OK heres the thing, my cousin and I are the same age and have been best friends forever-more like sisters. We both have lots of brothers and sisters. My point is ALL her family is obsessed with name brand everything, clothes, shoes, purses, make-up, even hair care products. None of her family or mine are rich. Some better off than others but I think thats the norm for most families.
Well I buy whatever I can afford, and if I see something I like I get it whether it be from Dillards, Belks, Wal-Mart or the Dollar Store. So you may see me in a Dollar Store Shirt, Liz Claiborne Capris and Ralph Lauren sandals and a Vera Bradley purse. Now I buy nothing that is not on sale, buy a lot from E-bay, and frequent second hand shops and thrift stores. I am very proud of the fact that I can dress nice and not put us in the poor house. Obviously from my extended family's view point I am embarrassing them by telling others where I get my good deals from. My cousin told me she wished she had the guts to go into a thrift shop but would be afraid someone from "up town" may see her. And she would never tell she got something second hand or on E-Bay. I think this is the most absurd thing I have ever heard. But to each his own I guess.
If you can afford it and don't max out your credit cards and have to be under a heavy burden of debt I say good for you, go for it. I just know this is not the case for most of her family, and other family members have to bail them out, a lot.
Since this is a mostly women's board and we all have to shop I'd like to hear others take on this and your shopping habits if you don't feel it is too personal. I'm not ashamed of where I shop and love a good bargain
One of my favorite things to do is go to the dollar store and buy EVERYTHING I want! I'll get a buggie full for and feel like I've got a great deal.
And I for one think it's rediculous to waist money on high dollar hair care products. Have you ever noticed that the people that spend on a bottle of shampoo usually have the worst looking hair? I pay about .20 for White Rain or Suave. And I flat out refuse to pay more than for a hair cut. I go to Great Clips and pay about (including the tip!) and color it myself.
I spent far too many years in the poor house. I'm happy to say I'm not there anymore....but some habits are good habits to keep.
Your just like me Lovie
Like Lovie, I go to the $ store and load up. Get some cleaning supplies, hair, soap there. I have access to the commissary and the military exchange and shop there once a month. The exchange here in Yuma now carry + sizes and Liz Claiborne. Perfume is about 1/2 price and hair color is half price.
I'm not cheap but why buy full price when there are sales out there. I also buy at the Thrift stores. One of my favorite summer dresses came from the thrift store with the tags still on it! Great place to pick up purses. There are good buys most places and it just takes some investigating. Lindy
I do a lot of shopping at TJMaxx or Ross. If I cannot find what I am looking for, then I head to the mall. I have two teenage sons, one of which is a clothes horse, so I have taught him to look for sales and markdowns. I have found that everything goes on sale eventually. I also shop at Goodwill. I have found many things with the tags still on them from the original store. Starting on Wed. they have sales where items with certain colored tags are .98. I have gotten great deals there! Son had to wear a suit every weekend for hockey and I found a brand new one there for .99. It was a name brand suit (never worn). He wore it every weekend for 2 yrs plus numerous dances. Hubby is always amazed at the bargains I find. If I cannot find what I need, I buy at Macys...I now need a plus size and usually shop at layne bryant. I always wait for the off coupons and they always have sales, I rarely ever pay full price. I don't have the energy to shop much so I just usually go to where I know they have my size. I was so upset when a lot of the "fashion" stores stopped carrying size 14 and made it a plus size! I will also hit target and kohls for tops. I forgot to mention I too have been known to shop at thrift shops now and there. I try to go to the ones in the nicest neighborhoods and you can almost always fine great stuff with the tags still on! (Name brand stuff too!!) I love to get old blue jeans there.I cant compare shops as ours are lot different. We do have TJ max. I am a great Primark shopper, especially for casual wear. I like George clothing ( offshoot of asda- your walmart) but I like to shop at the markets in and around London for one offs and bargains. I am not into name brands but my 19 year old daughter loves them. We have charity shops here and I have found loads of stuff with the tags still on them. I buy all my cleaning supplies, shampoo's and odds and ends at our local 99p shop.
Yeah i love thrift shops, when we travel to different towns that's where I check out first. I bought to new purses for .00, one was Liz Claiborne, the other Evan Piccone. I felt like I had hit the jackpot LOL!!
I don't mind a thrift store, I shop their without shame. But my fave store is J Crew. I like the way their trousers fit me. Most of my everyday stuff comes from target or kohls. I am not much of a shopper. I am sure my husband is glad of that My jeans *always* come from Wal-Mart, even though I *hate* walmart. But I can litteraly walk in and grab a pair and they fit. So I can't complain. Other stuff, I dunno. I bought 3 shirts a couple months ago and that was a MAJOR shopping spree to me. This time of year I actually prefer shopping at Lowes or any garden center in town. That's our Saturday tradition around here. We go buy a bunch of plants and stuff for the yard and work outside all day when we can. I've spent far more money on plants this season than I have clothes!But I do have one vice that I can't resist and that is shoes. Good shoes, expensive shoes, a pair in every color shoes (hangs head in shame). I try to get them on sale and clearance but I cannot resist when I see a pair I like.
OK enough drama, thanks for all your input ladies, this was fun reading about everyones shopping quirks. Oh and BTW I know you all have a VICE too you just didn't admit it! HEE HEE
And Pin Cushion, I thought everyone in the UK shopped at Harrod's
Oh, I do not scrimp on my quilting matterial. So, I will spend money on that and not a pair of pants, who knew!?
My sister in law is the OP SHOP (thrift shop) Queen!! I have got to start going shopping with her. She will hit the Salvation Army Shop, spend and come home with 3 or 4 outfits that all look great! We did amazing things for her wedding though. I bought her wedding dress for 5. We bought our shoes at a buy 1 get one 1/2 price together and paid for them. Bought her fancy 'bridal' underwear at an outlet for about . I bought my silk skirt (priced 0) for at a David Jones sale. ( I NEVER shop at David Jones....we went in to pretend we could afford to shop there...and I came out with a bargain!!)
My shop of choice tends to be Target, they have great sales on a regular basis so I just wait til what I want goes on sale. My son is the label king but he works and spends his own money. My daughter is happy with K-Mart and Target and is good at sussing out a bargain. The only thing she has problems with is bras because a lot of places don't sell her size and she has to get premium brands, usually they cost about -0. She has found a good outlet and will go there and get the good brands for about .
Shoes, shoes, shoes. That is my weakness as well. I only buy the very top quality of shoes. Sometimes I will find a great shoe at TJmaxx, otherwise I wait for sales. I have terrible problems with my feet, which causes a lot of pain. The shoes I wear on a regular basis now are crocs, doc martens, birkenstocks, etc. all about comfort these days...I love shoes too but can't enjoy them like I use to. I do have a flip flop thing going on right now though
My newest thing is handbags. LOVE handbags!! I never really use to change them out like I do now....but I guess I figure if everyone is checking out my bag they'll ignore the fact that these flip flops really aren't appropreate with this outfit
Great pictures Pammy.....especially love that cake!
I'm not too proud to save a buck. I look for sales and I also use coupons whenever I can. I love a bargain. I shop at Walmart, Kmart, Dollar Store, Target and Boscovs. My favorite is Kohls. My best bargain was a pair of Levis I bought for my daughter-in-law at xmas at Kohls. After the sale price and my discount I paid and change for the jeans. What a bargain!I'm not a clothes shopper. The nearest actual mall is 85 miles away.
I shop at Walmart or Kmart to be honest, with an occasional splurge at the Bon Ton for the kids. I got some really nice jammies for the baby there at less than either big discounter.
I can't stand shopping for shoes, so have only a few pairs. I tried Crocs and threw them away.
I like yard sales for kids stuff, but not for me.
Now put me in a scrapbook store and watch out lol
Moana- Harrods is way over- rated
Pam- I love the photo's, the wedding dress and your skirt is lovely.
Liz- I watched a t.v. programme the other night about a woman who had 5 babies who lived in Wisconsin. She had a Packers shirt on .She was going to a game at the stadium there.
I like to shop for me some new clothes or shoes, but I can never find anything in my size. It is like all the really short, fat girls have decided to go shopping the same time I have decided to go shopping for clothes.
I usually call my mom up when I cannot find clothes in my size and tell her "Looks like all the short, fat people have decided to go shopping the same time as me." Then she knows I could not find anything in my size and I am bummed about it.
I will buy my clothes from wal-mart, Goody's, and occassionally target.
I buy my kids clothes from wal-mart, they will not get name brand clothes until they can take care of them and they can last them a while.
Oh... flash back.... we went to go buy daughter a girly froo-froo outfit for her b-day present, so she can be like one of the people from High School Musical. Well, we went to Goody's... AND OMG!! They had 3 shirts I wanted! And they were all in that teal looking color I am sooo in-love with! One was , , and I did not even look at the 3rd price tag. I was soooo bummed. I wanted one sooo BAD, I could taste it! But I am not much into buying myself anything, since the money could go to help pay a bill. At least with daughter's shirt we bought her which was .95 at CATO's, she will look halfway decent when she goes to church on Sundays.
Ah... I want one of them darn shirts now! I do not know where I would wear one of them, as they are all like "dressy" looking, but darn it! It is in my color I sooo want a shirt in again, since my other favorite shirt got holes in it, looking like some shot at me with a shotgun. I think the washer killed it and I only wore it twice and owned it a month before something killed it.
Hey Joonie glad to see you back, everyone was worried about you, thought maybe you had drowned
Sorry you didn't get the shirts you wanted they're probably on sale now or will be soon. Go lay it away girl, it's not good for womens health to deny thyself.
Pam_ your pictures were so pretty, I bet the wedding was pretty too. I love looking at pictures
Hello,
I'm the same way as you. I buy whatever I can afford from wherever. I don't care whether there's name brand labels on it or not. I have a sister-in-law just like your cousin. When she got married, she spent thousands and thousands of dollars on her wedding. Most of which had to paid back to vendors. Right after her wedding her husband got very ill and was out of work for a long time. They struggled for a long time and had to bailed out from quite a fe debts by her in-laws. On the other hand, my wedding cost at very most ,000 and walked away making money.
My mom turned me on to a store called Savers. It's a thrift store but I find a lot of good deals there and on name brand items. The other day, I found my daughter a baby gap outfit for .50. I'm always so pleased with myself when I find good deals like that. I also shop online clearance sections for Macy's mostly but also JC Penney, Old Navy and Gap. And I wait until the end of the season and buy for the next year. I save a lot of money that way too and get some really cute outfits for my daughter. And sometimes I even buy stuff for myself.
Because I can't work any longer due to RA progression, saving money is very important to me. I have only my SSDI to live off and a child who outgrows clothes in her sleep. Not having any debt on the credit card, being able to put money away for her college and other things are more important to me than having name brands on my back.
OMG she had Packers tickets!!!! There is a FIVE YEAR WAIT for tickets right now lol.Hi all, Garage sales are my absolute favorite. I wore a blouse Sunday that I bought for 25Cents, my husband loved it and said, 'very nice'!
I have bought so many things at the garage sales for almost nothing, a pair of Ralph Laren sun glasses for , that I think I'll have prescription lenses put into the frames. They are very cool.
I do shop a walmart lately, some long sleeved blouses that are trendy and go with jeans or white pants. Neat sandles I can't wear for , (thank goodness they were only ),
my daughter in law looks down her nose at garage sale stuff, and walmart she won't touch, but she's in Real Estate sales, so I guess she needs to be looking 'up scale'. My grand daughter would die if someone saw her in 'walmart clothes'. Fortunately, they have the big bucks to pay for their high living. I have no interest in working my head off for clothes, expensive cars , expensive houses....etc. But that's me.
Good question. Lynda
Garage sales are the greatest! My sister and I used to get up early every Saturday morning, buy a paper, and go go go. Probably wouldn't spent 10 or 15 dollars and come home with loads of stuff. I haven't felt like go go going anywhere real early in over a year.lol I don't do mornings well anymore. Too tired and stiff
Lynda your daughter in law and grandaughter sound like my son. He will only wear clothes from 4 places Abercrombie and Fitch, Buckle, Hollister, and American Eagle. He works and buys his own but its such a waste of money! I don't know where he gets that, not from me.
Steph, yard sales are the very best for baby clothes deals. I bought about 10 name brand outfits for 20.00 for my neice when she was pregnant. They looked brand new! You can still dress super nice without spending a fortune, you just have to know where to look.
Yard sales, flea markets, rummage sales, church sales, thrift stores, dollar stores, 99c stores, all the same to me which spell BARGAIN!!! and Im there!!!So I do my best not to hand them my money but there is a SuperCenter 1.5 blocks from my house. I do get lazy and go there because it is a 1 stop shop.
I love bargains and I too am in competion with Imelda Marcos for shoes. There is a great store in Phoenix called Last Chance - it is the outlet for Nordstroms a ritzy dept store that started out as a shoe store. Merrrells, Echos, Mephistoes sell for 19 to 29 bucks!
Before I got sick, I used to go to yard sales on fri. mornings after dropping the boys off at school. Now it is too dang hard to get me moving early, and getting in and out of our truck numerous times is too hard as well. Once a year there is a huge community sale at the fairgrounds, I mean HUGE! All neighboring towns donate to it and all the proceeds go to local needy organizations. We've only been once, but had a blast! books and puzzles were a quarter :)