Well, even though some days it might not feel like it, summer is here! Hopefully we will have a few months of glorious sunshine ahead, however living in Lancashire amongst the Pennine hills, I have already come to terms with the fact that the rain will never fully leave us.
So as you may have already guessed this brings up a few problems in the wardrobe department, what do I wear??
My summer dilemma
My dilemma was finding the right kind of coat for a Lancashire type of summer. I needed one that will provide me with some sort of protection from the rain, but still be lightweight enough to not make me get all hot and sweaty while I’m out and about.
When I was younger this kind of challenge wouldn’t have really bothered me, living at home gave me the option to freely spend however much I earned on clothes, clothes and more clothes. I could just head out and buy a variety of different coats in a variety of colours and designs that would see me through the summer.
Unfortunately I didn’t really feel the need to keep hold of all of my clothes when I moved out, so I have had to replace the majority of things over the last 8 years! And just to make this an even harder task, I now have 2 children who, as you can imagine, have taken over most of our clothing budget. Great!
Patience is a virtue
As soon as the new season clothing ranges hit the shops I found my perfect jacket. It was lightweight, comfortable and stylish. However, the price was just that bit too high. Don’t get me wrong it’s not a designer coat, it’s just from the high street, but still the price just wasn’t right. I am sure the kids work together and plan to have growing spurts at exactly the same time!
So, I did what all of us budgeting mothers do, and held off from buying it for a while hoping that it will get discounted.
Honestly I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw it in the sale rail a few weeks later and best of all it was half price! Plus, there was only one left in my size. 🙂 I couldn’t contain my excitement as I nearly skipped all the way to the till.
It’s the little things
While I am on the subject of bargain shopping, I’ll tell you about the little bonus I got while taking my youngest shopping for trainers just the other day.
Malachi had chosen a pair of ‘superstar’ trainers (as he likes to call them) from Next*. While we were paying I got asked the usual question ‘ have you shopped online with us before?’ so I gave them my usual answer of ‘yes’. This time though, I didn’t just get shut down knowing that whatever voucher they have isn’t available to me. The sales assistant said that if I haven’t shopped online with them within the last 6 months then I could still benefit from the voucher! Yey! So I grabbed the ‘ Spend £15 and get £10 off’ coupon and nearly ran out of the shop before she could change her mind.
Like I said earlier, my boys always plan to grow out of things at the same time. So that night I sat down and ordered my eldest son Isaac a new pair of trainers. With the voucher code they only cost me £7 which I think is a great bargain.
Sometimes we have to wait patiently with the knowledge that a bargain is just around the corner if we hold on and other times they get handed to us on a silver platter, but which ever way they come about I really don’t mind. I just love a bargain!
How about you, what bargains have you found recently?
One of my favorite store shops just held their 10th anniversary and almost all of their items have lesser price. I even bought a beautiful blouse that is, buy one take one.
I do love a good bargain! That’s great that you found your perfect coat on the sale rail, I can’t remember the last time that happened to me. Like yourself, my clothing budget has been eating up by things that my daughter needs.
Hi Hayley, I don’t think that I’ll be that lucky again, but I’ll keep looking. Children really do eat up our budgets don’t they. Keep hunting though and I’m sure you’ll find the perfect bargain. 🙂