Shopping Options

I'm not a big shopper. I really just don't like it. {Gasp!} I have so many memories of shopping with my mom, sitting under the circular clothes racks and praying I would hear her say, "Lets go, girls!" BUT I have learned some valuable lessons from my mom.

• Go straight to the back of the store, that's where the deals are.
  
• Wait for the BIG sales. You'll see in the paper something like 40% off clearance before 10am
• Go early, get a lot, go home and sort, go back and return.
• Shop out of season and save it for next year. This requires a lot of thinking about what size your kids will be or what size you hope to be yourself...but its so worth it!

Now, my mom does NOT like online shopping (in general). But I think, if done right, its amazing! Today I went to The Children's Place and got TONS of stuff for next summer. They are having their "monster sale". Plus I found a coupon code (it was: FA79) and got an additional 15% off. Shipping was only $5. I also didn't pay more than $7 for a single item.

I went to a huge local consignment sale today with my friend. I saw a bunch of gals from church there also. It was the last day and most stuff was 1/2 off. Now, I know that there was a huge, amazing collection at the beginning of the sale. I had an opportunity to go early as a guest of a consignor (Thanks Megan!) and I probably should have gone then. I didn't find anything to speak of really today. There was still a LOT of stuff, but you had to dig around and I'm just not good at that. I know consignments work well for a lot of people. You can make money and find good stuff. Maybe I need to give it better try next time.

If online shopping continues to work for me, though, I may stick with it. For $5 extra, I can shop without children, without using any gas and without ever stepping into a mall, parking my car or standing in line. Hmmmmmmm. All food for thought.

What's your system?