Last night I shopped Kidsignments: a huge, semi-annual kids consignment sale.

I was armed with my list, my budget, my rolling cart, and my measuring tape. And I was brought nearly to tears by the realization that God was intimately aware of exactly what we needed last night and the way that He showed me.

Kidsignments consignment sale is one I gear up for every year, and the great perk of selling is not just that you get money back when you sell your items–it’s that you get to shop the night before the sale opens to the public. This is where you get the primo consignment deals: those swanky toy kitchens, the American Girl dolls, the car seats, the Power Wheels, and the double strollers.

This consignment sale opens at 5 PM for sellers and I had a car seat and a bike and a potty chair on my list, and I needed to get them before the other moms swooped in and grabbed all the good ones.

We also had a budget, and I knew that this is an opportunity to buy the things we intended to purchase at a significant discount. We had compiled a pretty comprehensive list just this weekend–so the advantage of consignment sale shopping is obvious when saving money.

I had all my ducks in a row. I had tagged and dropped of my items over the weekend; I had made the kids’ school lunches for the next day; I had dinner planned; I had finished the laundry; I had made the kids rooms ready for receiving new items; I had my parents coming to watch the kids before Sam got home from work. I was ready.

Only catch was, the girls were sick.

I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to hit this presale after all.

One had been vomiting, and the other was complaining of a headache. (I never did figure out whether she was riding on the coattails of her sister’s sickness or if she was legitimately ill. They both acted fine today, so they went to school.)

All morning I weighed my options.

I kept praying for the girls to get better. Should I go to the sale? Should I just go later and trust I’ll find what we need even a few days into the sale? Should I even have my parents come watch the kids? Should I leave the kids when they’re not feeling well? 

But I prayed that I’d have a sense of clarity about what to do by lunch time, so I could let my mom know if they should come or not. By 11 AM everyone was bouncing off the walls and clamoring to go outside. I guess that settled it.

The consignment/grocery budget

Last week I ordered groceries online from Kroger ClickList. I love that service. It was just one of those weeks–too many things going on in the weekend, and yet we needed food. That, of course, being an online ordering service, I had to pay by credit card. But we’re doing the cash envelope system.”$106 dollars of groceries” I said in the back of my mind, “is owed somewhere else in our budget.”

So, to even the accounts, before leaving for the sale, I pulled out a crisp $100 bill from our “grocery” envelope, plus $10 for myself to buy a sandwich (Chick-fil-A has a pop up stand there on the first night for all the ravenous shoppers).

I waved to my girls, the boy, and my parents, and drove off.

I was so thankful

As I drove, I was thanking God for making it clear that I could go to the sale. I thanked him that the kids were well, and that my parents could come stay with them for a couple hours until Sam got home. I thanked him for our clear budget and for the money to buy what we needed. I thanked God that I could get out of the house by myself for a few hours.

To be honest, I am not usually that deliberate about thanking God for things. I usually feel grateful and don’t follow all the way through to express thankfulness. But I was on a roll.

Worth noting, though not directly related to this story, all the way there and back, I listened to an interview by God Centered Mom (Heather McFayden) with Paul David Tripp, discussing parenting, and it blew me away. I was incredibly impacted by it, and will likely listen to it multiple times through the coming year.

When I was about half way there, a text pinged in my phone. I glanced at it (hands free–it’s on one of those dash holder stand things). “Hi Cindy. This is Kidsignments. You won a door prize of a $50 credit to be applied to your Fall 2018 purchases.”

I won a door prize!

I was floored. I may have screamed in the van. In all my years of selling, I’ve never won a door prize. And this was the largest one they gave away. (Though the “no wait at checkout” is nearly as valuable.) I thanked God again for this surprise blessing.

When I arrived, they had just opened the doors, and the big toy building was buzzing with people. Arms full of plastic things, they shuffled laundry baskets and giant IKEA bags and rolling carts and plastic bins. It was a maze of toys and bins and carts and baby gear.

My first priority was a bike. E had outgrown her bike and we had determined to buy her one at this sale. I found it, then I fought my way to the back of the line that snaked halfway through the building. It was high end and I paid about 10% what it probably cost to buy new.

Part of the strategy of consignment shopping is using your waiting in line time to shop

Yes! The line went directly past the car seats. I needed to get a bigger one for T. Lo and behold, a seat, and the same kind I am familiar with! And “only used for one child in Grandma’s car.” It was flawless. And $50! Exactly the amount of my credit.

So I grabbed up the car seat, and every time the line moved, I rolled the bike forward, I picked up the car seat and placed it ahead of me. While in line I snatched up a toilet training toilet. It has a flush sound. T loves it already.

I bought those, loaded them into the van, then drove around near the exit door of the clothing building. It’s about three times bigger and even more crowded. It’s controlled chaos in there. Game on.

This year, I stuck to the list. And I got everything on that list.

Winter jackets, rain boots, a basic winter wardrobe, size 8/10, some random clothing items, and if time and energy and budget allowed, some books, games, movies, or miscellany.

In past years I have not been very disciplined at sticking to a list. I snatched things haphazardly and overspent. I took longer than necessary, caught a case of decision fatigue, and usually ended up getting in line to check out just to be done with it, not with a sense of completion.

Another key of consignment shopping is to stay focused.

I went for the priorities first, and stopped myself before I went overboard.

I ran into three different friends (I know at least three others were there, but I never saw them) and chatted, cheered for some finds, and helped with some clothing choices before moving on.

When I made one quick trip through the books, I saw Parenting by Paul David Tripp–the one they were discussing on the podcast–lying right on top of the parenting pile. Only $1.50! (Affiliate link to the non-consignment sale book)

When I finally worked my way over to the far side of the building it was nearly 9 PM. I ordered my Chick-Fil-A sandwich. My total came to $6.25; I blinked hard; how can a sweet tea and a sandwich cost so much? But I had been dreaming of it all these hours.

So I bought it, put my change back in my purse, and got in the long line to pay for my items. There’s always some small talk to be had among the others in line and the helpers at checkout.

40+ items later, I wanted to know what the damages were. It’s always a bit of a lip-biting moment, finding out how much it all comes to. I pulled out the credit card, so I could split the payment between the $100 cash and credit card. I don’t have a lot of faith in my mental calculations or my ability to budget well.

The total came to $153.70.

I told the lady I had the credit from the door prize–she celebrated with me.

The total went down to $103.70.

My change from the sandwich was $3.75. I had cash to pay for the entire transaction. I pulled out my sandwich change. She gave me back a nickel, and I stood there near tears.

As I drove home, I was giddy and awestruck. God knew exactly what I needed.

It wasn’t about the cash. It was that he had prepared me for the whole process–the girls being sick, debating whether I should go, the priority items we needed (that I found). I felt like he honored my discipline in the shopping.

But most of all, I was encouraged by the way I had depended on the Holy Spirit to guide me through the day. And at the end of the day, I had been helped, down to the last nickel.

Hey, if this encouraged you or you enjoyed it, please do me a favor and share it where you like to spend your time on the internet. Thanks!