Momma Loves A Bargain

The words "Ross", "Marshalls", "TJ Maxx" and "Homegoods" have appeared on my blog many times. I love a good deal and have purchased many items within these stores. Strolling through their aisles recently I found [and purchased] some neccessities that would have cost me three times as much had I purchased them at Babies-R-Us or Buy Buy Baby.

These travel hooks have come in so handy! I opened up the pack when my girlfriend Vanessa was visiting and gave her one to attach to her stroller handle, and I did to mine. If your basket in your stroller is already full {the diaper bag alone can take up a lot of space} or if your baby is reclined and asleep and you don't want to chance waking them up to shove something in the stroller basket, these hooks allow you to attach your shopping bags to them.

I scored them at Marshalls on clearance for $3! I had a girlfriend who had a baby recently and I picked up a pack for her as well. This makes for a great and inexpensive added baby shower gift {for the mommy!}.
Ilah is forward facing in her car seat now and her legs are so long....if my seat is far back enough, she can reach it with her feel and sometimes playfully kicks away. On a separate visit to Marshalls I spotted Fisher Price {set of 2} Protective Kick Mats....
Another score on clearance for just $4!

Recently, I paid Marshalls another visit to look for bakeware and detoured to the children's section to find this snack pod by Safe Fit {if you can't find one at your Marshalls or TJ Maxx [I spotted them there too] you can purchase it from Toys-R-Us here and read all the 5 star reviews}.

I just LOVE this thing!! We purchased a Britax Boulevard 70 CS carseat for Ilah and it does not come with a cup holder. As she started to come of the age where she was drinking from a sippy cup in the car, I was always having to reach back and give her the sippy cup, and then reach back and take it away when she seemed done, otherwise it would end up thrown on the floor because she had no where to put it. The snack pod was super easy to attach to our Britax {and it came with two snack cups, lids included}. It can also be attached to most strollers. Here is a professional marketing shot of the product....

And here is my blurry one! Ha! I snapped this shot of Ilah with my cell phone the other day in the car. She loves taking her snacks out of her cup and having her sippy cup within reach, and putting it back in its place when she's all done : ) Did you notice the price tag? I got it for just $7.99. Another find at Marshalls.
Onto clothes. I have posted many photos of Ilah's outfits. As she has gotten older {and outgrows clothes in what averages to be about 8-12 weeks} I stick to getting her {inexpensive} clothes from Ross, Marshalls and Old Navy, with Ross being my top spot {mostly all of her pj's are the Carter brand purchased at almost 75% off of the retail store price}. Take for instance, these darling summer outfits... I made a matching bow for it this week!

Cute matching bloomers!....
And this darling outfit....
I also made a matching bow for it....
A picture of the back...

These outfits were just $5.99 each...

When your child sometimes gets around to wearing a cute outfit only once or twice because she/he is growing so fast, then it makes sense to me not to purchase costly outfits. I know many moms who get their children's clothes from second hand shops for this very reason. I made the mistake of buying a lot of darling clothes {and shoes} for Ilah before she was born because I just couldn't resist - she probably never got around to wearing about 25% of them. Another cost effective approach to buying children's clothes is to visit the clearance racks and buy your child clothes for the following season. For instance, winter clothes will drop to just dollars when the store just wants to get rid of them to make room for their spring clothes.
Lastly, remember this post when I showed you the picture that I scored at Ross {for $19.99 on clearance} to fill the blank space on the wall in our guest bedroom?

BEFORE

Here it is hung up. Isn't it lovely!? I think so : )

AFTER

I just love practical and pretty finds that are so inexpensive!