Guest Post: $20 Thrift Store Challenge by Not Fancy, Just Life.

Hello! I'm Maria and I blog over at Not Fancy, Just Life. While my blog started off as a general lifestyle blog, it has slowly morphed into a budget-conscious fashion blog. I'm all about looking cute without spending a lot of money! 

I've been reading Amy's blog for a few years now (even before I started blogging myself) and I'm very excited she asked me to guest post for her while she's out of town! I knew I wanted to do a fun post, and decided to give myself a bit of a challenge too. I really like thrifting, but I'm still kind of new at it and I'm definitely not as good as other's out in the blogging world. I don't know if I just don't have the eye for things, the patience, the time, etc. But I decided to challenge myself to only spend $20 and come up with a whole outfit!

My hubby thought I was crazy (and I'll admit, I thought so myself!), but I was definitely up for the challenge!

I think I decided to do this at the right time, because so many thrift stores have been having their end of the summer sales. With prices out there up to 75% off, I think that definitely helped me stay within my budget! Here is my haul:

1. Merona top (Clothes Mentor): $0.01

2. Kenzie sandals (Turn Style): $3.25

3. H&M top (Clothes Mentor): $3.50

4. Liz Claiborne skirt (Turn Style): $2.13

5. Loft shorts (Turn Style): $2.75

6. Loft shorts (Turn Style): $2.75

7. Necklace (Turn Style): $2.38

Total = $16.77! (And I still have $3.23 left for coffee or a treat!)

Can you believe I got 7 items for under $20?! With some left to spare! (I actually looked around a little more to find something to use up the rest of my money, but couldn't, so I just decided to leave the change)

There were some awesome sales I took advantage of. Clothes Mentor had 50% off their summer items, plus buy one item get the second for a penny! I basically stole that shirt! Turn Style also had 75% off all green-tag items, and I think I found some pretty good things!

So not only did I spend $20 for one outfit, I have 2 for sure! I never did try the printed tops with the skirt, but if they work, I will have 6 outfits, spending less than $17 for all the items! I definitely impressed myself :)

I'd say one of the biggest tricks I learned from this challenge is to shop the end-of-season sales. You can save so much money, plus we still have a couple months left of summer in which I can wear these items. Some I can even wear into the colder-weather months, so definitely more bang for my buck :)

Make sure you stop by my blog to see how I style these pieces, plus see other clothing deals I score!