thrifty Thursday

I love thrifting. It's thrilling to me to find something I've been needing for so much less that it would cost from its original store.

Lately, Brad has been needing jeans to wear to work. His office recently switched over  to more casual dress, and he hasn't worn a pair of khakis to work in ages! His jeans collection was starting to be a bit threadbare, and one of his last good pairs ripped all the way up the leg. Dire situation, indeed.

My mission upon entering thrift stores, then, has been first, to find jeans for Brad, second, to find clothes for my ever-growing toddler, and third, to find a couple nice pieces  for myself, since my post-pregnancy shape is so different.

Today was a triple win. Hooray!

Not one, but THREE pairs of pants for Brad:
One pair of Levi's (about $58 new), one pair of brand new, with tags, Old Navy jeans ($29.50), and a pair of Banana Republic jeans ($89!?!) for a grand total of $35.

A likely brand new baby Gap thermal (white with navy stripes) for my sweet little boy:
(Similar one $19.95) for $0.75. Boom, baby.

And a cute sweater and skirt for me! The skirt is old, from Old Navy. Probably about 2006? Let's imagine that it was probably about $15. The sweater doesn't have a tag, but it looks like it could be Old Navy, as well. I'll imagine that it was likely $20 new. Both items came to $6.50 total.

So the grand total is about $42.  It would have been about $222 new. I paid about 19% of the original price of these items.

I. Love. Thrifting.

Happy Thursday!

thrifting in a new place

Hello, blogworld! It has been entirely too long. Let's get to the thrifting though, okay?

Hubby and I have been living here in the city for a little over a month, now, and I've Found Some Thrift Stores. This is capital. It's especially lovely, because a whole bunch of these thrift stores are all in a row and across the street from each other! This means I can have an entire afternoon of thrifting if I want it...and if the wallet allows.

Anyway, I wanted to share some of my findings! 

 Here is a little Linnea made of clothes! I got the swingy, super-soft white top (MODA) and maternity shorts (Ann Taylor LOFT) for $7. It was half-off-everything day!

 This cute navy skirt by J. Crew is made of a rugged cotton, and only cost $5! Love.

This black button-down shirt is from Gap, and was only $5. Hooray for half-off day!

I've also recently acquired a pair of swim trunks for the hubby that look almost brand new ($5), and yellow empire waist top for me ($5) that I'm currently wearing.

Do you know how hard it is to resist buying baby clothes? I want to wait until we know Baby's gender, and even then, I think I'll wait to really go all-out until after Baby is born! Hooray for thrifting.

thrifting

It's an art, my friends.

Well, not really. But there is a bit of a method to the madness.

First, find out about the store's "specials." For example, at the Salvation Army, they'll put items with a certain color price tag on sale, just for the day. Some have a frequent shopper program where you can get a stamp on a card for each $XX purchase, and then get a certain percentage off your next buy. Some allow you to earn credit for your "donations" or the items they buy from you. Some allow you to make an offer on an item. Some put out their newest items on Tuesday morning, just like the other store by that name.

But my favorite stores? They have Half-off-everything-in-the-store Day. One store I know calls it Wow Wednesday. Wow, indeed. Things start off at a decent price, and end up just...wow.

I went home to visit my parents for a couple days this week and happened to be there on Tuesday, which is their 50% off sale day each week. Yay! I was also in town for 50% off Wednesdays at the local Salvation Army store - hooray!

Here is how I go about searching a thrift store for awesomeness.
First, I take a few seconds to breathe and avoid feeling overwhelmed. This usually means that I move away from the doorway, step into an aisle, and take a few minutes to see the general layout of the store. Women's stuff here, shoes there, Men's stuff, baby and kids' stuff, home stuff. What are today's deals? What color tag should I be looking for? Check.

Then, I ask myself what I'm looking for - is this just for fun? Do I have a need in mind - new fabric to sew with, jeans for the hubby, closed-toe dress shoes in the perfect brown? How much time do I have?

Next, if there is a specific goal, I head directly to the point of the visit. Sometimes this is really disappointing, and I'm out of the store just a few minutes later. Other times, it starts the shopping success with a great find!

If there's no real goal but spending time with someone, I'll start by exploring the perimeter of the store. I love to touch things and get a sense of the texture of an item before I try it or buy it, but I'm pretty picky: I won't touch something that doesn't look like it's brand new (or almost new), vintage in great condition, brand name, a great color, something I or someone I love could use, or something inspirational. This limits the speedy pushing of metal-hooked hangers along a rack (squeak, squeak, squeeeeeak, clack, squeak). It also limits the number of chenille sweaters I touch (shudder).

Once I pick something up, I'll carry it around with me until I'm ready to try it on (clothes), or until I convince myself to put it back. When I'm thrifting, I'm generally looking for almost-new clothing, classic styles, and brands I love. I'll almost always try it on, unless I already own the item in a different color and know what size it is. I'm always thinking about the price I would pay in-store for any given item, and if the tag at the thrift store is worth it.

For instance, I know for a fact that I could purchase a lightweight cotton sweater for my hubby at Old Navy for $15. When I saw the same sweater, new with the tags still on it, at the thrift store, it was marked $15. However, it was 50% off day! Score.

Sometimes I drool over the luxurious sweaters, scarves, dresses,shirts, pants... made by J. Crew, but I quickly click away because I can't afford the $50-$200 price tags. I'm so excited when I find some of their great stuff at thrift stores! Today was no exception. Here are my scores, with the price I paid and the estimated store-price in parentheses:

Navy cabled sweater vest, Aeropostale, $1.50 ($45)
I've worn this twice already. I still have it on.What a cozy layer!

Navy/green floral ballet flats with grosgrain bow, $2.50 ($30)
Spring can't come fast enough! 

Vintage red/navy/white Pendleton wool skirt, $1.50 ($30)
I'm planning to shorten this skirt and fix up a little moth hole before I wear it!

Men's gray/navy/white cotton sweater vest, Old Navy, $7.50 ($20)
For the hubby, of course.

Vintage half slip, $0.50 ($20)
Because the vintage slip material is so silky soft. Love.

Gray cashmere scarf, Caroline Grace Cashmere $10 at T.J. Maxx($100)

 I've been waiting for this scarf to go on sale since I spotted it in the store in late November!!

Charcoal gray embellished V-neck tee, J. Crew, $4.50 ($30)

Grape-purple cotton sateen A-line miniskirt, Express, $1.50 ($30)

Possible Easter outfit beginning?

Next, my absolute favorite score of the week...

Gray/navy/orange/red argyle merino wool and angora cardigan, J. Crew, $2 ($60)

Look at those cute little gold buttons!! I love this sweater! So classic, so me.

 

God blesses us with everything we need, and so very much more. If I had purchased all these things at full price as I estimated above, it would have come to about $365. I paid $25.50, and my momma picked up the other $6 as a little gift to me. I'd say paying less than 10% of the estimated retail value of these things is a pretty great deal!! Happy. 

Thankful. 

Grateful. 

And so content in God's provision for me. 

free to me!

remember how I mentioned that swap meet in my previous post? The one where everything was free? I donated some of my stuff, and picked up these awesome finds:

1.

Tommy Hilfiger boat shoes in plaid oilcloth, lined with canvas, rubber soles. They're almost ballet flat style - just feminine enough. Love! Can't believe I found my size (5.5). Similar shoes sell for $59 or more!

2. This one was a real surprise - I don't usually like Vera Bradley stuff, but this ID holder in "pinwheel pink" caught my eye. It was originally $12, but is on sale for $8. And for me, free.



3. A light blue wool cable-knit scarf and hat set. Beautiful! The scarf is a snuggly 9" wide and hangs to mid- thigh when I don't wrap it. Unbelievably, I'm actually wearing it comfortably right now because it's in the 40's here. In May. All sadness aside, I love it.
4. A cute red swingy tank top - shirred at the empire waist with wide straps that cross over in the back. It's made of cotton t-shirt material, so it will be super comfy for summer.
5. a wool sweater that I have already shrunk (on purpose!!) to use as a reinforcement for my hubby's wearing-thin boiled wool slippers. He loves those slippers - I'm going to try to extend their life.
6. new-ish cleats for my brother's golf game.

I would've stayed longer and dug for more, but Hubby was with me and was getting antsy. All in all, a total success. Yay!

the dangers of shopping

my wedding band, perched on the white hyacinth in my garden:

not only is there the much greater possibility of car damage, higher stress, waiting in lines, and overwhelming selections, there's the exponentially increased chance that you'll spend more than you intended.

take today, for instance - I went happily to the mall with a friend, planning to spend no more than $10. things were fine, with purchases totaling only $8. then we decided that our shopping trip would not be complete without a trip to t.j. maxx. this is possibly one of my favorite discount stores. two dresses, a pair of stockings, a scarf, and two cute card-holders later, my bill-for-the-day was a whopping $50. mind you, i love the dresses. the scarf is fabulous. the card holders are super cute and they clean up the interior of my purse. however, this is five times what i meant to spend.

bring on the Mary Kay tea party following the shopping excursion. it just feels wrong to attend a party like this and not buy something, especially if the hostess is a good friend. i was conservative though, only spending $10. only. ha. however, this means i've spent $60 in a day. not a good thing, considering i'm still technically unemployed. ouch. the damage is done.

purple dress, gray dress, scarf, tights, card holders:

regardless, I did have fun. I enjoyed being with my friends - and we haven't been able to get together for quite some time. i now own two fabulous, versatile dresses that can work in literally any season and almost any occasion, from teaching to weddings to nights out. I will soon have a lovely MK lip gloss to complete these new looks.

shopping is dangerous...i'm planning to take a hard look at the budget, muster some self control, and figure out how to make this work.