In the Mood to shop....

I am almost never in the mood to shop. I don't like the stores when they are busy and I don't like just wasting time in a store. BUT, the other day I was in the mood. I can't tell you why, but I just felt like looking around.

So, I had to go to Walmart to pick up envelopes for my home office. 94 cents. I could have gotten out of the store spending 94 cents. But I didn't. I looked around. I found one of those bike racks that attaches to a car so you can tranport your bikes. We have 4 bikes, this one held 3, but my husband has been wanting one of these for a long time. They typically range from $50 to $100. This one originially priced $58.98. This one was on clearance for $15.00!!!! I was thrilled. Brand new ( we had been looking at rummage sales for one). So, of course, I bought it.

Then I found flip flops for my son for next year, clearanced for $1.50. I found a tent camping game stool thing ( wish I could describe it better). Originally, $24.00, it was clearanced at $6.00. It's a cooler for drinks and a game thing on top. Anyways, I picked that up for our camping. Then, my kids ( who are learning to fish), found fishing gear on clearance. They each got a tackle box with kids sunglasses and fisher lures for $1.50 a package. They were both thrilled with their goodies. My husband picked up some fishing bait on clearance ( normally $10.00, each package was $2.00 on clearance). I also found a yard game, crochet. The set was clearanced for $5.00. It was $18.00 originally. The kids were happy because we love to play yard games. We have so many games to play. This is how we spend family time. This game was made for 4 people..perfect for a family of 4.

So, when we went through the cashier line, my total came to $40.60. I wasn't sure I was happy that I saved so much money (since the bike carrier itself was $58.00) or if I was disappointed I spent money that I hadn't planned on spending. My husband was thrilled because he got some fishing gear. My kids were thrilled because they got cute kids tackle box set with goodies. My husband was also thrilled that he got "his" bike carrier....so I guess it was worth it for the $40.00....right??

That is why I write this Frugal Notes Blog....Frugality is different to different people. We try to not spend any money that is not planned or budgetted. I rarely shop, but I just felt like looking around. I could have spent alot more buying these items at full price. I could look at this as,"We just spent $40 on "wants" and we could have spent 94 cents just getting my envelopes". Or I could look at this as," Yippie! I just saved us a bunch of money on things the kids and hubby have been wanting! Good Shopping Trip!!"

What do you think? :)