Tag Archives: Frugal Ideas

Goodwill Outlet Shopping Trip and Haul- Awesome Thrift Finds at the Austin Blue Hanger Goodwill Outlet & Shopping Tips!

Posted by Candice@Shopahoicsavers.com on December 23, 2015 None comments

We went to the Goodwill outlet with no expectations since we had never been before. My sister was visiting me in Austin, TX my new home so we decided to go to this infamous thrift store, where most items are $1.39lb. Yelp reviews were basically 50/50 between this place is awesome and this place is hell. To us the Goodwill outlet is paradise enough so that we went twice in two days! The above picture shows some of our finds including a cast iron Le Creuset cast iron skillet, bags of clothes, a rolling duffle, and a sewing machine. Scroll down to see more from our two trips!

Shopping Tips:

1. Have lots of time to browse. Take a picture of the price chart to reference.
2. Bring gloves, hand sanitizer and a reusable bag at minimum. To be super prepared bring these additional items: measuring tape, a luggage scale, a screwdriver. Don’t be intimidated by the shopping conditions
3. Do not touch carts parked within yellow lines on the floor. This is designated space for shoppers to leave their carts while they shop for more treasures.
4. If you decide to park your cart in a safe place find a throw or scarf to drape over it so no one will be able to see your finds. Also watch for sneaky shoppers just in case.
5. A section will be closed when they switch out the old bins for new ones. People then line up waiting for the new bins which cannot be shopped until the rows are finished. Once an associate gives the go ahead to shop there will be a stampede for bargains! We watched this spectacle a few times before we braved the crowed. The rush can be compared to a runners high! (It is much easier to navigate this crowd with just a bag)
6. Grab anything you think you want to buy and put it in your cart or bag. You can go through it later.
7. Bring a buddy who knows your taste and isn’t easily intimidated.
8. Know the sizes of your family/ friends because you never know what you might find.
Have fun it is going to be crazy but you will find bargains!

Our Finds:

A slightly dirty Coach purse (check back soon to see how we try to clean it up)

Lots of expensive glassware 20 items for $1.99 including a large pyrex casserole dish, pyrex pie dish, pyrex bowl, two corning ware dishes with lids, 3 vision cookware lids, 3 blue mason jars, a pyrex measuring cup, cafe du mode coffee cup, and a stainless steel water bottle!

This real leather satchel / laptop bag Solo brand. We paid $2.99 and it’s still currently selling online for over $120

The above really cool brown shelves and picture

The above seatbelt brand purse that is currently selling on eBay for $50-100

Really nice children’s books 5 for $1

The above generic magic bullet for $1 and it works!

This storage trunk for $2.99

A rolling laptop bag for $2.99, everything else was weighed @ 1.39lb

Damage from our first trip including a giant wicker basket for $1 and a free Ikea comforter from another Austin thrift store. Several purses and tons of clothes!

A floor steamer for 99 cents and it works! An ikea lamp and a bag of corks for DIY projects.

All the Vera Bradley bags we found over two days. We found more, but decided not to buy the other purses.

Little girls dress up clothes 1.39lb. These will be a Christmas gift for a friend’s daughter.

Overall, we had a blast at the Goodwill Outlet. Not for the faint of heart, but great for pirate thrifters.

Have you ever been to a Goodwill Outlet and what did you find?

Get FREE $10 when you redeem 5 deals from BankAmeriDeals® until 11/30/15

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on November 3, 2015 None comments

I accidentally already did two of the deals. And I will be going to Starbucks for a work meeting on Thursday so I’m thinking I will get gas next at my local Wawa and then I have to buy something from the petstore anyways. Since I would already be doing all of these things, getting $10 to do them is a great deal

This is a neat little offer for Bank of America customers. If you are a Bank of America customer then you probably already know about their free BankAmeriDeals® aka free cash back if you use your debit card at certain stores/retailers. I personally have gotten cash back a few times as a surprise since I forget which deals are ongoing which is always nice if happen to end up shopping at one of the places anyways.

However, the free $10 back for redeeming 5 deals (looks like the above image but is for 5 deals) is great if you are going to be shopping at one of the places offering free cash back anyways. Right now the deals showing up on my online banking include Jo-Ann Fabrics, Starbucks, Panera, Wawa and more.

Throw Pillow Transformation- Frugal Decor!

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on October 7, 2015 None comments

I’m really excited about my throw pillow transformation! I pulled a couple of pillows out of my sister’s donation pile after her yard sale. They were shabby and didn’t match my decor but for about $3.25 including shipping on Amazon.com I was able to buy these beautiful bright pillow covers! They are listed as burlap so I was worried they would be scratchy but they are actually soft! I couldn’t be more thrilled!

Click my referral link below to buy your own! These are so cool that I also sent a couple to my long distance BFF and I wasn’t even the one who had to ship them which was a nice added bonus!

WayHomeDecor Cotton Linen Decorative Throw Pillow Case Cushion Cover Cute Elephant 18 “X18 “

Saving Money on a Cross Country Move

Posted by Candice@Shopahoicsavers.com on October 4, 2015 None comments

Since my last post my husband and I moved to Texas. We flew into town for my husband’s interview on June 18th. That weekend we were determined to find an apartment if he got the job. After looking at 12 apartments we found the one. We flew back to Florida awaiting the news whether or not he got the job. Well he did and he started on the 3rd of July! We had been thinking about moving to Texas for a few months and in that time we decided we would be taking the bare minimum of household items. After a very successful yard sale (read about it here) and selling things online. I was able to get rid of our furniture.

Here are a few frugal things we did to save on our cross country move.

We decided to attach a hitch to our Honda Accord and tow a 4×8 trailer. Whatever didn’t fit in the trailer stayed behind. Renting a Uhaul to tow our car would have been around $1500 where as a trailer and permanent hitch was around $400.
We only took one piece of furniture. The rest was kitchen stuff such as our crockpot, toaster, waffle maker, and George Foreman grill. We also brought household items such as canvases and other items that hold sentimental value to us.
Our apartment offered a $99 deposit/application special because my husband works for one of the big tech companies here.
We bought out couch from Big Lots. My husband actually arrived in TX a few weeks before I did and he found our sectional couch for $700. Now we have never spent more than $45 on a couch before so $700 is a lot, but compared to other furniture stores this was a steal.
Initially, my husband slept on an air mattress he bought from Walmart. He priced matched with an amazon deal and saved money on the mattress. Now we have a mattress for company to sleep on too!
We bought our mattress from Ikea. We live 5 minutes away from Ikea and a mattress store. We decided to check out the mattress store first and upon seeing that the cheapest mattress set was $1500 we made a bee line to Ikea. Our mattress was around $350.
Downsizing from a 3 bedroom house to 1 bedroom apartment has saved us money on utility bills. Our rent is actually more, but in the amount we are saving in electricity it works out to be the same.
For signing up with our electric company they gave us a 2 night stay in select hotels across the country. I still need to do some research into this deal, but if it works out expect a post about it.
We are slowly buying furniture/ decor for our new home. Since getting rid of all our possessions we really do not feel the need to buy items for our house that do not have a purpose.
We discovered grocery stores we did not have in Florida and have learned how their sales work. For example, I do most of my grocery shopping at HEB, but about every other week Sprouts has boneless skinless chicken breasts for $1.88 lb. My husband and I basically only eat chicken breasts so I stock up and freeze the chicken.
HEB also has self-serve spices. This has saved me lots of money because I can buy the exact amount of spice I need for a recipe without buying a whole bottle. Usually it only costs around 10-20 cents for a small package of whatever spice I need.

Whoa! So much free Victoria’s Secret stuff!!!!

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on October 2, 2015 None comments

I have been receiving so much FREE Victoria’s Secret stuff lately I’m not even going to be able to use all of it!

I received my new Victoria’s Secret card in the mail (top left) and it came with a FREE $10 Angel Reward Card. I also received a FREE $10 Happy Birthday Angel reward card. These two cards were free because I have their credit card (with a zero balance of course!) but I receive a lot of other stuff that is free that doesn’t require a credit card.

I also received 2 Free Panty Coupons and a FREE travel size item at Bath & BodyWorks their sister company. Yay!

I am probably going to use the gift cards to buy some Christmas presents/stocking stuffers. I love free shopping!

If you want to find out how you can receive free stuff from Victoria’s Secret too please click HERE.

42 inch Flat screen TV from Goodwill for $120

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on September 5, 2015 1 comments

So I have written about how we bought our 46 inch TV for $150 but recently the screen died and that was our only TV. When we moved in December we decided that we really didn’t need or use our bulky tube TVs and if we wanted to watch TV in another room we could do it on our laptops/computers.

My sister and brother-in-law were nice enough to let us borrow one of their TVs but then they moved and it was time for us to buy our own TV anyways. Well coincidentally my sister and I went to Goodwill and they had just put our the above 42 inch TV for $125 dollars. I still have a student discount so I was able to get 10% off! That basically took care of the tax so the total was $120! It also happens to be the exact same size as our 46 inch TV so maybe it has a wider border around the screen or maybe they were wrong about the size.

I’m going to be very honest and say that there was one minor problem with the TV. There was a line that appeared in the screen after 5+ hours of use a few times but that has completely stopped which is odd. I’m not naive enough to think that this problem won’t reappear at some point but for now it’s gone and its been gone a lot longer than it appeared. The TV came with a remote and has all of the right HDMI plugs and everything. Honestly, I can’t say how much we love this TV! And the price was right! I am determined to stop buying new when possible and I didn’t expect to find a flat screen TV but I’m glad I did.

We love to stream TV instead of paying for cable. If you would like to try Amazon Prime for free click below to get a free month trial and help us out through our affiliate link.

$7 Wedge Heel Peep Toe Sling Back Platform Sandals

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on August 8, 2015 None comments

I really wanted a pair of Wedge Heel Peep Toe Sling Back Platform Sandals like the ones pictured below for sale on Amazon.com but I was super excited when my sister and I went to Payless and found the above pair on clearance for $7. My cat loved the box and sat in it for the next two days straight. I’m really glad that I didn’t pay $50 for a similar pair I was looking at.

CAPE ROBBIN LAURA-NY-8 Women’s Wedge Heel Peep Toe Sling Back Platform Sandals

New Free Paper Subscription for the El Sentinel with Free Sunday Paper Coupons

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on August 6, 2015 None comments

We moved a few months ago and I haven’t been couponing much recently but I clicked the below link and signed up for a new Saturday paper subscription to the El Sentinel. It came today, about two weeks after signing up, and had three coupon inserts. It’s a good way to get free Sunday paper coupons. An added bonus is that it comes on Saturday so you get the coupons early, that way if there are any coupons you want more of you can go get more papers on Sunday. It also sometimes contains the Smart Source in Spanish which has different coupons.

You can also click HERE to subscribe for free on their website.

*This is not an affiliate link

Know someone who is moving? Ask what they are doing with their food!

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on August 5, 2015 None comments

My sister and her husband are moving out of state and getting rid of almost everything they own, including all of the food in their house. They gave me and B over four jam packed boxes full of pantry items including tons of white rice, brown rice, tons of expensive spices, lots of canned goods, salt, vegetable oil, cereal, honey, pasta, pasta sauce and many other items!

We also gave a lot of spices and some pantry staples to my brother and his gf who just moved into a new apartment.

The items in the picture aren’t even half of what they gave us. These are all items we will use and would otherwise have to buy. It’s also food that isn’t being wasted.

She also gave me various other household items including an almost brand new microwave, clothes, printer and notebook paper, chemical free personal care items, expensive curtains, etc.

Yard Sale Success with Our Local Swip Swap Facebook Ap

Posted by Ney@ShopahoicSavers.com on August 3, 2015 None comments

My sister Candy who sometimes writes for this website is moving from Florida to Texas for her husband’s new job. I am proud of them but I’m really going to miss them! They decided not to take the majority of their stuff and to get rid of all but one piece of furniture.

We decided to have a yard sale to get rid of most of the stuff they weren’t talking. Our yard sale was highly successful, partly because we posted all of the larger furniture on our local Swip Swap Facebook Ap. People came and got most of the items within an hour of posing them.

Holding a yard sale at the same time that we posted bigger items for sale online was extremely helpful because people could come at any time during those two days to pick the items up. It also helped that the main objective was to get rid of as much stuff as possible so we priced everything very inexpensively. We also made it clear that people would have to lift and move the furniture out of the house.

We were determined that by the end of the two days we would have all of the remaining stuff that we needed to get rid of out of the house and on the driveway for the yard sale. By the end of the two days almost all of the furniture was gone or sold and a lot of the smaller items too. What didn’t sell we planned to have picked up by a local charity or given to family and friends. It turns out that a family we are friends with had recently lost their house and was in need of furniture, clothing and household items and they came and picked up the remaining furniture and stuff. I’m very proud of us that we got rid of so much stuff in such a short period of time and also were able to help out some very nice people.