My Saturday clothing finds (a couple new, mostly second hand)

As I mentioned already, I found out that a nice looking second hand women's clothing store had plus sized stuff, so I decided that I would have to pop in. So, after showing up at closing time on Friday night, I ended up making another trip there on Saturday.

My main purpose for my trip was to get some shirts. I seem to periodically stain shirts beyond the point of them being cleaned. (Lucky me.)

Well...first, I actually stopped at the mall and went to Lane Bryant and CJ Banks. Although I tried on several things at Lane Bryant, I ended up just buying two basic long sleeve shirts for a total of $30.

After that, I went to the second hand store, and I ended up picking up a brown blazer as a splurge, since it was $26. It was very cute though, and would look great with jeans. So, I finally thought, "Okay -- I rarely get myself clothes, and this is a nice piece." Then, I also got three black shirts, a long black skirt, and a pair of brown pants. See a pattern here? So, if you count the long floral skirt that was on clearance that I got the night before (right at closing time), I spent $80 at the second hand store and got: a blazer, two long skirts, one pair of pants, and three long sleeved shirts.

I was pleased, particularly since it is hard to find good thrift store closing in plus sizes. I'll definitely have to go to that store again sometime, though it will likely be a while, since I don't often buy clothes for myself.

Wow! I wish I had known that before!

So, I was just complaining about being able to get great thrift clothes for everyone in the family except me, since it's hard to find decent second hand plus sized clothing. And that got me thinking -- why not just call a local second hand store that always looks nice from the outside and see if they have plus sized clothing. (This store is a pseudo-consigment type store -- kind of like Once Upon a Child, where you just sell your things upfront.)

I will admit, I have never gone in when I have been by it, because I was afraid I would walk in, look for my size, not find it, and then have to turn and leave, feeling silly for walking in. So, instead of looking silly, I just wouldn't go in.

Finally, today, I just decided to call them. I thought I would just ask what size ranges they had. Then I realized that was just dumb. Why not just be direct and ask if they have plus sizes.

Well, of course, they do. And, darn it -- not only could I have been shopping there before, but there have been many times I have gotten rid of clothing (garage sale, Goodwill, etc.) and could have taken it in there instead.

I was able to pop by there tonight, but hadn't asked their hours, and showed up right as they were closing. Oops! Except, they didn't say they were closing (we didn't notice the hours when we walked in) and let us shop for about 10 minutes before they very politely kicked us out.

I will definitely have to go back, as it seems like a really nice shop. I only got a chance to check out the clearance in the plus sizes and a section of blazers/jackets. There were still a lot of things to check out, and I will definitely be back!

My one quick buy was a cute, long flowered skirt. It was originally $20 at the second hand store. Then, had been marked down to $10 on clearance. But, since all of their clearance is now marked down for $2, that's what I got it for. Heck -- it was only when I got home that I noticed it still had the original store price tag attached -- $39.50!

Oh...and while I was out doing errands, I stopped by Once Upon a Child and got a pair of slacks and three shirts for each of the boys (as in total of 2 slacks and 6 shirts) and also a scarf/hat set for Molly. I picked those all up for $40. But, since I had received Christmas money that I didn't want to spend on myself (I had used some of it to buy lunch for the family one day), I ended up just spend $13 of our own money.

The moral of the story (before I digressed into my kiddie shopping finds) -- you'll never know until you ask, so don't be shy. I'm so glad that I called and checked on the size selection!

Not that I'm looking for a fight...

Oh my goodness! I saw this on I Have to Sit Down and was intrigued. Why would I want to get on an airplane with a bunch of five year olds?

Then I realized, "Oh -- how many five year olds could I take in a FIGHT, not ON A FLIGHT." Oops.

So, then I was very intrigued, and had to find out. I don't think the results are right, because, darn it, I think five year olds are pretty darn scrappy. But, here are my results:


18

Go to Ultrasound technician schools

Oh, and a warning -- I was trying to eat while taking the quiz. When I got to the "moral compass" section, it was difficult to keep eating because I needed to laugh too much.

Looks like this quiz isn't working anymore -- bummer! We tried it a couple of times, and it doesn't give results anymore. Sorry!

Works for Me Wednesday: Saving Money on Clothes

Be sure to check out Works for Me Wednesday at Rocks In My Dryer for lots of great tips and ideas on a variety of topics!

Here is something that works for me, and saves our family money. I always try to buy second hand clothes before buying new.

Okay...I will admit, I probably do just buy new first sometimes, but more and more, I find that I don't have a need to buy new because I was able to pick up something second hand.

Buying clothes second hand doesn't mean wearing bowling shoe look-alikes and that your kids are wearing someone's cast off Vacation Bible School t-shirt from 1998.

I think that my kids are decently well dressed. And, I would venture a guess that less than 10% of the clothes in their closets were purchased new by me.

Now...mind you, there are some new things in there, since they received them as gifts, but there also aren't a lot of those either.

First source of second hand clothes -- Molly has received a TON of hand-me-downs. I am never shy to say yes to someone that offers them up. I thank them immensely, and let them know how they have blessed us with their kindness. The last person to give us hand-me-downs gave us a big bag of clothes right at a time that I knew I was going to have to buy Molly new pajamas. Of course, because God is great, there were (I kid you not) at least 6 - 8 pairs of very cute almost all name brand pajamas in that bag -- all in exactly Molly's size!

I will almost always visit Once Upon a Child when my kids need new clothes. And, yes, I think it would be easy to spend a decent amount in there too. But...I do think I would spend more on those same clothes, and darn it -- that's good to me. I also sometimes take a jaunt through Goodwill, and while I do sometimes come upon some great finds there, they are not as plentiful as at Once Upon a Child (one of my sons even wore one shirt I bought there for school pictures one year, and Molly's Christmas dress this year was a gorgeous Goodwill find while I was pregnant with her!).

Another great place to pick up clothes in my area is that a local school/church has a twice a year consignment sale. I spent just about $100 this last fall, and I got a play kitchen (once of those big plastic ones that we had been looking for), a couple of books, a couple of toys and puzzles (for therapy), and then got the kids around 30-ish pieces of clothing. Because I was a consignor at the sale (I received a check for $76 after the sale for my sales), I was able to shop on the consignor night (the night before it opens to the public). I plan on being a consignor at the spring/summer sale again for sure!

And, hey...maybe this way to save is rubbing off on Eric. He needed new shirts and some pants for work. He talked all about trying to look for sales at Penneys and Kohls. I suggested that he just take a peek at Goodwill. He didn't seem too sure about that, but decided to humor me anyway. He had received $50 from his parents for Christmas, and headed out for a few errands (including Goodwill). I figured he would walk in and say he couldn't find anything. But, instead he came in with a big bag! He spent $25 and got five nice button up shirts and a pair of slacks. (If he had bought them last week, they would have been the tag color for half price, we found out. Oh well!) He was VERY psyched, and already has plans to pop by Walmart with his other $25 for another pair for slacks and a package of underware. Seriously...it's exciting to get that much stuff for so little, even Eric was excited!

Now, I will admit. I don't buy second hand for myself. Because, well, darn it -- I'm worth brand new stuff. No, I'm just joking. I just can't seem to find decent clothes that are, well, plus-size, that are second hand. Everything I find is like a baggy tunic with huge flowers all over it or something like that. I would really love to find a source, and will keep my eyes peeled. But, for now, it just means I get a lot less "new" clothes than other people do.

So...try it, if you don't already! Save money and bless your family with "new" clothes, while helping your budget as well.