Haha…. does that make me cool? I was literally staring at myself in the mirror this morning (that sounds bad, I know) and realized every single article of clothing I have on was bought on the cheap. Like, super cheap – as in mark downs off of mark downs, off of even MORE markdowns in some cases. That’s a breakdown of it all right there in stick-picture land (you should click it).
Here is a list of everything I’m wearing:
- Hat: TJ Maxx @ $4.99 (Sean Jean)
- Scarf: Urban Outfitters @ $9.99
- Long sleeve shirt: TJ Maxx @ $9.99 (Hurley)
- Belt: Pacific Sunwear @ $4.99 (Quicksilver)
- Jeans: Express @ $14.99 (on sale from $45.00)
- Slippers: Target @ $3.99 (on sale from $15.00!)
- Socks: Foot Locker @ $.99 (I remember this day clearly – I got 8 pairs cuz they were so cheap!)
The only things left out here are my boxers, which were a gift (but probably came from Target and probably very much on sale if I know my wife right), and my bling. My diamonds were picked up at Kohl’s for around $400.000 down from $800-something at one of those CRAZY early-bird specials years ago. And I feel like they sparkle so much more because of it ;) Well, either that or cuz they’re no longer cubic zirconias! Haha…these earrings are actually the last big ticket items I’ve bought before blogging, little known fact.
Anyways, I thought it was pretty interesting so I thought I’d share. Not sure if there’s really a point to this other than that. Except maybe that it’s 100% possible to only buy “on sale” clothes :) Although I must admit it can take a lot of digging around and sorting through the crap to get to the stuff you actually LIKE. And your selections aren’t always ideal either.
That’s why when you come across a lot of killer deals on things you are in love with, you should totally stock up like a crazy person cuz Lord knows when the next time the stars will align like that. I’ve been known to buy 5 pairs of jeans in one trip before cuz I knew it would be the only time I’d ever find some awesomeness (I found $150 Armani’s down to $19.99 once, so I loaded the F up! And to this day they’ve been my fave pair of jeans E-V-E-R. The only one I have left is holier than swiss cheese with patches left and right on them… and it only comes out on special events ;))
Take a few seconds and look yourself up and down (ow ow!). Lots of good bargains? Or lots of money down the toilet?
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I do the same now – if I love it and it’s the right price I buy multiples.
I can’t remember the last time I paid full price for anything. I finally got my husband turned around as well. He used to go out and blow $200 on a few items at the mall (it almost gave me a heart attack the first time I saw him do that!) Now he shops smart and is able to get a lot more for his money. I like to check out our local thrift shops too. You wouldn’t believe how many things I have found there that still have the tags on them! Especially at our local Goodwill. Target sends them shipments once a week of brand new items (got a $150 bookshelf once for $10 – still in the box!) I actually got a brand new dress for a Christmas party last year at Goodwill, was from Target, still had the tags on it (I think it was originally $60 or something, and I paid like, $5.) The really funny part was that I was in Target a few days later, and the had the exact same dresses still on the rack – for the full price of $60!
Hahaha loved the click on it bit, I didn’t expect that!
Nice clothes for getting on the cheap too!
I am wearing things that cost me a bit more, but I’m in a suit and some of these clothes I had years, some I bought recently but will last me years. So I’m getting value out them and it’s effectively not quite money down the toilet. Thankfully!
from the drawing, it looks like you were rocking a hefner-style smoking jacket :)
i never buy clothing full-price either and am a huge fan of goodwill!
tI can’t believe people actually pay full price for ANYTHING! That blows my mind!
(almost) Everything I’m wearing today is from the thrift store:
Levis-$3
Banana Republic shirt-$2
CK Sweater-$3
Merona Down Jacket- $4
Let’s see,
Shirt – $19.99 from Old Navy (that was full price…yikes)
Skirt – $20.00 (Charlotte Russe)
Ring – $4 (Buy 1 get one free – Charlotte Russe)
Tights – $10 (Ny & Co -down from $15)
Shoes – $60.00 (Macys)
Ok, ok, in my defense, I’m at work and I don’t mess around with looking professional. Work clothes are pretty pricey. I’m sure if I answered this last night while I was lounging around, I’d be hardpresed to have that total go beyond $5.00.
That said, am I the only one worried that JMoney wears scarves indoors???
The most expensive thing I’m wearing are my shoes ( $30). Everything else I got them for less than $10
Oh my gosh. Usually I can play this game with the best of them. Today…not so much. But everything I’m wearing is stuff I love. I don’t consider it money down the drain one bit! Not even the crazy expensive boots. I wear them ALL the time in this crappy snowy weather!
Fleece: $25 TJ Maxx
Sweater: $15 Gap sale
t-shirt: $20 concert splurge
Scarf: 15 euro at Avoca in Ireland
Boots: 185 euro at a department store in Amsterdam
Jeans: $30 American Eagle
I’m wearing a high-low mix of work clothes right now (Le Chateau, H&M, Aldo), but I don’t believe that any of it was bought on sale. The only item of mention today is my coat, not because it was a great steal (far from!), but because it made me finally realize I had a problem with my spending and needed to make big changes. I actually started blogging shortly after buying it as a way of keeping myself accountable. I’ll write about it one day.
My shoes were too expensive (though long sought after!), but everything else was pretty cheap:
Dress/Shirt: $9.00 Macys
Pants: $10.00 Ny&co
Belt: $4.00 Platos Closet
Undershirt: $3.50 Target
Socks: Free (via mom)
Shoes: $138.00 Ebay
On sale or thrifted. Always. Today:
sweater: thrifted, less than $5
shirt: outlet store, $15ish
skirt: thrifted, less than $5
boots: Amazon sale, $75 (from $150)
tights: TJ Maxx, 1/2 off regular price
Cool duds dude!!! Way to kill it. On a recent shopping trip I got:
Designer clothes as follows:
Bathing suit orig. $98 paid $26
Shirt orig. $68 paid $13
Jeans orig. $68 paid $10
Capris orig. $45 paid $10
Tunic with belt orig. $98 paid $24
These were high quality items. It was at a high end store that had 50% off all sale prices if you came in early (8am) on a Saturday. It was fun, I was waited on, way more than I ever get at the usual shopping at garage sales or thrift stores. lol.
Let’s see:
-Scarf – Hand me down from my mom – free
-Shirt – Present for getting a job after college – free
-Slacks – Gap on sale when I was in eight grade – $4.99
-Socks – Christmas present – free
-Shoes – Present from my dad – free
And they all begin with “S” – weird.
@Karmella – Smart people unite!
@Jennifer – WHAT? Really? man that is hot… i go to our Goodwill every now and then but never see anything from Target. maybe people like you come before me and steal them up ;) good job though, that’s awesome.
@Catherine – I’m funny ;)
@kimmie – I know! I couldn’t draw that damn scarf, haha… i tried like 5 times but figured this was the best i could do. #needstogobacktodrawingclasss
@Leah – Wow that is impressive.
@Investing Newbie – Hey, there’s a draft in here! :)
@M1n4 – Good job. That’s pretty damn good.
@CityFlips – There’s nothing wrong with splurging on some decent stuff every now and then. Hell, it’s better that you’re WEARING them than collecting dust in your closet!
@Cassie – You should, would be interesting to read :)
@quizshow – haha, why do moms ALWAYS buy us socks? I used to hate it as a kid, but now I love it :)
@Grace – W00T. Well done.
@Donna – haha, that does sound like fun. I’d like to try that one day actually – hit up a mad high-end store and be waited on like that :) I’d feel bad not buying anything though, so I’d have to go in with understanding that I’d spend like $100, even if it’s on a ring or something small. Maybe once I hit it big.
@Jenna – haha, 8th grade? work it girl!
I never by clothes if they aren’t on sale unless it is just too cheap for me to pass up on.
I’m wearing a pair of pajamas right now, given to my daughter by her paternal grandma. My daughter didn’t like them, but I love them.
Along these lines, I don’t like shopping for clothes at all, and was never into thrift stores. Recently I found a thrift store with fabulous clothes, brands I would never buy otherwise, and got a few like-new sweaters for $5 apiece. I need to get back there on a regular basis, but I hate the location and have to force myself to clothes-shop! My daughter used to give me hand-me-downs very often, as she is usually on a weight roller coaster and would buy clothes constantly. Now our weights are far apart, so I’m out of luck.
I’m wearing a shirt I got for free (woot) and maternity jeans I got 1/2 off (I believe) for $15 at an Old Navy grand re-opening.
I love this!
I remember not long ago stopping & thinking…my whole outfit cost $4.
My shirt & pants were $1 at a thrift store, and my shoes were $2.
Brand name stuff…still looked great.
My favorite place to score great finds now is at the annual local Catholic church rummage sale they have every summer. They have a huge room full of stuff that is donated…and on the last day of the sale they will sell stuff for $1 per bag.
We have found so much great stuff there for almost nothing I couldn’t even begin to list it. And I always throw in some extra $$ to the cause over what they charge us. There are always brand new name brand things there still with the tags on…
Man, I can’t wait until they do that again this year, lol.
Sweater – $10 – walmart
Shirt – Free – mom
Pants – Free – Hand me downs from sister
Socks – $.50 from a bag of 10 for $5
Shoes – Free – Hand me downs from other sister
$10.50 not including under garments. although even if I included them I’d still be below $20. Yey for sales! :) And hand me downs!
I feel so thrifty today!
DRESS : free, gift
BOOTS: $20, major sale (orig. over $100)
TIGHTS: $3.33 (a 3 for 10 sale), TJ Maxx
HEADBAND: free, gift
TOTAL: $23.33
I saw on TV this morning that 70% of all clothes sold are on sale. You did great with your buys. There’s sale and then there’s SALE. My hubby is an expert at combing throught 70-90% off racks at Kohl’s. (And I’m not too bad either). I really liked this one.
Absolutely everything I’m wearing other than my shoes was either on sale or off the clearance rack. The shoes were kind of an emergency. I wear shoes until they literally fall apart. I had the sole fall off of one of my shoes at the Sears auto center when I was buying a replacement battery for my wife’s car. Needless to say I couldn’t wait any longer to buy a new pair of shoes. So I ended up getting the lowest price pair they had in my size.
Next picture better be of you wearing all thrift-store duds.
Then again, one of your readers would one-up you by saying, “Goodwill? Bah! I get all my clothes by Dumpster-diving!”
I love this! Most of my clothes are bought on sale – my outfit today is no exception. Boots and jeans were both purchased during a 30% off/no tax sale at the mall, my top and cardigan were both on sale as well…even my glasses were bought during a two-pairs-for-$199 promo. I almost never pay full price for anything. Today’s exception is my winter coat – paid 100 euros in Paris for it, which was regular price. But it’s pretty and it was a special buy that I wear at least three times a week all winter so I’m fine with that – also reminds me of our honeymoon every time I put it on :)
@JMoney – Yeah I haven’t grown an inch since then.
@Yana – hah! writing this in my pajamas too right now ;)
@aj – Ooooh yes, haven’t seen one of those rummage sales around here in quite some time. I gotta keep my eyes open more.
@Grace L – Undergarment hand me downs, or hand me downs in general? haha… :)
@Barb Friedberg – Man, 70%? That’s a pretty high percentage. Kinda makes sense though, esp in this economy.
@My Money Mess – Hahahhaa… that is awesome.
@Donna Freedman – It’s been a while since I wore all thriftstore clothes ;) I love them to death, but some of the ones around here just smell funny. Makes it hard to want to come in and browse, no less buy clothes there. I do get lucky every now and then at thrift stores in other states though – those are always fun.
@Amy – Yay!!! Nice seeing you here too :) Glad you’re still online and rockin’t it!
Definitely clearance racks are the way to go — my teenage daughter is quite the clotheshorse and if we hit the sales right and take some time to do some digging, we’ll come home with $700 worth of stuff for about $90. She’s pretty smart and doesn’t gripe about trying stuff on, or arguing if I say “no” about something, because she knows if we look hard enough, I’m going to say “yes” about something else. So, even if she really really really wants something and I say “no” to it, she just goes on to the next thing rather than argue and risk getting me out of shopping mode.
I had a similar feeling the other day. The only thing other than underwear I had on that had originally belonged to me was a pair of slacks. The striped French-cuff shirt was my husband’s as were the cufflinks that adorned it. The shoes were bought by my mother who discovered they run small but never sends anything back. The cerulean blue suit jacket had been my grandfather’s. The trench coat had been worn by my oldest while serving in the army. The jewelry was from the grandmother who had been married to the jacket owner. To say that I was resplendent on a budget was no exaggeration.
Now THAT is an outfit I’d like to see :) You’re stylin’!