I Went on a $25 Spree! ...and Then What I Didn't Buy at Target

This post definitely falls under the Nothing New challenge for 2011 category. BUT FIRST A BORING STORY: I won a couple of $25 Amex gift cards from my work recently (just for being awesome) and I decided that un-real money doesn't count for the NN challenge since the whole point is to assist our finances, not to torture ourselves for the pride of doing a semi-bizarre spending challenge for a year. Anyways, I took myself on a $25 Target Shopping Spree (whoo-hoo!). Here's my partner in crime:

Do you like how I protected that ladyprobably a person's identity? Anyways.

So! For $25 we walked away with...

- 3 watercolor sets for Ot
- sparkly pipecleaners for craft time
- 2 new watercups for the lad to take to preschool
- And a new pillow to replace one our washing machine ate before our dryer caught fire the other day (fun times with the laundry lately)  

$25 doesn't go very far these days, right?! But it was nice to get some things on my "I wish I had" list without breaking my New Year's Resolution or buying a used pillow (ick). I'm saving the other gift card for future in case I start going crazy from all the not shopping.

More interesting to me is how much money I saved by not buying every little odd-and-end I drooled over at Target.

Buying every little whatnot at Target is SO 2010!

I carefully documented What I Didn't Buy at Target and how much I saved:

4 pairs of freaking cute toddler socks. SAVED = $4

2 freaking cute robot plates. SAVED = $2

2 pairs freaking cute elastic-ankle, hip little sweatpants (perfect for the work-at-home-mom who collects sweatpants). Wah! SAVED = $28

I don't even LOVE these, but I'm pretty sure I would have gotten them. Definitely the one on the left. Saved = about $5.50

Embarrassingly enough, you are looking at about ten dollars in savings. SAVED = $10

Paul Frank and Circo jammies 30% off! Are you kidding me?!!! I woulda stocked up for this and next year! SAVED: easily $40

And then *sniff, sniff* those bastards at Target had the balls to start carrying one of my favorite kids' brands after I gave up shopping for new stuff for a year. I present you with...

Splendid Littles for Target (f&ck me)... I would not have been able to choose between these hoodies, so I would have gotten one in a 3T for now and one in a 4T for next year. SAVED: $38

So there you have it. By cutting myself off I saved $127 on one trip to Target! Mind you, I visit Target 1-2 times per week and always come home with (reusable, cloth) bags full of stuff I didn't intend to purchase. So I'm calculating Nothing New will easily save us $300/month at Target alone (that is so scary). Still, I'm crying about the hoodies. Those are seriously cute hoodies. 

SAVED: $3600/year OMFG

xo,
Lindsey

Turning $1 at Target Into a Crafty Jungle Adventure - I Love Being Cheap!

Whatever marketing genius at Target came up with the cutesy $1 bins at the front entrance gets a tip of the hat from me. ::Tips hat:: Well done, ma'am (or sir), you've made me irresponsible for my actions and cost me, I'm sure, hundreds, in trinkets, stickers, kids socks, and seasonal cake decorations.

A couple weeks ago Otto and I came across this irresistable "find" in the good ol' dollar bins (a re-creation courtesy of my memory, but you get the idea):

I think the unique selling point that none of the animals in the package were originally meant to be sold together - the giraffe is pygmy, the gazelle even teenier, there's a North American tomcat (not pictured above) and the tree is a completely different kind of plastic with a nice fluorescent flavor - had me at hello.

During craft time Otto was getting intense with the glue sticks. I acknowledge another marketing genius: the sir (or ma'am) who decided to make kids' glue sticks purple so the kids won't care if they do or don't glue a thing with them, use them like crayons, and go through 2 sticks per craft project. ::Tips hat::

Otto was on a pretty intense collage bender. Sidenote: He is so cute; I want to chew on his chubby feet!

I used the box my beloved Samsung Moment came in to create a diorama jungle carrying case for Ot's new motley crew of beasts.



It's not much, but it suits our cast just fine and is also the home of a neon scorpion and rubbery centipede from Chuck E Cheese. Otto's finally old enough to create little scenarios for the toys, which is my favorite thing in the world to spy on. The zebra keeps getting hit by a car and sent off for a nap!

Thanks for letting me share. Kind of a fun afternoon for a buck, right?

-Lindsey