One Year of Thrift – 5 Secrets to Living off of Thrift Store Shopping

Those who know me personally know that I LOVE thrift shopping. It’s become sort of an addiction, actually. Any time you ask, I am always down to go to the thrift store.

About a year ago I came from a particularly successful shopping trip at the D.I. (our main thrift store here in Utah 🙂 ) and was ecstatic about my finds. Inspired by the experience, I decided I would exclusively clothing shop at thrift stores for the next year. While I think I’ve bought a thing or two at Ross and other markdown stores (I think just maternity stuff!), almost every clothing item Carter and I own comes from the D.I.

We absolutely love this place. When we’ve got some spare time on any day of the week, one of our first go-to pass-times is to hit up the D.I.!

For me, shopping at the thrift store is like a treasure hunt. You never know what new treasure you’re going to find! From storage to dishes to favorite clothing items, there is so much to be found.

But I also have to be careful. With prices so cheap and so many items, it’s easy to get carried away. I think Carter and I have gotten more gardening books than we need from the thrift store shelves. So even though everything is cheap, the first thing I have to ask myself is

1- Do I really need this?

If the answer is yes, then great! Often times, I find kitchen and storage items that I have been wanting to get anyway. Finding those items for a fraction of typical clearance prices is AMAZING! But it is also easy to come home with things that we really don’t need. I am all about the simple life and am really trying to minimize in our home. So, often times I must ask myself again and again do I really need this?

Sometimes it’s not an immediate need, but if I know that I’ll be needing it in the near future or I’ve needed it in the past, I’ll hold on to it. Realizing that it is important to keep only the things I need, my other key to success is to

2- Look ahead of time.

Thrift stores are full of amazing finds. But just like a treasure hunt or digging up dinosaur bones, you never know what or when you’ll find that amazing something. If you only go looking for jeans when you are in desperate need of new jeans, you are less likely to find a pair that fits great and that you love! You will likely end up with a mediocre pair that ends up at the bottom of your drawer or you will give in and get some full priced new jeans. You are definitely not winning the way you could!

Meet my favorite pair of jeans. I’m proud to say that these and my entire outfit here came from thrift shopping. Yes, these are our engagement pictures. I spent less than $10 on the entire outfit! These are actually pretty worn out now. I’m just waiting for the baby bump to leave before I start searching for the next pair 😉

But the point is… if you look in advance for those staple items, you can definitely find some pretty amazing finds!

3- Go often.

This is another secret to success! Similar to looking in advance, if you only go every few months or when you are really hoping to find something, your chances are slim. But if you go almost weekly (like we often do), you will know the good finds when you see them! Know your style and know your needs, so that when you come across a great find you can jump on it. As silly as it feels to buy a sweater in August or shorts in December, you’re better off jumping on the deal when you find something you love.

4- Only buy the things you love.

Sometimes a find is a pretty good find. I often find myself weighing the pros and cons of buying something that is pretty good. But just because it is cheap, you DO NOT HAVE TO BUY IT! It may be the best option you’ve found yet, but even though you’re thrift shopping, you don’t have to settle. It may take a few more shopping trips and some real diligence, but eventually, you will probably find just what you are looking for! So don’t settle. Don’t justify something you don’t really want or need. If you love it and have a need for it, GET IT!

5- How to avoid going overboard…

I have to be careful sometimes. Cute dishes and Plaid flannel shirts are my weakness… and I have gotten some awesome shirts at the thrift store! I have learned to avoid the dishes aisle altogether, but the shirts are still a struggle. It’s great, but it gets to the point where that’s all I have, I have too many, or I just wear my top favorites all the time.

I came across this dilemma a couple weeks ago when I was shopping at the D.I. alone. (A problem because Carter can’t keep me on track 😉

I found all of these (and more!) beautiful flannel shirts, each just a few dollars! It’s easy to want all of them when their total is still the fraction of one full-priced shirt. But, I have to remember that this is the button up/plaid section of my closet…

So, I said no to all but one that worked with my pregnant belly 🙂

A regular sweep-through

With that being said, one thing to help with “crowd control” in the closet is to regularly sweep through and re-thrift items that I no longer wear

Carter gets after me for having so many clothes and still getting new ones. But the thing is, I never wear out my clothes. He wears out pants so fast, whereas I still have a lot of clothes from high school! So I really need to go through my clothing often.

It’s hard for me when clothing is still in great condition and I really do like it! But in reality, my style and my body changes! Knowing I can send old things to the thrift store where someone else can love them brings me a lot of peace of mind 🙂

Another something I’m working on is to

Create a capsule wardrobe

Cleaning out my closet has been a gradual process and definitely not an easy one! But the goal is to ultimately create a capsule wardrobe. When baby is born, I anticipate switching out a lot of my wardrobe for nursing-friendly clothing. I actually anticipate that I’ll be either nursing or pregnant for the coming years (if our family plan goes as expected). So with that in mind, I’m preparing to say goodbye to a lot of things I’ve been holding on to for a long time. I think it will really be a breath of fresh air, though 🙂

Remember the size of your home

This can be a tough one for us, and we always have to keep the timing in mind, not looking too far into the future. Yes, Carter wants a workshop full of every tool he’ll ever need. There are some beautiful things that could complement our future home wonderfully! But sometimes, even if we find an amazing deal, we have to remember that we are still in a small apartment! When we find things we won’t have a use or space for for at least a few more years, we usually have to say no and hope that another find will pop up in the future. If we keep thrifting as we do, I’m sure another find will come our way!

Thrifting is AWESOME.

Seriously though. I love the satisfaction at finding a 100 dollar sweater for 6 dollars. I love knowing that I am reusing something that someone else gently loved in the past… and not contributing to more waste. I love that I get more compliments on my thrift store finds than on any other clothing items I own. It just brings me a great deal of satisfaction.

Some may think

“You only shop there because you’re poor”

“Thrift shopping isn’t for classy people”

or whatever your excuse may be.

But I have known some amazing and wealthy people who CHOOSE to thrift shop, not because they have to.

I could shop at the mall if I really wanted to. But the thrill of the “treasure hunt” and the creativity that stems from my thrift store finds keeps me going back. I love that I can spend my money on other things, while still feeling confident in the clothing, decor, and whatever other items I find!

So if I haven’t convinced you yet, take a trip to the thrift store. Get creative and get silly! Try a few hilarious outfits. Just give it a try 🙂

Comment below with your favorite thrift store finds! Comments and questions, you’re always welcome 🙂