It’s All in the Family
I'm not the only frugal shopper in my family; in fact, while we all have varying tolerances for shopping, we all love to get a good deal. Take, for example, the Salvation Army expedition I went on with my sister (center), my mom (not pictured), and my grandmother (on right) this summer. We all left with multiple bags of goodies! (That box in my arms was a brand new bathroom cabinet.)
I'm also not the only thrift store fan. My husband likes them because he figures if I'm going to shop all the time, at least it's inexpensive. But my dog Toby is probably the biggest fan of all—he loves the way thrift store clothes smell when I bring them home! Something similar to this scene happens every time I bring home a thrift store haul:
I guess frugality just runs in our blood!
DEALS: Thrift Store and Pet Food
Today I found two great Groupons that I wanted to share...
1. $15 for $30 of Products from PetFoodDirect.com
This "spend $15, get $30 to use" deal, available for about 13 more hours (it ends at 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, October 11) is good for any of the products on PetFoodDirect.com which, despite its name, stocks medicines, treats, and toys in addition to food for all pets. The deal's filed under Washington, DC, but it can be purchased and used by anyone in the U.S.
Sounds good to you? Head on over to snag a voucher before the deal ends (or they sell out)!
The Limitations:
- Only one voucher per person; may buy one additional to use as a gift
- Only one voucher can be used per order
- Voucher's value cannot be applied to shipping (so your pre-shipping total would have to come to $30 or more)
- Voucher cannot be combined with any other offers, such as 15% coupon codes
- Promotional value expires on April 12, 2012. That means that after April 12, the voucher is only worth the $15 you paid for it, instead of its promotional value of $30. So you wouldn't lose your money, you just wouldn't get anything extra.
2. $15 for $35 of Products at B-Thrifty (Woodbridge, VA)
This deal is available for 2.5 more days (it ends at 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, October 11). For $15, you get $35 to spend at B-Thrifty, a "big box" style thrift store in Woodbridge, VA. The store is open 7 days a week (unlike many thrift stores that are closed on Sundays) and stocks more than 250,000 items daily.
Sounds good to you? Head on over to snag a voucher before the deal ends (or they sell out)!
The Limitations:
- Only one per person; may buy multiple as gifts
- Only one voucher can be used per visit
- Vouchers cannot be used on Federal Holidays (50% off days at B-Thrifty) or on 30% Off Customer Appreciation Days
- Vouchers cannot be combined with 30% off BiP membership discounts on Thursdays
- Only applicable towards thrift store purchases; not applicable towards purchases in the International Bazaar or the Consignment Shop
- Promotional value expires on April 14, 2012. That means that after April 14, the voucher is only worth the $15 you paid for it, instead of its promotional value of $35. So you wouldn't lose your money, you just wouldn't get anything extra.
Disclosure: The links above are my personal referral links for having bought the deals; if 3 or more people purchase the deals using my links, I'll get my deals for free. You can do the same by passing along your personal referral code(s) to your friends after purchasing the deal(s).
HAUL: $50 at Village Thrift
Today I made my fourth trip to Village Thrift, one of my new favorites. My first trip was somewhat lackluster, but since then I've gotten a 25-item haul for $80 and a 15-item haul for $60. I scaled back a bit more today, but still came home with a good haul.
I've mentioned before that Village Thrift's discount days are Sunday and Monday, when three different tag colors are 50 percent off. Today, perhaps for the holiday, in addition to three tag colors at 50% off, there were another two tag colors at 33% off. I succeeded in restricting myself to only discounted colors, buying 8 blue tag items at 33% off and 3 violet tag items at 50% off. (And, looking at the receipt now, I just realized that some items that I had thought would be full price actually received a discount... always like when that happens!)
The Goods
White cardigan sweater
Gray knit cardigan
Patterned tank
Blue knit tank
Flowered blouse
Purple dress
Gray & blue dress
Eagles jersey
Orioles jersey
Christmas Cards
Brown & blue organizer
The total: 11 items for $41.31.
Continue reading for the price and brand details.
DEAL: My Best Friend’s Closet
Now through the end of Tuesday (September 27, 2011), Groupon is offering a 50% off deal for My Best Friend's Closet, a women's clothing store in Rockville, MD. According to their site, the store sells a combination of "new and recycled clothing," stocking popular brands from H&M and Forever 21 to Kate Spade and True Religion in sizes ranging from girls' 7/8 to women's 32.
Groupon is offering $40 towards merchandise at My Best Friend's Closet for $20. There are no apparent restrictions on what can be bought with the voucher; the only restrictions are a limit of one voucher per person and that the voucher cannot be combined with any other offers.
This voucher cannot be used online; you must go to the Rockville, MD, location to redeem the voucher.
Sound good to you? Head on over to snag your own voucher before the deal ends (or they sell out)!
Disclosure: The link above is my personal referral link for having bought the deal; if 3 or more people purchase the deal using my link, I'll get my deal for free. You can do the same by passing along your personal referral code to your friends after purchasing the deal.
HAUL: $80 at Village Thrift
After my first visit to Village Thrift, my closest (big) thrift store, I had mixed feelings: I was impressed with the size, the organization, the quality of the items, the cash registers, and the discount days, but I was disappointed with some of the prices (higher prices at Village Thrift than the original/sale price tags still on new items, clothes from places like H&M for the same prices as new). I also was a little confused about the discount days; I thought it was 50% off certain colored tags on Mondays, and a different percentage off on Sundays, but it's actually 50% off three tag colors on Sundays and 50% off three tag colors on Mondays.
Today, I decided to give it another chance... and boy did I clean up! I found many items that I've been looking for: spare pillowcases, word games, cardigans, flats, generic wrapping paper, and polos for my husband. I purchased almost entirely discounted items; the full-price items I bought were ones that I felt were very good deals anyway and/or things that would be very useful to me.
The Goods
Satin jacket
Purple cardigan sweater
Fuchsia knit cardigan
Straight jeans
Dressy tank
Empire-waist shirt
Striped skirt
Metallic gold flats
Plaid canvas flats
Men's green T-shirt
Men's green polo
Men's teal polo
Men's striped polo
Men's yellow polo
Green men's shirt
Striped men's shirt
2 pillowcases
2 rolls of gift wrap
Scrapbook refill pages
Set of Christmas cards
2 word games
1 hardcover book
My total: $80.25 for 25 items. That's an average of $3.21 per item! I have a feeling I'll be making a lot more visits to Village Thrift...
Read through for all the nitty-gritty, like brands and prices per item.
HAUL: 27 books for $2
This weekend, one of the branches of my local public library was having a big book sale. My husband and I went to the sale on Sunday, when it was only open from 12:00 to 2:00 p.m., and books were being sold by the grocery bag. (On Saturday, the books were priced according to format: hardcover, paperback, etc.)
Here's how it works: As you enter the sale, you get a brown paper grocery bag. The books are all laid out on tables and shelves according to rough categories; you fill up your bag with whatever books you want as you go around the room. Then, when your bag is full, you pay just one dollar for the whole bag. Not one dollar per book, one dollar per bag of books.
In addition to books, they also had some board games, a few movies on VHS, several audiobooks, and some magazines.
My husband got overwhelmed by the crowd (people were waiting outside when we got there just before noon) and the chaos within a minute of entering, and left to read in the regular part of the library. I was in my element, though, and managed to cram a great selection into 2 bags. *
The Goods
27 books
» The Jolly Postman, Janet and Allan Ahlberg
» Chocolate Astrology, Joy Nagy
» Good Housekeeping Good Deals & Smart Steals, Susan Randol
» Politically Correct Holiday Stories, James Finn Garner
» The Abominable Snowman Doesn't Roast Marshmallows, Debbie Dadey & Marcia Thornton Jones
» The Floating Island, Elizabeth Haydon
» The New Tea Book, Sara Perry
» The Miracle at Speedy Motors, Alexander McCall Smith
» Spin a Wicked Web, Cricket McRae
» Wild Goose Chase, Terri Thayer
» The Elegance of the Hedgehog, Muriel Burbery
» Instant Gratification, Lauren Chattman
» Death is Semisweet, Lou Jane Temple
» A Puzzle in a Pear Tree, Parnell Hall
» As the World Churns, Tamar Myers
» Laced, Carol Higgins Clark
» The Fondue Cookbook, Gina Steer
» The Matrix and Philosophy, William Irwin
» Popular Mechanics Home Safety Handbook, Nancy J. Becker
» Style Rx, Bridgette Raes
» Charmed Thirds, Megan McCafferty
» The Pirate King, R.A. Salvatore
» A Field Guide to Demons, Fairies, Fallen Angels, and Other Subversive Spirits, Carol K. Mack & Dinah Mack
» How Things Work in Your Home, TimeLife Editors
» Perennials, TimeLife Editors
» Better Homes & Gardens Handyman's Book, Better Homes & Gardens Editors
All in all, that's an average of $0.07 per book.
Want to know all the nitty gritty on the prices and savings? Continue reading.
HAUL: Village Thrift
Having recently moved to a new house (and the first one that we own), I've been making almost weekly trips to the home improvement stores. I noticed a thrift store, Village Thrift, in the same plaza as my local Lowe's and have been wondering what the store is like. (Unfortunately, while their cash registers are quite up-to-date, they appear to have no web site and apparently have only the one location.)
I had heard their best deals are on Mondays, so Juliana and I headed over on Monday to check it out. Overall, I was impressed with the store: it's large, well-organized, and offers just about everything, without offering a lot of items that feel like trash. However, I had some major problems with the prices. Many items I saw still had their original tags, or tags from other thrift/yard sales, but often the Village Thrift price was equal to or more than the other tags. For example, I found one shirt with its original tags, which showed many prices, ending with a final clearance price of $7.20; Village Thrift was offering the shirt for $8.90. One of the shirts I bought had another tag on it for $3.00, but Village Thrift was charging $4.90. I also noticed that many items, particularly popular brands, had prices that were close to what they would sell for new, like an H&M knit dress for $19.90.
So, while I'll certainly be going back because it's so close and large, I'll have to be very vigilant regarding brands and prices to ensure I'm actually getting good deals. I also plan to only ever shop there on Mondays, when certain colored tags are 50% off, and Sundays, when certain colored tags are other percentages off — the regular prices were not good enough for me, especially since I'm usually buying items that simply hit my fancy, and not items that I actually need.
Anyway, enough with the review, and on to the haul!
The Goods
Gray knit dress
Sparkly tunic shirt
Empire-waist shirt
Flowered shirt
Straight jeans
Word Spot coffee table game
I brought home 6 items for $23; not bad!
Read through for specific details on prices and brands.
HAUL: $22 at Salvation Army
Hi, I'm Andréa's younger sister Juliana.
I live 8.5 hours from Andréa during the school year, so I hadn't gotten a chance to go to her favorite Salvation Army store until today. Stores like that tend to overwhelm me, but having Andréa and our older sister, Christy, there to help me look made it easier to find stuff. Unlike Andréa, I was looking for specific items: comfortable jeans, denim shorts, and maybe a fun skirt. We managed to find everything I was looking for.
The Goods
Lace dress
Patterned skirt
Denim shorts
Skinny jeans
Bootcut jeans
My tally: 5 items for $22.
Continue reading for the details on brands and prices.
HAUL: $40 at Salvation Army
Despite promising myself after Saturday's haul that I wouldn't go back to Salvation Army for a few weeks, I wound up taking my sisters today, since they're in town. We all snagged some great deals, so they'll be posting their hauls, too.
The Goods
Flowered dress
Shift dress
Green knit dress
Skinny jeans
Straight jeans
Bootcut jeans
Tank top
Wine rack
Folding garden fence
The total: 9 items for $38.91 before taxes.
Read through for the details on brands and prices.
HAUL: Juliana’s New Wardrobe
Juliana is back from China now, so she was able to "shop" for her new wardrobe from the options I had picked for her. (For more background, you can read the original mission, see all the pieces I bought for her, and view the sample outfits from the options.) In addition to purchasing many items from among her options, Juliana also received some of the pieces as birthday gifts from me and my parents and snagged some hand-me-downs from me and my mom that match her new wardrobe color scheme.
The Goods
Black tank top
White tank top
Black tank top
White tank top
Blue layered tank
Purple tank top
White tank top
Purple tank top
Purple tank top
Teal T-shirt
Purple T-shirt
Black T-shirt
White half-sleeves
Black long-sleeves
Long-sleeve shirt
Flip-flops
Rose sandals
Black & gray dress
Purple dress
Black lace dress
Khaki shorts
Black shorts
White sweater
Black sweater
White sweater
Juliana's going back to school with a total of 25 items for $75.00 out of her pocket.
If you want to read the nitty-gritty on brands and prices, continue reading.
Categories
- About the Site (5)
- Complaints (2)
- Confessions (5)
- Deals (11)
- Events (2)
- Freebies (17)
- Hauls (38)
- Missions (3)
- News & Links (6)
- Outfits (3)
- Playlists (1)
- Shopping Tips (3)
Topics
Filter Posts
Archives
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| « Apr | ||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
Favorite Sites
- Amazon: All Free MP3 Albums
- Amazon: All Free MP3s
- Amazon: Free Rising Artists MP3s
- Books on the Knob
- Freecycle
- IKEA Hackers
- Through the Looking Glass