Tag Archives: Great Deals

4-29-16 Goodwill Finds- Michael Kors, Lilly Pulitzer, Nine West and More!

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Pictured above are the Michael Kors, real leather, ankle boots that I found at Goodwill today. They feel like butter and fit me perfectly. They were $9.99 which I thought was a lot until I looked up what similar shoes were selling for on eBay (~$75-100) and on the Michael Kors website (~$100-$500). Then I suddenly felt like I got a bargain!

We live by several colleges and many students have to move this time of year. This is a great time to go to the local thrift shops that are packed with donations of items that students simply couldn’t or didn’t want to take with them.

I had a great trip to Goodwill today. I was looking for some stuff to sell on eBay since I will not be teaching the first half of summer and I also went with the goal of looking for some size 6 Nine West Heels to teach in. Nine West heels fit my feet perfectly and I can wear them for 12 hours straight without them hurting my feet. 

I honestly thought I would be searching for those elusive and expensive heels for most of the summer and I can’t believe that I found a black pair and a white pair today (See below photo)! I LOVE these shoes because my feet love these shoes and I believe the black pair is real leather. I buy Nine West business shoes every time I find them in my size (which isn’t very often) and then they usually last a long time compared to cheaper brands but I spend almost all of my time teaching standing and walking back and forth between buildings, schools and classrooms so I’m rough on my shoes.

If you live in Central Florida and see any in a local thrift shop let me know!!!!!!!! No kidding.

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20160429_160016The above teal jacket (it doesn’t look teal in the picture) had such super cool lining and was in such a great color that I couldn’t resist. It’s Mossimo brand. 
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The above picture is of all of the items I found overall including Ann Taylor petite black dress pants, a maxi dress, assorted shirts, a Levi’s Polo shirt for B and a Polo Polo Shirt for B (he can wear polo shirts to his new job), a Mossimo striped dress, a Lily Pulitzer beach bag, the above pictured teal Mossimo jacket, a banana republic sweater and a really expensive winter coat for B.

The last purchase is really kind of funny because it’s close to 100 degrees in Florida right now but this is actually the best time to buy winter stuff from thrift shops because it’s already becoming difficult to remember what cold feels like.

20160429_155541Speaking of the best time to buy winter items I also added to my Ugly Christmas Sweater collection with the above beauties that I will store with the other ugly prize sweaters I will sell on eBay next Christmas. Or we might have our own ugly sweater party, who knows! I also purchased the Grey Herringbone J Crew jacket to sell and the completely crazy flamingo sweater that sells for a crazy amount on eBay. I’ll post an update on what it sells for. 
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I love Maxi skirts and the above boho skirt caught my eye.

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Above is a picture of B modeling his new winter coat. Pickles added the cat hair when I brought it home. Below is a picture of the really expensive interior lining and pockets. Someone paid a lot of money for this coat but thankfully it wasn’t me!

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Recent Salvation Army Thrift Store Finds

Every Wednesday the Salvation Army Family Store near my house has a 50% off clothing sale. I think most Salvation Army stores across the country do this. When I was living in Florida the stores participated in this sale too. Ive been trying to go every Wednesday since one of my goals this year was to only buy my clothes from thrift stores. Here are a few of my finds. Some for me and some will go up on eBay!

 

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Victoria’s Secret Yoga Pants $2

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A Gap T-shirt Dress $1.50

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Romeo & Juliet Couture Shirt $2. This brand can be found at Nordstrom. It is one of the new to me items I have bought to wear to my new job!

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A sleep dress by Maidenform $1.50

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A cardigan from The Limited $2. This is for my new job also. As you can see the back is almost transparent.

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An As u Wish dress $2. This dress is from Dillards.

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Kenneth Cole Reaction Flats $5.99. Also for my new job!

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$2 Massimo dress for my sister. I actually own the same dress just in a different size. It is the perfect go to summer dress!

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.99 Cent Wide Mouth Ball Mason Jar. I’m not sure if this is a good deal of not, but I am trying to redo my pantry and use glass jars instead of plastic.

 

The next few items are things I found I am planning on selling on eBay!

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A PJ Salvage pajama top.

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I bought a grab bag full of stamps for $2.99. There were 17 total. Here are a few.

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Blanket Binding found in the grab bag.

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I didn’t buy this couch, but I thought it was a really nice couch in great condition. They were selling it for $400.

What have you found thrifting lately?

Frugal Review

1.My husband has a month free membership to high intensity work our class. He has been going about twice a week and comes back drenched in sweat!!
2.Last weekend my husband and I went to the discount movie theatre to see Krampus. Although it lacked most of the frills of the new movie theatre in our area, you can’t beat $2.50 for a movie ticket and the movie was actually really good!
3.I baby sat this morning for a friend and made some extra money.
4.I sold my first three items on eBay this week and have listed a few more!
5.Although it is around 45-50 degrees everyday here in Austin, TX I have yet to put on my heat. So far I’ve gone the past three months without using my A/C or heat! It has also been fun exploring my new town in nice weather!

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A local park near my house! Texas is much more beautiful than I thought it would be!

-Candy

 

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

goodwill outlet thrift haul

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!

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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!

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Our Finds:

2015-12-22 20.22.42A slightly dirty Coach purse (check back soon to see how we try to clean it up)
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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!

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

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The above really cool brown shelves and picture

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

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Really nice children’s books 5 for $1

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

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This storage trunk for $2.99

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

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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!

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


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

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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?

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Throw Pillow Transformation- Frugal Decor!

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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!

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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 “

 

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42 inch Flat screen TV from Goodwill for $120

2015-07-24 18.12.07So 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

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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

Cute Tibetan Silver Turquoise Earrings on Amazon.com $2.91 Shipped!

Tibetan Silver Turquoise Earrings

My sister and I think these earrings are adorable and they are only $2.91 including shipping from Amazon.com. Click on the link to check them out!

Why I Always Fly Southwest and Book Directly Through Their Website

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Why I Always Fly Southwest and Book Directly Through Their Website by Candice

Next month I am flying to Austin, TX with my husband to checkout places we could possibly live if we choose to move there. Then in August we are flying to California with my family for a wedding. When searching for plane tickets for both flights we used all the discount sites such as Kayak and Expedia. I always check these sites prices against Southwest directly and most of the time I find better flights at a lesser price on Southwest’s website.

For instance, my husband thought he found our flights to Austin through Delta airlines on a discount site. Both to and from had layovers in Atlanta and the flights were about $60 more than booking with Southwest. So we settled on round trip tickets with no layovers for $240 each. Here are a few of the reasons I love to fly Southwest.

  1. No baggage fees– Most airlines charge $30-50 per bag and I am just not okay with spending that much on top of my ticket.
  2. Seating– Southwest allows you to board the flight in the order you checked in, therefore you do not need to pay an additional fee to sit with your family members. This is going to be an advantage on our 6 hour flight to California. (or maybe a disadvantage, hehe)
  3. Friendly crew– Every time I fly Southwest the flight attendants are friendly and genuinely seem like they are having a good time
  4. They offer stops– The first time I flew by myself I knew I didn’t want to have a layover. I found out Southwest has stops where they stop at an airport to let people on and off and then resume flying. This whole process is about 20 minutes and is a lot less stressful than a layover. Also I learned that if you do have a stop you can change seats during this time if you are not happy with your original seating.
  5. Additionally, they are constantly having sales on their website with flights as low as $62 dollars.

 

What’s your favorite airline to fly?

Amazon.com offers Southwest gift cards available to save for your next trip or to give to someone who is going to be flying soon. Click the link below to check them out!

8-11-12 Goodwill Shopping Trip

imageYesterday I had to drive out to the university I work at. There is a Goodwill on my way home in a nice area that I love going to. As always, second hand shopping can be hit or miss but yesterday I made some great finds. For the first time every I’m actually posting some pictures of me wearing the clothes (minus my face). When I lay them out on the couch there just isn’t the same effect.

The red shirt above was half off for less than $2 and the pink shirt was about $3. I paired them with my favorite pencil skirt (also from goodwill for about $3.69) and thrifted shoes.

 

Totals-

3 Dress Skirts
8 Shirts
2 Sweaters
1 Dress
1 Jacket

Total- $44 or average of $2.93 each item, some of the items were half off

Note- This is a lot more than I usually spend in one thrift shopping trip but when I find a lot of nice stuff that I need for great deals it still saves me a lot of money.

imageThis dress was $5.99 new with the tags still on. It’s a halter dress so I paired it with a small black sweater to make it more professional that I believe cost me .50 cents at another thrift shop. The heels I bought during this thrift shopping trip for $2.

imageI also bought these three dress skirts, the tan one is from Ann Taylor loft, the purple one is from H&M, and the grey one is from charlotte ruse and the great chunky knitted jacket that I love is from Target. I tried them on with other thrifted shoes.

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