Have money? Dont spend it when you can save it.

Everyone knows that the economy is in the crapper right now. Jobs are being lost by the thousands, more and more people cannot pay their bills, and those who used to think they were in secure jobs are starting to sweat. All hell has broken loose on the financial front. It is just not good.
So far our family has been extremely fortunate, thank God. While we have had steady work so far we are realistic. We know that it could end because right now, anything is possible.
Today I decided that I wanted to go shopping just to go shopping. I know that Kyle is quickly growing out of, well, everything and that I am picky about clothes. Because of that, it is best to shop early in anticipation of him outgrowing things. I also wanted to look for a few things for myself.
So I loaded Kyle into the car and we set out on our journey. We looked at some things from Old Navy, some from The Children's Place, some really cute Levi's, and some things from boutiques that I have never even heard of. Some things were cute, some looked a little cheesy, some were just to die for!
However, I did not actually GO to Old Navy, or The Children's Place, or any boutiques. I went to a thrift store. Yes, a thrift store. At this time in our lives we actually COULD go to those places and spend $15+ on any given shirt and more for pants/shorts. Honestly though, Kyle grows out of things so quickly, what is the point? And I am so hard on clothes (stains, holes, etc) that I feel guilty when I ruin a shirt I got at Wal*mart, so I cannot imagine how guilty I would feel if I had gotten a new shirt from somewhere expensive.
Yes sirree, I am a bargain shopper. I cannot bring myself to spend more money on clothing than I need to, and when there are perfectly good clothes at thrift stores still in great shape that have a lot of wear left in them, I feel like I am being extremely wasteful buying clothes somewhere else. My job is to save this family money whenever I can. That means home cooked meals instead of eating out, fixing rips in pants a few times before throwing them out, and cutting costs for food and other things we need. I will, on occasion, buy clothing at full price. At Wal*mart. I figure $8 for a brand new shirt is not bad. But I don't do that often. I feel really good when I go to a thrift store and can get a cute shirt or a great pair of pants for $2-3, even less if that color tag is 1/2 off that day. Super score!
So anyway, all of Kyle's pants and shirts in 18 month sizes are used. Someone else's castoffs. And to be honest, most looks unworn. I have found 2 pairs of pants that still had the tags on them. 1 pair were Faded Glory ($2 used, probably at least $10-12 new) and 1 pair were from The Children's Place ($2.50 used, at least $15 new). Just with those two pairs of pants I saved our family a minimum of $20 so that means that I 'made' $20 at my job today! Yay for me!
If you are smart you will take my advice- buy used when it will do. Or take the Duggar's advice and "buy used and save the difference." Either way, your long-term financial goals will thank you!

*NOTE* All the pictures of Kyle looking super duper cute in this post contain USED, SECOND HAND clothes. Can you tell? Didn't think so!