After the birth of my little one, my ability to budget went into turbo charge. From bringing more lunches to work to being cognizant of how often I purchased coffee at work, every penny's been counted. Along with this penny pinching, I rediscovered my love of shopping on pennies. I always loved going to Marshall's and TJ Maxx, coming through racks and seeing what treasures I came home with. Lately, however, I've warmed up to visiting Sears, Old Navy, Target and H&M more often.
Because I try to shop like a French woman, I didn't frequent the 'discount' stores too much. Main reason? Quality of the material. I'd rather buy something that is a bit pricier, but will last me a longer period of time. When I was preggers, the bulk of my maternity clothes came from Old Navy, Target and GAP. My love of Old Navy and Target continues as I've been able to find easy post-baby bod transition pieces for summer. Last week, I was at the Sears Portrait Studio getting six month shots of the babe. I had some extra time to sift around the clothes and was pleasantly surprised. Their stuff ain't so bad, ladies.
Here's the kicker: since most of us look for the 'big sales' at BCBG, Macy's, Nordstrom, etc. there is a lower likelihood that your fellow gal pals will be perusing the Sears and Target racks on a daily basis (ok, perhaps Target). This means that you'll have a better chance of looking unique mixing up expensive and cheaper pieces than your girlfriends.
Hence, the challenge. I, along with a few of my friends are aiming to visit Sears, Wal-Mart, Big Lots and other 'discount stores' over a weekend. From there, we will see what types of treasures we will uncover. Once this happens, I will report back our findings. In the meantime, I highly recommend you give shopping outlets like Sears a second look - you may be quite surprised!