Thrift Store Score!

[kristenrice]

My daughter is starting 6th grade in the fall. She is what I call an "old soul". This is a girl who is well beyond her 11 years in both her physical and mental characteristics...but she's still my baby. Fortunately for me, she loves to shop at the thrift store, so when DH said that it was time to start thinking about BTS shopping, we naturally went to the thrift store. Little did I know how well we would do.

She tried on a bunch of pairs of jeans, all of which are in perfect condition. They all fit her perfectly and she loved them. Then she turned to the shirt rack and found 5 shirts that were perfect for her as well...all in like-new condition. When we went to check out, we found out that the last Tuesday of every month is "clearance day" and EVERYTHING in the store (except furniture) is 50% off. When all was said and done, she got 5 pairs of jeans and 5 shirts...for a total cost of $12.50.

Good thing we spent so little...DD14 is starting high-school and I think her wardrobe will be a little more expensive.

 

[Lvsdisney]

I love thrift shopping! I have furnished most of my living room w/ thrift finds and a little elbow grease. My stre runs specials every week. I think if it as a treasure hunt each time I go!

 

[kniquy]

We love our Savers in our area. Make donations and you can get 30% off and around the holidays is 50% -- I can leave with 3 bags full and have spent $60 -- try doing that at the mall. I sometimes feel bad that i try to save $$ with clothes shopping at thrift stores but once it is washed and worn once who can really tell the difference between the thrift store item and the newer items. It is great that your daughter is so practical and smart because for that same $12.50 she probably would have only gotten a couple pairs of socks at the mall

 

[Lvsdisney]

And to add, it's also better environmentally as well! Recycle/reuse/reduce.

 

[kristenrice]

And to add, it's also better environmentally as well! Recycle/reuse/reduce.

YES!! Every time I tell her to clean her room, I make her go through and grab the clothing she doesn't want anymore and we drop it back off at the thrift store.

This particular thrift store has a LOT of donations that come in that are NWT so we have gotten some GREAT deals. I got a pair of NWT Eddie Bauer jeans for DD14 in a tall size (which she needs) for only $3. They are $80 at retail price and these were NEVER WORN! I was able to get a beautiful semi-formal dress for her 8th grade graduation and paid $5. She actually wears it to church now, even though it is a bit too dressy for church.

 

[DawnM]

YAY!

I went a few days ago, while on vacation, and found a few deals to wear to work. My new job won't allow the same level of casual (aka: jeans) wear, so I needed a few more items.

 

[DisneyHardin]

Another thrift store junkie here. I love them. My DH is always amazed at the stuff I find. He always says "Why would someone get rid of this?" when I find nice clothes for him - it's like he's suspicious of the items.

 

[pblack]

I think my best thrift store find was a curio cabinet I got for $60. Wood and glass, cherry colored, looked practically brand new except for one small missing knob and some small scratches. I used to work at a furniture store and I know that these generally retail for a few 100 dollars. I was so excited.

 

[QueenIsabella]

Sign me up on the "I love the thrift store" bandwagon! You never know what you're going to find. I have a lot of luck for teen girls (mine is 14, starting HS this fall). I think that age is picky, so a lot of cute stuff gets donated because it doesn't suit the original recipient. We also recently got a grandfather clock at ours--I'd always wanted one, and it was a good price ($125, but try pricing them new, or even in a regular consignment store--$$$!). We've gotten furniture and I always browse the book section, as well.

Recently, I traveled to Italy with my girls. I bought 3 scarves--you need them in Italy, most of the best artwork is in churches, and you have to have your knees and shoulders covered. So, you bring a scarf, just in case you need to cover up. I also got DD14 a super cute, hot pink leather crossbody bag for $1.50.

In our city, pawn shops are a huge deal. YOu don't get the super-steals like in the thrift stores, but you can get bigger, nicer stuff for a bargain.

 

[jam217]

The majority of my wardrobe comes from either thrift stores or church bag sales. I absolutely love shopping at them. It's like going on a treasure hunt. Funny store. I volunteer at the dog shelter which is right next to one of my favorite thrift stores. Sometimes in the middle of the shift I'll take a break and go over. The one time I came back with a bag and one of the other walkers asked me, "What do you get over there? Stuff to walk the dogs?'' She had no idea what they had. That day I had scored a really nice Ann Taylor Loft dressy tank for $2.

 

[QueenIsabella]

The majority of my wardrobe comes from either thrift stores or church bag sales. I absolutely love shopping at them. It's like going on a treasure hunt. Funny store. I volunteer at the dog shelter which is right next to one of my favorite thrift stores. Sometimes in the middle of the shift I'll take a break and go over. The one time I came back with a bag and one of the other walkers asked me, "What do you get over there? Stuff to walk the dogs?'' She had no idea what they had. That day I had scored a really nice Ann Taylor Loft dressy tank for $2.

Speaking of which, one of the local pet charities has its own thrift store--you can donate and support pets, or shop there and support pets. Or both. I jsut thought I'd throw that out there--look around, sometimes you can do lots of good in the name of scoring second-hand finds!

 

[MamaBelle4]

One of our local thrift stores is running a 50% off all kids clothes for back to school. Getting ready to head there now!!

 

[RangerPooh]

I have a few pieces of my work wardrobe that came from the local Goodwill that I love! Something about the thrill of the hunt and bargain. I also like Bargain Hunt which sells clearance clothes from a variety of retailers. Although with them you have to really look as sometimes their price is more than what the clearance price was at the original retailer.

 

[wendow]

Good finds, OP! I am a lover of thrift shopping also Thankfully, so do all my kiddos, including my 17yo. It's so fun to just go and load up on practically new clothes for hardly any money.

Sad thing though, here in the Denver area, all our Savers stores have closed. This was our absolute favorite thrift store simply because it is huge and they just had so many choices. Sad, Sad

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

DD18 and I went to the Goodwill a couple of days ago. We were picking up her (on sale) dorm fridge at Best Buy, and the Goodwill is across the street. She got a couple of her college's shirts & sweatshirts. I got 2 nice blouses for work, some Corelle coffee mugs (to complete the Corelle dish set I bought for her at the Goodwill last summer) and a whole set (for 10 people) of matching silverware for her apartment next year. Seriously, if you ever need to outfit a second kitchen, the Goodwill is the place to go!

DD18 is a HUGE clothes horse and wants new clothes constantly, which I cannot afford. She has fully embraced shopping at the Goodwill and gets complements on her clothes and her style all the time!

 

[Disney_traveler]

When I got my first place of my own, I didn't want to purchase everything from a set, I wanted mix and match. There's a HUGE goodwill nearby and I got all kinds of cool lamps and decor. I won't venture into clothing though

 

[bjscheel]

My teen girls like thrift shopping but they also like regular shopping too and unfortunately I'm a sucker for buying them cute clothes, so I prefer when we can find it second hand. They like how they can get just about anything they want at the thrift. Well, I didn't buy the $70 wedding dress DD15 wanted just for fun. Think Giselle's wedding dress in Enchanted that doesn't fit through the door...made her inner princess giddy...but it was a bit too aged to consider actually using for a wedding. $70 is too much for play!

A very good chunk of my wardrobe was bought used. I like having dozens of sweaters to get me through winter without getting bored.

Next week is the bag sale at the local consignment. $7 for a plastic grocery sack full and I can cram them pretty full

I got DD18 an adjustable drawing desk for $5. Some of the best money I've spent. Now she doesn't have to clear her supplies from the kitchen table at every meal and she doesn't get a sore neck.

 

[LovesTimone]

I have found some bargains at the local thrift stores. Several years ago when our oldest DD was getting married, she wanted a lot of different glass containers for decorations, table center piece, all different sizes and shapes. I scored enough votive candle holders to fill one of those plastic totes, and some really unique larger ones. We found a bulletin board, and covered it will material and ribbons and we used it for the place cards, A bunch of frames for the tables, then we found some old napkin rings we would buy what ever they had every time we went, we needed 65 we ended up with 72, so we stripped them, and used material to cover them, and made our decoration for them. I had left over fabric from making the napkins, and table runners. DD could not find the right color so we went JoAnn's and just got the fabric which was on sale...All together for the glassware, bulletin board and napkin rings. I think I only spent maybe around 30 dollars which was wonderful.

 

[MamaBelle4]

On Friday, I bought the bulk of my girls' back to school clothes. I had already bought them some brand new outfits from Kohls for BTS (using gift card granny to get a Kohls gift card at 12% off then a promo to get 20% off then taking advantage of sales)

At the thrift store, we got all clothes that look like they may have been work 1 or 2x, some even had tags on. From TJ Maxx, Justice, Target, etc.

We got:
A couple onsies for the baby
A skirt and top for my DD2
A dress, a leotard and a tutu for DD4
A dress, 3 pairs of jeans, 1 pair of leggings, 1 skirt, 5 tops for DD8
2 skirts, 2 pairs of stretch pants, 1 pair of shorts, 1 pair of jeans and 4 tops.

All for $45. They had BTS clothes 50% off. Can you tell I LOVE thrifting!!

 

[Tikitoi]

Another fan of thrift store shopping. I love the set of Disney drinking glasses that were offered through McDonalds years ago and I had not known about them then. But I came across a set of them that included; MK, AK, EPCOT and Blizzard Beach/Typhoon Lagoon, so all except Hollywood Studios. But nice thick chip free glasses for $2 each...