Friday, November 11, 2011

What $50 Will Buy You at Goodwill

I realized something last week: I only have about two and half months before I am teaching full time!  This fall is my final semester of classes.  Final semester, people!  I think I forget that sometimes, and when I remember it I am extremely ecstatic (NO MORE HOMEWORK!!!) but also really nervous (REAL WORLD IS SCARY!!!). In addition to the nerves of jumping into a full semester of student teaching is the sad sight of my closet.  If all goes well, I will be student teaching at the same Catholic private school I have been spending four hours a week at this semester.  It’s an amazing school, but definitely not one I can wear jeans and a t-shirt to every day.  Although I’m not a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl, I am a jeans, floral or ruffled tank, and cardigan kind of girl.  A lot of what I have can be made business casual, but I want to start with a more well-stocked closet so that I have a variety depending on what I’m doing, the weather, how comfortable I want to be, etc.

If you’ve read anything on my blog, you know that Mr. Converse Sneakers and I are young and don’t have a lot of money.  Things will definitely be changing around here when I am teaching full time for pay, but next semester I will be teaching full time for zero dollars, so we actually have more income now while I am working part time than we will then.  I think now is the perfect opportunity to build up a wardrobe on a tight budget.

I made a two hour trip on Sunday to our local Goodwill, which happens to be in a pretty nice area, so most of the clothes are fairly high-quality, well-known brands and most of the rest of the clothes are brand new pieces from Target at Goodwill prices (score!).

I bought twelve items for just about $50.  I wore the same black cami and gray pants in all the photos to keep things consistent, and I listed the price and brand of the Goodwill item below each photo.

Here they are (sidenote: we wanted to take the photos outside since our apartment has horrible lighting, but with dropping temperatures, we made do with our open front door.  Sorry they aren’t as clear as I would have liked them to be):


dress1
Green Ann Taylor Loft cardigan: 1/2 off of $2.99 = $1.50

dress2
Abstract Express blouse: 1/2 off of $5.99 = $3.00

dress3
Red floral Lord and Taylor skirt: 1/2 off of $2.99 = $1.50 (needs to be altered because it’s a tad too big)

dress4
Coral ruffle Final Touch shirt : $4.99

dress5
Black brand new Merona cardigan from Target: $5.99

dress6
Striped Gap shirt dress: $6.99

dress7
Floral H&M cardigan: $4.99

dress8
Striped Ann Taylor Loft ruffled button-down shirt: 1/2 off of $5.99 = $3.00

dress9
Striped Merona button-down shirt from Target: 1/2 off of $4.99 = $2.50

dress10
Yellow floral unknown brand tank: 1/2 off $4.99 = $2.50

dress11
Pink and orange patterned brand new Merona cardigan from Target: $5.99
**My favorite score of the day – love the bold pattern and colors.**

dress12
Black patterned brand new Merona cardigan from Target: $5.99

The only downside to my recent splurge is that we already had no more closet space and I keep on adding clothes!   If we have some extra cash after Christmas, I’m going to go back and add some more items to my closet (this time probably more pants).  I’m confident I will look professional, be comfortable, feel confident, and look good all on an incredibly tight budget.

Do you have a local thrift store with amazing finds?

6 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness, all that for $50?! Those pieces are AMAZING! And I agree about the Merona cardigan - lovely! x

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  2. Great Buys! You look very professional! I love love the different Cardigans! Black pants are always the workhorse of the wardrobe! Fantastic Buys!

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  3. Oh, forgot, I like Goodwill and Savers. That is about all we have around here.

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  4. Wow, awesome deals! Pretty sure I have that same Target cardigan and love it. It's gotten a LOT of wear. Also.... pssssst... if you get an off-camera flash and bounce it off the ceiling or even the wall behind you, you will never have to worry about low lighting indoors again. I know, I know. I am a broken record. But learning how to use flash properly has kinda changed my life. LOL. I promise it won't have that telltale "flash" look if you google "dragging the shutter" you can see how awesome flash is for letting ambient light take the focus (but filling in enough light so your subjects are sharp and in focus). Oh and also do a manual white balance when using flash indoors so that the colors aren't so wonky.

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  5. I just happened upon your blog and will be your newest follower. I have to tell you that I am VERY impressed with your finds! I am not a big spender when it comes to clothes, but require a professional wardrobe(Realtor).

    Sending you my sizes,

    Carol
    antiquetexan.blogspot.com

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  6. you're pretty much my hero =) I have some things to donate so I may browse while I'm there =) only downside is that I live in a retirement town with lots of grannies and grandpas... might need to hit up a different goodwill to find stuff I can wear =) lol

    xoxo

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for stopping by! I am a little crazy sometimes (it's probably the red hair), but I would really appreciate if you would leave a comment. I love getting to know my readers and reading what everyone is thinking! - Mrs. Ruffled Flats

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