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Goodwill Shoes, Clearance Meat and other things I never thought I’d buy.

20 January 2010 5,012 views 21 Comments

The last few months, as I’ve been couponing and using the cash system, have been truly life changing in many ways. I’ll spare you the deep stuff for today, and focus on a couple of things that I never thought I would do.

1 - A few months ago, I never would have purchased clothing from Goodwill. The thought of it gave me the heebie-jeebies. However, as I have been enjoying Jen’s Frugal Fashionista posts, I realized that I needed to rediscover my local Goodwill. One Sunday afternoon, Mitch and I browsed through the racks and I soon had piles and piles of potential sweaters spilling over my arms and cart. It was insane. Someone with good taste must have dropped their goods off the day before, because I hit the motherload. I ended up purchasing a skirt, 2 shirts, 3 sweaters and two pairs of pants for Grant. One of the sweaters is Eddie Bauer, and one is Liz Claiborne. YES, they were a little over-priced at $6.99 each, but they were not FULL price, which is cool. Grant’s pants: 1 pair of Levis and 1 pair of soft, rainproof camos. (Mitch found them and now he’s on the lookout for a waterproof camo jacket for Grant!) I’ve been back a couple of times, and I found another cool shirt and some SHOES!

2 - I never thought I would ever, in a million years, buy shoes from Goodwill. EVER. Because GROSS. I’m not a big fan of used shoes, and certainly not shoes from Goodwill. However, my friend Tootsie (or, I suppose you can call her Angela) does it, so when when my friend told me about some Steve Madden’s for only $5.99, I decided to get over myself and buy them.

Confession time: I’m not really a shoe person. {gasp!} I probably won’t notice your shoes if we get together for coffee. Please don’t be offended, I just don’t care too much about shoes. Same with “wheels”. Mitch notices them on cars and I could care less.

Now, Tootsie has mentioned her obsession affinity for Steve Madden, so I figured that these shoes must be a good buy.

They were a bit scratched up:

So I cleaned them up a little:

And they look super cute with jeans!

If someone writes to tell me that these are NOT real Steve Maddens, then I won’ t be too upset, because they were only $5.99. Besides, what do I know!?

Oh, and I still have to use the hand sanitizer quite liberally as I walk out the door of Goodwill. May take a while to get over that.

3 - A few months ago, I would never have purchased clearanced meat that was close to the sell-by date. Kinda gross and scary, right? However, Jen buys clearanced meat all the time, and since I’m just putting it into my freezer anyway, I figured that it couldn’t hurt! What I discovered: it’s totally awesome! Here is today’s shopping trip:

Mmm! That’s a lot of meat!! Here are the highlights of the trip:

1 large pork loin for 50% off (about $4.45)

2 packages of pork roast for 30% off (about $3.00 each)

Chicken is 99¢ a pound, as is 20% ground beef.

I did the fruit snack deal twice, but the Catalina didn’t roll for me. Whatever! 8 boxes of fruit snacks for just .70¢ out of pocket. TOTAL. That makes them less than .09¢ a box! (Plus, I think I’m going to call the Catalina company to see what I can do about it.)

The boxed potatoes made me money (Free + .26¢ overage).

Oranges in the bag are less than .50¢ a pound.

Spinach, carrots and bell pepper are .99¢ each.

Sliced Swiss Cheese cost me .44¢.

Chocolate milk was free when I bought two gallons of white.

Gogurt was a bit of a splurge, because I had intended to pay for it with the Catalina that didn’t print, but still, the two boxes cost me just $2.68. If I’d had the Cat, I would have paid .18¢!

Overall, though, I thought it was a pretty good trip! My pantry was looking kinda bare. Well, okay, the FREEZER was looking bare, and we were tired of eating chicken, so I’m glad I stocked up on meat today!

I’ve learned a lot more about living frugally over the last few months, but that is another post for another day.

Are you doing something today that you thought you would NEVER do? Please share!

I’m linking this to:

Frugal Friday at Life as Mom

Super Savings Saturday at Money Saving Mom

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21 Comments »

  1. Jen@Balancing Beauty and Bedlam said:

    Oh my goodness!! I am beside myself at this fun post. You’ve come over to the dark side. Now you’ll never ever go back. :) Can’t wait to see those red hot shoes at Blissdom.

    [Reply]

    # 20 January 2010 at 2:48 pm
  2. Kelleigh (author) said:

    All credit goes to you, Jen! Oh, how I wish I could go to Blissdom!! Sounds like so much fun, but you guys will have to party without me! Maybe next year, though!!

    [Reply]

    # 20 January 2010 at 2:52 pm
  3. Angela said:

    Yay!!!!Yay, yay, YAY!!!!!!! What a perfect shade of red, too. =^) Every girl needs at least one pair of great red shoes. Now I’m feeling a need to run over to Goodwill. Hee-hee!

    [Reply]

    Kelleigh Reply:
    January 20th, 2010 at 4:39 pm

    So, are they real Steve Maddens? The question for the ages!!

    [Reply]

    Christina Reply:
    January 20th, 2010 at 6:31 pm

    I stumbled upon your site after visiting babycenter.com. Just thought I’d let you know my friend owns the same pair of Steve Maddens so yes they are real and I will never dare tell her what you paid. =] Great deal hunting!!

    [Reply]

    # 20 January 2010 at 3:24 pm
  4. Angela said:

    And, btw, I feel all honored to be mentioned in your blog. =^)

    [Reply]

    # 20 January 2010 at 3:24 pm
  5. Kellie said:

    I’ve been a thrift store shopper since high school. Well earlier than that, but that’s when I started buying my own clothes! I think it’s fun :) If you get up the nerve you should check out the Goodwill Outlet in Salem. You pay by the pound but it’s more work since everything is dumped in bins and isn’t sorted.

    [Reply]

    # 20 January 2010 at 3:32 pm
  6. Jessica said:

    I LOVE Sol-u-mel!!
    Those shoes are so cute!!
    I may just get over my fear of shoes from the Goodwill after seeing this!!
    I have to admit, I’ve been following you for a bit and you have inspired me to start couponing and finding really great deals!!
    Yesterday I got $154 worth of food and items for $60!!
    It was my first time and I LOVED IT!! Back for more next week!!

    [Reply]

    Kelleigh Reply:
    January 20th, 2010 at 4:38 pm

    Jess, your “About me” on your blog cracked me UP!! You must post your grocery scores, girl!! I’d love to see what you’ve been up to!

    [Reply]

    # 20 January 2010 at 4:17 pm
  7. Sarah said:

    I love the shoes. What a great find!!!!

    [Reply]

    # 20 January 2010 at 4:24 pm
  8. Pam said:

    The shoes are so cute. I’m not really a shoe girl either. But doesn’t mean I don’t want to find a cute pair now and then. Check out my “Pretty Girl” kit. There is a red felt shoe in there!

    I never used to plan out my shopping trips in detail like I do now. It definitely takes some time, but I love the savings I get when I know what I’m going for rather than just what looks good. Once again wishing for a Safeway though…You get such good deals.

    [Reply]

    # 20 January 2010 at 7:13 pm
  9. shyla said:

    How exciting! I LOVE LOVE LOVE getting deals. I must confess that I AM a shoe “Freak” - however, living on a budget allows me to live vicariously through my kids shoes which i can find on clearance for $1.99 (not so much in my size :)

    Thanks for stopping by my blog today! I have so enjoyed using your template for the envelopes and LOVE how they turned out! It’s always fun to find like-minded people or those who share similar interests and learn/share with each other!

    Enjoy your run…i will be walking away the pounds! :)

    [Reply]

    # 20 January 2010 at 8:05 pm
  10. Ginny said:

    I started shopping in thrift stores about 8 or 9 years ago. I never thought I would either. I originally started looking for things to sell on ebay, but I quickly realized the potential in clothes. I started out w/ kids jeans. They grow so quick, that the jeans are almost always in good condition. Plus you don’t have to deal with breaking them in. Now with holes being so popular, even easier, lol.

    Love those shoes! I probably would have passed them up with the scuffs, but they cleaned up wonderfully. Thanks for the post!

    Oh & I Love clearance meat! That is one thing I have always done. I guess because I don’t eat, I never thought anything of it, lol. My husband never minded.

    [Reply]

    # 20 January 2010 at 8:06 pm
  11. Beverly said:

    I love shopping thrift stores, Almost all of my daughter school wardrobe is from thrift stores and they are all named brand such as american eagle, aeropostale,etc one thing about juniors clothes usually kept in mint condition! Don’t mind clearance meat I bring it home and freeze it!

    [Reply]

    # 20 January 2010 at 9:46 pm
  12. Kelly said:

    love your posts with your savings Kelliegh! I looked the other day and found that we have a couple of Von’s stores out here that are owned by Safeway. I’m hoping to stop in there tomorrow or Friday and see what kind of deals I get. We really need to cut our grocery budget down.

    BTW - Those shoes are awesome!! :)

    [Reply]

    # 20 January 2010 at 9:48 pm
  13. Jeanne said:

    Ooohhhhh, Kelleigh! Good for you for discovering the joys of thrift store shopping. Being a recent convert myself, I am still amazed at what you can find in one! Like you, I never thought I’d buy the shoes, but I did get a pair of Nike tennies that you slip on and I’ve been in love ever since. Your RED HOT shoes are fabulous!

    Happy hunting.

    And good for you about the meat. I’ve read you can buy it and freeze it right away and it’s all good.

    Your enthusiasm sure is contagious. Thanks for sharing!

    [Reply]

    # 21 January 2010 at 6:01 am
  14. Charlene Austin said:

    I have been loving your blog since I found you at the time of your eating from the pantry post. We have been eating out of our freezer ever since and it’s so great!! I can’t believe the money we’ve saved by not going out to by fresh meat just because I forgot to unthaw something the night before!

    I do enjoy going to Goodwill stores but usually for pants, books or trying to find some material. I will take a look at the shoes but can’t make any promises (unless I find something as gorgeous as those red shoes).

    [Reply]

    # 21 January 2010 at 11:40 am
  15. Cherie said:

    Sometimes going to Goodwill is a little like Christmas, because you just never know what exciting things you can find! You’ll never go back to the other side!!

    [Reply]

    # 22 January 2010 at 8:38 pm
  16. Amanda said:

    Kelleigh-
    I LOVE those shoes! I wish I would have found those shoes! I LOVE those shoes!!!!!

    [Reply]

    # 23 January 2010 at 8:44 pm
  17. Lisa said:

    Fun shoes! Sol-U-Mel saves the day again : )

    I’ve been a thrift shopper since college days, why pay full price? It’s great to find something that fits and is in great condition. I’ve found some great leather shoes, but nothing quite as fun as your red pair! Lots of my dks clothes are resale or thrift, too!

    [Reply]

    # 8 February 2010 at 10:17 am
  18. Friday Haul: Frugal Fashionista Edition | Kelleigh Ratzlaff Designs said:

    [...] but surely expanding my comfort zone when it comes to buying second hand. Remember when I bought my first Goodwill shoes? That was a pretty big moment for me. I’ve purchased some great clothes from Goodwill [...]

    # 20 August 2010 at 2:30 pm

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