Alright, I’m finally doing it!!!! Sharing my secrets about how, and where I thrift. There is a method to my madness, even though it may not seem like it. I think y’all have caught on by now, but if you haven’t, here’s a little secret for you…….I LOVE THRIFT SHOPPING! Seriously though, it’s the best! There is something about finding that high end brand for a fraction of the retail price. I get so giddy over finding great deals! I go home and gush over my goodies to the Hubby, and he just looks at me like I’m a crazy lady. I wasn’t always an avid thrift shopper. Actually I was quite the opposite! When I was working full time, I loved to go shopping on payday. I spent a lot of money on name brand jeans. Like drop $100 on one pair of jeans…..ONE PAIR! Now I’m like, let’s see how much I can buy for $100! I had a pretty normal/healthy budget for shopping when I was working full time. But when I had my first child, I left my career to become a stay at home Momma. Best decision I’ve ever made by the way! When that happened, our finances needed to shift. We were living off one income now, and we had to lay out our priorities. And let me say ladies, my Hubby didn’t put my shopping fund up towards the top of the priority litst….It was more like at the very bottom. So I had to get creative, make my money stretch further. That’s what started my love of thrifting. I couldn’t belive the things I was getting at such low prices. So I never turned back, and now I am a thrifter for life!!!
Here are my top 5 secrets to finding these amazing deals I’m always coming home with.
#1 Â Go in with an open mind and a good time frame – Ladies, don’t run into Goodwill if you only have 30 minutes to shop. You will just leave frustrated that you didn’t find anything. You need a good 2 hours to rummage through. I usually ask my Mom to come with me so she can take one of my kids, and I’ll take the other. We divide and conquer! But even better, try not to take the kids at all. You really need the time to look through everything.
#2 Go directly to your size and season preference – Goodwill usually has things fairly organized. The ones local to me have things divided by season, size, and color. So if you are looking for dresses, go directly to that section. If you are looking for shoes, go directly to that section, and so on and so forth. Also, if you know what colors look best on you, start in that color scheme first.
#3 Go on half price tags day – The Goodwills around here have half price tags certain days every week. I would think almost all Goodwills would do this. Just call down to your local store and ask if and when they do their half price tag sales. I usually go to 3 or 4 different stores all within 30 miles of me, and the great thing is, they all do half price tags on different days! They pick a random color tag every week, so it’s always different when you go in there. I love shopping on these days because you can score big time for so cheap! I love saying, this shirt was $2, or these shoes were $4! It’s such a great feeling!
#4 Search for things that still have tags – Our local Goodwill’s work with Target, so when Target gets rid of their clearance items that didn’t sell, or that got slightly defected, they donate to Goodwill. So almost every time I go, I come home with Target items new with tags. Again, I’m not 100% sure all Goodwills do this, but it doesn’t hurt to call and ask.
#5 Go in knowing what you’re looking for – I said above to keep an open mind, which you should. But go in with a list of things you need or want. I usually look through my closet before going, and make a list of things I would like to incorporate. This way I don’t forget while I’m there thinking…..What was I looking for again? Let’s be real, my memory is something to be desired…..NOT! I swear my kids sucked the memory capacity right out of my head! 😉 So, before you head out to rummage through clothes, get that list written down so there is no guessing when you are there.
So those are my top 5 secrets to thrift shopping. I know I mentioned Goodwill a lot, but this list is for thrift shopping of any kind. My first stop is always Goodwill, and then if I didn’t get what I was looking for, I’ll hit up the nicer second hand stores.
Here are some of my favorite looks I’ve snagged thrift shopping within the last few months. Everything I’m wearing from head to toe has been bought second hand!
Now you can see why I love thrifting so much! Aren’t those some pretty awesome pieces? Especially that last black top. That was a brand new Stitch Fix top I got for $4!!! I hope you guys got some useful tips out of this, or at least gave you the itch to go try thrift shopping for yourself. And hey, if you need a shopping buddy, you know where to find me! Drop a comment below with your favorite thrift store find. I love to hear what others are scoring! Happy thrifting! XO
