shopping spree

As a couples resolution this year, I decided that we needed to dedicate at least one night a month for "date night". We will take turns planning something. January was my month. I wanted to see a movie because that's pretty rare for us these days but I'll tuck that in my back pocket for March maybe.

Speaking of back pockets, our "date" was going shopping. Shopping without kids is a luxury. Johnas wanted to update his wardrobe and I wanted a kitchen pantry since we're not able to move. I've been buying a lot of resale lately thanks to boards on Facebook, Craigslist, and Goodwill. So I took Johnas to Goodwill to search for some new shirts and then we went to Kohl's. We spent a whopping $32 at Goodwill for a few shirts, pants, and a tie for Johnas and two pair of jeans for me. On the way to Kohl's, Johnas said, "I don't think I can pay $20 for a shirt after spending $4 each." Luckily he found a shirt/tie set on clearance for $7.50.

We also stopped at Home Depot to "look" at pantry cabinets. When we saw the sign that said 20% off all in-stock cabinets, we decided to just bite the bullet. We'll be in this house for likely another year at least and we have three kids to feed now so I NEED a pantry!

Oh yea, back pockets. I got excited about our big spending. I had $2 in my back pocket to purchase a fleece (from a friend) for Noelle. I lost it while eating dinner or trying on pants at Goodwill. The girls did some chores while at Grandma's and luckily earned $2 that I could borrow to pick up the fleece.

So our great big shopping spree that I was prepared to use some tax refund money for ended up being a whole lot less than planned. The pantry was the most expensive $250 with delivery but with that, our total was less than $300 for the night. Unless you count dinner too. Then it was less than $350. I'm very much a fan of thrift stores these days. "Buy used - save the difference." says the Duggars. I think I'll tuck $230 into savings because that's how much we saved by buying used.