Toy Clearance!

I have a love of saving money, couponing, and clearance hunting! I share a lot more of that on my instagram but I thought I would share a quick tip about toy clearance here on the blog today.

Every year in July Walmart and Target clearance out a ton of toys. They are looking to make room for the new toys that will be released for Christmas and they want them out of their store, ASAP! This is great news for clearance hunters because the prices drop fast. I have been to Walmart twice in the last week and from the first trip to the second the prices had dropped substantially. Many of the toys get up to 90% off, but if you see something you really want I suggest buying it at 50% or 75% since it could sell out.

On Saturday I went and stocked up on a ton of toys. Now, I know I have no idea what my daughter will be into yet. She could not care for Frozen at all, however most of the toys I've been buying will be gifted to her before she turns two. I'm guessing that up until age 2 she will be excited for any toy (I'm also hoping for the same with clothing since I've been clearance hunting for clothes for quite some time too!)

I always grab items for the other kids I buy for and do need to go back and get some more items for them as well. I love that by buying toys on clearance I can still spend the amount I want to spend on them but get them so much more for the money! (Also I buy for 4 kids who all have birthdays in December/ January so that's 8 gifts between birthdays and Christmas- clearance shopping is the way to go!)

Here's everything I picked up during my second round of shopping. The first round I picked up some Frozen barbie dolls. (Again, if my daughter has no interest in Frozen they are something I can sell at a yard sale someday- brand new in package or I can pass them on to someone else who does like Frozen)

Both of the bigger toys were over 50% off, which was great for larger toys. I love that I can give Ellie the little seahorse for Christmas this year and will save the other toys for future birthdays and Christmases. I actually picked up the puzzle because I know a ton of people who love to do puzzles and can use it as part of a gift and the LOL surprises are for some little girls who love LOL and opening surprises. 

I am planning on going back for another round because I desperately need to stock up on boy gifts for my friend Rachel's son and my new nephew Max. I find it much more exciting to buy for the girls, but there are great deals for the boys as well. 

I haven't been to look at the Target toy clearance yet, but generally the prices are higher than Walmart but you can get good deals there too. 

Do you stock up at the toy clearance sale? I know this will be great going forward when Ellie is invited to birthday parties and we need to purchase for more kids. It's not only a great way to save money, but an awesome way to be able to gift more. I love being able to give a ton of toys to my favorite kids!

March Barkbox

Last week we received Sophie's Barkbox in the mail! I'm telling you one of the few things that can give us that much joy in the mail is her Barkbox. Especially with everything that is going on we were so excited to open it.

Sophie couldn't sit still when Tim was trying to get her to sit, she was just SO excited!

The theme this month was the Australian Outbark and I was so excited when we opened the box and saw that! What a cute theme!

Every box has three plush toys. The ones we received in our box were:

A koala

A platypus

and a crocodile.

They are all super cute but the biggest hit so far has been the platypus. For some reason Sophie is drawn to it and we played quite a bit of tug with her with this one. 

In your Barkbox they always have a picture of all the other toys that went out. I love the lizard and the kangaroo! I'm always so tempted to order more but really does this girl need more toys?

We the answer seems to be yes because I added this piggies in a blanket toy to her box because I saw it on Facebook and thought it was funny!

We always give her one of each kind of treat so she can test them out and both were instant winners. The "long term" chews aren't quite as long term anymore. She can suck those down in a couple of minutes, but she still seems to enjoy them at least!

The only picture I managed to get of her during the box opening. This girl is always blurry when it comes to her Barkbox. She has the platypus in her mouth in this picture. (Turtle pictured is not from Barkbox and was gifted to her back in the fall)

Do your dogs get Barkbox? What toys did they get this month?