QOTD: 08/19 Bargains
 

Are you a bargain hunter? Do you frequent consignment, restyle, used clothing shops, etc? Do you check for sales online, in the newspaper, FB groups, Craig's List, etc?

I love the challenge of finding something great at a good price. I won't buy any clothing unless it's on sale and I love to browse thru the consignment stores. Bailey and I browsed yesterday afternoon in a few stores we hadn't been in before and she picked up some sweaters and an armful of books.

In Bellingham there are two Labels outlets and I always find clothes, purses, scarves and home goods in there. I try to pop in ever few months to check it out. My daughter bought a Coach bag in there at about 1/6 of the original price. I picked up a low carb cookbook there in the spring for a few dollars and had just bought the other book in the series on Amazon a few wks before that for a lot more money.

I also love to peruse Craigs List for photography stuff. I've gotten some great lenses at a good price. I always look on CL when I need new furniture before buying at the store. I picked up 2 stacking Ikea wire basket racks last week for a fraction of the original cost and they were brand new. They now are stacked together, in the spare bedroom, holding all my scarves, sorted by color. I'll have to take a pick of them and do a layout about my scarves.

I love a good deal!

Yes and no.

I'm not a shopper, really. I don't go shopping unless there's something specific I need to get. In general, I don't enjoy 'the hunt' for a good deal, I'd rather use my time at home, walking on the beach or doing something else. I'm honestly more concerned with getting in and out at most stores, so it's not fun for me to have to dig through racks and racks and racks to find what I need.

Stores like Marshall's and TJ-Max bother me sometimes because I find something I like but it's not in my size. And it just takes SO long. LOL I want to walk in (like a Target or a Department store) and find what I like displayed on a rack, reach back for my size and DONE. If I have a coupon, then yay. If not, I still buy it.

That being said, I do occasionally like to go to thrift stores. I stick to kids clothes, housewares, and books. Now, BOOKS, those I love to bargain shop for. I've also found some furniture at thrift stores and Craigslist that I was super proud to find for much less. Those types of things I can be a bargain hunter for. The rest of it -- nah.

I'd love to see the basket racks! That sounds so nice! I adore IKEA. We have one 30 minutes away.

I love bargain shopping! When the kids were both little I always bought their clothes used. When they are babies buying brand new felt like such a waste to me since they only wear clothes for such a short time before they grow out of them. It definitely gets harder when the kids get older because clothes tend to get worn out so much easier. We have a store in the next town over where the prices were a grocery bag size filled with clothes for $5 or a garbage bag filled for $10. The prices were unreal!

I also have bought used from FB marketplace and such. Not as much lately but definitely have gotten some good deals that way!

8 baskets. 2 sets that stack together and we ziptied them to secure them more but they seemed pretty sturdy. Its not flimsy at all. I love it! Ummm....you can see I have a thing for scarves LOL. That's not even all of them.

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-.../i-kLHj3cF.jpg

^^^This is me! I don't like shopping & when I do shop, I like to find things right away. Once in a while I will shop thrift stores or FB marketplace for items that I don't want to pay full price.

On the other hand, my hubby is the ultimate bargain shopper/re-saler! He grew up working at his parents' swap meet (flea market) business. For the past 20 years or so, he has been buying and selling Hot Wheels (collectibles) on eBay and FB. He's really good at it.

My aunt had a flea market biz that she did well at for many yrs. My dad went to auctions and bought, refinished and re-sold antiques so the second hand biz is in my familytoo.

I'm cheap... but our Goodwills and other thrift places are insane on prices - jeans and are $9, books and games for $5... I can find cheaper stuff on clearance at Target and Walmart. My mom and I do "girls" weekend in Milwaukee (1.5hr away) and hit all the goodwills and TJMaxxes, hunting for stuff. We don't really have anything in mind... get it when I see it.

My house is pretty much furnished by Craig's List... I can't think of one thing of furniture I have that isn't from there or hand me down... Just bought a small desk for my bible journaling off Marketplace for $40.

95% of my books and homeschooling curriculum is second hand... almost all our games we use for schooling, is too... almost all of Jake's clothes are from rummage sales or thrift... my clothes I do buy off clearance, but that is because I'm a big girl.

I used to be a bargain hunter and loved going to the second-hand shop when I lived in Liverpool. Now, not so much, because we don't have those kind of shops here. People don't like buying or looking at used goods here, but we do donate our used clothes and goodies to donation boxes, which are then sent to orphanages throughout the country.

I do wait for sales though, since that's pretty frequent to happen here. I love scoring greatly discounted winter clothes in spring/autumn and vice versa. That is only when we need the purchase not so urgently. Two years ago, the zipper on my winter jacket broke in the middle of winter and DH decided to buy a jacket ASAP. I pouted a little looking at the price!

I used to be the garage sale queen. I'd buy toys for my kids, use them until they outgrew them and resell them. Much of my decor was secondhand, too. I have not done that in years though....ah the memories!

There are very few things in my life that I buy rand new... Some things are by choice, like furniture or decor items just because I LOVE to refinish old things to give them new life. Other things we don't have much of a choice in..... besides the fact that clothing is expensive, the only place to buy clothes here is walmart (and it's a SMALL one so very little in terms of selection and variety), and a few thrift shops. Actually, Guy's Frenchy's is a huge chain of used clothing stores in my area but I don't pick up just anything though.... I will dig the bins and search the racks for top brand names for the boys.... they could care less about labels, but it's what makes it fun for me. lol As far as online shopping goes, I am literally at on the store websites that I like to shop at daily.... I know what they have for stock, what the prices are, wishlists are made and a STALK the pages for sales (you'd be sruprised how many sales pop up without a email notification even if you are on the list), I also make it a point to make sure I go through my ebates as well. As far as food goes, I am a sales flyer hoe when it comes to the grocery stores. I wasn't so much a coupon person though since they never used to allow you to stack a coupon on top of an item on sale (but I try to watch it now as stores are starting to allow it with some things). What I like most is collecting points though.... I have already earned over $700 worth of free groceries, just by buying the things we normally use when they have points offers.... and i'm not crazy about it in the sense that I buy in bulk when there is a points offer, I just buy what I know we will use in the 2 week period that I am shopping for and I just do our meal planning around that.

I probably sound really cheap, but it reality, we are a single person income for a family of 5 and minimum wage doesn't go far..... I do whatever it takes to get my family the things they need without breaking the budget. :)

I'm definitely not into thrift stores ... not because I'm against used clothes, but because I like the flexibility to try things on in multiple sizes and I also don't really enjoy hunting through racks of different things (it gets overwhelming to me).

I have purchased items from Poshmark or eBay - when I'm looking for a very specific item that has been discontinued, etc. I've gotten some awesome deals on designer items that are gently worn with lots of life left in them.

In terms of just general shopping, I almost always do a price comparison, including looking for coupons to apply to my purchase. It's saved me lots of money. I also use Honey.

I do like a good deal when I can get one but after spending several years only being able to afford second-hand clothes or hand-me-downs from friends & family, I got rid of every single piece of clothing that I hadn't purchased new when I got my job 18 months ago & haven't looked back since.

Nothing made me feel so awful as having to wear other people's clothes. I'm working on doing the same with all the second-hand furniture we have.

Nope! That stuff stresses me out big time. I’m much more of a “decide I need something and go out and get it that same day” type of person. I always say I’m going to shop around but I never do

I’m a huge bargain hunter.....to the point my family and I often joke “You don’t pay full price if you’re a McDonald” cause we are all bargain hunters to varying degrees.

Bargain hunting is a hobby of mine. :) I love to find the cheapest price possible. When I'm short on time I will (not often) pay full price, but I usually try to find some sort of discount.

I used to be able to shop or browse for hours... not anymore. I have no patience.... except for Arts n Crafts supplies ( I love paint and paper!!!) ... and usually once or twice a month I pop into the Habitat Restore store to see if anything strikes my fancy... project wise...
I used to love yard sales and garage sales. I do occasionally find a good deal on the FB yard sale page....like my kitchen table!!!! (Huge beautiful custom oak double pedestal, 8 chairs, two leaves that store inside it.... probably $3000 or more new... $550 for me. i love it!!!)
If I am needing anything for my little home childcare/classroom, I do go to the children's resales when they have them locally.