Early Pregnancy Frugal Fancy-Pants

Frivolity starts like this...and just keeps on going.  I really should start a Frugal Fancy-Pants link-up sometime to see if I can lure anyone else into having someone take pictures of them looking thoughtful next to shopping carts.

Exhibit A:

You have to take all the children out for a day of appointments and errands.  Wear these jeans because you're barely squeezing into them at 12 weeks pregnant, and it's the last time they'll see the light of day for many moons.  I realize that many of you look like this at home and may be wondering why I call normal dress "fancy-pants."  The mystery is easy to solve.  My normal dress at home is so shabby that you would probably call it "homeless," so it follows that your normal is my fancy.  All clear?  Good.

Tan flats: rummage sale- 10 cents

Jeans: rummage sale- 10 cents

Lace-trimmed, sleeveless shirt (which has a clever button in the back that you can UNbutton to accommodate your increased girth!): 10 cents

Tan cardigan: rummage sale- 10 cents

Total cost: 40 cents

Optional accessories:
Elbow patches (free with the cardigan)
Green bracelet: gift from Millie (ten cents at a rummage sale)

Brown handbag: a handmade gem from Titi
A vanful of tired children: staggeringly less expensive than all those silly charts tell you

Exhibit B:

Normally I like the Exhibit B picture to mirror Exhibit A in location and pose, but we only go to Target a couple of times a year, plus, this picture Millie took of me was just too good to leave out.

It's the most representative of reality, anyway.  This time (at 18 weeks pregnant), I was just sliding off the couch to go make lunch when I just couldn't bear consciousness anymore and, within seconds, fell soundly asleep.  This overwhelming urge to sleep happens too often.

Jeans: rummage sale- about a nickel
Tank top: hand-me-down
Sweatshirt: rummage sale- about a nickel
Total cost: about ten cents

Optional accessories:
Bathrobe to sleep on: Christmas gift
Weird junk everywhere: free every day thanks to many little people
Dopey sleeping face: one-of-a-kind, made to order, and priceless


Side-by-side comparison: