.00 for all of these?" to which the woman replied. "No. You bought more than anyone else this morning, and you paid way too much for them, so you just go ahead and take them for free." When Chelsea came back home she was ecstatic! She threw the second batch in the wash, then laid them all out, and started singing happy songs and trying clothes on Emmy. "Oh Emmy, you are going to be the best-dressed girl in town!"

Saturday morning we were joined by Spencer and Karen. We knew that we needed to hit up the same garage sale and get the same deals for them. No sooner did we arrive at the garage sale we were greeted with, "Now everything has been marked down to .25 per item!" Karen loaded up her arms with name-brand goodies for her little boys. Baby Gap, Old Navy, Ralph Lauren, Children's Place, to name a few. We hit up a few other garage sales, and when everyone had spent their daily entertainment budget we went home to see who had scored the best deals. Here's our inventory of the purchases:

Spencer & Karen
7 button front shirts
12 short sleeve shirts
14 onesie shirts
10 long sleeve shirts
(that's 43 shirts in case you are calculating...)
3 (2 piece) outfits
8 jeans/cargo pants
9 pair shorts
9 pajamas
4 1/2 p.j. sets (one was missing a top after we got home)
3 hats
1 pair slippers
5 jackets
1 Baby Gap Coat
TOTAL COST = $29.00

Evan & Chelsea
21 children's books
3 pair shoes
18 dresses
1 skirt
16 blouses/tops
2 (one piece) outfits
1 swim suit
5 pants
2 sweaters
1 (4 piece)outfit with matching headband
1 (2 piece) outfit
6 sleepers
5 onesies
7 p.j. sets
7 pair tights
2 pair socks
6 hats
TOTAL COST = $22.50

Because Karen ended up paying $5.00 for the Baby Gap coat her total cost per piece was about .31. Evan and Chelsea win the prize as their total cost per piece was .20!

Yea! We love garage sales!