Thrift stores

I want to talk about thrift stores here. There are many out there. You probably donate to some. But, have you ever gone in and looked around? There are SO many items in like new, and sometimes even brand new condition. Here we have a place called The Waterfront Rescue Mission. It's an awesome place and they do so much good in our community.

So, yesterday was our youngest sons Pre-K graduation. We had some time after so I asked my husband if he would be up for going to the Mission. He's such a good guy, he agreed without hesitation. I am so low on shirts I wear the sames ones over and over and over. I swear, I am ALWAYS doing laundry just to have clean clothes to wear. Anywho, I tried on LOTS of items, and of course women are not one size fits all, so only a handful of items fit the way I wanted them to.

You can see the items I picked out are in awesome condition. One of the shirts I don't 100% love, but I am so low I can't be super picky right now. Also most of these shirts I have plans for once I don't want them anymore, or cannot use them myself. A couple of them I really love the print, and plan on making my daughter skirts out of them with matching headbands.

One thing that really got me thinking, is these capri-pants. I have been needing more for a long time, and have gone into the Mission a few times and not found any that fit. I broke down last month and bought 2 pair new from AE. They cost with tax, SEVENTY dollars. All of the items you see below cost a whopping 22.93 out the door. The capri's alone ended up being 2.50!!

I know some are apprehensive about buying second hand because someone else had at one time worn these, or it's not "cool". But listen, we all wash our clothes before we wear them, don't we? And who ever decided it wasn't cool to buy second hand? Someone who doesn't appreciate saving money for other things, would be my guess. I know when I was little I hated buying second hand, and was always afraid of getting made fun of. But seriously, who will know? I mean, everyone who reads my blog will know that I shop second hand. But I am proud of my frugality and wanting to save my family a little bit of money where I can. So I'll tell anyone who asks where I got my clothing :D

Oh, and one more point I want to drive home on this topic. Not only did I do a small part in reduce/reuse/recycling, the money spent there helps others in our community. Now that is a good feeling! While we were there we also dropped off a few boxes of items for donation. 

One year of no consumerism

It's been a slow journey to minimalism, and I can't say were there yet. My husband is on board, but not as enthusiastic about it as I am. He is supportive for the most part (although he thinks I'm crazy pants for wanting to get rid of our bed frame, dresser, and night stands). On this journey we still slip up and buy things we don't need. Especially when we go to a store for just a few needed items, and walk out with about 10 bags.

Last night we set a budget in place. We decided we're not buying anything we don't need. And to me that also means we will not be buying anything new unless we have to. My husband and I are getting more and more into running, so if we need a few new articles of clothing or a new pair of shoes, that's not something we'll skip out on.

We set up a personal allowance for each of us, and an entertainment allowance for our entire family. Things like movies, dining out, ect. I can pretty much say with confidence I won't use my allowance to buy anything new, but I can't speak for my husband. I doubt we will be perfect on this journey and never slip up, but it's worth a try.

I know we seem completely crazy, and most will not understand what we're trying to do. I don't want to live a life where we constantly owe banks money and are a slave to our belongings. I want to minimize our waste as a family of 5, and get as much use of out items as we can. Less things will end up in landfills this way. I want to live in a way that brings our family closer together and lets our creativity flow.

So here we go, June 1st 2014 - June 1st 2015. I will do my best to document how we are doing once a week.