Fab Find!

Hello all! It’s been about 6 months since I last posted anything! I’m a lazy blogger (how can I hope to build any type of following?) I solemnly swear not to let my life overwhelm me so much that I cannot do things I actually enjoy! That said, let’s get to it.

This is a mini post really (I just NEEDED to post anything to get back onto the blogger-train). Its about some Essie nail polish (ah-hem..lacquer) I purchased from a drug store yesterday.
As anyone into nail polish knows Essie can tend to be one of the more expensive well known brands. They make good polish, have great colours and I suppose for that reason continue to be leading brand. I have been trying to start an Essie collection for almost 2 years and have scoured many a drug store in search. But the price always stumps me! Why pay $8.50(US) for this bottle of polish when I can get as many as 3 in another brand for that money? As a poor party girl I need to make every dollar count! So I would walk away with nothing each and every time.

I was given a bottle as a gift last Christmas and in a moment of weakness purchased a bottle myself a couple months( $9US) ago bringing my grand total to 2! Not much of a collection.

However yesterday I walked into this local drugstore (that I hadn’t been in for like 2 years!) and boom! Essie polishes selling for the equivalent of $6(US). Now this might not seem like a HUGE difference…. $6 vs $8.50 but for me it makes the difference between buying 1 polish and purchashing 3 or 4 at once. It’s that much more reasonable. I saved $10US in total which could buy me another polish or some lip balm or some half decent lunch or a cute top etc, you get the idea.

The moral of this post? Holding out to find a bargin almost always works out.
Sure you may feel a little cheap or even lame for not dropping the bucks on what you want when you want it, but remember most of us live life on a budget and throwing about cash like there’s no tomorrow is what helped trigger the debt crisis the entire western hemisphere continues to face (how’s that for food for thought?).

So yes I waited over 1 year but now I’m well on my way to solid Essie collection and I have money to spare! Thats how a poor party girl does it.

Look forward to more regular posts and have an awesome day!

SALE-ing

Say what! $595 US. That is the price of this shoe. On sale! Yes it is a designer brand and compared to the original price its a deal, but come on! Omg!

As my New York adventure continues I of course find myself shopping. As one would expect in a city as diverse and glamorous as this there are both dirt cheap bargins and then this!

Despite this particular high priced item, the popular department store I was in on this particular day (rhymes with Lacy’s) had a massive sale on originally much higher priced designer shoes. This is how a thrifty poor party girl gains some serious brand items, look for the 2nd most exciting 4 letter word (food being no.1) : SALE!

When I go on a shopping trip I would say at least 75% of my purchases are on discounted items in some form or fashion.
I am often asked how I find so much for so little. I think it’s a skill (which many people do have)
I will share a few tips that come to mind when shopping for sale/bargin items. Note many of these tips are aimed at avoiding being duped.

1) Treasure Hunt (Head to the back)
Most stores keep their sale and bargin items at the back of the store. Hidden away like secret pirate bounty.Let the new exciting fun stuff at the front lure you in but make a beeline for the stuff farthest from the door. This is often where the clearance and 2 for 1 etc items are stashed away.

2) Sift
I have found that some stores will hang a similar looking group of items together e.g pink flowy tops priced at $14.95 each. One might safely assume these tops are all the same and so is the price.
Wrong, very often there are one or two slightly different looking tops for a totally different price e.g $7.95. It’s almost like if you are willing to work hard enough to sift through everything then you deserve to find the bargin.

3) Sift
That’s right, sifting again.This is to prevent the opposite of no.2 from occurring.Many stores will have a rack of similar looking items and items no. 1,2 and 3 cost $5 but no.4 does not and this is the one you pick up of course.
More than once I have made my way happily to the cashier to purchase my $5 item only to hear : ” That will be $17.95 mam.” Excuse me! Don’t let it happen to you.

4) Cheap Tricks (Read the entire sign)
This brings me to tip no.4 a similar but different thing to avoid. It’s a cheap mean old trick but it continues to be practiced.
Very often a sign will advertise an un believeable bargin with the truth hidden in fine print at the very bottom.
Beware of :” $3 (and up) or “$9.99 (on select items) and one of my favourites “1/2 off (on 3rd item when purchasing 2 or more).
Despite this trickery, sometimes the deals are still good, you just need to be aware of the exact price of all your items before heading to cash. If you are purchasing multiple items (as we often do) you might not even realise when you have paid more than you intended for something.

5) Witchcraft and wizardary (Tables and Bins)
If no.4 was trickery this is pure soccery. As humans we have the learned belief that items placed on a table or thrown into a bin are on sale.
This can be blamed on the fact that for a long time this was true. When a store really wanted to get rid of stuff they would toss it all in a cardboard box and mark “$1 any item. ”
Unfortunately times have changed and the world is not so innocent anymore. Just as we can no longer assume that items on the front shelves of a supermarket aisle are on special we must be wary of anything on a table or in a bin. Very often, very, very often they aren’t on sale at all.
In the event that something is on sale, remember tips no.3 and 4.

6) Couponer for life.
Don’t be ashamed. Couponing isn’t only for the supermarket anymore. Endless stores have coupons that you can pick up online and either print or save the code to your mobile device. Always ensure that the outlet you shop at takes coupons and the one you have is both valid and applicable to your purchase. I have saved tons this way.

7) Avoid the impulse
I had a hard time conditioning myself with this one. That feeling of excitement and smugness when you realise you could own a fashionable designer item for 1/4 of the price. Before you whip out the credit card ask yourself :” Do I need or even want this? ”
The point of being a bargin/thrifty shopper is to save. Whether in order to buy more stuff, or to buy that one truly pricey item, because you are broke and in debt, or to keep your savings to a maximum. What ever your reason remember that.
Spending unesccesary money (on something you neither need or want) no matter how small the amount adds up.

So with all that in mind, go forth and SALE away!
Have an awesome day!

The Gift of Thrift-Jewellry Holder DIY

Hello all,

I hope the new year is going okay for everyone so far. Mine has not been without some excitement (i.e drama) but I’m (mostly) always grateful to be alive and healthy.

Tonight I’m blogging about some DIY-ing I did a little while back. I’ve always been a bit of a DIY-er, even before I knew that term existed. Now I embrace the culture, I love it! As I mentioned in an earlier post I have taken to making many of the gifts I give, mostly because I love doing it and feel it’s more personal but also because when done with a bit of thought, it’s actually cheaper than most store bought stuff.

2 Christmases ago, I gave 3 of my female friends jewelry holders that I made and decorated myself.

MAKING OF THE HOLDER

If only I had anticipated all that time ago that I’d blog about this someday then maybe I would have whipped out my camera and taken shots from start to finish, but alas I did not. So I’ll show you what I have:

I used clay (as in real clay from the earth- which I bought not personally dug up or anything) Any durable variant of modeling clay found in a craft store should do.

 

 

Here is where the pictures (mercifully) begin:

Those are my pieces of clay and a bowl of water for working with. The first thing I had to do was knead the clay relentlessly in order to make it easy to work with and more importantly remove all the air bubbles which if left, would compromise the integrity of the piece once dry.

Then I rolled the clay into long cylindrical pieces and coiled them while scoring the edges to form the shape I wanted.

After that, using my fingers and some water I smoothed and smoothed until the surface was….well..smooth. Then I let them dry (I left them for months but it only took a few weeks). Whatever material you use, make sure it’s completely dry before proceeding to the next step:

Many moons later when I was ready for them I got back out my now very dry handmade jewelry holders (at a cost of mere cents each) and got ready to make them special.

If you know a bit about clay you’ll realise I didn’t have them fired (it’s still brown and not red) and that’s okay. Firing isn’t necessary for small items like this (and it’s costly unless you have your own kiln and you’re doing these in bulk), once they’re completely dry, it’s fine.

Using acrylic paint, I first painted it white as a base coat, since whatever colour I put over it I want to stand out.

I then painted the outside and all the edges of the compartments black for some contrast to the bright colours I then painted each compartment. I went with a kind of abstract-esque mexican inspired colour scheme but feel free to use whatever colours or style tickles your fancy.

 

Each compartment was a different vibrant colour.

The full view of the finished product.

I went for more geometric patterns with these ring holders painting them colours I thought suited the personality of the recipients.

These gifts were beautiful,imperfect,functional,appreciated and one of a kind. And the cherry on top is that they literally cost me under $1 US in materials-very much in keeping with my life on a budget. As for the labour, well it was a labour of love.

I hope this post inspires any DIY-ers looking for something fun,useful and thrifty to give as gifts or even for yourself.

Have an awesome day!