Champagne Taste...

When I was pregnant with Ruby, I knew that (for at least a little while) I wouldn't be working.  So we wouldn't have my income.  That super freaked me out, and it made me want to do two things: 1.) buy all the things, and 2.) find all the deals.

For "buy all the things" that really meant that I just wanted to have everything we'd ever possibly need before she was here, so that I didn't have to spend money after she was born.  Was I successful?  Eh, sort of.  We had everything we "needed".  Of course, I found other things I wanted, but that's a different story...

Next came "find all the deals".  You guys, I am cheap.  Spending money actually hurts me.  But I like new (or new to me) stuff.  And it turns out, I like nice stuff.  Quality stuff.  I am cheap, but I don't like cheap stuff.  I know.  Problem.

BUT

There are SO many deals to be had!  People often comment on Ruby's style (she is way more fashionable than I) and gear, and want to know where I got it.  I'm happy to share that I almost never ever pay full price for anything.  Remember, spending money hurts me!

Today I hit a jackpot deal, and I figured I ought to share my tricks with you all.

First, my deal.  How freaking CUTE are these?!?

See Kai Run "Cathy" in peach

See Kai Run Smaller "Leilani" in purple

Yes, they just got added to Ruby's closet.  We have LOVED her 2 pairs of SKR Smaller mary janes, and sadly, she's outgrowing them.  Knowing this, I've been on the hunt for good See Kai Run deals.  They were on Zulily a couple of days ago, but honestly?  Zulily does NOT top my list of good "deal" sites.  The shipping is expensive, it takes forEVER, and they deals aren't that great.  Plus, I have to pay tax, because they're a Seattle company.  Boo.

So, let me introduce you to my good friend, MyHabit.  Maybe my husband would like to call it, "my BAD habit", but actually, that site has saved us so much money!  Remember how I like "nice" things?  Champagne taste and all, but we have a beer budget.  Both of those pairs of shoes above retail for about $40 each.  I paid $40.52 (which included 10% tax, because, again, I live in WA) total for BOTH.  The leather boots were only $15!

For full disclosure, if you click that link above and follow it, I do get a kickback.  Which I'd love and totally use, but I won't at all be offended if you just google MyHabit and sign up yourself.  Yes, you have to sign up.  But guess what?  MyHabit is an Amazon deal site.  So it's connected to your Amazon account, which means once you sign in, you can buy with one click.  So easy.  Oh, and shipping is always free!  Oh, and it's super super fast (like, 2 days, no joke)!  I can't sing the praises of this deal site enough (and no, they did not ask me to or compensate me in any way, I just love love it).

Ruby's first pair of See Kai Run shoes came from MyHabit (also for $15).  I've also bought an adorable dress from her there, an Aden & Anais swaddle blanket, other stuff that I can't remember right now, and my biggest steal of all was my diaper bag (Baby Kaed Shanti, in silver).  That was during a flash sale.  It cost me $27.  Original price: $140.  I know.

My other faves are (none of these links are affilates):

*Mamabargains.  I've bought many things here, the best being my Beco Butterfly II for just $60.  But also an amber teething necklace (that Ruby wears 100% of the time), a Woombie, green sprouts sippy cups, and iPlay bibs.  Their shipping is kinda slow and not free, but they do have good deals.

*EcoBabyBuys.  I'm kind of a hippie, and this site helps me out.  I bought an awesome Monkey Foot Designs wetbag for a steal on here, and also wool dryer balls.  I'm keeping an eye out, because the dryer balls are totally awesome and I want more.

*Amazon.  Yep, we all know and love Amazon.  I check my other sites first because sometimes they're cheaper, but Amazon has pretty much everything, often at a good deal.  We have Prime, too, which makes shipping free and fast.  My favorite thing about Amazon is their flash sales.  I find them hard to catch (because I don't try that hard), but Ruby is currently napping in an Aden & Anais muslin sleepsack that has been my absolute favorite baby product for the summer so far.  And I got it for just $10 (instead of the ridiculous $45 msrp).

*Cotton Babies.  This is not a deal site.  However, if you are a cloth diaper fan (like we are!), you know that BumGenius diaps are awesome.  They're not that cheap, though.  However, Cotton Babies often offers "seconds" sales.  This means that the diapers are new, but they're "second" quality.  Which sounds bad, right?  Um, it's not.  Their standards for first quality must be crazy high, because I bought 6 BumGenius Elemental seconds, and 3 of them I couldn't find a single blemish.  Two had tiny dirt smudges that washed out immediately, and the third has a 1mm red thread that got caught in one of the inner seams.  These are my favorite diapers, and they were a steal at "seconds" prices!  The only bummer?  They have a store in WA (that is much too far for me to actually drive to, so I have to order online), which means, again, I have to pay that dang 10% sales tax.  Boo.

I also frequent consignment shops, and the big mom to mom consignment sales.  I find the big sales to have better deals, and better stuff usually.  At least half of Ruby's wardrobe is from there.  In our neck of the woods, they have one in March and October every year.  Perfect to get the next season's clothes.

I also troll the Target clearance section.  They do baby markdowns on Mondays.  If you look in the top right corner of the clearance sticker, it will have a number.  I like that number to be "70" because that means it's 70% off!  Lots of pieces in R's closet have cost me only $1.50 thanks to Target clearance.  If I'm lucky, I find things even cheaper than 70% off, but know that if the price ends in a 4, it's not going to go any lower.

So there you have it.  How I appeal to my champagne taste for baby/toddler stuff on a beer budget.  There are many other "deal" sites out there, but I've never found anything I needed off of them, or that they were a super great deal.  I'm picky, I don't just buy things because they are cheap, but I do make sure to stalk out the very best deal before I buy anything.  Like those adorable shoes above, my patience totally paid off with those ones!

Do you guys MyHabit?  Do you feel physical pain when spending money, but love to shop/have new things?  What's your favorite way to score a deal?  Do you get a rush when you score a good one?  I know I do, I'm going to be riding my shoe-deal high for a while...