Just Between Friends

I’m in the middle of a big adjustment period.  I quit my job and now I’m a stay-at-home mom. Words I never thought I’d say.  This was not my big life plan, but when faced with childcare costs and leaving a baby with strangers for 9 hours a day… we decided to take the plunge.  It’s not easy cutting your income in half though.  My new “job” also includes money management.  I’m making a family budget, meal planning, and saving where I can.  One of the best discoveries I’ve made so far is kid’s consignment sales.  I’m sure this is nothing new to most of the moms out there.  In fact, the moms at work were the ones who told me about this sale.  

There are a few consignment events in town, but the big one seems to be Just Between Friends.  It’s held every six-months and it’s huge, filling a hall at the Portland Expo Center.  But guess what?  There’s one in Vancouver too!  So this weekend I went to check out the sale at the Clark County Fairgrounds.  It is the same thing, but on a much smaller scale.  Less selection, but also fewer people (lines were much shorter).  Choose your poison.  

So far I’ve found these sales to be great places to score big brand baby clothes.  We bough a bunch of stuff from Gymboree, Baby Gap and A Children’s Place.  Most stuff is between $2-5, the most expensive stuff $7-8.  Clothes need to be in nearly perfect shape (no stains, rips or excessive wear) so they are all really nice.  It’s actually really hard to stop yourself there are so many good deals and really cute clothes.  Of course, I was looking for girl clothes but the selection was just as good for little boys.  The sizes range from infant through toddler.  At the last sale I bought myself a number of maternity clothes too.

Beyond clothes they have everything you could ever need for a baby, although you need to come as early as possible for big ticket items like cribs, strollers and furniture.  I also bought a few toys, rattles for $1 and stuffed toys for $3-4.  This is also a great place to score affordable books.  I only bought one this time, but last sale I went a little nuts buying about 20. 

So far I’ve only shopped at these sales but this fall I plan to sell as well.  They have it set up online to make it very easy.  You register online then print tags at home before dropping everything off.  There are tons of resources on their webpage to help you through it, and a variety of times to drop the items off.  You can also volunteer to get even bigger discounts.  

The next Portland sale is April 23-26, but there there are also sales in Salem, Vancouver, Olympia, Tacoma and Seattle (as well as all over the country.)  Just for fun, here is some of my haul.  Everything is sized 6-12 months.  I got about 20 outfits that includes: a couple hoodies, a bunch of onsies, 5 dresses, overalls, one pair of pants, shorts and a swimsuit for about $80.  And I LOVE every piece.  I wish my own wardrobe was this easy.  Happy shopping!

 

JUST BETWEEN FRIENDS
PORTLAND EXPO CENTER
APRIL 23-26, 2015