Thrift Year in Review

August 10th is a special day for me.  That is the day that a burden became a blessing, when the negative circumstances of my husband losing his job turned into a hobby that I would never have pursued otherwise, when I started thrift-style blogging at VV Boutique Style and my life changed, irrevocably, for the better.

Though everything happened quite organically (i.e., I had no idea what I was doing and had no long-term plan in mind), since that date, I have been keeping track of what I buy and how much I spend on my thrifted pieces and at the end of each year of thrifting, I love figuring out the grand total of my purchases and, most importantly, the cost per piece!  In my first year of thrifting, I spent $1007.10 for 186 items or $5.41 per piece.  Both the quantity and cost-per-piece astounded me!  How could my closet possibly hold that many “new” things?!!  Thrifting meant that my closet was a much more, er, dynamic place, or, to put another way, the place in my home getting the most action.  (Snicker snicker.)  Despite all the traffic in and out of my closet, my favourite thrift finds from my first year remain and make me smile every time I see them…

I “budgeted” $1000 for my second year of thrifting but should have recognized that I’m an overachiever!  I spent $1390.30 for 271 pieces or $5.13 per piece so I exceeded expectations on both quantity and cost-per-piece!  However, I earned more than that through my thrift-guiding adventures, so I basically profited and therefore dispensed with any budget going forward!  My favourite purchases from my second year…

Going into my third year of thrifting, I thought… there’s no way that I will buy that much again this year.  I patted myself on the back in advance and went about my thrifty life.  Welllllll, can you guess what happened?!  I didn’t exceed year two but I certainly was not a model of restraint!  There are just too many amazing pieces to be thrifted!  Before I reveal the grand total, here are some of my favourite pieces and adventures from this year…

Okay, I think I’m ready to fess up.  From August 11, 2014 to August 10, 2015 I spent:

$1143.85 for 199 pieces

OR

$5.74 per piece

I’m not sure whether I should be air high-fiving the Internet or averting my eyes with a guilty smile!  This year, I worked more in my  day job and therefore had less time to dedicate to thrift-guiding.  That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!  Still, I earned enough to offset almost half of my thrifting budget, so the actual money out-of-pocket for the entire year and for all 199 pieces was LESS than what I would have spent regular retail on any ONE of the following…

So I guess that means it’s high fives!!  Good job, Me!  On this happy occasion of my third blog birthday, I will say this: the joy of thrifting does not run out.  The thrift scores waiting to be discovered do not run out.  Despite some over-priced items, the savings from thrifting does not run out.  Thrift shopping is sustainable!  And it sustains, at least me.

Stay tuned for an exciting project I have in mind for my fourth year of thrifted fashion!  And meanwhile, enjoy some archives, find me in all most of the social media places and follow along for what is sure to be another fun, spirited year!