Frugal Friday: IKEA

So a few weeks ago my best friend from high school was talking about how she wanted a cute new bedspread, and I’d been to IKEa last fall with Holly where she had gotten a super cute duvet insert and cover for really cheap, so I suggested that the two of us plan a trip out. And we finally got to go this last Saturday!

We started out our morning in the cafe, which I hadn’t been to before but knew was pretty inexpensive, that said it was way more awesome than I thought! I feel a little sick in the morning if I don’t eat right away so I had already eaten a little and so just got their coffee and cinnamon roll combo, which was priced at only $.69!  Kelsey got swedish pancakes (basically like 3 wheat crepes) and lingonberry jam and really liked it too.  You just grab a mug for coffee when in line checking out and then can fill it up as many times as you want with really good, kind of german tasting coffee and organic milk or half and half right out of the dispenser.  The cafe was really cute too!

After breakfast we headed right into the store, and looked around all the showrooms for a while before getting to all the stuff. Kelsey got her duvet insert ($10 for a basic, warm weather one) and then duvet cover ($40--although there were other full/queen sized ones for just $20).  

I got another pack of the 4x6 frames that I really like for only $1 (I got these last time I was at Ikea and they are perfect for decorating)!  
I also got a milk frother for $3, which meant that I had to search for two 1.5v batteries for like 10 minutes before I found 2 that were charged when I got back... so far its a little intermittent as to when it wants to work, but is such a  good deal!  Add a dark chocolate bar for $1 to that order and you’ve got everything!

My shopping advice on making Ikea work for you:
1.  Make it a date--the meal was actually really good and the price literally can’t be beat.
2.  Look online before--there are so many different options for anything you need, and the online catalogue makes it really clear what the best price in a given catgegory is
3.  Know what you need and set a budget for items taht are just more spur of the monet.  Because this trip I didn’t need anything on, I alotted myself $5 to spend.  The prices are really good so you definitely want to be able to take advantage of them, but you don’t want to go overboard with things you don’t definitely need.
4.  Enjoy--IKEA is an activity and a place to save at once :)