Yep, that's me. Not always, but often.
A Tag Snob. You know, the person who "looks at the label".
Why do I do this...part of it is because the better brands are also, in my experience, better quality. This isn't a hard, fast rule, but I've found it to be true quite often.
I also think it's because it's a challenge for me...what is the best I can get at the best price? And since I love to shop, why not get a great deal???
I LOVE to bargain shop! Ask anyone who really knows me--I know how to shop for sales and good deals. I'm not afraid to go to second-hand stores, buy used clothing, check on craigslist, or go garage-saleing to find good, quality items at cheaper prices. I will scour the internet for coupons, coupon codes, and other discounts, then wait until I can combine those with the latest "free shipping" offer.
I absolutely LOVE stores like Marshall's, Ross, and TJ Maxx (and yes, I'm a fashionista...haha). Here's a real-life example, I could go to Payless and get my 3 year old daughter a synthetic, glued together pair of shoes for $14.99, or I could shop the off-season sales at Marshall's and get her quality leather, stitched shoes by Stuart Weitzman and Michael Kors (see pictures below) for $7.00 and $10.00 a piece. (And just for the record, my daughter DOES have shoes from Payless that she wears quite often and loves. My point is, if you can find better quality at better prices, why wouldn't you go that way?)
I also do a LOT of off-season/on-line shopping. My 8 1/2 year old son had all of his summer clothes last winter. Go to Wal-Mart sometime and look at the $7.00 t-shirts. There's nothing wrong with them, that's just how much they cost. But when I shop the abercrombie kids or aeropostale kids websites in the winter, I can get his t-shirts for $5.99 (and sometimes less), and they're that nice, super-soft cotton.
***Note: since working on this draft, I found t-shirts on the aeropostale kids website for $3.99...already stocking up for next summer! Oh, and if you sign up to be on their e-mail list, you get a free shipping code...SCORE!
Another great way to buy better quality items at a cheaper price: Ebay. I LOVE Gymboree's line of girl clothes. I don't have $59.00 for 1 dress. I often find my daughter absolutely adorable lots of Gymboree clothing on-line for a mere fraction of the cost. Used? Yes. Still in great condition? Yes. It's a win/win, if you ask me.
Now, don't get me wrong...my kids have clothes from Target and Wal-Mart, and that doesn't bother me. It's not that I'm really so snobby that it (insert snobby accent) "would simply be unbearable for them to be seen in public in 'those' clothes!" It's that I want the best I can get for what I have.
One of my other money savers: second-hand kids clothing stores. After each season, I pack up and label out-grown clothes. (i.e. Girls summer clothes-Size 3T or Boys winter clothes-Size 5T). At the beginning of each season, I take my bags into the second-hand store to trade in. Most will allow you to either choose in-store credit or cash. (You'll get "more" with in-store credit.) I work it out so that when I trade in last year's summer clothes, I'm able to get most of this year's summer clothes all with trade-in credit...not a penny spent! And here's a secret...they usually don't take everything you try to trade-in. Ask for it back and take it back a few weeks later. EVERY time I've done this, they'll take several of the pieces they wouldn't take the first time, earning me more in-store credit.
Ok--before you pass judgement (as I'm sure some will), if you really look at what I'm doing, it isn't really being a tag snob, it's getting the most/best quality I can for the money I have available to me.
Judge if you want to...I'll keep getting great deals!
P.S. If you didn't notice in the picture, the name of the style of the Stuart Weitzman shoes is "Lil Kinley"...and they were $7.00...how could I not buy them??? :)
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