I went out grocery shopping early Sat morning(for Diwali) and came upon a Neon green garage sale sign. I followed it up a winding road and stopped at house loaded with vintage stuff. The owner was a 80 yr old elegant lady who was downsizing and moving into a senior citizen’s home
She had the most beautiful things. Handcrafted candy dishes for $1. A brass filigree lamp $15. And then I chanced upon her collection of vintage scarves. Made of the purest silks and chiffion. Beautiful colors. She had them marked for $2 each. I only had $15 on me. And I wanted a bowl she was selling , for floating my candles and flowers in. So effectively, I could buy 6 scarves. She saw me going through them and came over to chat. She said she always wore the scarves each time she was out and has a huge collection. She gave a lot away to her grandkids but she had so many. Then she said pick out whatever you want, I will give you a good deal. I picked these 10 out and she said $10. I felt so bad, that I gave her all the cash I had($15). What a bargain. She had each individually wrapped in tissue paper and placed in a box. The only thing is that the fabric care says dry cleaning and I am not paying for dry cleaning. I need to buy one of those bags that one can do dry cleaning at home with.
I want to start a weekly series on my bargains. I think you guys would love seeing(and dying of jealously) what I am buying for less than $20. I have made up some ground rules about my bargain hunting. If I am at a thrift store, I cannot use my credit/debit cards, only whatever cash I have. I normally have a $20 dollar note or sometimes even less on me. This way, I can control my spending. ( but of course, if its something awesomely beautiful and I will die if I dont buy it, then all rules are made to be broken). I think Thrifty Thursday sounds better than Thrifty Monday but I normally go during the weekend, so Thursday will not work. Anyone has a better title for me?
10 scarves
A vintage Oscar De La Renta
Liz Claiborne
A Hanging CD rack is used to hold all my scarves
Close -up
wow – i need to follow those signs too from now on.
Nice find – I never know where to go to find this stuff – wish I could
Me: I have good garage sale karma, me thinks
Awesome…I havent found to many church rummage sales around Santa Clara..Though I should start going to Garage Sales:)..I recently started doing the Daily Outfit thing myself.Dressing up better feels so good. My Mom gave me a nice hiding when I had sent her some pics and said that I should seriously give some thought to dressing up.:)! and I realized Good clothes need not be “Expensive Clothes:)”..
Me: Do you have a blog? And yes I realized expensive doesnt equal nice,its all about knowing what suits your body and your style. the thing is finding a balance between your style and the wallet.
those are cute!! u really know how to pick out stuff …. if i find myself in a garage sale or even the tj maxx/ross kinds of places i get so overwhelmed that pretty soon i’m running out of there, sometimes without even trying anything on. i think i should make more effort!
Me: I have a good honing radar. I zoom into bargains. rofl
didnt comment on the post earlier, the haircut is amazingly cute. and am seriously in love with that green cardigan (which i loved the knotted-up way) . have been looking around for pieces in a similar style ..
Me: Marshalls $6.99. Let me know if you find it
Awesome idea! Looking forward to regular posts about thrift finds. I am jealous because even if I do go to a thrift store, I don’t know how to look for gems.
Me: We’ll go together next time and see whether we can score stuff together.
awesome!!
and i love the rack idea! looks so nice and is such efficient way of managing it!
as for alternate name does Monday Moneysavers sound any good?
cheers!
Me: I am hoping it will stay organized. Monday Moneysavers sound fantastic. I will be using that from now onwards. Copyright chahiye kya?
Gosh do you think I can hunt for an old woman who has size 6 shoes?? I am Yudhishtar’s sister when it comes to playing shoe shopping
Me:Size 6 is like the easiet size to find. You have teeny feet. I am size 10.5 wide. So does his sister have teeny feet?
Those scarves look so neat and clean and as if it’s fresh out of the store. Must say the lady took all the care in the world to keep her things look beautiful…somehow the thought makes me sad all of a sudden
All her young life she collected so many things, some might have been gifts from people who loved her and now she is giving it all away to go to an old age home to spend the rest of her life…..sobs!!!
Me: I was actually sad about the whole thing. I mean to sell your precious things for pennies. Heartbreaking. But she said, I am glad they are going to be put to use again and you will look fabulous in them. She was such a sweetheart.
I cannot comment. I am dead of jealousy.
They look absolutely fab and such a deal.. ooh I am back to being dead.
Am jelaous gurl….Cn’t control…..Simply Jealous abt those awesome finds!
Me: I know. I knew everyone would die of jealously.
I had a mental block of pickin’ up stuff from garage finds – not any more…I am looking fwd to garage sales now….too bad i have to wait till next summer now.
Me: Nk has a mental block as well.I unblocked mine and now can never go shopping in a regular store again.
Do you think these ‘good will’ stores are good?
Me: I dont have a goodwill near me I think. Go on yelp.com and read reviews on thrift stores there.Thats how I found my fav thrift store.
I don’t know how you find the Garage sale on your way to grocery store! You are lucky .I tried going to one last Saturday after reading your blog, nothing came out of it. All of them were kids stuff !!!
Me: Hmm.. I am lucky
Love the scarfs, I am still shy about wearing them.
Me: You know just wear them and see the comments rolling in. I wore the black and white checked one yesterday and felt like chic Parisian woman who should holding some creative job and be a starving artist instead of a sahm to 4 kids. Yup all because I wore a scarf.
I love the pink one with scalloped edges and the yellow and blue patterned one. I wish there were garage sales in Bombay I could just drop by.
What about Meager Monday’s? Or you could do Thrifty Tuesday’s? Scrimping Sunday’s? I don’t know why, but the word “tightwad” makes me giggle, so maybe Tightwad Tuesdays?
Also, you can do thrifty thurdsays, write the post on the weekend and then set for it to publish on thursday.
I love wearing scarves too. used to wear alo of scarves and stoles in college. Now the winters are setting in in Delhi so its time for my scarves/ mufflers and stoles to be taken out.
Oh and I buy them from Janpath (in Delhi where you get alot of expot rejects) at wholesale prices, which means I buy 10 for 100 bucks
Did I make you go green
Pingback: Day 18th/Missing NK « Asaaan
Pingback: Massive Monday Moneysavers – Asaaan
Yup I am a size 6 and wonder if my mother followed the Japanese tradition of tying up a gals feet coz all my cousins have enormous feet
Thanks , will sure check yelp