Thrifty Wife Happy Life

Helping women love what they wear on a budget

Shopping Finds

by Katie Haller

After having a baby, shopping is just not the same anymore.  Going to the store and leisurely shopping the way I used to is not easy.  But last weekend I decided to face my fears of shopping with an infant and just do it.  We ended up having a nice little Sunday afternoon out bargain shopping (Jack slept the entire time of course).  I ended up at my favorite store at the moment… Nordstrom Rack.  I still had $25 on a Nordstrom gift card from Christmas, and when I get a gift card, you know I’m going to make the most of it and stretch the money as far as I can.  Since I’m trying really hard to be disciplined with my spending habits, I tried to stick to my spring/summer wish list that I made a few weeks ago (post here).  This way I was able to remember the things that I really wanted and not get sidetracked. 

  

I’ve been wanting a new pair of jeans for the longest time.  This might sound crazy coming from someone with a closet full of jeans, but you can never have enough denim.  I had something specific in mind.  I wanted to find a pair of jeans with a thin stretchy material that would be nice and light for the warmer weather, and also had distress faded look to them.  I ended up settling on a pair of jeans with no holes and thicker material.  They were only $12.97 and they fit well.  I felt that I couldn’t beat the price so I bought them.  Once I got them home, I tried them on and realized I had made a mistake.  Despite the great price and fit, they were not the jeans that I was looking for.  So later in the week, I made a quick trip back to Nordstrom Rack to return them.  While I was skimming through the clearance racks I stumbled upon this pair of jeans for $13.50.  I was so excited because they weren’t there earlier in the week and they were just what I was looking for, including the price.  I was very satisfied with my exchange.

(similar)

My other Nordstrom Rack purchase was this striped swing dress that I bought for $18.97.  Now I know on my shopping list I was looking for a bright spring color dress.  I’m still searching for one, but I thought that this dress was a safe bet for me.  I love black and white and I love stripes.  I figured that I would bring some color to it with a fun necklace.  This style of dress will be perfect for the hot desert summer that we have here in Las Vegas.

(exact)

My last purchase was from Target and it came straight from my shopping list.  I was looking for a pair of braided sandals to replace the white braided sandals that I bought at Target years ago.  I ended up pretty much buying the same pair in the cognac color.  I paid full price, but they were only $15.99, so I wasn’t sad about that.  Target is one of my favorite places to buy shoes because their shoes are always affordable and they are made well for cheap shoes. I know that I will get plenty of use out of these sandals.

(exact)

Whenever I get new clothes I love to put together new outfits and share them.  So here are a couple looks I came up with.

Here I put together 2 looks with my new jeans.  On the left, I have a casual look with my new sandals.  On the right, I put together a dressier outfit with a blazer and heels.

Here are 2 outfits with my swing dress.  The first look on the left is simple and perfect for the hot summer weather.  On the right, I wore my wedge strappy sandals with my denim jacket to dress it up a bit more.

I hope you like my shopping finds.  Hopefully, you can find some great spring deals too!  Happy shopping!

Shopping Finds for Baby!

by Katie Haller

I am definitely getting into the nesting stage of pregnancy.  I’m counting down the weeks until my little guy is finally here and I’m trying to prepare for his arrival.  Babies need a lot of stuff, and I am just hoping that I have everything he will need.  With all the major items already purchased, I felt that it was time for me to get a few extra little items with the leftover money on my gift cards.

When it comes to clothes shopping for my baby, I want him to look cute, but I also don’t want to spend a lot of money on his clothes.  Babies grow so fast, and not to mention, they also dirty up their clothes so quickly.  I feel like it’s a waste to spend full price on baby clothes.  This is why I plan to look for the best deals I possibly can find for this little guy.  I plan to be just as frugal with him as I am with my own clothing.

Here are some of my purchases from Babies R Us this past weekend.  All clearance clothes were 50% off the already marked down price.  I just couldn’t resist stocking up on a few things.

3 sleepers- $3.49, $2.99, $1.49
2 pack of pants- $3.49
Newborn mittens-  $1.49
Socks- $2.99
Total- $15.94
  I went to Babies R Us thinking that I would spend what was left on my gift cards, but I walked away still having money on my cards, which is never a bad thing. I guess I will just have to do some more bargain shopping soon.

Shopping Finds-Labor Day Weekend Deals

by Katie Haller

One of my favorite things about Labor Day weekend is all the sales!  On top of all the sales, my birthday just happens to fall around  Labor Day, so I always like to treat myself to a little shopping.  That’s just what I did this weekend. 
I’ve been searching for a casual pair of shoes to replace my favorite everyday pair of Toms for a while now.  My Toms has been such a great pair of everyday shoes, unfortunately, they are so beaten up, I have to retire them.  Since I really didn’t want to spend $50 on shoes right now,  I decided to go to DSW in search of some casual shoes.  I lucked out!  I found these slip-on Roxy shoes for 40% off $39.94.  I had a coupon for $10 off and then another $5 off birthday coupon.  My grand total for the shoes with tax came to $9.69.  I was so excited!  Even the girl who rang me up was impressed with my deal.
After my DSW trip, I had to stop at Old Navy.  They had everything on sale in the store, plus 30% off all clearance items.  I ended up finding these 2 tops below.
My favorite thing to do when I buy new clothes is to pair them with my old clothes and come up with new outfits.  This top below was my favorite purchase.  It was 50% off so it rang up $8.97.  I paired it with jeans and a black blazer.  It’s a cute look for fall. 
I felt that this magenta shrug will come in handing during my pregnancy.  These always look cute on pregnant women.  This was a clearance item.  It was marked down to $10.99, but with the 30% off the total came to $7.69.  I tried out this shrug with some jeans and a striped tank top.  The shoes I’m wearing are shopping find worth mentioning.  I found these strappy black wedge sandals at Target a few weeks ago on clearance for $8.49.  I was able to get 20% off of that with my cartwheel app, making them only $6.79.
Of course, no holiday weekend would be complete for me without stopping at a thrift store.  I went to my favorite thrift store, Savers, and found some cute clothes.  Everything was 50% off.
I love this striped maxi dress.  If you haven’t noticed, I love stripes.  So what’s one more striped dress in my closet?  Buying a maxi dress used is a great idea for me because it actually fits and it’s not dragging on the grown.  I always have to wash my maxi dresses about 10 times before they become an acceptable length for me.  I paired the dress with a leopard infinity scarf and black sweater to give it a cute fall look.  The dress was $4.
This t-shirt dress is super comfortable and casual.  It was $3.  I paired it with my new shoes and my jean jacket.
Continuing with my striped obsession, I found this long navy and white striped tank top for $2.  I thought that it would be too tight at first but there’s plenty of stretching room in the tummy.  I paired this one with grey leggings, my new shoes, and a grey long cardigan.  I figured that this would make a great outfit for work.
My final stop for the weekend was Ulta Beauty.  How could I reset?  They only send me coupons every day.  I haven’t bought make up all summer and I’ve been getting extremely low on some of my basics.  I had a $5 off $15 coupon, plus a free birthday gift, so I figured why not stock up on a few things?  They did have some buy one get one 50% off deals along with 50% off clearance items, but my coupon was what really helped bring down the price.  Here is what I bought:
 Maybelline eyeliner, Maybelline’s The Nudes eye shadow palette, essence blush, essence lipstick, Ulta mineral powder foundation, and a free urban decay mascara sample. My total was $18.87.
The total of all my shopping purchases for the weekend ended up coming to $56.27.  That’s really not bad if you consider everything I bought.  I love shopping. Nothing puts a bigger smile on my face than a successful shopping trip, knowing that I saved a lot of money.  Now I have to stop spending money for the rest of the month.  We’ll see how I do with that. 
Happy Shopping!

 

Shopping Finds~ $9 Outfit

by Katie Haller

One of my favorite ways to spend a Saturday morning is to head out for a little thrift store shopping.  This weekend I decided to check out The Goodwill.   When I go to a thrift store, I like to go with a clear mind and plenty of time to look through the racks. That’s why a Saturday morning is the perfect time of the week to go.  

On this particular shopping trip, I really enjoyed searching through the clothes racks.  Thrift store shopping can be so much fun hunting out those great bargain prices.  The best part is, on top of the already low prices, there is always a sale.  Today it was 50% off green and purple tags.

I’ve set a budget for myself when it comes to thrift store shopping.  $10 is my max, so I try to stretch it out as much as I can.  I ended up finding an entire outfit for $9!! 

Striped Top- $2
Denim Shorts- $4
Wedge Sandals- $3
(The necklace was a recent Target clearance purchase, so it doesn’t count for the outfit)

 

Shopping finds~ Thrift Store Deals

by Katie Haller

I love national holidays like Memorial Day, President’s Day and Labor Day.  It’s not just because it’s a day off work or a day to honor our country,  but because it’s the best time to find great deals at thrift stores.  Stores like The Goodwill, Salvation Army, and Savers have all clothes in their stores 50% off.  I find that pretty exciting! 

I started off my Memorial Day with a trip to Savers Thrift Store.   I had never been there before, but I have heard a lot of good things about it from my coworkers, so I was excited to check it out.  I did have pretty low expectations, since all my thrift store trips so far in Nevada have been disappointing, but not today.  Today I had some good luck, and I’m pretty thrilled with my purchases.  All the clothes, shoes and accessories at Savers were 50% off.  The store had a great selection with a nice layout.  Everything was sorted by style and size.  I got there right at 9:00 am when they opened, and I’m so glad I did because the store was packed.  I wasn’t really in need of anything, but I ended up finding some great deals I couldn’t pass up.

Here are my finds from my shopping trip

This was one of my favorite finds.  It’s a cotton wrap dress from Target.  It was regularly $3.99, but I got it for 50% off of that.  I love the summery print!
I also found a couple shirts.  This button-down top is super lightweight, it’s the perfect button-down for summer.  It was half off of $3.99
This top is another cute summer top that I found from H&M. It was half off $4.99. 
I’m also pretty excited about my bathing suit tops.  I would never buy bathing suit bottoms at a thrift store, but I see nothing wrong with buying some tops.  I love mixing and matching my bathing suits. These two tops were 50% off of $2.99 and $1.99
My grand total for these 5 items, with tax was $9.97.  You can’t beat that! 
If you didn’t get a chance to get to the thrift store this Memorial Day, don’t worry, 4th of July is right around the corner.

Shopping Finds- Old Navy Super Cash

by Katie Haller

I’m slowly starting to stock up on lightweight summer dresses.  During the hot Las Vegas summer weather, I know that lightweight dresses are the way to go to stay cool in the heat.  Last weekend I decided to head over to Old Navy and look at their dress selection.  A few weeks ago, Kevin bought a few new things at Old Navy and got a Super Cash coupon.  I love coupons, so I made sure that I held on to it to redeem later.  Basically, it’s a spend $50 and get a $20 off coupon.  But if you’re not a big spender like myself, you can spend $25 and get $10 off.  So that’s what I did.

I ended up buying 2 dresses.  Both were on sale for $15.  I decided to stray away from my classic go-to color of black and branch out into some colors.

For my first dress, I found this T-shirt a pink and white striped dress (exact).  I’ve been wanting a casual dress like this for a while and I was excited when I found this one for such price.

The second dress that I bought is a white and blue cami sundress (exact).  It’s the perfect lightweight summer dress.  I might even go back and buy another one like it just to have a few on hand.

I ended up spending $21 on the whole purchase!  You should definitely check out some of Old Navy’s summer dresses soon!  I keep getting e-mails with sales all the time.  A good tip is to compare the online price with the store price.  Sometimes things are on sale at the store, but not online or sometimes it’s the opposite.  Always look for the best possible deal!

 Happy Shopping!

Follow

@thriftywifehappylife