Sweet deals

Since late last year, we have had a Sunday morning tradition. We venture out to IKEA for their steal of a deal breakfast for only 99 cents! We also pick up a cinnamon roll and some of their yummy Swedish pancakes (they kind of remind me of crepes). Be there before 10am and coffee and tea are FREE. We spend $6.25 for three small breakfasts, a cinnamon roll, pancakes, coffee and tea (we bring juice for LMA). You can barely spend that for one person at IHOP!

And every Sunday we spend time over at the kids section which is conveniently located right across from the cafe area. Little Man spends a good deal of time playing with the train set - if there are any trains left to play with that is - while we relax on the sidelines letting our food digest. He's also really excited when they come out with new toys. IKEA's new catalog just recently came out and not only did they DECREASE some of their prices (Imagine that! A place that is actually decreasing prices, not increasing them), they also came out with some new things. Included in the new items is a mini-kitchen set up for kids. It's a little on the pricey side, although I have to admit I haven't looked into prices of kitchen set-ups for kids, it is nicely put together. It even has red lights under the burners, a little microwave above the sink, and storage down below for all their kitchen needs.

When we've had enough of watching him play or just want to get moving, we make our way through the marketplace downstairs to the "AS IS" section. Here you can find scratch and dent items, or even items that have been discontinued, for marked down prices. If you get really lucky, you'll find a scratch and dent item still in the box with barely any damage for close to 50% off the original price (which has happened with two pieces we have purchased).

I have been wanting to get a new table/desk area for my scrapbooking room. The set-up I have now is definitely adequate, a nice corner unit that hubby built, but it would be nice to have things spread out a little more. Hubby thinks I should have a desk that angles slightly, like an architect's desk, so I can really see the layouts that I'm working on. I think I just need a taller chair or a lower table. We were planning on waiting until we moved next year to help cut down on weight. Alas, he wanted to spend money on me so I wasn't going to argue.

A few weeks ago we noticed a desk set-up that had the legs and table top sold separately. The legs were triangular shaped and had the capability of slanting the table top if you wanted. Originally priced at $30 per leg, we picked up one leg for only $9.99 with no apparent damage. Since the legs were actually a discontinued item in white, we knew we could pick up another one for only $20 if we didn't come across another "AS IS" one later. We also found a nice white table top with minor damage along the edge which could go against the wall for only $2.99, originally priced at $30.

The only thing about "AS IS" items is that they are final sale. They can't be returned... and for obvious reasons. When we got home, I remembered that the amount of space that the chair could fit under the table top would be limited because of the triangular shaped legs. The tabletop would work, and for only $3, if I changed my mind later it wouldn't be a big set back.

Last week, we hit jackpot! I had been looking at this set up in the catalog:


A nice tabletop with a lip so your items wouldn't slide off the table. This one also has a nice glass piece so if I wanted to add a light box later I could. For only $9.99 I picked up the table top. The only damage? A minor scratch along the edge. What sold for originally $99.99 we picked for less than $10!

And on top of that, we found another white triangular leg for only $9.99 as well. So for less that $30, I was able to purchase the table set I wanted that was originally priced at $159.99!!

I love IKEA! Now if we could only find the extendable toddler bed at a discount for LMA before next year's move.

A new tradition

As a family, we have very few things that we would actually call a "tradition". Obviously, we have the basic holidays but small events that we do together either weekly or monthly... not so much. Don't get me wrong, we have a schedule to abide to, but that's different. Trust me though that schedule definitely helps me get through the day sometimes.

So last weekend, we were thinking of different things to do. Saturday was a no brainer since it was beautiful weather we were outside most of the day. Sunday however, it was rainy and cold. We still had our plans of what we would like to do with our front yard plantings on our minds when I mentioned IKEA. I thought we could check there to see if they had something small, like a bistro set to place under our large tree in the midst of our new flower garden.

I also knew IKEA had a small cafe and thought that would be a perfect place to sit and have a mid-morning snack with Little A. Apparently, there are lots of other people with the same idea. So we ordered two small breakfast plates with eggs, home fries/hash browns, and bacon. Little A loved the eggs and potatoes! It was nice to sit and relax with Little A. There was enough people around in the cafe to keep him distracted while we finished our plates and tea/coffee.

The best part - it was cheap! Compared to IHOP or Denny's where you would normally pay close to $10 for two plates, coffee, tea, juice, and milk, we only paid $3.95! Yesterday we went back, this time I made sure to bring juice for Little A and I ordered just tea. Total = $2.08! I think we may have to order a third plate though just for Little A because he ate all of mine. With the rising prices of gasoline (granted I know it cost us to drive there), I can definitely deal with that. An added bonus, we get to shop afterwards. I found some great table runners with the perfect colors that I have been looking for to turn into pillows for our living room.

I think this is definitely a tradition that we may keep.