I heart Savers

I believe strongly in the healing powers of retail therapy. However, I also believe strongly in respecting the limitations of one's bank account. 

Thus, my serious shopping addiction to Savers.

I love Savers. And D.I. And sometimes Goodwill/Idaho Youth Ranch. But mostly Savers. 

(At least here in Nampa. In Boise I prefer D.I., although the Savers is still good.)

I can't fully express the joy that I feel when I walk into Savers, particularly if I haven't been for a while. It may sound silly, or even sacrilegious (which is not my intention AT ALL) but I really believe that my awesome Savers finds are blessings for paying my tithing. Seriously. Granted, a lot of the things I buy there aren't strictly necessary for our family's well-being, but SO often when I need something in particular, I'm able to find it at Savers for a fraction of the cost it would be somewhere else.  Allow me to expand on some of my favorite recent Savers' purchases:

Sparkly fake TOMS.

 They make me so happy every time I wear them. The morning that Chuck was leaving for Scout Camp back in June coincided with a 50% off sale at Savers, so I sneaked out early while Chuck was packing up the car and found these shoes in my size for $1.50. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Obviously a blessing for supporting Chuck in his calling. Granted, they're not nearly as comfortable as I understand real TOMS are, but they were a dollar freaking fifty.

That same morning I found this shirt for $2.50 and I might actually love it more than the shoes; I go back and forth.

 I pretty much wear this shirt at least once a week and it makes me soooo happy. It's admittedly a guys' shirt but I figure any guy who's my size or smaller probably shouldn't be making babies yet anyways, so I didn't feel bad about picking it up.

Ohhh, the red wallet.

 Here's the story: Clyde had been asking for a wallet, so I picked him up a 'real' one at Savers a few months ago (spoiler alert: he's already lost it AND the dollar bill that was inside). Immediately Will asked for a wallet as well, so I told him I would look for one at Savers for him. The next time I went to Savers, Will announced beforehand that I was going to buy him a red wallet. I slowly nodded my head and said, "Yes, yes I am..." and immediately began hoping/praying/wishing that such a wallet would be there - AND IT WAS. For thirty-five cents.

This Savers find isn't as recent, but it's another one of my favorites. In the few weeks before Jack was born, I realized I was in need of a new diaper bag; the one I used with Clyde and Will had long since given up the ghost and I mostly just used a catch-all purse/bag to carry their stuff. In my head, I envisioned the perfect diaper bag: bright orange, rectangular-shape tote, lined interior. I did some browsing online but couldn't find exactly what I was looking for, and the bags that came closest were still like forty bucks. Nooo gracias. Finally, one night in mid-December I gave up and used a gift card to buy a $30 brown and blue diaper bag at Burlington. It was okay, but I didn't love it. I still had some time so I ran across the street to Savers and found this:  

THE PERFECT ORANGE DIAPER BAG. For five dollars. No one can tell me that God doesn't love me.  

(I immediately made the walk of shame back into Burlington to return the first bag, seriously thirty minutes after purchasing it. That's not awkward).

Speaking of bags, I found these two backpacks at Savers a year or two ago and the boys are finally using them, woo!

They're super cute and matching and orange and blue, so of course I'm obsessed.

Both boys are playing soccer this fall and we decided to get Clyde some legit cleats now that he's in the U-6 division. Naturally I decided to begin my search at Savers.

And boo-yah, that's where I ended it too. Awesome soccer cleats in Clyde's size for $6. And between his first two games, he's scored six goals so obviously they work!

Ohhh also on the sports front, I bought this tennis skirt a while back but finally started wearing it this summer for Chuck's and my tennis dates.

 I always wanted a tennis skirt growing up, so I feel like my patience finally paid off, fifteen years later :).

During the summer, we began going through Clyde's shirts and figuring out which ones were ready to be passed down to Will. Clyde was quite distraught that his beloved Yoda shirt was finally too small and would soon be Will's - Clyde has worn that shirt for quite some time, including at his fourth birthday party. A week or so after the shirt made the move to Will's closet rack, I miraculously found the same Yoda shirt at Savers - in a bigger size!

Clyde was sooo happy that he spontaneously did a yoga pose. Or he was playing Kinect. One of the two.

Speaking of shirts for the little boys, we spent the summer finding new Star Wars options as well as Superhero shirts for Clyde and Will.

My favorite is the one on the bottom right that Chuck brought home from D.I. one day - it says "A wookie ate my homework." Ohhh, Star Wars humor :).

This picture isn't great, but these were the boys' church outfits when we were in Elko a couple of weeks ago (yes, I let my boys wear shorts to church when we're out of town... and for Will, sometimes when we're in town...).

 I just love their blue striped shirts (one from Savers, one from the Youth Ranch) and their brown striped ties (both from Savers). I actually bought a whole lot of adorable clip-on ties one day for a dollar each; most of them are awesomely wide and striped and slightly hideous and I LOVE them.

And finally, ALL summer long I've wanted a maxi dress. A blue one. For less than ten bucks. I've checked Savers and other thrift stores regularly, sure that one day it would be there - and that one day was last Monday! It was marked $7.99 but Monday is 25% day, so I paid just under six dollars. SO so excited.

  So the moral of this [long long] post is that I love Savers and Heavenly Father loves me and Chuck loves that my weekly therapy appointments are so dang cheap!