Spend Less Saturday!

(Editing this to add that I'll share this on Rhoda from Southern Hospitality's bloggy party!)

Before I had kids, Saturday was my shopping day. Free from the shackles of the office, I could roam the aisles of Target, Marshall's, and TJ Maxx without small voices pleading for goldfish crackers. I could meander down the tiled floors of the mall, my heels clicking stylishly as I shopped. These days, I've traded my heels for tennis shoes on Saturdays. I still love to shop, but I have to be smart about it. For T, this is a win-win situation, I think. He gets to sleep in a bit later without shrieks of "But that's my dollie. I will never share my dollie!" echoing through the house.

Armed with five to ten bucks and some goldfish snacks, the girls and I often head out to a yard sale or two on Saturdays, when the weather permits. I usually end up spending a dollar or two, and my kids are so darn adorable that sellers often give them a small toy if they are behaving. If Natalie, my three year old, behaves, she knows we get to stop at Dunkin Donuts for one donut hole on the way home. Today, the donut lady, as Natalie calls her, gave them each a donut. Score! I spent more on my coffee that I did on the stuff we found this morning!

I've decided it's time for another purge here in the T household. There are a bunch of toys the girls don't play with, and I already have a box that I'm filling with some household items for the Salvation Army. I'll feel better when the place is cleared out a bit! Then I can find some neat stuff for ME...I'm dying to find a coffee table and end tables to remake!

Here's a picture of our haul from today! I spent just over $1 on all of this stuff:

I needed an egg slicer and found this one for ten cents! The mini brownie pan was a steal at fifty cents. I've been looking for one for awhile, but didn't want to shell out the big bucks. My friend STM makes awesome mini brownies and puts a Reese's Peanut Butter cup set down in the top. To. die. for. This pan will be perfect! Natalie picked out Thumbelina and Arthur's Perfect Christmas herself. She loves fairy tales, and can't get enough of Marc Brown's Arthur books. (We just discovered that we can TiVo Arthur cartoons from PBS as well!) I adored Beverly Cleary when I was growing up, so whenever I see one of her books that we don't own, I snatch it up. Ramona and Her Mother is a good 'un! I saw Atonement on DVD, and was extremely depressed with the ending. I wanted to give the novel a try, but didn't want to spend eight dollars on it (like the person who was selling it did), and the library never seems to have it. So I picked that up and will drop it at the used bookstore when I'm done.

Not a bad haul for a dollar and some change!

Did you find any good deals this weekend?