I finished my year of thrifting back in December and was pretty pleased with my results. I managed to buy almost everything on my list. I also bought a lot more than what is mentioned below. Shopping secondhand was not a huge issue for me but I would be lying if I said I didn't buy anything from a regular store during 2014. I can honestly say that anything that I got from a regular store was on sale and I used a gift card to buy it. All-in-all, I think this would have been much more challenging if I wasn't already used to thrifting so often.

If I had to summarize my thrifting experiences, I would say that shopping secondhand is a great way to save money and has many environmental benefits. I also enjoy the fact that thrifting allows me to add new pieces to my wardrobe more often than I could if I was limited to only shopping at mall stores. My biggest suggestion for someone who is just being their thrifting journey would be to make sure you get rid of a similar amount of items as you buy. I am not a 1 in, 1 out kinda gal but if that's what you need to do to avoid a cluttered closet, do it. When I go through my major closet clean-outs, I always take my clothes to a consignment shop and then donate whatever doesn't sell. This past year I was also able to sell some of my clothes at a garage sale. This is a great way to get your all or money back on clothes that you bought secondhand, especially if you got them on a sale day like most of the items mentioned below!

Places I thrifted while at school in Cincinnati:
 I went to the Montgomery Goodwill Boutique (yes they call it a boutique.) This one is known to have the "nicer" clothes because it is in a really nice part of town.

I also went to the Bellevue Goodwill which is about 5 minutes from campus and near the grocery store I go to. 

The other Goodwill I went to was the Oakley Goodwill Store. It's relatively close to campus. 

The Salvation Army on Park Avenue is only about 5 minutes from the Oakley store but it was really disappointing in Cincinnati. It had a huge selection but literally almost everything was priced at $7.99 regardless of condition or brand. I don't mind paying a little more for something nice...but not everything! 

Treasure Isles...a flea market because Carter really wanted to go.

The BEST part about Cincinnati Goodwills: HALF OFF DAY EVERY SATURDAY. Plus daily deals every other day of the week (but with class I could really only go on Saturdays!) They release a calendar of the deals for each month. Another perk: the Cincy Goodwills seem to get nicer stuff than the Fort Wayne ones. I guess bigger population and nicer stores down in Cincy? Finally, cheaper prices, so even if you weren't shopping on half off day, you are still getting nicer stuff for a lower price. 

Places I thrifted while I was home in Fort Wayne:

Dupont Road Goodwill
Maysville Road Goodwill
Glenbrook Goodwill
Franciscan Thrift Shop
Lima Road Salvation Army
Clothes Mentor

 You can see my original checklist I posted here.

Sandals:
Cole Haan Sandals--$15--BRAND NEW

Florida Birkenstocks--$7!!!
Purchased at Treasure Isles

Milano Birkenstocks--$7!!!
Purchased at Treasure Isles

Shoes:

Boots:
Leather Booties--$3
Purchased at Oakley Goodwill Store

Some Wooly Socks: Nope!
Now that I think of it, I don't think I would ever thrift socks unless they were brand new.

A Hat: Angora hat-$3

A Scarf: Cashmere scarf $2

A Piece of Jewelry:
Watch(es)--FREE
From a cleanout pile of Carter's Grandma
Also a necklace, seen here, $1
Franciscan Thrift Shop Fort Wayne

A Pair of Sunglasses: Nope!
I did score some Coach ones in 2015 at a consignment shop though!

A Purse/Bag:
Coach Leather Bag $30

A Belt:
Skinny Leather, 50 cents
Fort Wayne Salvation Army

Something for Outside: Nope!

Something Electronic: Nope!

A Home Item:
Drawers for underbed storage, 50 cents each
Garage sale

Something Festive:
Some family gag gifts, $1 each
Dupont Goodwill

A Piece of Furniture: Nope!

A Kitchen Item:
Tevana Tea Infusion Pitcher--$2.50--BRAND NEW
Purchased at Oakley Goodwill

A Mug: Nope!

A Book:
Books from Half Price Books

A Movie: Nope!

A Craft Item:
Yarn, $1
Oakley Goodwill

Something to Organize with:

A Picture Frame/Mirror:
Wooden Mirror, $2
Fort Wayne Salvation Army

Something on Sale:
Almost everything I had bought was on Half-Off Days!

Something Cashmere:
My Scarf plus some Cashmere sweaters ($3 each)

Something with Tags:
High Waisted J. Crew Swimsuit Bottoms--$14
Purchased on eBay.

Something Collegiate: Nope!
Carter did get me a UC football jersey NWT from the Bellvue Goodwill though!

A Raincoat:
Ralph Lauren Raincoat--$15
Missed Half Off Day :(
Purchased at Goodwill

A Vest:
GAP Red Vest--Free
Gift from Carter purchased at Salvation Army in Fort Wayne

Nice Pants:
J. Crew Khakis, $4
Fort Wayne Goodwill

A Skirt:
Ann Taylor Skirt--$2
Salvation Army Fort Wayne
Shortened

An Oxford:
Purchased from Vinted, $4

A Sweater:
Tommy Hilfiger Cardigan--$5
Purchased at Montgomery Goodwill
And another
Tommy Hilfiger Sweater--$3.50
Purchased at Salvation Army Fort Wayne

An Ugly Christmas Sweater:
$2
Purchased at Fort Wayne Salvation Army

A Cool T-shirt: Nope!

A Plain T-shirt:

This was kinda a mix between a really thin sweater/shirt so I'll go with shirt.

Banana Republic Green Sweater

Priced at $4.99. Bought for $2.49

Purchased at Bellevue Goodwill.

A Striped T-Shirt:

I love stripes so expect more striped shirts to be thrifted.
Striped Gap Shirt--$2.49

Some Shorts:
Gap Shorts $2
Bellevue Goodwill

Some Jeans:
GAP $7
Purchased from Vinted

Colored Pants:

I still wouldn't be opposed to finding some olive ones.
Gap Light Pink Khakis--$2.49

Purchased at Bellevue.

A Sundress:
Ann Taylor Tie Dyed Dress, $2
Bellevue Goodwill

A Little Black Dress/Something to Remake:
Black Chiffon Dress--$3.00
Purchased at Oakley Goodwill
Remade

Something Odd:
Lipstick and Nailpolish
Brand new for $1 each. Close out deals from local stores. Who would have thought I would resort to thrifting beauty products??

A Killer Deal:
GAP Jeans--50 CENTS
Purchased at Bellevue Goodwill


Other Noteworthy Finds:

Ann Taylor Loft Tunic

Priced at $4.99. Bought for $2.49

Purchased at Bellevue.

Lululemon Quarter Zip & Tights--$15

Purchased at Montgomery

Ravelry
Kollabora

I don't think I will even quite understand the love of socks that my man has. Seriously. He wrote me a letter in October saying, "If all I got were socks for Christmas I would be so happy." That's a direct quote. Since he likes homemade gifts, making him a pair of socks seemed like the obvious option. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy these were. I was even happier to have them finished before Christmas.

I found the pattern on Ravelry and decided it was the one to try. It was free, it had been rated as easy by others, it was a design for men, and I liked the design. I used the yarn that the project called for and knit these up in a size medium. I used a little of 1 ball in the main color (Orca) and almost the entire ball of the toe/heel/stripe color (Tahitian Pearl.) 

I omitted some changes to the original design while working on these socks. I decided to skip the square block because I thought it was a little random. After reviewing the directions for the heel I was a little confused so I decided to use the Sweet Tomato Heel by Cat Bordhi. Her YouTube video was very easy to follow and I can officially say that I have made a heel which is just short rows! 

Sometimes I think that I underestimate my skills as a knitter. While I still have so much more to learn, I feel like I am doing a really good job as a self taught knitter. I used a Klutz book to learn and now I turn to YouTube for any additional help. Here's to trying new things! Hoping I can expand my knitting even more in 2015!

Pinterest is great don't get me wrong. I love it....but sometimes I think that the Pinterest gods like to taunt us pinners. Pins with no links. Pins that go to websites in another language. Pins that are blocked due to spam. Pins that go to the website but not to the specific page regarding the pin. Or Pins that go to Tumblr. In this case, the pin of this outfit was on Tumblr which basically means that you will never find the original source ever. 

I really liked this outfit. I love leather...real leather products. They are timeless. Take good care of them, shine them up when needed, and they will last forever. I was in love with the bag and sandals and loved how the simple, light, and loose LBD paired up with it. I figured I could attempt to make a dress with some chiffon similar to the one posted and added the pin to my inspiration board. 

Then while out thrifting I came across something pretty darn spectacular. Luck was on my side. For $3.00 I got this....

It's loose but the inspired dress also looked like it would be a looser fit.

Yep, it's sheer chiffon so I had to get a black slip

Now in a perfect world this would have came hand in hand with the sandals and bag...or at least the right length but where would the fun in that be? 

I made a slight high to low cut.

What I am wearing: 

Dress: $3 @ Goodwill Cincinnati

Belt: Vintage, found in my mom's closet

Necklace: $1 @ Franciscan Thrift Shop Fort Wayne

(Not seen, Calvin Klein linen and leather heels- $35)

Honestly, I am really glad that I only had to shorten my dress up because in my head I know if I had sewn my own it would have been a catastrophe. 

So what I did was cut off the lower part.
Marked my hem, folded and pinned and then sewed it up.
That's it!

I know tons of people that shop at Old Navy and look great in their clothes but I am just not a fan. I love GAP and Banana Republic and I feel like I look nice in their clothes but there is just something about Old Navy which is the lowest branch of the trio of companies (not to say Old Navy is poor quality,) that just doesn't look right on me. Mix that with some really poor customer service over the years and it's easy for me to stray away from their stores.

Right before the last poor customer service, I was over shopping and doing errands near an Old Navy and decided to stop in and see what was for sale just for kicks and giggles. They had some really low summer sale items and I got some shorts for $4 and I got this top for $3.50.

Even ironing didn't fix this!

Sometimes if you go on the right days  you can get sale items from stores as low as if not cheaper than thrift store prices! Those are good days.

Sadly the pocket flaps were really wonky and never laid right even after washing and ironing. So for a year and a half, it hung in my closet unworn. A few weeks ago when doing a major clean out, I was about to toss it but then thought I could fix it. So I did.

All you need:
 a button for each pocket
a needle
some thread
scissors

Iron your top
Pick out some buttons
Thread your needle
Center the button and sew (repeat for other side)
Done!

So a five minute DIY fix that made an awkward top wearable. Seriously the longest part of the project was deciding what buttons to use (my mom made the decision...go mom!)

I began thinking about this back in November. I was thinking of things I enjoy doing and ways to save money. I decided that thrifting was obviously my favorite way to save and shop! I thrift the vast majority of my clothing so this year I am going to try to take it a notch up. This will help me save even more money as a shop and I am also helping the environment by loving someone else's old items. I am going to try and go a whole year of just thrifting! If I need it, I'll thrift it. 

I already have two exceptions though:

1. Underwear. I already have way too much but if I get a free underwear coupon from Victoria's Secret, I will use it.

2. Running shoes, you need to replace your shoes as they break down to avoid injury so I won't be thrifting someone else's.

Places I will be thrifting during 2014:

Salvation Army

Goodwill

St. Vincent de Paul Society

Local Shops

Garage Sales

Antique shops

Consignment stores

Auctions

If I need something else, I will try eBay and Craigslist.


To make things a bit more interesting, I gave myself an extensive list of things to try to find throughout the year. I will plan to check back in at the end of every month to show off what treasures I found second hand and how much I spent on each item. 

Here is a copy of my list.
You can save or print this to take thrifting with you.

Here is a copy of a blank template if you want to make your own thrifting list.

By the way, I found the template I used here.

Good luck, go out there, save money, and have fun!

Happy 2014!

See my cowl here

I love Ravelry! It has been a wonderful resource for me as a knitter. It's free to be a member and gives you access to hundreds thousands of free patterns for both knitting and crocheting.  There are also patterns available for purchase. You can search for them on the site too! You can also stash your yarn and needles on the site so you can view your inventory online.

 What I love most though is you can queued things so you can go back and knit them later. You also have a projects portfolio where you can add pictures and notes in case you modified a pattern you used. You can also create your own patterns for others to use or purchase. 

In the patterns, you can also view yarn ideas where you can see what yarns have been used by other knitters and how many times. You can also view pictures to see if you like how that type of yarn knit up for the pattern. This is great for me because so many patterns call for super expensive yarn that I can't afford at this point in my life. (Cough cough, gorgeous Purl Bee patterns.)

One of the patterns I had queued was the Drop Stitch Cowl. It only took me about two hours to finish and was so easy to follow. What I loved is that it is knit in the round so it is seamless and you only have to weave in the ends! It also called for a bulky yarn and big needles so it knit up super fast. I love one skein projects!

Find the how to HERE!

What you'll need:

A Stitch Marker

Size 15  20 inch circular needles 

One skein bulky yarn- I used Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick and Quick in Lemongrass

An hour or two