If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my life it’s how to spot a good deal. I’m a woman who likes nice things, but I usually refuse to pay full price for it. I’m not going to say I’m perfect, I’ve had my fair share of splurges, but I learned very quickly to NEVER buy things full price from Express after buying an $80 dress that I bought in a different color for $15 a month later.

I’ve followed suit with shopping for my baby girl. Most of the outfits I’ve bought for her came from eBay. ALL of her newborn dresses were bought brand new off eBay for $17 total! Yes, that was 11 dresses for $17.

Soon after chatting with other mamas on Twitter I discovered the adorable, the marvelous, the too-cute-to-miss AND stay-on-your-feet Trumpette socks! I checked out their website and was absolutely crushed at the retail price! $26.50 for 6 pairs.

I know it’s not terrible, but sticking with my guns I refused to pay that price. But I kept in my mind the price: $4.42… That’s the retail cost per pair. My goal was to get them for no more than $2 a pair.

I went to my first consignment sale early March. I forgot about the opening night and ended up going on the final day of the sale. The plus was that most everything was 50% off. So imagine my delight when I found a bag of little Trumpette socks for $7 half off for $3.50! So I got 5 pair (even though it said 6 on the bag) for $.70 a pair.

Along with the socks I went a little crazy on Robeez shoes. I a few women told me their great for little baby’s feet because they’re soft sold and because they stay on their feet. They are about $22 a pair. I bought my first pair at Ross for $12. I figured it was half off, but since then I haven’t bought a pair for more than $10.

My favorite things from my first consignment sale were the shoes and socks I got.

Overall experience: Fun for the first time, I brought my husband and we really didn’t know what we were looking for. Every time I went around the room I picked up something else I probably didn’t NEED but I got 10 things for about $40. Best part: It was half off day!

I got emails about another consignment sale about an hour from where I live. I heard about it early and got on the pre-sale list for first time moms. A friend and I went and got there about an hour after it opened.

This time I had more of a goal… Get things I know I’ll use and STAY AWAY from the clothes!! I did a pretty good job, but I bought a couple more pair of Robeez and a dress for when my Ladybug is 18 months old… 18 months. Basically 2 years from now. I’m insane.

I also bought some Avent bottles because I have an Avent electric breast pump. The first Avent bottles I spotted were $20 for 4!! I’ve watched Price is Right enough to know if it should be higher or lower and at these types of things the prices should be WAY lower. I dug a little deeper and found another bag of 3 for $4.

I also got a variety of hats, from sun hats to a Nike cap. Six of them for $3.50!

My favorite buy of the night was this nursery lamp for $15. It goes with my “Classic Whimsical” theme.

Total price tag of that night: $59.

The next day at work I saw we had a press release for ANOTHER consignment sale… Apparently the biggest one in our area. That night was the pre-sale for VIPs (Very Important Preggos). The list was full but I called and asked if I could get on it. They called me back and told me to come on down!

This was called the MamaCents consignment and it was definitely the biggest one out of the three. We even got cupcakes before we went in!

By this time I knew I had to be quick and go straight for what I NEEDED. I completely avoided the clothes (except peeking for something burnt orange so Ladybug can sport some Longhorns spirit). A lady the night before snagged the onesie I wanted so I got one the next night here for $3.

I went over to the bottles section because I knew I could always use more bottles. I already have a swing, and toys aren’t of interest for me right now, so I skipped those departments and let the other ladies fight over those.

It was about that time that I ran into a few women who recognized me from my blog and twitter! Hi @BecomingaMom and @GetBabied!

I found an Avent bottle sterilizer for $8. I had one on my registry and they’re like $40 so I figured I’d take it off and add more diapers.

Speaking of diapers my favorite purchase of the night was this diaper stacker for $5.

I also bought a box of 20 outlet covers for $2 and caved and bought another pair of Robeez, but left spending only $25 at “the biggest sale.”

I think by this time I knew what I still needed and didn’t want to waste time and money buying extra things that will become clutter.

I was hoping I’d find a sleep positioner, or some extra sheets for a good price but I didn’t find any steals in that department.