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Thrifty Wife Happy Life

Helping women love what they wear on a budget

My Thrifting Story

August 17, 2018 by Katie Haller

Today is National Thrift Store Day, so in honor of that, I wanted to share with you my thrifting story.  I always love to hear about how people get into thrift shopping because everyone has their own story, so why not share mine?

Growing up, my family never spent a lot of money on clothes.  My mom was always a clearance and sales shopper.  She always taught me to never pay full price for my clothes, but it was really my grandmother, who I call Mimi, who taught me about thrift shopping.  My Mimi was always shopping her local thrift stores and neighborhood garage sales.  She would always share her latest finds with me.  She was always so proud to tell me how much she spent or how much she saved on all her finds.  As a mother of six kids and married to a carpenter, money was always tight for them, so Mimi always did her best to dress her best on her budget.  She still thrifts and dresses her best to this day at 93 years old.

I always remembered my Mimi’s thrifting skills, but it wasn’t until I was a young adult that I started to thrift myself.  Money was really tight when I first got married and sadly my wardrobe was put on hold while my husband and I worked hard to pay off my student loan dept.  I decided to check out our local Salvation Army store to see if I could find anything I liked.  My first thrift find was a black limited blazer for $4.  I had been wanting a blazer, but I didn’t have the money to buy one.  After that great find,  I started visiting the Salvation Army frequently.  I learned about their sales and started to find things here and there to update my wardrobe. 
When I moved out to Las Vegas, I found out that my area had lots of thrift stores.  It is such a transit area, so people are consistently cleaning out their closets.  Within a mile of my house, I have a Goodwill, Salvation Army, and Savers, not to mention a few local stores as well.  I started stopping by often and learning the sales.  After Jack was born, I turned into an even bigger thrift shopper than before, because I started thrifting for him as well as myself.  I feel like once you start to find those great prices on thrift finds, it’s hard to go back to shopping at the normal discount stores.  As a mom, I feel guilty when I spend too much on myself, so thrift shopping always is a guilt-free way for me to shop. 
Now I would have to say that my wardrobe is probably more than half thrifted.  Saving for our future is really important to my husband and me.  I’ve always had my frugal ways, but I never really knew how to save my money.  With thrift shopping, I feel like I can still shop and save at the same time.  If I was spending money on expensive clothes as much as I thrift shop we really wouldn’t be saving all that much money.  
Another reason why I love thrifting is because it’s good for the environment.  I wouldn’t say that I’m a huge environmentalist, but I do believe that it’s important that we all do our small part to help our environment.  I recycle my trash, so why not recycle my fashion?  I’ve learned that the fashion industry is one of the largest polluting industries.  It doesn’t help that people are buying more clothes than ever and keeping them half as long.  Of course I buy new clothes, but buying my clothes second hand gives me different feeling. 
So that’s my thrifting story.  What’s your thrifting story?  Below I have my latest thrift find from The Goodwill.  I found this floral Abercrombie dress for $4 a couple weeks ago.  I love the colors, because I think it will transition well into the fall.  I paired it with my Old Navy denim jacket that I found at Savers and my strappy sandals from ThredUP.

 *This post contains affiliate links.  By clicking on and/or making a purchase through a link, I will make a commission for this blog.  Thank you for your support! 

 

 

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Filed in: Affordable Fashion, outfits, Thrifty Looks, Thrifty Tips • by Katie Haller • 5 Comments

Comments

  1. Katherine

    August 18, 2018 at 2:43 pm

    Thrifting can get overwhelming to me sometimes, but I do love that it’s also good for the environment! I loooove the pieces you found and you can’t beat those prices!! I’ll have to commit to thrifting a little more myself. 🙂

    Reply
  2. Unknown

    August 18, 2018 at 3:15 pm

    I'd like to do more of this but time & my health doesn't allow for it at the moment. But I'm becoming increasingly conscious of the need to recycyle and upcycle more to reduce waste so hopefully it will happen.

    Reply
  3. Helen Claire Little

    August 18, 2018 at 7:38 pm

    I'm in the UK and we call them charity shops! My mum used to take me charity shopping often as a teenager, it's been so long since I went, but I need to try it again. Your dress looks amazing!

    Reply
  4. Unknown

    August 18, 2018 at 11:50 pm

    Having three kiddos, it is a necessity to thrift shop. However, that dress does not look like a thrift item whatsoever. Beautiful!

    Reply
  5. Latasha Peterson

    August 21, 2018 at 3:27 pm

    Such a cute outfit! Oh, and I love thrifting too! )

    Reply

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Hi I'm Katie! Welcome to my blog! I am on a mission to help women build a wardrobe that they love without spending a lot of money doing it. I believe that everyone has the right to feel good in their outfit, no matter what your budget is! I am excited to have you here!
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Helping women love what they wear on a budget!
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Katie || Affordable Fashion
Happy #thriftythursday!! I'm kind of obsessed with Happy #thriftythursday!! I'm kind of obsessed with my latest @poshmark purchase! I've been wanting to do a little upgrade to my purse collection for a while and I found that buying a quality brand second hand was my best bet! This #katespade crossbody purse is exactly what my purse collection needed! 

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For the last year, I have been on the hunt for com For the last year, I have been on the hunt for comfortable and affordable bras. I've bought a lot of bras I love and some that I wasn't too crazy about, but I've come to the conclusion that you don't need to splurge too much on a good bra. 

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Here are some of the new items that I have added t Here are some of the new items that I have added to my wardrobe this spring that I have been loving! ⬇️

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I had planned to document all my outfits this week, but I haven't been feeling that great the last couple days, so my outfits did suffer as the week went on! He's what I wore Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday! 

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I am loving this orange gingham dress! Gingham is I am loving this orange gingham dress! Gingham is an easy spring trend that you can bring into your wardrobe. I have a couple tops with blue gingham, but this orange print is so fun! 🍊

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I wasn't sure what to post today. I was debating b I wasn't sure what to post today. I was debating between a picture or a reel, but then I found this picture on my camera roll and I couldn't resist. My little photo bomber is always trying to make her way into my photos. 😜 

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