A President's Day Date!

Anyone who knows me, knows I love shopping just about as much as I love using apostrophes!  So it should come as no surprise that my first post baby date with Paul was a shopping and lunch date.  (not to worry, we've been out a lot, just with Sam in tow.  He is surprisingly very portable and knock on wood, an excellent restaurant sleeper).  I thought Paul would have preferred for it to be a winery, shopping and lunch date, but he was actually really excited to go shopping with me sans wine.  Who would have thought.

We headed out on President's Day to the outlets and dogfish after dropping Sammy of with his grandma and grandpa for a few hours.  Spending some quality time with Paul was awesome and much needed. 

I think President's Day may be my new go to shopping day for end of winter sales.  It used to be MLK, but I think retailers aren't marking stuff down as quickly as they had before.  Or, they just aren't low enough yet for my frugal standards.  I stuck with my mantra of buying what I need vs want as well as making sure what I was buying was something I would have purchased even at full price.  Because let's be honest, a sale isn't a good deal if it isn't something you wouldn't buy full price.  Queue in extreme couponing, who really needs 100 bottles of mustard?  Coupons in tow, what I ended up buying were mainly presents.  I got some incredible deals.

• 3 shirts for my sister and sister in laws upcoming birthdays this spring at the ann taylor loft outlet for $3.50 each (retail was $29), it was crazy.  
• 3 awesome onesie's for my niece's Christmas present from the Gap outlet for $1.25 each (retail $18), super crazy.  Sadly, like always there was nothing good for boys even reg. price
• Pair of black corduroy pants for $5 at the reg ann taylor loft.  They had awesome sales all winter (even pre christmas).  When I was headed back to work, I found great cardigans, button downs, dresses, and pants all less than $20. 
• William Sonoma Dishtowels ($4/3 towels) and hand soap ($4) as a thank you to my Mother in Law for watching Sam.
• Most of Sam's fall wardrobe for next year as well as some cute spring clothes from Carters $40, below is a pic of what I got him, sans some cute socks that were being washed.

One sad note is that the pottery barn and crate and barrel outlets have both closed in leesburg.  This really only leaves williams and sonoma as a draw for me to drive out there.  So, this maybe my last Leesburg outlet shopping trip.  I think you can get deals that are just as good at the regular stores. 

While it seems crazy to some that I am already buying presents for next Christmas or clothes for Sam for next fall/winter, it really helps save money and quite frankly my sanity come present giving time.  It is so much easier to have a present on hand: the cost for presents are dispersed throughout the year, you aren't shopping when things are most expensive and stores are crowded.

Buying children's clothes on clearance a year in advanced is a shopping lesson I learned from my mom.  Kids grow way to fast to spend a lot on their clothes.  My Mom, would mostly buy our clothes the year before on clearance in the size we would be most likely be wearing the following year.  I bought Sam 3 18 month pants for next winter for $5 each when they retailed at $30, a ton of shirts including a my first birthday onesie for $2 and even found his Christmas jammies for next year for $3.  I was stoked!  This was great for us because with only one salary now, cutting costs is not just fun now, its a priority.  We actually spent more on lunch than we did buying 5 presents and most of Sam's winter wardrobe for next year.

What are your favorite days of the year to shop?  Did you find any good deals recently?  Have any good baby clothes shopping tips?