Tag Archives: Smart Shopping

4-16-16 Community Garage Sale Finds

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A couple of days ago I happened to see a sign for a community garage sale for a nice community down the road from where I live. Today I woke up early quite coincidentally AND remembered the sale and ended up going. I was really excited by my purchases. Everything I purchased above was for .25 cents to $3 but most of the items were $1.

I was really excited about finding some Miss Me jeans for $1 that I plan to sell, as well as Guess jeans and Aeropostale jeans. I’m going to try selling jeans on eBay for the first time so I was excited to find a few deals.

I also bought some clothes for myself including a couple of maxi skirts, some cute tops for our beach vacation, and some Hippie type pants that are very popular right now. In the picture below, I also found a set of three IKEA woven baskets for $1 that I had been wanting to buy at IKEA for about $15-20 but never had.

I love community garage sales because you get to go to so many sales without driving long distances between sales. I really hope I can find a few more this summer!

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Men’s Suits from Goodwill

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I’m very proud that my father completed a 9 month very intensive training class and is transitioning to a new job. He already owns several suits but needed a few more. We had a huge amount of luck on the same day that I found all of these clothes. The suit on the left fit my father so well he doesn’t have to have it altered in any way!

Starting a new job can be stressful and buying a new wardrobe can be expensive but it doesn’t have to be. I’m proud to have a father who is a thrift shopper like me!

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We also found this human to dog radio to play with his dog. Apparently, his dog can tell the difference between the radio and his normal voice so after being startled by it at first he started ignoring it.

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Dad also found this Hard Rock cafe jean jacket! Apparently these sell quite well online but I think he might keep it.

2-13-16 Goodwill Shopping Trip Haul

2016-02-13 15.25.32I had some fantastic luck last weekend when I went shopping at Goodwill with my father. The local Goodwill is right next to a huge university so there are generally tons of clothes. I really needed more sweaters to wear for teaching because we have had unusually cold weather this winter and I felt like I had already worn all of my winterish dress clothes several times (and I had). As you can see in the picture above I had great luck with sweaters and also some clothes for everyday life. I love trips like this where I have so much luck!

I got-

  • 7 Sweaters for teaching ~ $3 each
  • 6 Shirts for wearing in my daily life ~ $3 each
  • A pair of gray dress pants ~ $1.50 half off
  • A patterned dress skirt to wear regularly ~ $1.50 half off
  • I also was lucky enough to find a small cast iron skillet! (We have a large and medium one already) for $3.99
  • Two large mason jars $.99 each
  • A Wired Magazine book
  • A large basket that the cat quickly took possession of $3.99


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Close up pictures of what I found below 
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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?

16-01-26 Thrift Finds Goodwill Shopping Trip- Ugly Christmas Sweaters!

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I had a really fun trip to Goodwill today after I stopped at the post office. I found the above ugly Christmas sweaters for a few dollars each. I plan on A) wearing them to a Christmas Party or B) selling them on eBay next year. Apparently this is the time of year to buy them.

 

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I also had some great luck in the shoe department! I bought-

  1. Pair of Blue Sperrys Boat Shoes
  2. A Pair of decorated black heels
  3. A pair of herringbone shoes
  4. A pair of blue heels

The last three pairs I will wear to teach and the first pair I will either wear or sell on eBay.

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In this picture I got a White House Black Market Skirt (also in the photo below), a teaching skirt with hot air balloons on it, a white knit sweater, a thermal men’s shirt for B and a flannel shirt for B.

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I found the above black motorcycle style jacket but it’s all cotton and really soft and comfortable, I also bought a Gators shirt for a friend, a blue flowered infinity scarf, books and a candle holder.

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I also found this Dooney & Bourke Duck Purse like the clutch we found here for $6.99 but I didn’t end up buying it. I wasn’t sure how well it would sell on eBay so $7 seemed like too much to pay.

Orlando SkyView Goodwill Outlet Finds and Shopping Trip

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At the beginning of January, before the semester started we were lucky enough to get to visit the Goodwill outlet in Orlando at the below address. Anyone who is familiar with Orange Blossom Trail aka OBT knows that it’s not a great area to be in and it wasn’t. However, the plaza that the outlet was in wasn’t that bad and even had a Publix in it. We were very excited to find out that this place existed half an hour from where we live after our great success at the Austin Goodwill Outlet!

Skyview Goodwill Outlet Center Florida

7915 S. Orange Blossom Trail
Orlando, Florida 32809

Click HERE to read some tips for getting ready to go to a Goodwill Outlet Center.

The price was actually cheaper at the Orlando outlet at only .99 cents per pound! We were disappointed to find that it was almost entirely clothing and textiles where the Austin Goodwill Outlet had an equally large section of housewares which we actually were more interested in than the clothes. However we still had fun and above and below are pictures of our finds.

In the first picture above we found

  • A Lucky Brand Men’s Shirt
  • An Express sweater
  • A converse designer jacket
  • Some other really nice clothes
  • All of the nice flannel shirts I could find in a variety of sizes that I want to use for a sewing project.

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The above rug was so thick and nice I had to buy it even though it doesn’t entirely go with our decor. However, the cat seems to love it.

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We found the above embroidered quilt. I weighed it and at about 6 lbs it cost about 6 dollars which I thought was a steal. That isn’t the best picture of it draped over my drying rack but you can really see the beautiful embroidered flowers.

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The above two double sided towels looked brand new and spotless. I’m very picky about buying used bedding and towels and they have to look brand new. Goodwill does receive new items from Target and I believe that these are one of Target’s higher end brands.

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B actually found the above vintage Dooney & Bourke purse and expensive garment bag.

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B also had excellent luck with the shoes. He desperately needed running shoes because we go running at a local park and he has been running in flat, clunky Vans. He found-

  • A pair of work boots for when he works remodeling houses with his father
  • A brand new looking pair of light jeans shoes
  • Blue running shoes that fit him perfectly
  • Suede NewBalance shoes

Overall, we had a blast looking for bargains and all together we spent about $30. Next time we are planning a trip to another semi-close outlet that reportedly has 48 bins of clothing and 48 bins of housewares. Check back next month to see what we find there!

 

How to Get Ready for the Goodwill Outlet AKA The Bins

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I think it’s safe to say that my sister Candy and I LOVE the Goodwill Outlet AKA The Bins in Austin, Texas as proof by our hours long shopping trips two days in a row! We got so many amazing bargains! We literally found designer purses for $1.39 a pound! You are essentially entering a huge warehouse that is full of blue bins of stuff that you dig through to find items you want to buy and then pay for them by the pound.

Click HERE to see our other Thrift Shop / Yard SaleFinds (Updated Regularly!)

Click HERE to read about our Austin Goodwill trips and see our finds!

I don’t want to downplay the fact that Goodwill Outlets are intense places. It is probably only the most hard core, pirate level thrift shoppers that go there. You literally have to be willing to get a little dirty but with some persistence it’s totally worth it. I makes me not want to shop anywhere else because everywhere else is literally 100x more expensive!

However, there are a few things that can make your shopping trip even better. A little preparation can help you make sure you are getting the best bargains.

Here is the list of what I like to bring to the outlet:

  1. Gloves– They don’t have to be heavy duty gloves but it is nice to have your hands covered when going through mountains of stuff.
  2. Hand Sanitizer– If you pick up something and you wish you hadn’t, it’s a quick way to wash your hands.
  3. A luggage scale– I’ll post the link below but they sell on Amazon Prime for $7 and mine works great for my 50lb suitcase and smaller items too, everything is sold by the pound so sometimes it’s helpful to see what something will cost before you head to the register.
  4. A large reusable bag– You want to have your hands free and reusable bags are the way to go. IKEA Bags were the bag of choice at the Austin Goodwill. Note- If you don’t have a bad already this is a great place to grab one. In fact, we often don’t bring our own bags and just grab one while we are there.
  5. A tape measure– One problem we were having at the Austin Goodwill was guessing if something would 1. Fit in the car, 2. Fit on a plane.
  6. Small Purse/Pockets– If you are going to bring a purse make sure it is over the shoulder and small so that you have your hands free
  7. A phone– So that you can take pictures and look up the value of times you might want to sell.
  8. Comfortable, closed toe shoes– You will be on your feet the whole time so you want to be comfortable and you also want to protect your feet.

Other Items You Might Want- 

  1. A phone band– If you don’t have a pocket to put your phone
  2. A stain stick– like the tide togo pens in case you see a mark on a piece of clothing that you really want but don’t know if a spot will come out.
  3. SaniWipes– again in case you see a mark on something that you really want but don’t know if you can clean it.
  4. A Small Over the Shoulder Purse– like the one above if you don’t have pockets to put your stuff in so that your hands will be free
  5. A USB Phone Charger– You might also want a portable charger if you are planning on being there for a long time, if you are as into thrifting as we are you will find that time flies at the outlets

Check back soon to see what we bought on our most recent trip!

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Goals for 2016!

Goals for 2016!

1.I am only going to buy my clothes from thrift stores. The only exclusion ,of course, will be undergarments.
2.Only buy items that bring me joy! I will not buy stuff just because it is on sale!
3.Research products before I buy them especially makeup!
4.Buy items that will last a lifetime that I will not have to throw away in a few months.
5.Work out at least 30 minutes a day! Lately I have been doing my own version of yoga/ pilates in my living room!
6.Read more and not just articles on the internet!
7.Become more inventive/ willing to experiment with food!
8.Research alternative living spaces/ tiny houses and if possible start to save $$!
9.Sell more stuff on eBay! I recently sold my first item. It was only listed for 1 day!
10.Go caving!!! I live about an hour and a half from San Antonio which has beautiful caves!

Posted by: Candy

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Two of my recent thrift store Vision cookware finds. I intend to use theses until they fall apart!

As you can see below they can be quite expensive!

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

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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.

$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

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