Like I mentioned in a recent post, Scout has been getting a little bored with her current toy stash. I wish I could put all of her toys away and replace them with new ones, but holy wow! Toys are EXPENSIVE!!! We simply cannot afford to exclusively buy nice simple wooden toys that are not mass-produced. I mean, I like those kind of toys and wish we could buy more of them, but it's just not a top priority for us. (I swear, people - I am getting less and less "crunchy" in my parenting decisions as time goes by. Do you still love me?) So, I've been window-shopping the "mainstream" Made-in-China plastic noisy toys and they're pretty pricey too. What to do!?

We are so spoiled and haven't had to buy her many toys up until this point, but right now we're 2 months past her birthday and Christmas is a long way off. My parents live 900 miles away, or I'm sure they would be picking toys up for her left and right. There would be more opportunities for us to go shopping and run errands with them if they lived closer and you know, that's just how grandparents are. They offer to pay for stuff. DH's parents aren't a huge part of Scout's life. I wish they were, but that's another post for another time (or not).

Oops...got off track a little there. Uhhhh...back to the toys...

Twolinesonastick suggested garage sales because she has had some really great toy finds lately. I think that's an awesome idea! I don't know why I haven't been going to any yard sales this year. Last year, it wasn't an option because Scout was a super-car-seat-hater and driving around with frequent stops would've just been miserable for both of us. But now, she is fine with being in the car (most of the time) so I think it would work fine. I was all excited about hitting some sales this weekend, but with yesterday being the 4th, there weren't very many advertised. However, during our daily walk around the neighborhood I noticed that a local junk shop was open. DH, Scout, and I went there to check out their toy selection.



They're all in great working order and cleaned up nicely. Aside from a few scratches on the xylophone cow's nose, they all look as good as new. As you can see, we would've spent a ton more if we would've bought these toys at a retail store:

Leap Frog Learn 'n' Groove Table $39.99

Fisherprice Laugh & Learn Toolbench $20

Vtech Crazy Legs Learning Bugs $19.99

Fisher Price Moo-sical Piano to Xylophone $15.72

The Farmer Says See 'n' Say $11.49

Total: $107.19

Yeehaw. I love good deals. The best part is, Scout seems to be getting a lot of enjoyment out of them. Yay. ("yeehaw" and "yay"? Apparently, I am suddenly a five-year-old cowboy)

Labels: finances, general complaining, great deals, shopping, toys