It would be pretty cool if I could drop thousands of dollars a month on Kate Spade shoes, Louis Vuitton bags, 7 For All Mankind jeans, and Prada sunglasses. I mean, if I had that kind of money I would hope to also have a huge closet room to go with it 😉
But fashion isn’t all about name brands and luxury. It’s about telling the world who you are before you speak, feeling confident about yourself, and expressing your creativity. And those things don’t come with a steep price tag. One of my main missions on Countdown to Friday is to showcase affordable, flexible fashion, where you can get the most out of your wardrobe at whatever budget you have. My closet is made up of some splurge items, like a hand bag or watch, but primarily consists of reasonable pieces.
Besides shopping sales racks religiously, here are 5 other methods I use to get the most out of my wardrobe budget each month.
Note: I may receive commissions from clicks or purchases made through links in this post.
Credit Card Rewards
I probably feature something from Old Navy at least once a week on the blog, and it’s not just because they have great prices and free returns (critical when you’re living abroad!). Old Navy is part of the Gap umbrella, which includes Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, and Athleta. I have a Banana Republic credit card and I use it to make purchases at all of their stores so I can earn rewards cash for future purchases and get special discounts not available to non-cardholders (even at the Factory stores!).
I recently posted a look with this blue Old Navy dress, which by itself was a great find at less than $13, but it gets better. I got the dress, these leopard print heels, this tunic sweater, this sports bra, and this ruffle dress for a grand total of $54.93 with all of my cardmember discounts!
I don’t recommend getting a credit card for every single store you shop in, but they’re definitely something to look into for that one store (or group of stores, in my case) that you are always ready to drop some money in. I only have the Banana Card, but for my mom the Kohl’s card is perfect, and maybe for a Maxxinista it’s a good idea to look into the TJ Maxx credit card. I’m NOT a financial planner or anything, so you do you when it comes to your money, but I think these cards are best left to shopping in the store they’re made for, and only to be used at amounts you can pay off at the end of the month. Saving $10 on one order doesn’t mean anything when you have interest racking up every month!
Amazon Warehouse
I have already blogged about this before (in this post), but let me give you a refresher on Amazon Warehouse. It’s part of the Amazon site where they sell open box and gently used merchandise at huge discounts. I’ve gotten the brown FRYE boots pictured below for less than $150, the black Chinese Laundry OTK boots for under $37, and the pair of Nine West Pumps for $18.14. Kind of amazing, right?!
I’ve only bought shoes from Amazon Warehouse, but lately I’ve been checking out the coats and sunglasses section. If you’re looking for a North Face jacket or Ray Bans at a huge discount, this is definitely where to look. Obviously the selection is limited to what has been returned, but if you check back often enough you’ll probably find what you’re looking for. Most of the items have Prime shipping and free returns so you can feel more confident about trying out a Warehouse item. This is definitely my favorite route for finding name brands at more affordable prices.
Amazon Wish List
Of course Amazon is going to make it twice on this list! If you don’t have an Amazon account, you should get one so you can make a Wish List. How exactly does this save you money, you ask? Well, whenever I’m interested in something, I immediately put it on my Wish List. I can check back on this list easily through the ‘Lists’ portion of my account, so all of the items I’m thinking about purchasing are in one place. Whenever something on the list decreases in price, Amazon will let me know what the original price was when it was added to my list, as well as what the percentage discount it’s currently on. Check out this screenshot of my Wish List:
thredUP
I love thrifting, but sometimes it’s hard to find stores that have a decent selection and nicer items. The solution is thredUP: an online thrift store that sells only name brand items. I’ve talked a lot about thredUP already in my reviews (read one, two, and three), so definitely read those posts if you’re interested. You can order a clean out bag to send them unwanted items from your closet for store credit, cash back, or donate the payout to charity. I’ve been able to get some great stuff with them, including this black wool coat for only $20!
If you sign up with thredUP and order via my referral link, we both get an extra $10 off our purchases.
Ebates
This is the newest method I’ve started using lately, and to be honest I usually forget about it! The way it works is you start shopping your favorite online stores by visiting Ebates first, and depending on the store you can earn a certain percentage of your purchase as cash back. You can get 6% back at Kohl’s, 5% on eBay, and 4% back at Sephora! With how expensive makeup is nowadays, you can easily rack up a decent amount there! There are so many stores that work with Ebates that you are bound to find one that you do some online shopping with.
Like I said earlier, I forget to use Ebates all the time, but I did earn $1.92 back from the one purchase I made through them. They give you 2% cash back when you shop Old Navy, so I can really get some savings combined with my credit card 😉
If you want you want to use my referral link to sign up with Ebates, I’ll get $25 back and you’ll get $10! You should definitely take a look at Ebates if you’re going to make a large online purchase soon so that you can save a few dollars.
Those are my 5 methods to maximize your fashion budget: credit card rewards, Amazon Warehouse, Amazon Wish Lists, thredUP, and Ebates. What do you do to get the most for your money?
Linkups: Mix It Mondays, #HowIFall, Hello Monday, Classy Monday, Tuesday Talk, Confident Twosday, Layers & Lipstick, Trend Spin, Style Sessions, On Trend Tuesday, Style Me Wednesday, What I Wore, Trendy Wednesday, I Feel Pretty, Oh, Hey Girl!, Thursday Moda, Thursday Fashion Files
