not too long ago i shared how i save a buck & shop within our budget for clothing. you can read my affordable style blog post right here.
a big part of saving money within our family is thrifting & shopping secondhand.
on my days off, i love grabbing a cup of coffee & heading to the thrift shop.
this isn’t the case for my husband, though.
he appreciates my willingness to work within our budget, but he isn’t a shopper. he likes looking put-together & he has strong opinions about what he wears, but he would prefer to shop only a couple of times a year for what he needs.
last weekend, we stopped by goodwill on our way home & found his complete fall wardrobe for under $50. you would be so surprised at what you can find in the men’s area at your local thrift shop!
today i thought i’d share what we found on our goodwill trip & tips on shopping secondhand for the men in your life.
1. shop together! my husband can get overwhelmed with the aisles of disorganized clothing at the thrift store. we make it a date & scan the rows of clothing together. it makes shopping feel more manageable for my husband & it feels like quality time for me.
2. don’t shop brands, shop fit. if you’re a newbie thrifter, you will be shocked at the variety of brands you’ll find at the thrift store. while shopping for my husband, we found clothing from target to ralph lauren. we purchased button ups from dockers, merona, aeropostale & ralph lauren. it doesn’t matter the brand as much as the fit & cut.
3. shop for basics, too. i often find basics at the thrift store for my husband. while on our trip to goodwill, we purchased two brand spankin’ new white hanes tees for $2.50 each. he needs just a couple at a time so it was much more affordable than buying a large pack at the store. i’ve also found patagonia long underwear, american apparel plain tees & wool socks at the thrift for my hubby.
4. keep a list of needs & sizes in your wallet. this applies for the whole family. always keep a list of needs & your family members’ sizes in your wallet. when arriving at the thrift shop, pull out your list & keep an eye out for those key items. this will keep you focused & less forgetful. although some thrift shops don’t accept returns, goodwill allows exchanges & store credit. yay!
so, here’s our breakdown of cost from our fall shopping trip for him:
7 collared, button-up, long sleeve shirts at $4 each = $28
2 pairs of jeans at $5 each = $10
2 white v-neck tees at $2.50 each = $5
grand total = $43
do you shop secondhand for the men in your life? i’d love to read your tips & tricks for saving a buck at the thrift shop!
also, check out my top tips for thrifting home decor & furniture.
love,
natalie
this past weekend was & always is the very best weekend. the gals on my mom’s side of the family travel to eureka springs for a weekend of craft fair shopping & most importantly, laughing.
i can’t wait to share our girls’ war eagle weekend, but today i thought i’d share details on the goodie bags i gifted to my aunt, cousins & mom.
a few weeks ago, my friend, melissa, presented her “worley fall mix” to a group of girls at a fun play date. it’s a yummy & colorful mix of pretzels, candy corn, m&m’s & peanuts. friends, it’s addicting! i just had to make little bags of the fall mix for girls’ weekend!
warning: package your fall mix immediately or you might just eat the entire bowl.
i also purchased these cute little “happy halloween” signs from the target $1 bin for their goodie bags. target, you’ve done it again.
i got the cute kraft boxes at hobby lobby & stuffed them with tissue paper & the treats. i tied the boxes with ribbon & added a cute tag with their initials.
it was the perfect little treat for the weekend & it cost me under $3 each!
my sweet friend, melissa, said i could share her family fall mix with you today so below you’ll find the recipe!
ingredients
– 1 bag of pretzels (we used the gluten free pretzels from aldi’s! delicious!)
– 2 med. bags or 1 lg. bag of candy corn
– 1 bag of m&m’s
– 1 jar of unsalted & roasted peanuts
quantities of ingredients don’t matter too much… it’s really up to your family’s preference!
1. pour all of the ingredients in a giant bowl
2. stir all of the ingredients together until it is well mixed
3. eat & enjoy!
chef’s notes: melissa swears that “one pretzel, two peanuts, three m&m’s & one candy corn” is the perfect combination & tastes just like a snickers bar! yum!
love,
natalie
so i had this really great idea yesterday morning to blog about the not-so-glamorous parts of my life.
the parts that include not wearing makeup (or brushing my hair for that matter) & heading into town for errands. note the rockstar sunglasses (from these awesome people) that make me look famous.
not.
but you see, these are the parts that make up most of my life.
i really like the crafty, pinterest-worthy pieces that make up my life, but there’s a whole lot of grocery shopping, post office waiting, & mundane errand running pieces mixed in, too.
so today i thought i’d share a typical tuesday in my world.
i feel like the post office is my second home. because of you amazing people who support my shops, i get to see them at least twice a week. i know them all by name & we often have long conversations of “would you rather?” while they ship my bags of goodies.
tuesdays also always include grocery shopping. aldi’s is my place. these people are my people. good deals, good values, good people. i like that.
also, don’t judge my grocery list. we eat lots of veggies. they just come from the garden. also, the junk? it’s for a gift, i swear. yolo.
sometimes in-between grocery store stops, i reward myself with a little thrifting. the magic above was found on tuesday.
i also like to text my tribe photos of clothing for approval. this photo was for erin & it was something along the lines of, “i can finally wear shirts like this because my stomach is no longer bloated!”
did i tell you being gluten-free has changed my life?
20 lb. down, haaay!
after a little grocery store shopping & a bank run, i head home with a car full of goodies to put away. the rest of the day will include dinner prep, dirty dishes, farm chores & house cleaning tasks. most of it i won’t get done & that’s ok.
welcome to my not-so-glamorous tuesday. perhaps it looks a little bit like your days, too?
love,
natalie
p.s. there are still a couple of spots left for the holiday craft party! join us for an evening of crafty goodness! more details right here.