Beach trip & shopping

I have been shopping all along on this "thriftygrlchallenge" at thrift stores all over the place. I haven't stepped into an actual clothing store to buy myself anything since the end of December. however when I got some money for Mother's day to spend. So I went into a store and found me some new summer shirts. It felt good and considering they were on sale it felt even better!

  My cousin invited me & my girls to Panama City beach with her & her daughter for a couple of days. It was kind of last minute, so my hubby did some juggling in his "Super Budget" & made it happen. That's why I love that man, even though Dave Ramsey ain't got nothing on "Super Budget" just sayin. So plans were made & we headed out this past week.


In between being beach bums & pool bums we ventured out for some shopping. The girls of course got the all time favorite air brush t-shirts ( I had to seriously talk myself out of getting one) & did a little shopping. Before we left my wonderful parents gave me some early b'day money so I was able to enjoy some more shopping as well.  You will be seeing ALOT of all my new purchases really soon!! We all found some great sales & took advantage of them. Even on vacation it was nice to show the girls how much your money could stretch.



Fla/Ga line

We really had a great time. I think we have kind of decided it would be a cool tradition. I love spending time with my family & I think it is so important that my kids value too. Here are some other pics from our trip. Enjoy cause we sure did!!!

Airbrush shirts

one of my new shirts- $16-Kohl's

my girls & I

mini- Makeover

  Ok so I've been a little MIA. If you are a mom and have children that are in school then you pretty much know the madness that ensues the last 2 weeks of school. I say madness because between class parties, awards programs, new grade orientation, end of the year sports stuff, etc.... I believe all moms lose their minds a little bit. It's like hanging onto a roller coaster for dear life waiting for it to end so you can breathe!! In all the madness I was able to take time to work on a lil' project.

My friend Erin is one cutie pa-tootie.  She is one who I have longed to get a hold of & update her style. So when she started an internship for her master's program & asked if I could help pick out some new threads for a professional look I was beyond excited!!! Now I use the word makeover loosely (hence the word mini in front of it) just because we are taking baby steps. I am a get-r-done kind of girl and I know I could overwhelm someone who might take things a little slower. So we have started with basics IE:  professional wardrobe, and maybe soon we can post  with another mini-makeover part 2!!

I had my work cut out for me. Her style is a little sporty and casual. That doesn't translate into "professional" very well at all. So we started at the outlet mall. We ended up finding some good things for her to incorporate into a "professional" or "casual" look. We started with a basic pant that was light gray in color. Then we found some cute tops that would go well with the pants so she could mix & match.

 We only took care of the wardrobe aspect on this trip. As to not overwhelm, Erin, we agreed that accessories could come later, along with a new stylish cut. I mean the ponytail is her signature look but I think a nice "Lob" would compliment her face well!~ Like I said baby steps, baby steps!!!

 Now we did not shop at the thriftstores becuase it can be hit or miss and she needed some clothes ASAP. Though we did go straight to the clerance racks and shop from there. Everything she got was on sale, she did not pay full price! Take a look at the semi-final product below. It is still a work in progress but I will be back with some updates to this mini-makeover!!

Proud Mommy

Last week my daughter Katelyn attended her 8th grade dance. It was explained to the students that this was not a "Prom" and all dresses must follow the school dress code!! So as a mom of an 8th grade girl we had out work cut out for us. It started out she was going to go with some friends but when some girl drama came up ( which always does with 8th grade girls), she decided to go with a boy. This one boy had already asked her but she had initially turned him down, that's my girl!

We feel it's important at her age for us to start meeting these "boys" that are interested in our daughter. So we invited him over to the house. Now my husband is usually the king of awkward moments. He tends to say the most inappropriate things in conversations with other people. It drives me crazy and can be downright embarrassing at times but it came in quite handy at this meeting. I did feel bad for the boy but he handled himself very well!! So she found a good date!

 I had found the dress at goodwill.  It was my Easter dress. Being the "thriftygrl" I am, I thought this might be perfect for the dance. It's not too formal but not too casual.I wore a cardigan  & that will make it dress code appropriate!  I would just need to talk her into this idea of borrowing a dress from her mom for a school dance. Katelyn has kind of been into this "thriftygrlchallenge" with me. She has been interested in buying some of her clothes at thrift stores too. So when I mentioned the idea to her she was excited!

The evening of the dance we met her date and his parents for some pictures. Of course there were other girls & boys there taking pictures too. As I looked at the other 14 yr.old girls, I couldn't help but look at my daughter and have my heart filled up with pride. She looked exactly how a 14 year old should look sweet & innocent. Some of the girls were dressed like they were 21. I feel like in today's society the girls are in such a hurry to grow up. Katelyn still likes her American girl dolls & wants to go into the toy section in stores. I love that at her age she is just her. She doesn't care about all the girls around her and what they are doing, she just does her own thing.

She had a blast at the dance! I couldn't have planned a more perfect night for her. Her date was a true gentleman, and she had the biggest smile on her face the whole night. She danced, talked to her friends and twirled in her dress ALOT!! How sweet it was for me to get to see her so happy at the end of a perfect night for a young lady!!! I am leaving you some pictures of my Katelyn at her 8th grade dance! I am so proud of the beautiful young lady my daughter is becoming!! I might be doing something right after all.



putting on the corsage

goodwill dress & old cardigan



Lightbulb

So I 've always likes to window shop in stores and take a look at the latest styles. Lately I find myself doing that more so than usual just becuase of some very important gift getting holidays coming up (ie:Mother's day, anniversary & my b'day). I mean I should be getting some special gifts ( hopefully in the form of a gift card!)


As I was walking around one of my all time favorite stores something hit me,  it was like a lightbulb just went off! I didn't even want to pay the clearance price for something even that was too much!!! I kept hearing my self say" I can just look for this at goodwill!" So I quit looking and turned around and left! WOW... I feel like I don't even know myslef when I can walk out of my favorite store and not want to buy everything I see!!!


This "Thriftygrlchallenge" continues to be a challenge but it continues to change my perspective on spending money as well. Have you tried to be more thrifty??!! I've already heard from alot of women who are trying!! If you not that's ok you can still enjoy our thrifty finds!!

This outfit was all stuff I've had for a minute howeve the tank is newer. Amazing how one piece can help you be so versitile in your outfits!

express cardi, old navy skirt, Bongo shoes, Gap striped tank

I Feel Pretty

 Do you ever put on your outfit & walk out of the house feeling a certain way? I feel like that is what the saying " Wear the clothes don't let the clothes wear you" might mean. I mean think about it, sometimes I can put on a flowy dress, curl my hair and I feel so pretty. Then other times I can put on some tight pants & heels that make me feel like I can take on the world!!! Well today I was sick today & looked more like a person on the show "what not to wear". However the other day was a totally different story!

I wore a pretty, flowy flowered shirt from clothes-swap, a blue cardigan I had and my trusty high waist jeans 2012. I rolled my hair as I sometimes do now that it is longer. After I took a look at the finished put together product I must admit, I looked at myself and I felt pretty. I think it is important as women, wives, mothers or a student. It does a body good to feel good about how you look. I know it can't be like that everyday do I like to enjoy the days it is.

Hopefully the hubby will have a new shift at work soon and I'll be able to post some date night pics!! But for now here you go!! Enjoy!

Game Changer

As we truck along in our "thriftygrlchallenge" we start to realize the things that are going to work and the things that are not going to work. We also can see the rules that are very good and the rules that were not so good. Now that we are in warmer weather we took notice of our rules involving shoes. I love to find cute shoes at the thrift stores but sometimes cute hardly worn sandals are really hard to find. Let's be honest people alot of times they look very worn in and sometimes a little dirty.  That's just what people do when it's warm weather... they go outside!!! May it be on vacation, a ball game or an outdoor festival being outside in the gorgeous weather is one of the best things about Spring & Summer!!

So we changed a rule! We can buy new shoes from a store!! I am not even going to lie,  I can barely control my excitement of how many more outfits I would be able to put together just buying one or 2 new pairs of shoes this Spring!!!!!

So right after we decided on the new rule I went out browsing. Much to my surprise I didn't find anything I really wanted to spend my money on. The "thriftygrlchallenge" still continues to change me. I wanted to make sure my first find was really worthy of my money. That I would REALLY get my money out of the purchase!

Then I found them... the game changers!! They were on sale at Target for $18.00. They were flat, strappy and a bold pop of an accessory!! They were all the things I was looking for in a new Spring/Summer sandal!

Target-$18

The first outfit that came to my mind had to be something with my gold & turquoise statement necklace! Here's one of my new fav outfits courtesy of my New Summer Sandals!!!!

Banana Republic Coral top-Goodwill, white skinny jeans-TH outlet clearance( had), Gold & turquoise necklace-F21(had)

Weekend Getaway

CRBR shirts

At the beginning of this year I not only resolved to do the "thriftygrlchallenge" but I also wanted to get in shape. I started running in January and have slowly tried to build up endurance to run more miles. My sister Michelle( fellow thriftygrl) lives in Charleston and has ran the Cooper River Bridge Run before. I had heard about it and thought it might be a good run to train for. I had asked Nick's Aunt to run with me because she has lived in Charleston before and wanted to run CRBR. So weekend in Charleston with some of my favorite girls sounds like a good time!!!

The week of the race Nick's aunt fell ill with a nasty stomach virus as well as her whole household. So she couldn't make it and I headed out to Charleston on my own. The first night I got there we had a pasta party with my little sister and some of her friends that were running the race also. It was a great night of good food and fellowship.  I was able to meet a friend of my sisters who has decided to join the "thriftygrlchallenge" too!! How exciting that is to me to have more girls that want to do "thriftygrlchallenge" with us. (you will be hearing about her thrifty finds in the near future)Then we got in bed early so we'd be ready to leave out for a 4:30am departure to the race!!!! When 4:30 came we headed out and were as ready as we were going to be!!

Michelle & I before the race

our group

I finished the race in 1 hr. 9 min!! I was so happy with my time and the fact that I can still barely move my thighs doesn't even bother me! I did it and I can say I am proud of myself and how I did.  After the race there was a ton of free food!! As a thrifty grl I like the word free especially when it's connected to good food!! So after having some good munchies we headed back to the house for a long nap and for what the rest of the weekend had in store for us.

The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing and taking it easy. We ate some good Mexican, did a little thrifty shopping and went to a cool little festival in Summerville where we also ate good. That is pretty much my ideal girls weekend minus the 10k!! A little girl time is always good for the soul whether it is running a 10k together or just shopping and eating together. It always refreshes me!!

festival in Summerville

Thrifty girl thrifting