With fall now being in full swing (and now it's snowing?! come on), and a plethora of new colors and clothes to be sifted through, this is one of the most rough times of the year for me. Especially with the holidays around the corner.
My best friend and I were talking about this the other day at the mall. About three times a year, we go on a giant shopping haul and we hope it will last us for the season. The contents of this haul include jeans and shoes and maybe the occasional shirt or sweater, depending on the time of year. Basically, all of your "bulk" items that can last you awhile.
Then we said we go on small shopping hunts between those free-for-alls, where we get shirts and scarves and jewelry, which are arguably cheaper than jeans and shoes can be.
That being said, this all adds up pretty quickly! And I wanted to tell yinz the hoops I jump through to bargain hunt!
1. First things first, you have a student ID! Use it! Seriously, when I'm physically at a store and not online shopping, I pull that sucker out everywhere and ask if they give discounts. No shame, but I even do this at McDonald's (especially after they got rid of their 2 for $5 deal! Sad!). Going along with this, I would suggest finding deals that are only offered in stores, or take advantage of a huge sale that's going on, and going in person just to use your ID.
2. Know the clearance section! One of my favorite places to shop clearance is Charlotte Russe! When you shop with them online, it's pretty easy to finagle yourself with free shipping. My recent haul from them gave me several different shirts and accessories for less than $20! Also, try and figure out how clearance works at different stores. Target has a specific day of the week set aside for prices to lower depending on the section it's found in (for example, on Tuesdays they mark down decor and women's clothing). And if you take a look at their tags, a price ending in $0.08 and $0.04 means to wait on that purchase, because it will most likely be marked down again soon!
3. It's no secret that I can totally lose myself in Hobby Lobby. But when your eye catches a $150 crate, look closer for blemishes or split wood, or ask an associate. More often than not, there's a mangled one somewhere, and the price is instantly marked down. And their products are so easy to fix, it's worth to buy a few pieces of splintered wood! I have been all for the brass and gold embellishments lately in my place, and found a beautiful rustic mirror table piece, but it was cracked on the edges, and they marked it down to a little over $5! Personally, I like it with the cracks better anyway :)
4. Thrift where you can! Back home, the Gabe's is not a place where people want to be seen, but in Morgantown, you can tell your friends where you bought your oversized sweater with pride! Gabe's definitely reminds me of Forever 21, in where you have to do a bit of digging to find things you like, but the deals make it incredibly worth it! Personally, I love to buy sweatshirts, leggings, and basic clothes at Gabe's, but one of my friends was lucky enough to find her formal dress there! It's definitely an underrated place!
5. Remember how I said above not to sleep on Target? When it's summer, BUY THEIR SHOES. This is something I do literally all the time. I think it is so ridiculous to spend a ton of money on sandals for summer that will only last for three months, so seriously consider Target sandals and shoes! It's no longer summer, obviously, but I just saved so much money on a pair of boots that are just as good quality like those at Aldo. That is all.
I hope yinz can take a few of these tips and use them to your advantage! As a college student, it can be difficult to see your not-so-steady income drain away, but if you tote around your student ID and do a bit of digging, it will definitely be worth your while! (and take advantage of those Black Friday sales coming up!)
Thank you for reading! I have some really cool posts that I'll be uploading while I'm on Thanksgiving break, so keep an eye open!
xoxo, Madison