All things second hand #fivefrugalthings

It’s all things second hand this week. As a relatively new eBay seller, I am trying to build up my stocks of items to sell. I have loads! Mr S keeps moaning at me for buying more, but the way I see it is I need to buy things whilst they are cheap. So…

Charity shop bargains

Me and my eldest daughter had a quick look at a couple of out of town charity shops on Wednesday. One had a 50% reduced rail so we bought a few bits and pieces. Then yesterday my youngest daughter was out and about and spotted that, not only had they extended the 50% sale to the whole store, the shop next door had all of their skirts and dresses for £1!

She texted me and I whizzed straight over. I bought 19 beautiful dresses from the £1 shop and another 7 or 8 reduced to 50%. Very pleased!!

Replenishing my wardrobe

I also bought a few nice tops for myself and a dress, which was timely, as I was looking for something suitable dress wise.

As you may know, Shoestring Cottage has been nominated in a few categories for the SHOMOS UK Money Bloggers Awards, which are coming up next weekend. Holly from Thrifty Mum had the brilliant idea that those of us who are taking part in #SecondHandSeptember should wear one of our second hand finds to the awards for some photos.

I have a ton of used clothing, but not many items that are very smart. Now that I am self employed, I mostly live in jeans and trackies! However, I found a really nice khaki green midi dress to wear. It’s only Boohoo, but is flattering and comfortable.

Not sure what shoes to wear yet. I did find some black Hush Puppy sandals for £2 at last week’s boot sale (in the picture, with the ghost of someone else’s feet in them!) but it might not be warm enough for those. If not, I have some plain pumps that might do. I certainly won’t be buying anything new!

Boot sales

I haven’t been to enough boot sales this summer, so I have been going to practically every one I can get to before the season is over.

We have them locally on  Sunday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, so whenever the weather has been good I have been up early with my granny trolley on wheels and off. This cost me £2.50 in a charity shop and has certainly been worth the tiny investment!

As I said above, I am stockpiling so that I have plenty to list once the season is over. Charity shops are generally a bit expensive, although I do buy from them fairly regularly.

My first giveaway!

This week I ran my first ever giveaway on the blog. It being Zero Waste Week and #SecondHandSeptember, my thoughts are full on eco mode. So, when Zoe from Eco Thrifty Living gave me a couple of signed copies of her new book, I thought it would be perfect for a giveaway. You can find out how to win a copy here or visit me on Instagram.

Fab Slimming World cookbooks

I am pretty much at my Slimming World target now. 1lb to go, so I should hit it this week! However, I am still trying to keep my weight at a stable and healthy level so I continue to look at Slimming World recipes. I did a post on Slimming World pasta dinners last week which you can read here.

Anyway, I was pretty chuffed to spot all these books at the boot sale for just £1 each. The Christmas one looks particularly promising, as that’s when we are presented with so much temptation and unhealthy food! I have been going through and making a note of recipes to try.

So, as you can see, it was all things second hand for this week’s Five Frugal Things round up.

As ever, I’m linking up with this Cass, Emma and Becky in this week’s ‘Frugal Friday’ linky