Before the pandemic even started one mom challenged herself to shop for clothing secondhand for an entire year.  We've caught up with her and asked her to share her experience.

Angel here and you all know I love a good bargain like no other so when I heard my friend, Carley Hayden Bean, had decided to commit to only purchasing clothing from thrift, consignment, garage sales, and friends for a year I was intrigued.

I loved checking in on her journey and seeing what she would post from time to time.  I recently saw a post after Earth Day where she shared her experience from the year-long adventure:

I went into this challenge a little scared and nervous, but ended up loving it. It was actually much easier than I thought it would be. And I’ve still kept to it for the most part. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Key takeaways: ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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▫️It was freeing — I literally walked right past certain sections of stores and didn’t even look at some websites⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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▫️It saved me time, money, and decision making anxiety⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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▫️I had to really evaluate why I felt the need to buy things ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
▫️I felt empowered knowing my dollars weren’t contributing to waste, pollution, slave labor, and human trafficking as much as they used to ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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▫️I bought most pieces from my friends’ FB and IG sales so I liked helping them make extra cash and easily picking my clothes up off a porch⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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▫️My money also went to local charities, garage sales, and consignment stores like @arepeatboutique⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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▫️If I needed something specific, I LOVED using the @mercari and @poshmark apps to set up searches ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
▫️Creating this challenge and setting limitations really sparked my creativity ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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▫️I unknowingly chose a great year for this bc there were so few occasions I even needed a special outfit for, which is when I’m more apt to shop ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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▫️Tracking my purchases on IG stories made me realize I buy a lot of clothes. But I already knew this tbh ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
▫️A scarcity mindset crept in at first making me feel like I had to take advantage of every fb sale knowing I couldn’t go out and get things whenever I wanted but I got pickier as time went on ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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▫️Not always being able to try things on meant I was taking a chance and got some bombs, but I was ok w it bc my investment was small and I know I can resell⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

 

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She did place a disclaimer on the challenge saying she did make exceptions for under clothing and bathing suits but the rest was free game.

Carley owns her own organizing business called, Pretty Simple Co. so purging and cleaning is something she knows all about.  She has also been known to host a mean Facebook clothing sale.

So, here's the question she asked her followers on social media "Could you do it?"  Well, could you or have you?

I love shopping thrift for fun now but growing up it was more about a need, not a want.  Our family loves to get a deal on something we wanted at another store and then we find it for a fraction of the cost when we secondhand shop.

If you haven't ever gone thrifting do it!  You'll either love it or hate it but at least you can say you did it.

If you are a thrifter tell us some of your favorite places to shop at the WBKR Facebook Page.

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