Clearance SCORE!

I've been on a hunt for a fabulous new purse now for about 5 months.

For the last 6 years, I've actually been using a scripture tote for my purse. It's been great - but it's just not big enough anymore. I want to be able to fit in my wallet, a spare diaper, AND a pack of gum.  So I've been looking.

 

My better than what I had before 6year old purse.

However, I haven't been willing to pay much for it.  As in, I want a fabulous purse for less than $20.  Not an easy feat.

I finally decided I might just have to make myself one. I now have this huge file of bookmarks of purses.

Before my trip, I'd narrowed it down to to a decision between this one:

And this one.

I was leaning towards the awesome organization of the second.  But my big hang up was the 3 yards of upholstery weight fabric, not to mention all the super duper interfacing and magnets and zippers and such.  Unless I found a killer sale, it was going to cost me about $30 to make the silly thing.

I was hoping I could find some great cheap fabric on while visiting my family.  I found something much better.

Every store we went to (which was way more than we should have!) I would look at handbag selection offered. I finally found one that was kind of sorta ok at wallyworld. It was $16, but I knew to actually like it I'd need to add some magnetic snaps, so it would push it over my magic $20 mark.  I also knew I could get the exact same bag back home, so I put it off.

Then, we went to a craft fair.  I found the most amazing bag ever.  I'd tell you the kind - but I don't remember. But it's this awesome brand that has great magnets on the outside, and changeable shells that you can just slap on and change the whole look in a few seconds.  I loved the style, I loved the pockets, I love everything about it.

But not the price. To get it all the way I wanted to, even with the fabulous deal she had going on, would be close to $100.  Um, yeeeeaaaaaaaahh. That's not happening.

We continued wondering on. I found other adorable offerings, but nothing I couldn't live without.  Then,  I noticed another purse booth. 

I knew right away, I wasn't really interested in her stuff. The name of the booth was something along the lines of "purse bling" and everything was super big and showy - not my style.  But I noticed a big tub labeled "clearance."  Well, I had to at least look, now didn't I?

Most were the same that she had displayed, but with a broken zipper or other imperfection.  And then  I saw it.

A cute, understated purse, with great dividers.  Nothing broken, in great condition.

 The price?

Nine bucks.

That thing was sold as fast as I could find a family member who had more than the dollar cash I had on hand.  What? I was traveling, and all I had was my debit card.  But don't you worry. I went back to wally world that night and got some cash back to pay my adorable niece right back!

Just a bit bigger than my old one!

I love my new purse. It's truly awesome just how much I can fit in there. Things are much easier to find, and it looks a lot nicer than my old one!