Stretching your dollar$$

I have to admit that I've been on a bit of a shopping kick lately. I always get like this at the beginning of a new season. The problem for me, as always, is that I don't have very much money to be spending on new clothes. I have to make due with the small amount of money I can spend. This means, I can't just walk into a store and buy whatever I want. I have to be smart about it to stretch my money or else I'm going to have an empty closet.
 

Right now, my husband and I have absolutely no dept. We don't have a car payment, a mortgage, student loans or any credit cards with balances on them. We still use credit cards and put everything we spend on them. This is a great way of tracking how much we spend each month, plus we get cash back rewards, which who doesn't love getting free money every few months? We have a $1,500 budget each month for the both of us. That includes our phone bills, energy bill, cable/internet bill, grocery's, gas and anything else we spend. For two people this is not a lot of money. This is why I try to do my best to spend as little money as I can on the extras.

How do I still go shopping on this low of a budget? Well here are some tips on how to still be able to shop and buy new clothes, but spend as little as possible...

1.)   Always check out the clearance racks! This is my favorite place in any store. I have found some of the best deals here. I feel like sometimes people have such a negative view of clearance clothes. I know they're last seasons clothes, they're the ugly colors no one wants or worse they have nothing cute in your size. Yes, all these things can be true, but it's just like the thrift store thing, you have to be selective. Keep your eyes open and look through every item. Usually the end of the season is a great time to look for clearance clothes. There is a great selection and the deals get better and better the closer you get to the new season!

2.) Use coupons and store loyalty programs! I love getting those e-mails with coupons in them! I get e-mails from all kinds of stores. 20% off here, $5 off there. They really add up and help you save. Most of the time you can use those coupons on top of clearance and sale items.

3.) Look for Apps on your smart phone! I use my iPhone for everything. There are so many great store apps that offer rewards or coupons. One app that I am a huge fan of is Old Navy's Snap App. It's so easy to use. All you do is take a picture of the Old Navy store logo and you have a chance to get a coupon to save anywhere between $5 to $15. My favorite is the Snap Five, because it gives you $5 off anything in the store, as long as it is at least $5. 

 4.) Make it into a game! For me, it's fun to find the deals. Set a budget before you go shopping and stick to it! Sometimes you will lose at this game and sometimes you will win. Have fun with it!

Here is my latest outfit. All these items came from clearance racks and I used coupons.
(Oh yes, don't judge the white pants after Labor Day. I did my research and most people say white pants are fine to wear all the way through the winter.)
Shirt- Target-$5.98
Pants- Target-$6.88
Shoes- DSW-$32.83
Necklace-$4.20
Total price of outfit- 49.88

Honestly my best advice to stretch your dollar is to never pay full price! I challenge everyone to try to stretch their money! You will feel great knowing how much you saved!  

Shopping Finds~ Finding a Great Deal!

In my last post about thrift stores, I mentioned that your not always going to have luck. Well, today I went for the big Labor Day half off sale at the Salvation Army. I spent about an hour looking around the store. I picked out about 10 items and I ended up walking out empty-handed. It's hard when you really don't have the extra money to spend, to buy something you don't love. I mean, I always look for deals when I shop, but sometimes I have to ask myself "do I really need this?" So, I was a little disappointed, but it's okay. You never know when you will find something that's a steal. 

For example, this dress below. I found this randomly at Target last weekend. My husband and I had to stop at Target for a couple of house hold items. I never make it through Target without taking a quick peak at all the clearance items. I've been keeping my eyes open for stripes lately, so this blue and white striped dress caught my eye. I looked it over and it was in my size. Best of all the price tag read $2.06. There was no doubt in my mind that I was going to buy it. I mean, I spend more than that on a cup of coffee at Starbucks.

I wore the dress with some brown wedges and a white sweater. I just love it when I find a great deal!

Thrift stores

I used to be afraid of the thrift store. There was nothing about it that appealed to me. They always smelled like an old ladies basement and had knick-knacks from that basement all over. I would look through the racks and find elastic waistline jeans and shirts with bird houses all over them. I also never liked the idea of wearing someones old unwanted clothes.

Well my fear of thrift stores has gone away. I decided one day to check out the Salvation Army near my house for some work pants. (I work with babies and feel like paying more then 5 bucks for a pair of khakis that I don't even want to wear in the first place is a waste of money.) So in my search for work pants I started looking around and in the past couple years I have found some pretty good deals. I've learned how to navigate the store and stay away from the ugly clothes and find the cute ones.

Things I have learned while shopping in thrift stores is..

1.) Stick to the basics. Don't go to a thrift store hoping to find the latest trends. Remember these are hand-me-downs. In stead stick to items like jeans, jackets, skirts and dresses. Look for items that don't go out of style.  

2.) Don't be afraid of the search. It is very time consuming to find cute clothes at a thrift store. Many of them are organized by color, not size, so it might take a long time to find something you like that is also in your size. Don't give up and give yourself plenty of time.

3.) Don't buy shoes. It's just gross. The only time I feel it is acceptable is if the shoes look never worn. I would rather buy clearance shoes that are brand new than used shoes. 

4.) Look for name brands. I always look for brands that I know. Even better, I look for brands that I can't afford at the normal store.

5.) You're not always going to have luck. I can't tell you how many times I've stopped at a thrift store to look around and walked out empty handed. It never hurts to just look because you never know what your going to find.

Here are some things I've found at my local Salvation Army store...

This is a dress I found for $2.00. It's just a simple black dress. Nothing special, but the best thing about black is that you can accessorize. I found these red beads from Aldo that I must of bought in college and put them with the dress. I plan on wearing this to a friends wedding this fall.

This is a jade green skirt. I have not had a place yet to wear it, but it would be cute if you had to dress up for work. I usually pair it with black and I think it just adds a pop of color in an outfit. Oh yes, this one was 50% off of $0.99. Yeah that's right, thrift stores are always having sales. Skirts are usually really cheap too, even the name brands.

I love black skirts! I am always buying black skirts at the Salvation Army. They are so cheap and never really go out of style, so you can keep them forever. For these 3 skirts I spent a total of $4.00. The one on the left is Bebe and the top right is Gap. Not sure the brand on the bottom right, but it's one of my favorite skirts in the fall. I wore it to a rehearsal dinner last year and recreated an outfit I had pinned on Pinterest. 

Here are a couple outfits with the black skirt. I love to dress it up with some heals, but sometimes I like to be comfortable when I'm dressed up. Heals are not always practical for my lifestyle, even though I love them, so I put some leopard print flats on and added a black sweater. 

 It's Labor Day weekend and many thrifts stores run big sales on the national holidays. I know that the Goodwill and Salvation Army have 50% off all clothes. I know what I will be doing on my day off tomorrow!