How to Thrift

Anyone who has me as a Facebook friend knows I love to thrift. I post my best findings, 
not to brag, but because I want everyone else to learn how to buy fantastic things on the cheap! I want to spread the knowledge! That's why today's post is how to thrift. 

I'm not really sure how I learned, but it was far before "Thrift Shop" by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. Actually, when that song came out, I had tons of people sending me links to it telling me it was my theme song! If I had to narrow it down, it was probably a combination of being around my boyfriend and my sister, who are both fantastic thrifters. 

Why should I thrift?

• Save money
• Find cool stuff
• Find lots and lots of cool stuff
• Save lots more money

"I have some concerns about thrifting"

You might be a little skeptical right now, and I understand. Whenever I suggest thrifting to some people, they're adamantly against it due to a couple stigmas I'll discuss now. 

"I don't feel like digging through tons of disgusting clothes to find one cute thing."

This is a legitimate concern, but think about all the time you spend at Forever 21 or Charlotte Russe digging through ugly clothes to find a cute piece to add to your closet. It's really not that big of an issue! 

"Aren't thrift stores dirty?"

Skirt: $2      Shirt: $2       Belt: $3.50
And it's just as cute (if not more than) as Forever 21!

I'm not going to lie to you: Sometimes thrift stores are icky. But, there are ways to get around this. For beginners, you should start at Salvation Army or Goodwill, and most branches of these stores are clean and organized. They don't sell any personal hygiene or beauty products, and anything kind of questionable, they throw away instead of selling. Most places are clean. Once you get into more obscure thrift stores, they can be a little dirty. In my experience, the worst you deal with is dust and dirt. Let's be real, though- Have you been to the mall? That place isn't exactly in pristine condition either. Yet, that's where a lot of people shop. In thrift stores, there's never mold, never anything rotten, and nothing that's legitimately gross or going to hurt you. If you want to stick just to Goodwill and the Salvation Army, you can. You don't have to go to the thrift stores that are a little bit dirty, so this isn't a big deal either! You can pick and choose where you shop, just like when buying new. 

I thrifted this entire outfit last week.
 H&M shirt for $3, and high-waisted shorts for $3!

"I don't want to buy used, especially clothing."

Why not? What reason could you possibly have for only buying new things? The goal here is to find fantastic things for super cheap, to save money, and have really cool stuff that you'll enjoy. If money isn't an issue to you and you can afford only new clothes, that's great, but you're missing out on some wonderful, used items that you can't ever find anywhere else. There's no reason to not give it a chance. 

If you buy clothing, all you have to do is wash it in your washing machine and it will be completely and totally fine. What could possibly be on the shirt that would keep you from buying it? If it's stained, don't buy it. If it's torn, don't buy it (unless you can sew). If it's ugly, don't buy it. But refusing to buy clothing just because it's used is absolutely ridiculous, superficial, and to be honest with you, it's a little bougie and stuck up. 

If you buy bowls, spoons, or anything you'll be eating off of, just wash it. Bleach it if you feel that's necessary. Stick it in the dishwasher. Bam. It's clean. Good as new.

Some super cute chicken and duck glasses! $2!!

Rhino cup $1!

The thing to remember is that you're buying something that's been used before you, but it's brand new to you. 

Or, you can find an item from the 50s,
like this Chuck Berry record!
You're not gonna find this at an FYE,
but instead at Goodwill for 50 cents

If you want an item from the 70s, you're not going to be able to buy it new, so what will you do then, bougie readers? You can't buy certain things brand new, so you have to get over it and open your eyes to the fabulous, previously owned items available for you to purchase. 

So let's get to it!

The first step is finding out all of the thrift stores in your area. A great site for this is The Thrift Shopper.  On this site, you can type in your zip code, and it'll pull up a directory of all the thrift stores in your area! This is a great place to get started. 

Now what?
At this point, you should have a list of all of the thrift stores in your area. If you're a beginner, you should start at a chain of thrift stores like Goodwill or the Salvation Army. If you're a little more advanced, you want to have low expectations for these stores because they're usually overpriced. What you really want are the smaller, mom-and-pop type of thrift store because that's where the super savings are. 

Before you go to these stores, here are a few tips and tricks to help you out once you're there:

1. Everything is cheaper than buying new, but some deals are better than others. 

Example of why you should always
check the shoes. Pumas for $7!

Beginners going to Goodwill, this is especially the case for you. Goodwill is extremely overpriced relative to other thrift stores. Shoes are at least $6, and the most awful items are $1.99. You may be thinking "Wow, I'd love to buy shoes for $5," but no, you don't. The $5 shoes are awful because rest assured, if Goodwill notices that shoes are from Target or Old Navy, they will charge you at least $10. The $5 shoes are from old women's collections and are mostly awful. Always check the shoe section to ensure that dumb employees didn't put good things there by accident, but don't get your hopes up too high. You can find better deals. Unless the shoes are the most fabulous things you've ever seen, leave them behind, which leads us to my next point...

2. Just because it's cheap, that doesn't mean you need it. 
Yeah, the cow figurine with the smiley face is probably super cute, but do you need it? Really? Ask yourself these questions:

• Where will I put this?
• Will putting this in my living room offset the room so much that my spouse/mother/roommates will want to evict me?
• Is this worth it?

Better example of why to check shoes.
My best friend found
St. Laurent boots for $10! These boots
were originally over $1000!

Consider a Goodwill scenario. The cute cow weirdo thing is $4. Would you rather have a Starbucks frappucino or a cow figurine that's just decoration? There will come times that you HAVE to buy something. It speaks to your soul, and if you can afford it, you should get it. But, sometimes, the line between need/want is quite blurry. Eventually, if you thrift enough, you'll end up with a house full of stuff like I have, and you'll start to regret buying the cow figurine when you need the space for an ironic cat figurine. 

3. Learn to see the potential in things. 
Certain items will appear to be incredibly awful and ugly, but as you continue to thrift, you'll start to see the potential in every item. Maybe you need a new lamp for your bedroom. If you like the shape of a lamp at a thrift store but the color sucks, don't discount it just yet! You can ALWAYS paint the items! This goes for furniture, lamps, and even clothing. You can always cut the sleeves off of shirts or rip the jeans to make some cute, new shorts. A word of caution, however: Don't buy a million things with potential, because these will all turn into projects that you may never feel like finishing. It can get a little overwhelming. This is why you should try to...

4. Thrift with Purpose
Remember the lamp you need for your bedroom? That's a good purpose to buy one. But, you should never buy a lamp that you don't need just because you can. This ties back into tip #2. If you're not careful, you will end up with a living room full of tacky items that don't flow cohesively with the room. Yes, you've only spent about $30 total, but was it really worth it?

$1 Shirt    $2 Skirt    $3.50 Shoes

$4.50 Dress

These are all my tips for thrifting!! The easiest way to learn how to do it is to jump right in and go thrifting! Also, don't forget to check out your local flea markets, estate sales, yard sales, especially any mom-and-pop stores! Those are the types of places you can haggle and truly get some great deals. As you embark on this journey, it'll be tough at first to discriminate between things you truly need. You'll probably end up buying a lot of items at first, only to wish you hadn't because you need the space for something else (ie. my dishes cabinet). But, the skill of discernment will come with time, and soon enough you'll be an expert thrifter like me! Good luck, and find some awesome items!!