The Bargain Queen blog has just been added to Project Blog (presented by The Budget Fashionista). It’s a directory of all the best fashion, beauty and shopping blogs around so I’m thrilled to get a listing!
If you’re interested in fashion, beauty or shopping go check it out 
Just FYI, there was some comment spam left over the weekend so word verification has been turned on. I get just as annoyed deciphering those silly word pictures as everyone else does, but it seems preferable to having a blog that’s covered in spam.
Apologies for any inconvenience.
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Looking for some fantastic, cheap clothing? Thrift stores (or op shops as we call them here in Australia) offer some great deals.
I volunteer at my local op shop occasionally, so I’ve seen the best (and worst) shopping techniques in action.
Here’s how to get some great deals.
(And for more tips, check out my post on how to get insider shopping info from a couple of days ago.)
If you followed the link from Digs Magazine and are here for the first time, welcome!
The Bargain Queen blog is all about living well on a budget and feeling good about it. Here you’ll find information on saving money (without compromising on style) in all aspects of your life: food, entertainment, fashion, beauty, gardening, decorating and a whole lot more.
It’s written by The Bargain Queen and her husband, Mr Bargain Queen. They’re 27 and 31 respectively and live in Sydney, Australia. The Bargain Queen is ruler of all things retail: if there’s a cheap source of anything, she knows all about it. Mr Bargain Queen backs her up with his expertise in personal finance, budgeting and investing.
Thanks for stopping by,
The Bargain Queen
PS: If you like cats, you can meet Queen Kitty here.
![[ sale tag image ]](http://www.thebargainqueen.org/images/sale_tag.gif)
Getting insider info makes it so much easier to find great bargains. If you know:
…it’s a whole lot easier to find the best deals.
Here’s how to get that information:
‘Fess up: do you love checking out celebrities’ outfits as much as I do?
Do you spend too much on magazines just to check out the pretty pictures?
Here’s how to save money on mags: check out these great web sites instead.
According to The Chicago Tribune:
Shoe wardrobe’s magic number: 5
I can’t say I agree with them, but it’s still worth a read.
Via ShoeSense
![[ eBay logo ]](http://pics.ebaystatic.com/aw/pics/logos/logoEbay_x45.gif)
Fraud is, quite seriously, eBay’s #1 best-selling item. Almost everyone I know has been defrauded on eBay at least once.
So, in the name of helping you avoid eBay scams, here are the cons I’ve fallen for, and some tips to help you avoid being tricked yourself.
The Bargain Queen owes her readers an apology. The other day, I blogged about $1,000 handbags, wrote pretty poorly on the subject, and Rebecca was rightly offended.
While the intended message was “if you can afford expensive things, make sure you’ll get value from them by wearing them to death”, this is what was actually said:
This is a great lesson to remember when you’re out shopping: if you stick with classic things that you love, you can buy expensive things and still be a Bargain Queen. Let’s start with my personal obsession: bags. A $1,000 bag like the ones in the story is fine, if you really will carry it every day for 10 years - and as long as you can afford it without resorting to plastic. Over its life, it costs the same as two fashionable $50 bags a year, and a great bag will look a lot better than a bunch of cheapies. (My most expensive bag was a present from Mr Bargain Queen and even that was under $1,000… no wonder I’m not a fashion editor!)
If a $200 bag is a big splurge for you, work with that: buy the nicest fabric bag you can find and treat it well. (I find the majority of $200 leather bags are a bit ew.) Or if you’re a fashion chameleon and get bored with a bag after a few weeks, forget the ‘investment’ bags and have fun with cheap and cheerful.
The point is, spend according to the amount of wear you’ll get from each garment, and you’ll never look like a slightly unstable fashion victim.
This is the immediacy of blogging at its worst. I meant to say one thing, but kind of managed to say something else entirely. And was bitchy in the process. The post in question has now been updated, so you can see what I meant to say over here.
To clarify my views on expensive bags:
You don’t have to have an expensive bag to be stylish. You don’t even have to ‘buy the best you can afford’, as magazines often say. Any bag that suits your budget, personality and lifestyle is great, even if the magazines say it’s a ‘don’t’ this year. (’Cos if it’s ‘out’, it’ll be back ‘in’ as soon as you’ve thrown it away!)
I like to look at super-expensive fashion the same way I look at Jackson Pollock’s Blue Poles: as fabulous, inspiring artwork that have no place in my life or on my credit card statement.
I HATE that “my stuff is not good enough” feeling that I sometimes gets when I’m reading magazines or looking at things online. I hate feeling cheap because my budget didn’t stretch to an extravagant wedding, fully colour coordinated home furnishings or this season’s throwaway fashion trend.
Noboday should ever feel bad about living within their means. Ever.
Fashion magazines applaud the personal style of people who buy couture dresses, and regard $5,000-10,000/year clothes budget as minimal. That’s because the majority of their revenue comes from companies that sell vastly expensive clothing. People who have the money for couture and their own personal stylist have it relatively easy. They’re scrutinised more, but they also have a big team of people dedicated to making them look good.
The people who really deserve applause are people like Rebecca, who’s stylish on $1 a day. Finding a great sweater for a few hundred is easy; finding one for $1.77 is fantastic!
From another Times article, a brief quote:
One good thing is that TK Maxx is rather ethical; by recycling unwanted gear it’s not pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
This confirms something I’ve believed for a long time: the best bargain-hunting grounds are the places that deal with cast-offs and rejects. So when you find super bargains in inauspicious surroundings, give yourself a pat on the back. You’ve taken something off the road to landfill and given it another life, AND you’ve scored a great deal in the process.
Get your fashion bargains by RSS.
...for fabulous things at reasonable prices:
