One of my absolute favorite hobbies is thrift shopping. Everything has gotten so expensive lately, and I like to save money. I would much rather score a good deal on a gently-used secondhand item than spend a lot of money for just one item.

With three females in our home, shopping can get out of hand really fast. That being said, we like to utilize a few semi-local consignment shops and a lot of thrift stores.

Thrift store shopping is truly an experience and an exercise in patience. You can find some treasures if you’re willing to look. Today, I’d like to share my tips for shopping thrift stores.

Go in with a list.

I can easily spend hours in a thrift store, but my husband and my wallet don’t like that. You don’t go grocery shopping without your shopping list, so try doing the same thing at the thrift store.

I keep a running list on my phone of things I’m looking for at the thrift store. This keeps me from spending too much time and money. Right now, I’m looking for winter clothes and jackets.

Go to the rack you want and check the whole rack

If you are looking for sweaters, find the sweater rack and quickly run down each side of the rack. Sometimes the sizes are mixed up- you may find something nice hidden among other sizes that aren’t your size. I always recommend checking out the whole rack just in case.

Think outside the box

Don’t be afraid to shop the junior section or the men’s section, even if you’re a 5’5” curvy female like me. I have found button down flannels that fit me and oversized sweaters that fit me.

Sometimes you may find a quality piece with a small defect. I recently found a beautiful leather jacket with a really bad scratch on it. I purchased an adhesive leather patch and fixed it up, and now it’s good as new.

Don’t settle

Run your hands along the fabric. If it feels scratchy, pilled, or picked, leave it there. It’s not a good deal if it’s worn out or not in good shape…unless that’s what you’re after.

Go often!

Find a favorite thrift store or two and visit regularly. Mondays are a great day to thrift shop, because people usually clean out and donate on the weekends. Saturday is probably not the best day, since that is the day most people are shopping the store.

I recently racked up at our local Goodwill- I found two things for me, and several things for my girls. Check below to see what I found.

I hope you have enjoyed my thrift store tips- where are your favorite places to shop?