frugal diary

Mom to Mom Sale

alessapiscioneri — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 02:01:15 +0000

My daughter had a growing spurt. So I did what any responsible, frugal mommy would do: I went to a mom to mom sale.

For those of you who don’t know what a mom to mom sale is: it’s like a gigantic garage sale—with just kids’ stuff. Of course, there were a few differences: one, they’re always held at a school or a church. There’s lots of sellers. There’s an admission fee, usually a dollar.

I spent $32. For the price, I bought 11 pairs of pants, five pairs of shorts, two tops, one leotard, one pair of tights, one Speedo swimsuit, a bag of toys, a game, and Mousetrap.

It wasn’t a great mom to mom sale. There are two kinds of sellers at mom to mom sales: those who want to make money and those who want to get rid of stuff. At this mom to mom sale, there were just people on the first category. The upside was that the stuff was really nice–it great condition. The downside was there weren’t the huge bargains–t-shirts for .25–that I absolutely love.

Later that day, I had to go to Target. I was shocked at the prices. So even if I spent more than I am used to, I still saved the money.

Five Below

alessapiscioneri — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 23:16:56 +0000

This weekend I took my kids to Five Below. Five Below is basically a five-dollar store. Everything here is five dollars or less. It was its grand opening for this new store, and they had five cent hot dogs. Need I say more?

Five Below is a national chain that focuses on teens and preteens, but even if you’re an adult you can still score some good things.

Some of the merchandise is priced correctly. It’s stuff you would get anywhere especially the “one” dollar stores for one dollar. Other items were inexpensive by nature, like off brand nail polish that you can anywhere for less than five dollars.

Some items were more expensive than Dollar Tree or Target’s One Spot, such as workbooks priced at $2. I get similar ones at Dollar Tree for a dollar. Or the SpongeBob card and domino games that are $5 here, but one dollar at Target.

Of course, the most interesting items were the liquidation items. There were several things that really caught my eye. One was a table of books, some of them still had their Barnes & Nobles clearance price tags on them (Five Below’s price on them was half of the clearance price). Another good selection were DVDs. Unlike the no-name titles that most dollar stores sell, these were special edition of The Holy Grail or The Two Towers.

They also had a large number of Tiger items for us Detroiters, and they were really cute. They also had a large number of board games and craft kits that would be great for birthdays or holidays. Wilson basketballs were also a good buy.

One final note: all sales are final, so be careful before you buy.

So, would I come shop here again? The answer is yes. Would it replace Dollar Tree for me? No. You can’t beat a dollar.

http://www.fivebelow.com/

Five Below

alessapiscioneri — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 02:02:57 +0000

One final note: all sales are final, so be careful before you buy.

So, would I come shop here again? The answer is yes. Would it replace Dollar Tree for me? No. You can’t beat a dollar.

http://www.fivebelow.com/

Polish Market

alessapiscioneri — Fri, 27 May 2011 02:54:13 +0000

This was the real deal. Everything and I mean everything was in Polish, including soft drinks. They also had a huge selection of Polish magazines. Probably, one of the best things I saw were these honking HUGE boxes of candy. I saw one that had a huge picture of Chopin on it, and I thought about giving it to my mother in law, but then she hates candy, so I didn’t.

To be honest, most of the prices weren’t the best…I’m not talking about the Polish imports…I’m talking about the produce and dairy and such. That was a buy.

Now on to the bread. It was great. Gigantic loaves for $2.49. Smaller ones were $1.39. Luck was with us, and we bought some day old loaves for 89 cents. Of course, I bought the day old, and it was hearty and delicious.

You don’t have to be Polish to love the Polish Market.

I went to the Troy market, 2938 E. Maple Road. They also have a location in Hamtramck, 10200 Jos. Campau, and in Macomb Township, 48902 Hayes.

Tel. (888)577-5336 or
thepolishmarketinc.com

Rummage Sale Bag Sale

alessapiscioneri — Tue, 17 May 2011 18:05:29 +0000

I love bag sales. It kind of reminds me of that old game show whwere you had to fill a shopping cart in a certain amount of time.

Saturday, I went to a rummage sale by St. Augustine Lutheran Church in Troy.

To get in, you had to buy a bag. Of course, I chose the smallest and the cheapest for $2.

I went to the book section first. I found some great books for my kids. I also bought a household hints book for me and, “Three Cups of Tea,” as well as a couple of computer programs.

I then went to the children’s clothes section. I found a few things, as well as a bag of trinkets, which I will use for rewards for my kids.

A travel iron completed by bag, in a Farmer Jack bag, which is collectible in of itself!

Aldi

alessapiscioneri — Fri, 06 May 2011 01:36:27 +0000

I have been shopping more and more at Aldi. Today, I picked up my usual oranges and bananas, when I noticed that their frozen walffles are $1.29–which is cheaper than even the Kroger brand on sale.

Then I went to Dollar General, where I saw a 56 oz Dawn for $3.That’s something to think about.

Lastly, I went to Lowe’s…and I found that they price match. I had an ad from another store..and they matched it!

Value World: My New Borders

alessapiscioneri — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 01:46:16 +0000

With the price of new books spirally out of control, there is one saving grace: Value World. It’s the frugal person’s Borders and Barnes and Noble.

Go to any Value World, at any time, and you will be confronted with books—lots of books. All kinds of books. Textbooks, cookbooks, Bibles, dictionaries, romance novels. Need I say more.

Paperbacks are five for a dollar or five for fifty cents when I have a coupon. (I love those!) So you can really stock up. I get my fill of mysteries.

Chapter books for kids are usually in the paperbacks, but sometimes the nicer ones are bagged together. These are a huge bargain. If your kids love to read, you’ve got it made. Homeschoolers can also feast on these as well, since many of them are bagged by age or by subject.

Value World also has hardcovers which are, to be frank, a little high. I normally don’t buy any unless I have a coupon.

Snow Days

alessapiscioneri — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 03:22:20 +0000

I’m so glad that I saved the Valentine candy and trinkets. Today the kids got into some of them…and that’s OK. They were bored, and the stuff was from school (ie free), so it was a good match. I’m glad I saved some of that stuff and rationed it,

thank you, dollar store

alessapiscioneri — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 02:06:42 +0000

Today, we were snowed in. So we spent our time putting together jigsaw puzzle (that I got at Dollar Tree). We also worked on activities books that I bought for the Christmas holiday. These books were from Dollar Tree. We had a great time.

Rocking at Value World

alessapiscioneri — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 21:25:46 +0000

Had a great time at Value World. I used my last 50% off coupon. Really, really great stuff.

I bought four blazers for myself, including one from the Gap. One bag of little toys for the kids. Two bras. Several books for myself. Microsoft Money. Several tops for myself, and five pairs of slacks for hubby.

Also, bought two sets of book/video set about “How to Get Straight A’s.

The grand total: $33 and change.

Of course, there were a few disappointments: no kids books I wanted and no electric griddle, but all in all it was fun.