I have been MIA for way too long. Sorry about that- I got lazy! But from here on out I am going to post at least one time a week- keep me honest. (:
This week I wanted to talk about affordable fashion. As a twenty something college student with no regular job who has a problem not spending money ("life is too short- buy the damn shoes... or jacket. Or earrings. Or necklace. Or scarf. Or dress. Or pretty bra. Or purse..."), saving money when shopping is a huge deal to me. It's also really simple, once you find the right app or thrift shop- or both. (BUY ALL THE THINGS... I think I have a problem, guys.)
Coupons and Apps
I have an app downloaded to my phone called Retail Me Not. I'm sure that some of you have heard of it and may even use it. It's amazing, simple, and (best of all) FREE. You can bookmark coupons and save your favorite stores. It will also send you notifications of expiration dates and notify you when new coupons have been listed. If I go to the mall, I always make sure my phone has enough juice to pull up the app and search coupons and deals for whatever store I am shopping in at the time. I've saved on countless shopping trips thanks to this app. I highly recommend it. If any readers have any other coupon apps they use and love, feel free to share in the comments below.
A quick note about coupons; when online shopping, be sure to NEVER leave a coupon code spot blank. You can search Retail Me Not or even just Google coupon codes and deals for whatever store you are shopping with and save money by finding and entering a code until you find one that works. Although it can sometimes be a time consuming process, I've saved loads of money by promising to never leave this slot blank. You can get free shipping, discover a $x off of $x deal you may want to take advantage of, a BOGO deal, ect. It is worth the time invested in searching for a coupon code that works if none are currently listed on the site. Trust me on this one.
Also, you know how cashiers always ask if you want to provide an email or a phone number? If you're a regular customer or you have your eye on something, you might want to consider joining their email or text clubs. I have been notified of some awesome deals exclusive to just those in the email and text clubs and have gone back for something that was too expensive before or gone just to look and scored huge. If you look at my email, it's probably like 97% coupons and deals, 2% my parents sending me things (sometimes even more coupons...Thanks mom.(: ), and 1% important stuff. You can also like most stores on Facebook. They even do contests sometimes. Always enter- you never know when you'll get lucky and win.
Now, let me talk about some affordable stores that I love.
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Target
Funny story. "Target" was one of my first words, I'm pretty sure. It is one of my mom's favorite stores and she taught me to chant "target, target, target, target!" when I was little and we would head there to shop. Target is my happy place. Give me a Target and a Starbucks in one building and I'd call it Heaven. (;
Back to Target. I have made some amazing discoveries at Target. My wallet (see my Instagram page) and my leather jacket are two of my most recent discoveries that I feel are excellent investments. Target's clothes and accessories are very high quality for a very reasonable price. I also love their boyfriend V-neck T-shirts they sell there. When building basics in a wardrobe, I feel like Target is an excellent place to start. V-neck T-shirts, jeans, slacks, leggings, blazers, wallets, purses, flats, and even jewelry are just some of the basics every woman should have in wardrobe and Target sells all of these and more generally at a reasonable price. They also have excellent sales- it's worth downloading their app and checking the weekly app for deals. You don't have to buy basics all at once- I feel building a basic wardrobe is a process.
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| Both this leather jacket and V-neck boyfriend tee are from Target. Jacket: $25 (on sale from $45) V-neck: usually $12 but I got 4 for $24 on a deal my mom found in their weekly ad. |
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| I got this wallet for $10 at Target and I LOVE IT. It has a ton of pockets and card slots and with all my rewards cards I carry around, I definitely need the space. It's really good quality for having just cost me $10 and I expect it to last a long time. |
Rue 21
I love Rue 21. They just recently opened one in the teeny tiny town where I go to school and I'm pretty sure I smiled for a month after the Grand Opening. Although a lot of their stuff can be pricey for a college kid with a small budget, they have great sales and their clearance section is generally stocked full of cute pieces waiting to be discovered. Never be afraid of the sales rack and never be afraid to try something on when you're in any store. Rue 21 is better for jewelry, clearance, and accessories on a regular basis, in my experience. Their clothes are always cute but can sometimes be priced a little high for a college budget (or my budget, anyway). Right now, my perfume is from Rue 21. It was $9.99 and has lasted me forever. Perfume is so expensive- it's not something I can drop a lot of money right now so I love that they have wonderful smelling and high quality perfumes for less.
Thrift Stores
Shopping at thrift stores is a hit or miss experience. It's usually more fun the more people you're with I've found. If you get a group of friends together and bounce around the different thrift stores in your town and set a monetary limit while shopping, you never know what you'll find. Although most thrift stores, like any other clothing store, have their clothes organized by gender and age, I've found that not limiting yourself is the best way to score. I always look in the women's section, the men's section, the kid's section, ect. I also have found if you grab a bunch of things and try them on, sometimes you'll be surprised by what you'll find. Something may not be very cute on a hanger but could be cute on. I've also found dresses that I liked the idea of and re-fashioned them. I'm currently sewing lace sleeves on a dress I bought with the sleeves cut off for $2 for my best friend for our birthday party next week. It was a cute dress but the sleeves were messily cut off and it looked awful. However, I had lace left over from a floor length dress I cut shorter and thought it would look excellent as sleeves on this dress. I'll post pictures to my Instagram when it's all done. (: You can't be afraid to try things on or look at things differently when you're in a thrift store.
It helps to make friends everywhere you shop- workers can notify you when new deliveries or shipments come in and call you and notify you about sales and deals as well.
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| I got these leather pants for 60% off at a cute little boutique downtown and I LOVE THEM. The white blouse I'm wearing I found at a thrift shop downtown. It's originally from Forever 21 and runs about $20 in the store. I bought it for $3. The blazer is from Maurices and originally runs about $45-$50 in the store. I got it for $6. The leopard print flats are from Target. I got them for $7 on a mad sale they were having. |
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This sweater is a swap me and my sister did. I traded her one in my closet for one of hers. It's from Nautica and I love it. I'm not sure on the original price but I got it for free! Clothing swaps with friends and family are a great way to mix up your wardrobe for free. This dress used to be floor length and covered in ruffles. I was dumb and forgot to take a before picture... Yeah, no worries I hate myself too. I cut off all of the ruffles and cut it to be knee length with a slight hi-lo skirt at the bottom. I got the dress at a thrift shop again for $5. The leopard print wedges (which are actually too big for me and I'm selling them for $25, if any of you people with 7.5 feet out there want to buy them) are from a boutique I love called The Red Dress Boutique. They are not currently selling them but they were about $45 I think. 
Another picture of the wedges I'm selling.
Contact me on my Facebook page here if interested. |
I hope this post helped some of you other poor college kids out there find a way to indulge your shopping addictions. Follow me on Instagram: @cuttingedge1420
I post on the daily - hair, makeup, fashion, and sometimes random daily happenings. You can also follow my boards on Pinterest for fashion and beauty inspiration. As always, feel free to add me on Facebook, like my page, and subscribe to my YouTube as well. I just finished up a giveaway and am planning on doing another one soon. (:
Below are some of my favorite sites to shop on. Check them out and feel free to let me know what yours are.
http://www.target.com/
http://www.rue21.com/store/
http://asos.com/
http://victoriassecret.com/
http://thereddressboutique.com/
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