Thrifty Mommy

When Waiting Pays Off

by Karen on September 30th, 2007

It was settled.  My daughter was going to be a princess for Halloween.  I mean, why not?  She already has 3-4 princess outfits, plus I picked up some cute little white glittery shoes at Target for 75% off.  But then it happened.

We went to Target and we spotted a Uniqua Backyardigans costume.  Backyardigans has been her new favorite cartoon for a few months now.  I saw the price tag.  Twenty-five dollars!!!!  I just couldn’t justify paying $25 for a costume.  It sure was cute though.

And then we saw the Backyardigans Pablo costume.  Now wouldn’t that be cute?  Alligator could dress as Uniqua and Cuddlebug could dress as Pablo.  But, 50!?!!!  My husband and I just couldn’t justify spending $50 on costumes for our kids.

We agreed not to spend $50 on costumes, so naturally I just couldn’t understand it when my daughter walked around the corner aisle with my husband and she was wearing a Uniqua costume!  What was he thinking?  She would have her heart set on it now. 

We told her we wouldn’t buy the costume that day, that we would look around on the internet for less expensive ones.  We searched around on the internet and ebay, but to our surprise even the used ones on ebay were going for $20.

For a few days, my daughter talked about the possibility of being Uniqua.  Finally, all the talk faded and she was thrilled when someone gave her a beautiful second hand Cinderella dress.

I knew my daughter would be satisifed with being Cinderella, but as parent there was just something inside of me that wanted to give my daughter her wish.  Parents usually want to give their kids what they want (within reason!) and give them things that they didn’t have.  Deep inside, I wrestled with and tried to justify paying $50 for costumes. 

Then the unexpected happened.  My husband was out running some errands Saturday and he stopped at a close out store that just opened a few months ago.  He came home with a Uniqua costume for $10!  He also picked up a Spiderman costume for Cuddlebug for $7.50.  He’d rather be Spiderman anyway. 

The Uniqua costume even had a price tag on the back from the original store that read $24.99.  And the Spiderman costume is too cute because it is stuffed a little in the arms and peck area to make him look muscular. 

Both kids are delighted and we’re happy that we got both costumes for less than $20.  Now that’s thrifty!  :)

Has waiting for something paid off for you?  If so, leave a comment.  We’d love to hear it.

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POSTED IN: Halloween, saving money, shopping