More nearly new bargains

I just love bargains, especially when it comes to children’s stuff…clothes, toys, books, any of it really.  They grow so fast, and they’re not aware of whether items are new or not, so it’s brilliant to pick up what you can at bargain prices (especially if they’re on your wanted list anyway!).

Our local NCT nearly new sale was a few weeks ago.  Grandma was babysitting again for the couple of hours (no volunteering this year), I had my list in hand and was 3rd in the queue again.  It’s like being at the Next sale again – there’s always the same people in front of you in the queue, and you can compare notes…I always try and find out what they’re after, so I can work out which area I need to go to so I can get first look at the items I want.

This time I really wanted to get hold of some outdoor garden toys, as with N’s birthday being near Christmas, it means outdoor toys get forgotten about as gifts.  I was gutted to see one of the volunteers come out with a slide, but was chuffed to find a couple of Cosy Coupe cars (£10, don’t mind if I do!), and a water/sand table both of which had been on my list.

Managed to get some good books, a few other toys including a Happyland rocket plus extra people, and various other bits & pieces.  Was hoping to get hold of a potty/chair type thing to get prepared, but I can always have a look for one at the next sale in September as we’ve got a while before we need to start thinking about potty training.

Now the next stage of my bargain buying is ebay for outdoor equipment.  I’m a big of of saved searches which send me new listings daily of what I’m looking for in our area, but last week I managed to win a playhouse, slide and seesaw.  Bargain price (playhouse alone would have been quadruple the amount new!), but as the OH skived off helping pick it up in the farm vehicle on Saturday as promised, it’ll now be a couple of weeks before we can pick it all up due to Easter weekend and working.  Hopefully the seller won’t be too annoyed at having to hang on to it all a bit longer, but if the OH won’t help, I’ll be using my car and doing several trips backwards and forwards (if it even fits in my car!).  

Exciting, although it does mean needing decent weather over the summer months so N can enjoy playing with it all.