The Thrift Store Diet

So you're probably wondering what in the world this is all about, and what in the world is "The Thrift Store Diet?" Well, read on dear ladies and gentlemen (although we doubt our male following is substantial if even existent, we're both married, we're not trying to kid ourselves into thinking many men would want to read about clothes and purses, scarves and jewelry, etc etc...) and we shall explain.

We live in a material world, and unfortunately many people (including ourselves) have been duped from children into believing that more possessions equal more happiness, and of course more expensive possessions equal even more happiness! Our current society is made up of individuals who have no qualms about putting themselves into debt to get what they want- NOW. They're lured to the newest and trendiest items by ads in magazines, on TV, on billboards, through peer pressure, and just really by their own lust and covetousness (how do you like that great King James word?). Back in the good ol' days of yore people would scrimp and save to buy things, and then when they had saved enough, they would buy them outright and use whatever they bought till it wore out. Nowadays we have a piece of plastic that may as well be a fairy godmother's magic wand for all the instant gratififaction it has the power to give. It used to be: see, want, save, buy. That's the proper order. However, the order today is: see, want, buy, spend years in debt to repay. That's not right, it's not helpful, and frankly, it's not Biblical.

So, we together have decided to attempt to be frugal in the one area of a woman's life that seems to cause her wallet to continuously be drained: Clothes shopping. We have determined that we will both go one whole year without buying a single piece of new clothing from retail stores for ourselves. Starting September 9th, 2010, everything we buy will be bought from consignment shoppes and thrift stores. Why? Because thrift stores carry clothes that are, at a minimum, half the price of the same item new on the rack. Our goal is to prove that one can live simply and within a budget, even a super tight one, and still be able to dress very very well and wear the latest styles and brand names. We will try to buy as many other items second-hand as we can besides the clothing, and will feature many of our finds on the blog, with the brand name and price listed. We'll even try to list little tips and tricks about thrifty shopping we learn along the way. Our one exception is shoes, which we will continue to buy new as needed, as we confess one of us has bunions and the other wears a size 11 shoe. Just had to get that out.

So, hope you enjoy our blog, and happy thrifting!

-The Frugal Friendzies