Vintage Savings

Today Abbi sent me this link about vintage shopping and saving money. It is true that shopping for vintage can be cheaper than purchasing new clothes in stores. I have found that to be the case for me. However, I think that the author of the article glossed over a few things... so here are some things to consider when thinking about vintage shopping.

First and foremost, a vintage shopper has to have patience to dig, dig, and dig some more. Chances are the goodwill, salvation army, or local thrift store will not have a 'vintage' section. If you are not fond of digging through racks of clothes you might have a hard time saving money on vintage attire since vintage stores and boutiques have a much higher mark-up. My Mom does not dress in vintage, but she is great at finding awesome clothes at thrift stores for a great price. I think her secret is patience and persistence. She spends plenty of time in stores and goes to them often enough to catch the good deals when they come in; thanks Mom!

With this being said, a vintage shopper also has to have time to shop around a lot. If you have a hectic schedule chances are that you don't have an extra 2 hours to blow at goodwill hoping to find a vintage jewel. Sometimes spending extra money to save your sanity is worth it (Mom usually ended up buying us slightly expensive dresses for prom for this very reason)!

Shopping for vintage clothes can be a money saver.... but how much you save depends on how hard you try. Of course, that seems to be true of most money-saving techniques.

p.s. If you are interested in buying vintage or learning more about vintage fashion I do highly recommend the book the LearnVest article references: The Little Guide to Vintage Shopping. It is a great reference book! I would also recommend looking up vintage blogs online and shopping around etsy.com.

pps... something else has been helping me save money when it comes to shopping for clothes; I have decided to ONLY buy clothes that make me feel FABULOUS! I have bought less clothes, but I am in love with the clothes that I do buy!

Something Old, Something New: A Tandem Post

While considering the question 'what is the best piece of financial advice someone has given you', I automatically started thinking about credit cards, bills, 401(k)'s, and interest rates. While I have heard tons of advice about the pros and cons of the above, the best piece of advice I had ever been given about finance was an unspoken rule in our house; don't buy something unless you really need it.

A prime example of this would be our family cars. Mom and Dad both had cars, but they always bought used (duh) and they drove them until they cost more to repair than they were worth. The local car dealership owner, Tom, once told my mom that he knows hes not going to make a lot of money off of my parents because they used the cars for all they could. Tom also had a bad habit of chain smoking in his small office. I also believe the office had wood paneling, because it was a dark, smelly place. Neither my sister or I liked to go car shopping.

Buying new furniture was also something that wasn't a necessity for our household. Our house was full of furniture bought or given to us by family members. It doesn't make much sense to spend a lot of money on furniture that you know will get stained from countless glasses of split tea and captain crunch falling through the cracks in the cushions. Now that my sister and I (okay, it was mostly me) are not living there anymore my parents are now enjoying the ownership of new furniture; and I've already spilled things on it (sorry mom).

I am so grateful for this unspoken family motto. I've saved a lot of money by adhering to it. In fact, our 'desk' that I am typing this on was from my Granny; it's actually a vanity! I love it! Our apartment is full of family members furniture, but for every dollar we didn't have to spend on a new desk, sofa, or car is another dollar going towards knocking out my college debt. There will be a time when we might have new and matching furniture and nice cars, but what we have now is more than enough. Plus, that is why the Lord invented slipcovers!

*This is a tandem post with Abbigail and Rose; check their blogs out too! Not only are they smart ladies... but hey have great blogging skillz*

Ode to the Internet

I seriously don't know how anyone knew anything before the internet. I mean, I guess you had to read encyclopedias to find out useless knowledge, but for some reason that seems far more intense than googling whatever is on your mind at that moment.

For example, yesterday I googled spaniel dogs. Spaniels are my favorite dogs and I was trying to think of the type of spaniel Aggie was (Aggie was my great-grandpa Reeser's dog. Every night after supper he had an after dinner mint. True story.), because I always forget. I think I found the answer: American water spaniel. Note: Mom, if I'm wrong let me know. Anyway, one thing led to another (thats what she said) and I ended up looking at a list of the worlds most expensive dogs. And I fell in love with one: the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Come on, if that dog is not adorable to you then you are blind or dont have a heart. I mean, it's not that I want a dog right now, but if I had unlimited resources, space, time, motivation, and money, I would def adopt a pup like this one.

So far today I haven't fell in love with anything online, but then again I have only really googled what the Stonewall Riots were all about.

This weekend the husband and I are headed home for multiple celebrations; it will be a fun and busy weekend!

ps... happy B-day to my H-O-T Mother tomorrow!