To Splurge or Not to Splurge?

As most of you can tell from my earlier post, I do my best to avoid the mall. But this past Friday I ended up spending a couple of hours walking around in a local mall and I found myself not even being able to fathom paying some of the prices I saw.

You may be thinking “Now, Brandi- if you don’t like malls, why did you go to one?” Well, you curious readers, I took one of my good friends and teammates to a doctor’s appointment for a bone scan. For those of you who don’t know how a bone scan works (I didn’t have a clue)… my friend had to be injected with a radioactive tracer and then we had to wait three hours while the tracer made its way to her bones. We couldn’t think of anything better to do for those three hours than walk around the mall. Plus, I am in desperate need for a bathing suit since spring break is next week. 

Next week, you'll find me here.

My friend and I made our first stop in Victoria’s Secret. They had a rather small selection of bathing suits and none of them under $30 apiece. Needless to say, I wasn’t in that store for very long. We made our way to one of the few stores I do somewhat enjoy shopping at in the mall- Old Navy. I was disappointed this time though, because their cheapest suits were $15 apiece and I still couldn’t bring myself to pay that much. My friend and I stopped by a few other stores but none of them had any bathing suits at all. 

Before long, I was leaving the mall disappointed as usual. This time though, I was somewhat disappointed in myself to be honest. There are times that I believe you need to splurge. Treating yourself is okay. As hard as I try to pinch those pennies, it wouldn’t be the end of the World if I spent $30 on a bathing suit once a year. 

On the other hand though, maybe I didn’t find anything because I wasn’t meant to. Basically, there are two pointers I am trying to share by writing this post- it’s okay to splurge every now and then and also, just because you are go to the mall- it is completely okay if you leave empty handed.

Avoid the Mall

Going to the mall is probably one of my least favorite things to do. The only time I find myself going is if I receive a gift card to a store in the mall or if one of my friends is looking for something specific and I am just tagging along. It’s hard to find a good bargain in the mall, so that’s part of the reason why I dislike malls so much. Another reason is because every time I try on clothes at the mall, I leave the building feeling crappy about myself. Stores like H&M, Forever 21, Charlotte Rousse, and Hollister make their clothes for girls who are 110 pounds and 5 foot 8 inches. We won’t go into details…but the clothes made for girls of that size don’t look so good on me. Instead of wasting my time (and most importantly money) in the mall, I’d much rather go to Goodwill.

The only time I see most of my friends who I go to college with in Goodwill is when they are shopping for a themed party. Shockingly enough, Goodwill has more to offer than tacky Christmas sweaters and 80s garb. Some of my favorite articles of clothing are from Goodwill. I’d say I get more compliments on my clothes I get there than the clothes I have from a store in the mall. I can say with confidence that by purchasing the majority of my wardrobe at Goodwill I have saved several hundreds of dollars throughout my time as a college student. 

Two of my favorite Goodwill finds. 

There are some people who are skeptical about shopping at thrift stores, and I understand why. My two rules for shopping at thrift stores, like Goodwill, are to always thoroughly check the clothes for damage before buying them and to wash them before wearing them. Another reason some people choose to stay away from thrift stores is because they don’t like digging through piles of clothes. I think that is half the fun. Finding a cute top in a pile of ugly ones is like finding treasure buried in the sand. 

You don’t have to like shopping at Goodwill, but if you want pinch some pennies, I’d do my best to stay away from the mall.