Ambleside Classical

The Underhanded Way I Got My Husband To Happily Shop and My Tween to Be Thrifty

"Sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast." ~Lewis Carroll


It was Family Fun day today, and not only was the weather stormy and wet - there were not many coins in the coffer. (Is it just me, or is everything from coffee to bowling extremely overpriced in Suburbia?) At this time of the year, clothing, school/office supplies, books, and so many other things need to be bought. My idea this week for Family Fun was meant to be peaceful, fun, inexpensive, and to also to do the impossible: to get my husband to happily shop and my tween to enjoy being thrifty. It would be nice to get some needed shopping done, despite the fact that I live with two Non-shoppers and the fact that our coin purse is low. : )

I started off by inviting The Fam out for a thrifty luxury: a pot of tea at the local teahouse. The place is Zen-inspired: uncluttered, clean and unfussy, and full of the delicious fragrance of every tea you can imagine. For $7.95, we all sat enjoying our steaming cups of Berries and Cream as the storm clouds did their worst outside. The tea house also gives you the used tea and will also refill the pot, so we had a second pot for free. How's that for THRIFTY fun?

Ok, now that The Fam was all peaceful and open to suggestion (I think it was because of the hypnotic pan flute music at the teahouse, but it could have been something in the tea), I sold them my subversive Plan. I called it the "Get the Style for Less Challenge." Showing a clothing ad with the latest, trendy fall fashions, I issued a Challenge: Recreate one of the Looks in the ad for $6 or less at the Thrift store. That's right, $6!!! This is for tops/accessories only, not jeans. My husband went for it, as he is always up for a Challenge, and I have previously brainwashed him by exposing him to plenty of "What Not to Wear" episodes. My tween liked the idea of getting $6 to spend and of getting to show us old folks how out of it we are. : )

It was so much fun, my husband didn't think about the fact that we were SHOPPING, and my tween forgot about the fact that she was not only SHOPPING but shopping in a THRIFT STORE. To our delight, the store had all clothing 50% off today. What a blessing! One of the outfits didn't end up fitting, so we only got 2. We had a blast though! All of us agreed that hubby's Look, the print top with jacket, was the winner! For $1 each, dd also picked out a funky plaid hat and a cute pink top. Our shopping list was: 3 tops, 1 jacket, 2 necklaces, 1 belt, and 1 hat for a grand total of $14! Most of the items were new with tags still on.

Here are some photos of the Look were were trying to recreate, and the 2 outfits we came up with. The plaid top with belt is much cuter than it looks in the pic. :) Also, we couldn't find a leather jacket in our price range, so we substituted denim.

Now, go out there and do something impossible, live well with less, choose joy, and don't forget to ACCESSORIZE. ; )