Bargain Hunters...

Ryan and I have lots in common - we both love a good bargain. I'm a pretty good negotiator too, in fact, I'm pretty sure if I ever were to consider a new career path it would be that of a hostage negotiator! 

We'll stick to bargain hunting store side for the time being though. 

I love TK Maxx, for those of you in SA think Meltz in Sandton and PE...on steroids. I can spend hours in a TK Maxx (in the US it's called TJ Maxx for some reason?) and when my Mom comes out to visit later this year, I know she'll happily spend an entire afternoon browsing the racks. I've clearly inherited this gene from her. The one in Wimbledon has a great baby section and even though my husband typically hates browsing, especially TK Maxx, he'll happily do this if we're looking for baby things. Ryan has a great eye for detail and luckily we have similar tastes both in decor and baby paraphernalia. 

Yesterday afternoon we decided to up the ante - we skipped TK Maxx and headed to a Mum2Mum Market instead. 

Now let me explain for those not from around here; in the UK car boot sales are part of British culture. People will happily get out of bed at the crack of dawn and head down to an open field, in all weathers, and sell their old tat from the boot of their car. They'll happily sit there, sometimes all day, and willingly let strangers rummage through their personal items that they want to get rid of. 

Car boot sales are usually for people who couldn't be bothered with taking photo's of said tat and selling it on eBay.

Now a Mum2Mum Market is like a car boot sale but clever. Instead of being held in an open field; it's held in-doors (think church hall, school hall or local community center). Instead of starting at the crack of dawn; it runs for 2hrs max (usually during civil afternoon hours, once you've got all your Saturday chores done and managed to eat your lunch). Instead of selling old tat; people off-load unwanted, unused, hardly used baby and kids things (think any old clutter that you don't want to just giveaway to your local charity shop if you could make a couple of quid off of selling it yourself). 

M2M Markets are usually for parents who are too busy looking after their brood to take photo's of said clutter and sell it on eBay.  

I've wanted to go to one for ages but we always seem to have something else on the go. These markets aren't held every week like car boot sales, instead they happen once a month or every couple of months depending where you're located. I  made a note in my diary having missed the one back in July. So in the spitting rain we headed off on uncharted waters yesterday after doing our chores and eating our lunch.

And now I know why these markets only run for 2hrs - because it felt like we were in a scene from Armageddon or Independence Day or Titanic or any other movie you can think of where people are scared, I mean dead petrified, that they might actually come to some sort of fatal harm. Anything more than 2hrs, blood would've been shed, police called and all future M2M Markets cancelled forever. Tensions run high. You can't move, well you can but not in a hurry.

The last time I saw that many people, of a similar age to me, crammed into a school hall was when I was 15yrs old getting my grove on during a school disco at Glenvista High! 

The first thing that hit us was the noise; school halls aren't known for their great acoustic qualities, so adding, what felt like over 100 screaming/crying kids, of all ages, enabled the sound barrier in my head to burst. Clearly none of them had had their lunch! 

The second thing was the amount of baby buggies one had to navigate around; in fact this was rather funny because there is nothing more amusing than watching one irritated mother with a screaming child, in a buggy, trying to navigate her way around another irritated mother with her screaming child in a similar sized buggy. At one point I thought both were about to have an ol' western stand-off with each other. 

I can't remember what the third thing was I noticed because we lasted all of twenty minutes in there. Ryan says I've scarred him for life. 

You can spot the experienced M2M Market goers a mile away - they've ditched the buggy and have their little one strapped to their chest in a baby carrier, thus enabling free movement of both hands and the ability to make a quick getaway. 

I managed to part with £10 during this little experiment and picked up some great items (see pic below) for Little One. He'll never know that they're not brand new, something he best get used to with having thrifty parents. 

Ryan has not only forgiven me but has also agreed to go to another market day; this time as sellers, we have some kiddies t-shirts we need to off-load before Little One get's here - overstock from Urban Africa. 

Watch this space as I'm pretty sure we'll have some tales after this experience! 

Ryan with one of his TK Maxx finds

Bargain buys from M2M Market; one almost new JoJo Maman Bebe romper with hat £2, Dr Seuss alphabet cards £3 and brand newborn 6 piece set £5