Today's Thrift Store Finds

We made it to our favorite thrift store today for Half Price Saturday and I was surprised to find that we were the only ones there since last month it was packed.... maybe because it was a beautiful day today and people were just out enjoying the sun... I dunno.... but it was great for us!

Cottage Thrift is located here in Lil Hicktown in a small old house.... so it gets crowed in there pretty easily. But I love this store! The prices are already awesome... $1 for pants and shirts... $2 for dresses and coats... the toys and books and other items are really cheap too... so it's like shopping a yard sale instead of a thrift store. And all of the proceeds go to a children's charity so that makes it even better :)

Steffie came out really well... as usual... with 5 games

A Barbie nightgown, Disney Princess PJ's, 2 pairs of pants, 2 shirts, a pair of socks...


A few assorted small bathtub toys and 5 books....


And 2 outfits for her dolls.... for some reason the pic won't show up... but they're cute lil sleepers. A strangely nice thing happened though... I told Steffie I was going to look at the games before we left.... they are up on a very high shelf above the clothing racks so they're not easy for her to see... I have to use a coat hanger to actually pull them down from the shelf... that's how high up they are (aren't I creative???lol) .... anyways... she said "will you get me a Strawberry Shortcake game?". I told her it wasn't likely that they would have one... I've never seen a Strawberry Shortcake board game. I get in there and look up.... and there on the shelf is a Strawberry Shortcake game! I couldn't believe it! I really don't think she saw it before or she would have been excited and asked me to get it down already. So how is that for asking and receiving???

I also got some goodies for the new Grandbaby coming in March....

Two heads up car seat covers... 2 blankets... 2 sleepers... a bib... and a hat...


3 onesies.... 4 shirts.... and 3 pairs of pants

Now I have to get it all washed up :)... I didn't find anything for myself this time but that's pretty normal and I really didn't need anything anyways... I need to clean out my closet!

The final cost of our lil shopping spree??? $12 !!!

A Lil Enchanted,
~LaShan~

It's Friday...

It's Friday and the weekend is here.... I don't have any plans except maybe hitting my favorite thrift store tomorrow... it's half price day :) I haven't been in there in quite awhile so a nice lil shopping spree would be great. Other than that the weekend will be just like any other day. Adrian will be working and Steff and I will be here doing what we do.

A Lil Enchanted,
~LaShan~

Wanna See What $2 Can Buy??

Steffie and I had a lil adventure today. We were heading out for our weekly trip to the library... and to go to Buddy Bear's Playhouse.... but when we got down to the corner I saw the sign! ... at our favorite thrift store that is ..... "BOX SALE". So we had to make a lil detour. The box sales usually consist of boxes set out in the yard that you sort through and you can fill up plastic grocery bags for $1.... lucky us!.... today it was .50 cents per bag! So here is what we got filling 4 bags....

Steffie's toy bag... she got 4 dolls (one sings Twinkle Twinkle Little Star)... a battery operated tricycle for her dolls... a stuffed My Little Pony... and a calculator.










And also for Steffie... a coat for this winter.... and another to grow into.... two pairs of jeans (one is LEI)... and outfit for her dolls... and some nice holiday fabric that I can use make her a dress or outfit.








For me.... a leather jacket... 2 sweaters... and a velvet blazer










And for the heck of it.... a game










We probably could have found more but it was in the 90's and just too hot to be out there any longer sorting through the 50+ boxes in the hot sun... but I think we did pretty good for $2!

We made our trip to the library and then she got to play at Buddy Bear's for $2... then we visited Daddy at work and I got her a Krystal Kid's Meal for $1... so we had a nice lil outting for $5

A Lil Enchanted,
~LaShan~

A Treasure Hunt....

On Friday morning I got detoured from the grocery shopping trip I had planned... but it was a good detour... to my favorite thrift store. It's called Cottage Treasures and it's in a lil house just down the street and around the corner from our house. Their prices are awesome! Shirts and Pants are $1... Dresses and Jackets are $2... and Coats are $3... books and videos are .50 - $1... and they also have toys and household items and electronics really cheap as well. I LOVE THIS STORE! It's what a thrift store should be! And the proceeds go to a children's home.

They had told me the previous weekend that they were having a yard sale but I totally forgot. So I was driving by (just happened to need to go to the post office so I had to drive past it)... and I saw the boxes sitting outside. When they have a yard sale they put out boxes and you can fill a plastic grocery bag up for $1. I was there for 2 hours and filled 9 bags!

Steffie filled a bag with toys... and played with other kids who were there with their Moms. This kept her busy while I rummaged through the boxes. It was sooo hot and I didn't have any water with me since I had forgotten about the sale... so we were very unprepared. I over heat very easily... and by the time we left my face was as red as a Valentine heart and I thought I was going to pass out or throw up or both. But I managed to do neither... and made it home to cool off with ice packs.. cold water... and cool air. Not having eaten breakfast didn't help the situation either... so after we cooled off we had a girly lunch at Krystal.... they have .99 kids meals! If you don't know what Krystal is you can check it out here Krystal I love my Krystals! We did eventually make it to the grocery store but we found so many awesome bargains at the thrift store yard sale... OMG!

Steffie is currently wearing size 3T and 4T... and she really doesn't need any clothes for now... she has a closet full... so I was focused on buying for the next two years. I buy ahead when I find cute clothes really cheap and put them away for her to grow into. I've always done this with my kids... and let me tell you it's great when your kids outgrow their clothes and you're flat broke... and you go take a box out of the closet and TA DA!.... they have clothes that fit! I wash the clothes and pack them into boxes according to size and season (Diaper boxes are great for this!)and I write it on the box so all I have to do is pull the box and unpack it and we're all set.

Here is what I got for my $9 !

For Steffie















1 bag of assorted toys
3 pairs of 3T shorts
3 Pairs of 3T Pants
3 3T summer shirts
1 3T nightgown















20 Size 5 winter shirts
7 Size 5 summer shirts
5 pairs of jeans Size 5
3 pairs of other pants Size 5
6 pairs of shorts Size 5
5 pairs of PJ's Size 4/5
1 dresses size 5
2 sets of winter hats and gloves















10 Size 6 winter shirts
2 pairs of jeans Size 6
2 pairs of other pants Size 6
2 pairs of shorts Size 6
2 pairs of PJ's Size 6
2 dresses Size 6
2 leotards Size 6
1 swimsuit Size 6
4 winter shirts Size 7
2 pairs of jeans Size 7

Now keep in mind that some of these clothes were from Gap, Old Navy and the Children's Place and some looked brand new!

For Sarah




















1 broomstick skirt
1 pair corduroys
1 halter top
2 belts
1 AWESOME pair of Boots!

For Adrian




















1 pair of navy pants
1 thick fleece pullover

For Hannah (my daughter- in- law)




















1 summer shirt
2 pairs of black pants
(one still had price tag of $35!)
1 AMAZING skirt! ( I wanted this sooo bad... it's a size 2! LOL... would probably fit on one leg!)

When I run across these bag sales I buy for everyone... if I see something someone would like and it's their size... I stuff it in a bag! So my family never knows what I'll bring them... lol

For Me




















3 pairs of black pants
1 broomstick skirt
1 winter sweater
2 summer shirts
1 pair of sandals

Not too bad for $9 and 2 hours in the hot sun huh?! I get such a rush when I find bargains like these! I'm sure I left a few items out... there was so much and we started going through it and sorting it out immediately. I got it all washed yesterday and finished packing it up today.




















~A Lil Enchanted~

Positive Changes In The Air...

I have to apologize for not posting more often and for slacking in dropping my Entrecards. I've been really busy lately and haven't had much time to spend on my computer. But it's all good.... we're going through a lot of positive changes and I just haven't had the time to post about everything because it's all happening so fast and keeping me busy.

One positive change is Adrian's new job. He's going into his 3rd week of Management training with his new company and will be getting his first paycheck with his salary increase next week. @@@@WhooooHoooo!!!@@@@ This past year has been a year from hell.... this time last year he had lost his job and was just starting with a new company taking a huge pay cut.... but hey... any job is better than no job... right???

We were literally days before having our home foreclosed on and we were selling everything we had that anyone wanted to buy trying to just keep our home and not become homeless. We managed to save our home.... but this whole year has been a struggle... we had to cut off our cell phones... and were without any phone for a couple of months. We cut anything and everything not essential to survival except our cable... it was our only remaining luxury.... but we did cut our service in about half to reduce the bill. We had to go from 2 cars to one... which has left me pretty much stuck at home while he's at work. It's been hard to keep gas in the car and food on the table... we've had to deem certain food items as luxuries... and I'm not talking about steak... that was a luxury before... I'm talking about chips and other snacks... fruits unless they were on sale really cheap.... things most people take for granted. I've even skipped meals to save food for the rest of the family.

So I'm happy to say that even though we won't be living in the lap of luxury... or probably what others even consider expected comfort... we will be living in more comfort than we have in the past year. And we finally did get our income tax refund! First though... we had to pay taxes with it... our property tax that was due in December and we didn't have the money to pay (who the heck thought it was a good idea to make property taxes due on Dec 20th?????.... obviously someone who has never had to worry about money!.... Thank you State of Georgia! Merry Christmas to you too...)and then our GA Income Tax that we owed because they didn't take enough out of the paycheck... again... Thank you state of Georgia! (Oh here in Georgia we also get to buy our car tags for our birthday! Happy Birthday to us!)But at least we were finally able to pay Georgia all the tax money we owed them.

Then we bought Adrian a car to drive to work. We paid $700 for a Ford Escort that is a POS but it has a good motor and transmission and will be cheap on gas. And I get my Van back!!! @@@@Whooo Hooo!!!!@@@@@ It needs about $150 of work done on it but it's drivable until we can do that in the next couple of weeks. We also had to get my brakes done and oil changed on the van.... we've had to put this off for a year... it was car maintenance or food... so we had to go with food. So I'm really glad to have my van back... it needs a good cleaning which it will also get in the next couple of weeks.

We plan to keep our monthly expenses down and not add new bills... our cable service will remain at the level it is now... we don't miss what we cut from it and really like not paying $180 a month for cable. I'll keep shopping at yard sales and thrift stores... and clearance racks.... which I've always done... it's a hobby... and I just love finding bargains. We'll keep shopping for groceries at Aldi and Dollar General and the sales flyers from other stores (we've always done that as well) and we'll keep our grocery spending down but I'm sure we'll enjoy a few more of the items we had to deem as luxuries. So I'm really happy to be living a bit more comfortably and with more freedom to come and go.

We're getting Sarah ready for her American Idol audition trip. And my son Jordan is probably moving back in ... he's been living with his twin brother Justin and his wife since he got divorced from his own wife back in the fall. He wants to move back in for a few months to save money for his own apartment. So I spent the day yesterday cleaning my stuff out of his old room... it was going to be my craft room... I have tons of craft supplies and Holiday decorations.

I'll post about our other changes and exciting things coming up later : )

~A Lil Enchanted~