High Class Bargains

Sexy Side of Thrifty is only a little over a week old & I am already getting 'thrifty' reports from my friends when I see them! I love it! Last week I was talking to girlfriend & she told me about the Junior League Bargain Box. The Junior League Bargain Box is located in Cameron Village (Raleigh). After she sang their praises and spoke of the Gucci purse & Jimmy Choo shoes she got at an incredible bargain, I knew I had to check it out.

I descended upon the bargain box w/my almost 3yr old in tow. I arrived a few minutes before they opened & found a couple of people waiting outside. These are the serious bargain seekers. A gentlemen immediately told me of the layout of the building & where to the find the 'new' items they were putting out on the floor today.

The thrifty side of me was ecstatic when I entered & saw the 1/2 price sign for non-VIP items (in a different area of the store). I was told by sales associates, as well as, customers this was the end of the fall/winter merchandise & to return on March 2 when all the spring items will be making their debut.

Even though this was the end of season, I still found some great deals. The best bargain I got was a pair of Lucky jeans for $5!! I also bought another pair of very hip jeans (that I wore to the Black Eyed Peas concert Friday night), a high quality collegiate sweatshirt for my husband, and an Under Armour thick workout shirt (for cycling), a belt for one of my boys, & a very cute green purse. The Grand Total came to ....drum roll please....$19.40 including tax!! Talk about a GREAT bargain!

For those of you who do not live in Raleigh, you can contact your local Junior League to see if they have something similar. Of course, you can always scour thrift stores, which I highly recommend. I will be going to several thrift stores in the coming months & reporting my findings on here. Please feel free to share your great bargains!

How This All Started

Last year was a tough year for America economically speaking. Due to the downturn many people began to reevaluate their budget. For some this was the first time they had ever thought of a budget. There is no denying that we as a country are spending at astronomical rates while saving on average 7 cents for every dollar earned. Clearly, we need a plan.

Now for the good news...there are plans already out there that you can plug into. Our family's personal favorite is Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover. I shouldn't say my favorite, I often find myself cursing his name when I made (yes past tense) my weekly trip to Target. I still make a couple of trips to Target a month, but the bill is not 3 digits to the left of decimal like it used to be. I digress. Dave has very basic principles for money management. I can't promise you will like them, but I can promise you they will work if you stick to the plan.

I could say a great deal about Dave & his plan but I will stop...for now. The website for all things Dave is: www.daveramsey.com check him out. One interesting tidbit--he despises credit cards & does NOT accept them on his website. You have several options when ordering the book: Dave Ramsey's website, local bookstores, the local library or my favorite, buy it used on a website! This is a book that you will refer to frequently & want to mark in if you are like me(which is why I suggest the used book option).

Dave Ramsey is also the father of Financial Peace University. This is a 13-week course taught often times at local churches. Dave "teaches you to achieve your financial goals by eliminating debt, saving for the future, and giving like never before." (from DaveRamsey.com) I love that about Dave-Give!

Another financial guru that I absolutely LOVE is Clark Howard. Clark is my hero & has saved our family a lot of money over the years. There was a time when Chris called him my 'boyfriend' because I talked about Clark so much! Clark & Dave are different in their philosphy. While both emphasize savings, Clark is fine with using credit cards, as long as you are sensible & pay them off monthly. Dave, as I previously stated, despises credit cards & encourages you to pay them off & get rid of them. Clark highly values the credit score & Dave couldn't care less about a credit score.

My advice is to pick at least one financial guru that is not encouraging you to take risks you can't afford to lose, and stick with it. Clark's website is www.clarkhoward.com be careful to spell his name correctly, there are other sites that are close, but not his official site.

Now that I have shared my thoughts on those I trust & follow, I'm sure you have some of your own suggestions that I would love to hear about. Please feel free to comment!

Welcome to the Sexy Side of Thrifty!

Welcome to the inaugaral edition of "Sexy Side of Thrifty." We all know sexy is what you make it!



I consider myself somewhat obsessed with being thrifty. If you feel the same then please share your great deals as well. I LOVE a good deal and I love to share it with my friends & family.



I am a mom of three boys ages 3-6. I have a wonderful hubby (that is sometimes my 4th child) who encouraged me to really push my thriftiness to new heights for 2010. While I am on this journey I thought it would be worth sharing the deals that I find & help others to relate to being cheap, without looking cheap.



For 2010 I have committed to only shop clearance sales, thrift stores & consignment shops for one year for clothing & other household goods for our boys, my hubby & me. The most difficult will be my husband due to his height--this will make it even more of a competition.



Deals I have racked up on since the inception of 2010 are as follows:

Target after Christmas toy clearance. Everything I purchased was 75% off at a minimum. Here's the great part--the receiver (child) doesn't care what you paid for it! They only care about how fun the toy is, or if younger, the box it came in.



I highly encourage you to shop clearance sales at the end of each holiday and the end of each season. You will get great deals ranging from 30-90% off. I personally wait until 75% off, unless there is a particular item that I must have.



What do I buy? I get that a lot, especially when I tell people that I begin shopping for next Christmas season on December 26th. Actually it's better to wait about a week or more after the new year to get the best deal.



Since my children are younger, it is easier to anticipate gifts they will want for their birthdays, Easter, and the next Christmas. These are the gifts I stock up on. If you have family or friends that are expecting, it's even easier to purchase toys. However, please purchase AGE APPROPRIATE items for children under 3. Choking is the main concern for children under 3 years old.



My sister has a daughter, my niece, that is the only girl in the family. I LOVE shopping for her & can easily go overboard. So what do I do? I go overboard of course, but I do it on deep discount.



To date, I have completed my niece's, my nephew's & parts of my boys birthday, Easter & Christmas shopping in February. I have also bought most of the gifts & clothes that we will be giving to the kids on the angel tree at Christmas.



Now some of you maybe saying, I just took the last of the Christmas decorations to the attic, I cannot think about next Christmas yet. That is understandable, but understand to get the best deals from retail stores, you have to reprogram your brain.



Start by buying for upcoming birthday parties you or your children will be attending within the next 6 months. Easter is only 3-4 months from Christmas, therefore, you can store these items & probably not forget about where you put them when Easter rolls around.



If you missed out on the Christmas clearance deals, not to worry there are still deals to be had you will just have to look a little harder. Winter clearance is going on for clothes--stock up for next winter now!



I am looking forward to navigating this journey with you in 2010!