Friday, June 10, 2011

How I saved $257

If you love the thrill of the bargain hunt, if you get so giddy when you find a good buy that you share it will all your friends on facebook, if you announce at parties how much you paid for something because it was so CHEAP that you can't wait to blow their minds, then please know that we are already kindred spirits.  If you happily buy stuff out of season or that is currently 3 sizes too big for your child because you KNOW that someday someone will wear it and then you will do gazelle leaps of satisfaction around your living room, then please, why are you not at my house hanging out and drinking super cheap wine with me?

A few days ago, as I was strolling by my fave used clothing shop (Flip It Consignments.  Small but totally cute and only stuff that's in really great shape.), I spied a sign that made my heart go pitter-patter. $1.  Yes. ONE dollar.  A whole rack!  My poor husband....

What's that you say?  You want to know what I scored?  I thought you'd never ask!  Not only will I share with you my $1 purchases, but I will also provide you with a full-priced comparison item so you can fully appreciate the awesome-tastic-ness of that fabulous transaction.  Because Awesometastic Fabulosity is how I roll, yo.

The first thing that caught my eye was this adorable fitted corduroy blazer from Aeropostale.  I had actually eyed this exact item back in February but had resisted its charms because of its unacceptably high price (like, I don't know...probably $7 or something).





The plaid fabric covering the inside seams, the stitching detail on the pockets, the fitted seaming on the back, the adorable color...it really is just stinkin' cute.  ONE DOLLAR.

Let's contrast this against another fitted corduroy jacket I found on the interwebz, shall we?
source
Blah.  Lame. Boring. No stitching detail on the pockets.  No cute plaid fabric on the inside seams.  Of a questionable shade of green.  EIGHTY EIGHT DOLLARS.  Yes, $88.  Just click this link if you don't believe me!

Can you see where I'm coming from, folks?  The land of amazing bargains?  I mean, I could sell this stuff on Ebay come October and probably even MAKE money!

Okay, onto item #2


 

The perfect quilted barn jacket.  Fully lined, trimmed in corduroy, and an easy so-wearable shade of navy blue.  Looks like it was never, ever worn.  ONE DOLLAR.

Let's make a comparison to this little specimen from L. L. Bean, shall we? 
source
Granted, this jacket is lined in a pretty sweet faux-Burberry plaid.  But let me ask you, friend....is faux-Burberry plaid lining worth an extra $98?  I'm gonna go out on a limb and say  hellz to the no.
I also found this summery Ralph Lauren skirt...


 
...and am decidedly pleased that it did not cost $65, like this dirt brown one from Pategonia
source
And to assuage a little bit of my mom guilt, I grabbed these two shirts for my boy (from GAP for when he gets a little bigger and The Children's Place for right now), each also just $1.
I am sick of looking for comparison items, honestly, so let's just give the original retailers the benefit of the doubt and say those shirts would have cost at least $5 each if purchased new.  For a shirt that will soon have peanut butter and boogers on it.  No thanks!

You'll surely recall that I am not a fan of math, but I felt compelled to do a little figurin' and discovered that by buying used and keeping my eyes peeled, I saved at least $257.  TWO HUNDRED FIFTY-SEVEN DOLLARS!  I know.  I know!

Do you love a bargain?  What is the best buy you've ever scored?  Tell me!


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38 comments :

  1. I do love a bargain and your finds are awesometastic for sure. Espcially that blazer.

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  2. Ug. The places here have the worst crap. I could never ever go anywhere to find stuff like that. I follow another blogger who buys designer clothes at Goodwill. I hate her.

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  3. WOW! we are kindred spirits for sure, why I am not at your house or you at mine? :)

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  4. I once scored a pair of Manolo Blahniks for 75% off...I won't tell you the price. But do love a bargain, I do!

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  5. whoahhhh.

    insanely jealous. Awesome finds.....I do the guilt buys for Julia after I've found myself some quality loot as well.

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  6. Oh, bargains, bargains, bargains. Give me a bargain any day. If we lived closer, I would be over drinking cheap wine with you right now.

    Let's see, I once bought a painting at a used art sale for $7. And I found paintings by the same artist, same style and subjects, selling for more than $1,000.

    My husband recently scored a "like-new" London Fog winter coat for $2 while I picked up a vintage crewel embroidery art piece for $2.

    Columbia coat for $5 for the daughter many years ago when those hundreds of dollars of coats were all the rage...

    I could go on and on.

    Thanks for sharing your bargain story. I'd like to hear more of your money-saving ideas.

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  7. Very cool. We are big consignment shoppers. My husband has to wear nice suits for work (he's a table games floor supervisor of a casino) and he often picks up really nice ones at a consignment shop for $2. and they're always in great condition! yay for bargains!

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  8. I LOVE hearing about other people's money-saving victories. These stories are gold to me!

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  9. Hey Dwija!! I've been missing, I know ;) These look great, and holy, what a bargain!! You know, after free, 1 dollar is my favorite price, haha. Love this Friday feature!! Have a good start to the weekend and even better Sat and Sun!

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  10. My idea of a bargain is free.
    Like the armchair in our family room, the widescreen tv in our family room, the dining room table and chairs, and yes, the "designer" puppy that cost our friends $2,500. They moved away and couldn't take her and we got a snuggle puggle for free.
    BTW, Goodwill often takes overstocks from stores. For example, we bought a bike ramp that retailed at Target for like $60. We got it for $15 - never used, in its original box.

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  11. Good for you! I have a $5 chair in my family room...does that count?

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  12. This is all very exciting! I mean, that corduroy (<-----took like ten attempts to spell this word) blazer is to die for...

    We are kindred spirits indeed. All of my clothes come on clearance racks or are purchased at consignment shops. Not just a few...ALL. And I also feel compelled to tell people that anytime they comment on my clothing. "Oh, you like this shirt? I got it at Wal-Mart for 2 bucks!" You gotta share the joy, people!

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  13. You go girl! Cute stuff and cheap, cheap, cheap!
    I'm all for a great bargin. I love our thrift stores and consignment shops here in town.

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  14. We got $500 worth of laminate flooring for about $50 bucks once!

    Great clothes - I love consignment shops, and St. V de P, garage sales, Sally Ann's, etc. I am such a cheapskate! As I write this, I realize that everything I am wearing, except for socks and underwear, came from one of the above!

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  15. What great deals! Good for you!

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  16. Great deals, that blazer is super cute. Happy weekend!

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  17. oh transatlantic twin, i love your thoughts! i am also a bargain hunter - never used to be, other than buying 'serious vintage' but discovered the thrill about three years ago. best buys include brand new ralph lauren jeans for about US$5, and an original 1960's suede jacket still with the price tag from london for us $15. (bit pricey...;))
    unfortunately i am also skilled at sharing my finds with too many people...resulting recently in wearing a fab dress to a party and a man i danced with said, oh i this the one you bought cheap last week? (blush!)

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  18. You are quite the bargain-huntress!

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  19. Last summer I went to Goodwill to find some pants for a mission trip to Appalachia. I wound up with some Banana Republic trousers for $8 that I then spent $20 to have tailored--for my odd body, a steal.

    I also got some Aeropostale baggy cargos for $4.

    Oh, and I did pick up one pair of pants for the trip...boring!

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  20. Do you remember the Lucy show when she brought home the dog food and said she saved a bundle?
    Ricky yelled,"But Lucky, we don't have a dog!"

    I love that dark green corduroy jacket. I used to have one (back in the day) just like it and loved it! Awesometastic is a great word!

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  21. Oh Dweej - we would have a blast shopping together. Come to MN and I'll take you to all my thrifty hangouts! Clothes Mentor, Value Village, Savers, several hole in the wall thrift stores... IT WOULD BE AWESOMETASTIC.

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  22. Holy crap... where do you shop? Please tell me so I can go there too!

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  23. Oh man! You and my husband would be kindred spirits FOR SURE. He makes everyone who comes over guess how much we paid for everything in our apartment (because we bought EVERYTHING used for cheap). Actually, I get kind of embarrassed because he actually makes people guess, which makes them kind of uncomfortable. Our best bargain, proudly found by me: A S$50 (US$35) 12 x 8 foot beautiful carpet on ebay.com.sg. (The guy on ebay was telling us how his wife was mad he didn't get more for it as we were shoving the carpet as fast as we could into the cab).

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  24. Wow, ONE DOLLAR FOR A JACKET? What a great deal! Wish I had a place to go that sold good stuff for such low prices. Good on you!

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  25. Wow! Looks like you found yourself some totally cute clothes for way cheap! Score!! :) Hope your summer is going well so far. Is it hot there? :)

    Many blessings,
    Rosann
    http://www.christiansupermom.com/

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  26. Thanks Rosann! There were 2 hot days in there, but besides that, it's been pretty lovely so far! Mostly 70's for the next week :)

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  27. Hmmmm...my biggest score?

    A Royal Bayreuth Lettuce Leaf Salad Bowl with Lobster accents and matching Lobster salad tongs. Vintage and in primo condition.

    $22.50, including shipping.

    It was listed just under the heading of "salad bowls" and somehow went un-noticed by all the antique dealers.

    I took it to a local dealer who drooled and offered me a little over $300 for it; I declined, gloated and took it home to add to my Lobster ware collection.

    Love your super deals...nothing here in NY is ever a dollar, not even in the Dollar Stores!

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  28. Dweej, is there anything that you can't do? Seriously, you're scaring me with your multi-tasking and multi-talented capabilities (am I even making any sense? Blame it on too much dope during my NYC hospital trip ssshhh...)

    And yes, woman, you did well! Those pieces were so worth it!

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  29. Dweej, great finds!! I love to "scavenger" hunt for great finds in second hand shops. In fact my daughter's outfits (she is in high school) got so much attention this year and she proudly told them "oh I got this at Salvation Army, Goodwill, Community Cares, etc, etc, ", now other girls are scouring the racks.

    Loving secondhand and the savings. I love that blazer. I grab blazers whenever I can, I wear 'em like coats!!!

    Cherie

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  30. We are kindred spirits for sure! The bins of off season clothes too big just now for one kid will surely fit one of the FOUR at some point!!!

    All purchased at Goodwill, yard sales or through a gal I met who gets our local consignment store's "expired" or unaccepted items instead of going to a donation site. What a tiny spot? Who cares! They'll be covered in home-made playdough, boogars & peanut butter for certain!

    (She distributes them to local families by allowing us to come over, gab, and shop her living room! FREE clothes!)

    I mean yes I hit the consignment store dollar rack like crazy, but free!!! Not to mention they know me on a first name basis at the thrift store :) LOL

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  31. Two words: Buffalo Exchange. I bought a pair of awesome Guess black and red stilettos for $10 and an incredible vintage red dress with paisley designs on it that people mistake for a Nord's dress for $8. I'm sure you know of this place but somehow I discovered it for the first time only a couple years ago. Euphoric shopping experience!!!

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  32. Btw, that Aeropostale blazer was a find of the decade. Awesome!!!

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  33. My mom recently found Versace jeans at goodwill for 6 dollars. They were like 300$ jeans. CRAZY!

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  34. I can't really handle shopping on racks, like at Marshall's or at a consignment shop. I need it on a manequin, then laid out in rainbow and size order on a table underneath it, folded perfectly. I'm such a snob, but it gives me anxiety! Anyway, whether I would shop there or not, I'll still come over and drink cheap wine with you! :)

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  35. Great finds! I got a shrug 75% off at a thrift store the other day. $1.50. I had just passed up buying one on sale for $15 the week before. Success!

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  36. I am also a bargain shopper and have to do an overview of savings with my hubby after super-saver trips...but he never gets as excited as me!

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