Frugal Living: Looking Back at The Good, The Bad, The What Was I Thinking

Clothing.  Can't live without it.  Can't buy all the pretties because I would be seriously broke if I did.  So instead most of my wardrobe is made of bargain buys courtesy of bargain basement shops that sell everything cheap (aka The Warehouse and K-Mart) or charity shops.

I love charity shopping.  It's like the best thing.  So many good bargains.  And all of the things that you just need and which cost an arm and probably your soul if you ever dared to buy them new. I've been a fan since forever.  And with money being even tighter it's definitely something that I want to get more into for the things we need.  

As for the bargain basement stores, well they fill a gap and even better I've been using them without spending any actual money.  I know right?  How is that even possible? The answer my friend is...

Vouchers.  From doing surveys. Who knew that was even a thing.  Certainly not me until about 6 years ago.  And now I'm hooked and madly earning dollars which then translate into to vouchers which I can spend at a variety of stores.  So easy and all free.  How awesome is that.

 

So what bargains worked and what bargains were bad choices which hopefully I've learned from and will never repeat.

Best Buys

 

$10 floral sneakers from The Warehouse

 

Love times 100.  Brought in 2016 and lasted me 4 years.  I so wish I had brought 2 or even 3 pairs of these.  That way they would have kept me going for a few more years.  Sob.

$5 pink satiny skirt from TradeMe

 

One of my all time favourite skirts that I brought about 6 years ago and have only recently gotten rid of.  So pretty, so comfy and just perfect for me.  Worn many, many times.

$5 floral A-line skirt from Hospice Charity Shop 

 

6 years on and I still have this and wear it regularly (despite it now being a little loose in the waist).  Who knew a grandma looking skirt would be just the thing.

$10 grey skirt from Factorie 

 

The absolutely perfect winter skirt in every way.  And one I love so much that I still have it even though it is now super loose on me and looking a bit sad from overuse.  That I can't wear this anymore is a tragedy.  As with the floral sneakers I really do wish I had brought more than one of these skirts.

$5 pink sneakers from K-Mart 

Worn pretty much constantly for the past 4 years and have only just recently thrown them out.  Super comfy in every way.  And another item I wished I had brought extra of at the time.

Worst Buys

 

$2 Beige...ish  knit top from Red Cross Charity Shop

 

I really thought I would wear this more.  But after a couple of wears it ended up just sitting in my wardrobe looking all sad and unloved for a few years until I recently donated it back.  Hopefully someone else will give it a little bit more love that I did.  Beige is so not my colour. 

$5 navy blue skirt from Hospice Skirt

 

I loved the look and feel of this and got so many complements when I worn it.  So on one hand this was a great buy.

 

But on the other... not so much as it kept getting caught on cupboard handles all the time and ended up constantly getting rips and tears it which no amount of mending could eventually cover up.  A gorgeous skirt that was sadly completely impractical for someone like me.

$9 Stripe t-shirt from K-Mart

 

What was I thinking.  Like seriously this is the worse t-shirt and just made me look like an old lady.  With no fashion sense.  Never worn (thankfully) and ended up being donated. 

$3 Black and red floral skirt from Salvation Army Shop

 

Gorgeous skirt that sadly I never wore.  Mostly because I could never find a top that worked with it colour wise.  Donated back.  As I do.

Upon A Solstice Day

Hello, it's me.  Yes I'm still alive.  Yes it's still winter.  And yes my brain is still weird and sometimes just won't let me write.

 

Other than that life is good.  Because what's not to like about winter.  Hot drinks, warm socks and all the snuggling.  If only it didn't rain I would be one very happy camper.  Even so the weather hasn't been all that bad what with lots of cold crispy frosty days and warm sun.  My kind of weather.

 

As for the Solstice...

8.30am

 

What I am doing out of bed at this time of morning is a mystery.  Especially as it's my birthday.  But up I am.  At least the weather outside isn't looking too bad.

Nudge seems to like it.  

 

This has become one of his favourite spots lately.  Mostly because he can see all the other cats wandering past as our place seems to be 'cat walkway' for some weird reason. Looks like birthday cuddles with the boy is not going to happen at the moment.

9.30am

 

Dressed and out of bed.  Psychedelic socks for a wintry pick-me-up.  Pink AND daisies.  Two of my favourite things.  As for the rest of the wardrobe it's sweatpants, long sleeve t-shirt and jumper.  Because yes it is that chilly. 

 

A few minutes later... 

... a cup of blood orange tea to start the day.  All in a pretty daisy cup.

10.30am

 

Walk time.  

 

Off into town and a nosy around the Op Shops while I'm there.  Although looking at the floor in our utility room I really need to give it a good scrub.  Maybe another day.  Like when it's not my birthday.  My shoes are also looking a bit sad.  Guess it shows how much walking I've been doing.

1.30pm

 

Finally back with my charity shopping haul.  A new bag for me as my only other bag is badly fraying on the handle.  Even better it only cost $4.  I also treated myself to a $2 jigsaw puzzle which I hope I can get stuck into it and cross another thing off my 101 Things in 1001 Days list.

 

All courtesy of Other Half who gave me some loose change he had found in the car and told me to 'treat myself'.   Frugal living for the win.

2.00pm

 

Courier parcels arrived and look it's presents from my mum and exactly what I wanted and needed. 

Several minutes later...

Trying out the new hot chocolate mix and it smells like marshmallows.  Having a mug of it with soy milk and some of my favourite biscuits which Other Half gave me as a surprise present.  The sweetie.

And shortly after that...

On the sofa about to watch one of my favourite rom com's.  Perfect birthday viewing on a misty day.

5.00pm

Is this wool awesome or not.  So pretty.  Now that I've had a short break from knitting for the past couple of weeks I'm ready to get back to it.  This is going to be a sweater vest.  Something to keep me warm down here in the boondocks of the South.

6.00pm

Mince on toast.  I love mince on toast and haven't had it in ages.  Being totally spoiled by Other Half who made this.

9.00pm

Oops forgot to take photo of dessert or anything else for the last few hours.  Good food always distracts me but I'm pretty sure you don't want to see a photo of an empty bowl.  The chocolate steamed pudding was good though.  Beside that we just finished watching the last couple of episodes of The Drowning which was really good.

10.00pm

Here's a candle.  Well an artificial one anyway.  I got a packet of these given to me at Christmas and finally remembered that I had them so it seemed appropriate to switch them on for the first time today.

Happy Solstice Everyone :)

Buyer's Archive: A Year Of All The Spending

More like the year of very little spending which is actually a good thing since I wanted to get my spending down.

Life goal achieved.

It also explains why there have been so few of these Buyer's Archive posts in the past few months.  No spending equals no posting.  Or something like that.

So how much did I spend and on what...

Well the total for the year (May 2018 to April 2019) was exactly $100.  I know right?  I'm kind of amazed myself.

Even more amazing is that I was able to buy all of this...

1 pair of slippers             
1 pair of hat and mittens 
1 dress                           
1 bottle of shower gel     
2 skirts
2 pairs of shoelaces
3 pairs of socks
4 books
5 bottles of nail polish 

So much better than last year and the year before.  I also brought more second hand items than new which was another goal I had set myself so I'm pleased on that front too.

Somehow I'm thinking that next year's spending might be just a little bit higher, hopefully though I can stick to buying mostly second hand again.

Augusts Buyer's Archive

I'm really trying not to spend too much this year particularly on myself.  Which of course is always hard because of so many things that are out there tempting me with whispered words of "buy me" and "you know you want to" all in the sexy voice of Richard Armitage because yes my head likes to torment me even further.  

But I am being strong *cue sobbing* and resisting all the pretties *even more sobbing* and telling Richard that he can take his seductive tones elsewhere... okay maybe not the last bit but you get my meaning.  

The resistance is so far paying off as I spent just $5 dollars this month on myself.  And it was on something practical which makes it perfectly justified.  Right?
 
So what did I buy...

Yates Garden Planner - $5 from TradeMe

I've mentioned before that I just had to have this book and since buying it I have already been using it heaps.

Practical and useful... how awesome and frugal of me.

As for August last year?  

I spent absolutely nothing.  August seems to be the month for me being frugal.  Can I keep up the good work for next month?  We'll just have to see.

June's Buyer's Archive

A new year of doing Buyer's Archive and so far I managed to spend nothing in May and nearly everything that I brought in June was second hand, so go me.  Even better as it was my birthday in June I asked everyone to give me either money or vouchers so all my spending was courtesy of those gifts.  How cool is that.

So what did I buy?

Black pleated skirt - $1 from the Salvation Army Shop

I made a spur of the moment visit to a local Salvation Army store and ended up coming away with a ton of goodies as they were having a massive clear out of stuff due to being overfull.

This skirt was on a under $5 rack and it seems virtually brand new.  It's a little light weight for the winter but I can wear tights underneath so it's totally versatile which I"ll be able to wear it year round.

Green floral midi skirt - $3 from the Salvation Army Shop

Another awesome bargain and this one really was brand new never-been-worn as it still had it's original pricing tag on it.

I love the buttons up the front.  Pockets would have made it even better. 

One I will probably wear once the weather is warmer. 

Snow Fairy shower gel - $1 from the Salvation Army Shop

I love this so was utterly thrilled to find an almost full bottle sitting on the shelf.  Normally this retails for around $22 so doubly thrilled.   Pink and smells like candyfloss.

5 bottles of nail polish - $1 from the Salvation Army Shop

I know right?  I couldn't believe my luck either.  These are all nearly full and in like new condition i.e. no clumpy bits or hardening so I'm super pleased. 

3 books - $1 from the Salvation Army Shop

Another awesome buy.  I don't normally buy books but these were in excellent condition and all are something that I will definitely use.

3 pack of socks - $5 from Cotton On

You wouldn't think I would need more socks.  Seriously.  I'm starting to think I might have a problem.  Still how cute are these.  And they were on sale so totally justified, right?

2 packs of shoelaces - $5 from Cotton On

Another sale item and in pink so there was no way I was going to resist them.  Definitely a way to bright up my winter black sneakers.

Total spend for the month  - $17.00 (wow I can't believe I got all the above for just that- best birthday shopping ever)

As for previous years buys...

May 2016 - I still have the bangles, the green cardigan, the camisole top and the beige top, all of which I still wear.  But I had to throw out the nightie (got too loose) and the orange jumper (developed a hole right on the front so that was the end of that).

May 2017 - The purple t-shirt is still in my wardrobe but I never did end up wearing the stripe one so it's currently sitting in my To Be Sold pile.

Buyer's Archive: A Year Of All The Spending

And the total for the year is... 

$670.91 for 31 items, not including beauty products and stationary.

Okay then.  Definitely a bit of a blow out compared to last time.  I also brought less second hand items and lot more newer items which is most unlike me.  I'm definitely going to try to buy more second hand and spend less this year - cross fingers.

Even though I brought mostly new I have given my wardrobe I major clear out and gotten rid of quite a few things that I had had for years.  Some I threw into the rubbish due to having holes etc in them and others I have put into a pile ready to sell.  So even though I spent more than the year before I'm looking at it on the plus side, especially as I brought things that I am hopeful of getting a lot of wear out over the next few years.

So here's what I brought...

1 lot of bangles
1 pair of socks 
1 pair of sneakers
1 nightie
2 bottles of nail polish  
2 camisoles 
2 jumpers
2 knit tops
3 dresses 
3 long sleeve t shirts
5 cardigans
6 short sleeve t shirts
6 skirts.

Now that I brought some new clothes and have had a clear out of my wardrobe I can definitely see the odd gap in my clothing selection and that I also need to do some replacement buying for some of the things I threw out.

Who knew I could get more shopping out of spending money last year?

Six Month's of Buyer's Archive: November Through to April

How I've gotten behind on these posts I have no idea, so welcome to a serious catch up on what I have been buying for myself over the past six months.  Once again I'd like to thank Elise the inspiration behind the Buyer's Archive posts. 

As usual my spending was very up and down, with me doing a bit of a spend in November then being completely frugal and not spending a cent in December, January and February but having a mini blow out in both March and April.

It will be interesting to see how I've done in the last 12 months.  But more about that in a future post. 

As for how the year befores buys held up I'm actually really pleased.  All three items from November's have been heavily used and are still part of my wardrobe; from March only the floral A-line skirt remains as sadly the camisole got a stain on it that wouldn't come out and the gorgeous navy swirly skirt kept getting hooked on things and being repeatedly ripped until no amount of mending could hold it together; April's faired a lot better and all four items are still in use.  So all in all some good buying.

Now on to this six month's buys...

Orange Floral Dress - $5 from TradeMe

A super pretty dress that was an absolute bargain.  Less red and more orange than the pics show.

Black Floral Dress - $10 from TradeMe

Another super pretty dress that I've been wearing at special occasions like lunch with friends. 

Black and White Gingham Dress - $79.99 fro Max

I normally don't like to spend quite so much money on clothes but this was on sale and I just loved it.  It also looked amazing on AND it had pockets.  Pockets I tell you.  The absolute heaven of dresses and one which I worn heaps this summer.

Soap and Glory - $45 from Mecca

I've been wanting to try Soap and Glory products for ages.  Finally I did just that and treated myself to a small selection of items.  I loved the scrub but sadly was allergic to the body butter which made my eyes water.
 
And that was November's purchases.  After that it was no spending until March when I brought myself these.

Pink Sneakers - $5 from KMart

Would you believe these were just $5?  $5 for a brand new pair of sneakers.  And they are pink.  So course I had to get them.  And of course I love them.  Super comfy and super pretty.

After that it was April's big pre winter splurge.  Everything I brought was new which was a first for me.  Luckily I had some vouchers so it meant everything I brought I got for half price. 

Green Short Sleeve Knit Top - $25 from Jacqui E

I really wanted some colour in my wardrobe for winter so I was really pleased to find this which I loved so much I got another one.  Even better it is a gorgeous emerald green which makes a nice change from my usual pink.

Dark Pink Short Sleeve Knit Top - $25 from Jacqui E

Speaking of pink I got one in that colour too.  Though it's more of a purple pink.  Either way I love it.

Long Pink Cardigan - $49.99 from Just Jeans

Having seen this in the shop window I couldn't resist it.  Even more so when I tried it on.  Super soft and comfy and swirly.  It's so me.

Blush Pink Cardigan  - $14.99 from Jay Jay

I know.  It looks exactly like the one above but trust me it is different.  Shorter and a much finer almost see through knit in the palest of baby pinks.  And at that price how could I not get it.

Grey Cardigan  - $39.99 from CottonOn

Yes more cardigans.  What can I say except I am a cardy person.

Bright Pink Cardigan - $39.99 from CottonOn

Yes I know.  Another pink cardigan.  Hey at least it's darker.  Seriously love this and the above cardigan, both of which I have already worn.  Pretty sure they are going to be this winter's favs.

Silver Blue Pleated Skirt - $49.99 from Max

Love, love, love.  So soft, so swirly, I just wish I could wear it all the time.

Bunny Rabbit Nightie - $5 from The Warehouse

Brought in preparation for the colder weather we have already begun to experience in our new home.  Warmer clothes are definitely going to be something that I will be wearing a lot more of.

Total spend for the six months - $394.94

August, Septembers and Octobers Buyer's Archive

You win some, you lose some. 

Or in other words I managed not to spend a single cent in August but ended up having a complete blow out of epic proportions in September.

At least I made up for it October by once again spending nothing.

As for last years purchases.

August's buys were mostly for my Canadian holiday  The suitcase, luggage label and vanity case have been used a couple of times since then as they are the kind of items you totally need and all three will probably last me quite a few years.

The 3 quarter blue capri pants have been heavily used all year round since they became my go to walking pants.  Sadly they are starting to look a little sad around the edges and weirdly they have a small bleach white mark on them so I'm going to be on the hunt for a replacement pair some time soon.  I'm hoping they will last me through this summer at least.

The blue camisole top has also been well worn and should see me through another year.

As for the white skirt I worn this a couple of times in Canada but sold it once I got back as it wasn't the most flattering skirt on me.

The floral pjs have not been worn at all and have instead been sitting in my chest drawers looking all pretty and unloved.  I'm still debating as to whether to wear them as they look so comfy or get rid of them because of buttons (i.e. me and button tops don't go well as they always seem to pop open no matter how big a size I get)

September's buys were all gifts to myself so as you can imagine all were used well.  I am however totally in love with all things Bath and Body Works which is kind of sad and depressing as they don't do international shipping and they don't have a store here in New Zealand.  I will forever be sobbing over that.

As for Octobers it was a total win all round.  All three items have been worn regularly and I love them all.  I'm going to be in a state of mourning when my pretty pink skirt finally bites the dust.

Now onto the big spend of 2017.

Set of Orange Bangles - $1 from Hospice Shop

I really didn't need these but at just $1 how could I resist.  And look how pretty they are.  Can you really blame me.

Gold Nail Polish - $3.50 from PriceWise

As some of you know I've mentioned my lust before for gold nail polish so when I saw this, the absolutely perfect gold colour I'd been searching for, I just had to buy it.  

Black,Grey & Red Floral Skirt - $3 from Salvation Army Shop

This skirt is so pretty and in a really lightweight cotton that once again it was a have-to-have-it buy.  I now just need a top to go with it. 

Blue Skirt - $2 from Salvation Army Shop

Nothing beats a nice casual blue skirt for the summer, especially one that is kind of swirly.  Unfortunately this one has horrible polyester lining which makes it super hot and itching to wear so I'm not sure how much longer I'll get use out of it before I throw it out in a hot and sweaty fit.  So disappointing.

Blush Pink Skirt - $59.99 from Max

Another thing on my want list was a summer pleat skirt, something cool and pretty and swirly which this totally is.  I ummed and ah'd about this one as I usually don't spend quite so much money on a single item but as it was already down from $99.99 I was persuaded by the Other Half that it was a bargain.  I'm still not sure but I do really love it.  Now I just need some more occasions to wear it.

Pale Pink T-Shirt - $4 from Kmart

I've said before how much I love Kmart bargain buys so naturally I had to pop in when we went near one.  They are, for me, one of those stores that are great for getting t-shirts and camisoles so of course I had to leave with some.

First up this v-neck in a pale pink.

Mint Green T-Shirt - $4 from Kmart

And of course I had to add one in mint green to my collection.

Pale Blue Camisole - $3 from Kmart

And then finally a camisole in the babyist of blues.  Because you can never have too many camisoles I say.

CandyFloss Pink T-Shirt - $10 from CottonOn

Of course you would think with both the above purchases and previous ones that I wouldn't need any more t-shirts, at least thats the theory.  Trust me to go against the theory and buy even more.

Especially when it's a 2 for $20 deal. 

Apricot T-Shirt - $10 from CottonOn

I know.  I may have a problem.  Then again they are all in such pretty summer colours so totally justified.  Right? 

Navy Blue Camisole - $10 from Glassons

Having brought my pretty blush pink pleat skirt I had nothing that worked with that colour which meant a hunt for something that would work.  In the end I settled on navy blue as it's such a versatile colour. 

Navy Blue Cardigan - $19.99 from Glassons

It was only natural to get the cardigan to go with the camisole so I did.  And I've already worn this quite a few times so I'm pretty confident that this will be a buy that I'll get a lot of use out of.  

Total spend for the month:  $130. 48.