Heya everybody.  Not to sound all woe is me, but I'm having a really hard time financially and its becoming quite a burdenon me.  I am soooooo very happy to have started HRT and laser hair removal, but between the doctor visits and paying out of pocket for the prescriptions, its creating a whole new issue.  I CAN afford everything because of careful budgeting, but I have foregone just about every thing else.

I don't know, I guess I just needed to share it with you all.  I mean, how can I satiate this overwhelming urge to go shopping with so little to spend.      I've been getting real creative and I'm seriously considering just making my own clothes! 

Hi Anna,
I sympathize. I don't know where you are, but as far clothes go, I know a lot of girls who shop at Good Will and other resale shops regularly. Also, checking clearance sections has been very helpful. HM is a favorite store for me because the clothing is inexpensive and fairly stylish and they often have extremely good sales. I just picked up some tops there for $5 apiece. It takes more work and isn't as much fun, but it can stretch a budget a long way.
Hugs
Sammie

Make-up wise, I love elf stuff, it's really, really good quality! and the prices are so low.

I don't know where you're from, but I love eBay. Especially shopping for things from China. So cheap it's unreal!

Skincare wise, "simple" is quite good and cheap. Try and get some organic, cold pressed, virgin plant oils as a night treatment. Also, get a sunscreen! Any sunscreen, as long as it has both UVA and UVB protection (read the packaging).

Good luck!

Absolutely!  Goodwill seems to be one of the better places, for being low end.. Very inexpensive. Undies, tho.. A lot less selection. And most of the bras are worn/stretched out.  So walmart/target for those.  I get my jeans and tops from GW.. and with the purging I do a few weeks later, I get to change the wardrobe, and get the tax benefits.

CC.. I would be leary of stuff from china!  Unless you know who actually makes them, just plan on there being lead in them.  Jus' sayin'..  (Originally wrote cosmetics from china, but edited)

Walmart, CVS, Wallgreens, RiteAid.. Drug stores for low cost,safe cosmetics. But that's just me..

Dollar store, seriously. Especially for makeup - it's a great way to experiment cheaply, and some of the stuff is actually surprisingly good quality (I buy all my lipstick and glittery eyeshadows there now). Not so much for clothes or bras, I think, but makeup can be ridiculously expensive, so that'll help.

Thanks for the replies.  Goodwill seems awesome, but can honestly find stuff that matches?  I'd imagine it takes a bit of searching unless you're going for a real ecclectic look, which honestly suits my personality.     I DID find some real brand name makeup on clearance at a store Big Lots, but its a hit and miss there. 

I've considered ordering online, and I've heard there are some really good Korean makeups for fairly cheap.  Guess Ill give it a try!   Couldnt hurt at this point 

thrift stores and ebay are your best friends! Ebay is great for finding stuff like victoria secret, aerie, etc for super cheap.

NYX is a very cheap makeup brand that has some good products.

Target puts dresses on clearance $10 or less. especially when the seasons change

I would second the recommendation for ELF makeup. A lot of it is very good quality but it is not expensive at all. I use a lot of ELF stuff

Although I don't like the carbon footprint - Iherb.com does have a lot of healthy product and makeup at reduced prices. Take a look. The link include a voucher code
http://www.iherb.com/?rcode=HJL053

Gotta concur with the Goodwill recommendations; a great place to figure out the basics (sizes, what styles suit you, and there's some really good deals on jeans there).  Goodwill mistakes are $5, not $50.

Makeup?  This is something I do tend to spend a little more on.  My little makeup bag as a mishmash of Maybelline, Rimmel, Revlon, that kind of thing - the major Walmart level brands, nothing fancy.  The cheap cheap stuff (and I've used some dirt cheap stuff before) didn't seem to cover the masculine bits and pieces very well - remnants of beard shadow tended to show through, eyeshadow was not good, etc.  I went the dollar store route at first, but it really made me look far worse than I needed to, perhaps because the choices are so limited and it was a case of having to pick between a couple of dollar store choices instead of the fifty you can find at CVS.  Maybe I've got lots of ugly to hide.  But there's lots of good brands out there, and I'm dying to try ELF now thanks to this discussion.  Try a range of things, see what works for you.  It's not too expensive if you can keep your makeup addiction under control.

Quote from: AnnaCannibal on June 28, 2014, 09:37:16 AM
Heya everybody.  Not to sound all woe is me, but I'm having a really hard time financially and its becoming quite a burdenon me.  I am soooooo very happy to have started HRT and laser hair removal, but between the doctor visits and paying out of pocket for the prescriptions, its creating a whole new issue.  I CAN afford everything because of careful budgeting, but I have foregone just about every thing else.

I don't know, I guess I just needed to share it with you all.  I mean, how can I satiate this overwhelming urge to go shopping with so little to spend.      I've been getting real creative and I'm seriously considering just making my own clothes!

Thrift stores have everything!!! Just shop slow & try on all clothes, etc..... Women that work there are nice, they wil help you complete your wardrope......... Today I shopped & picked up the cool little bag for $1.49. Have fun, shop slow for your size.

For the cheap makeup has anyone heard of the Mink 3d printer? It uses the same material as all the other makeup brands, but will custom print whatever color you want. It's supposed to come out later this year at around $200. Though I'm not sure how much the actual refill materials will cost.

It's a bigger investment upfront, but way cheaper overall.

Ebay is a good option. You can get a lot of items for very cheap prices and if you don't like them, well i suppose you can relist them again as well.

Quote from: xponentialshift on June 28, 2014, 04:54:42 PM
For the cheap makeup has anyone heard of the Mink 3d printer? It uses the same material as all the other makeup brands, but will custom print whatever color you want. It's supposed to come out later this year at around $200. Though I'm not sure how much the actual refill materials will cost.

It's a bigger investment upfront, but way cheaper overall.

Hmmm, I've never heard of that before!  Sounds interesting to say the least.  As for makeup, I went out and found some ELF products.  They had this big board of eyeshadow for $10 I thought was an amazing deal seeing asn how other shadows cost more than that for just one!  They seem to be likenthe high end of the cheaper stuff if that makes any sense.  Definitely will buy some more.

Quote from: __________ on June 28, 2014, 03:40:18 PMMakeup?  This is something I do tend to spend a little more on.  My little makeup bag as a mishmash of Maybelline, Rimmel, Revlon, that kind of thing - the major Walmart level brands, nothing fancy.  The cheap cheap stuff (and I've used some dirt cheap stuff before) didn't seem to cover the masculine bits and pieces very well - remnants of beard shadow tended to show through, eyeshadow was not good, etc. 

If you're looking to successfully cover your beard, try getting a coral/orange, very warm lipstick from elf, in the UK we can buy them for £1.50, and very often they have 50% off sale, so I ended up getting most of  their stuff for not even a quid! Absolutely stunning.

If you got a blue-y 5 o clock shadow, use orange, then apply foundation/concealer over it, set it with powder and voila!

If you're looking for cheap, good coverage concealers, have a look into cream sticks type things, many brands do them

Good luck!

Quote from: crowcrow223 on June 29, 2014, 04:08:00 AM
If you're looking to successfully cover your beard, try getting a coral/orange, very warm lipstick from elf, in the UK we can buy them for £1.50, and very often they have 50% off sale, so I ended up getting most of  their stuff for not even a quid! Absolutely stunning.

I shall pick some up ASAP.  Thanks for the recommendation!

if your willing to give your money to the devil (walmart) their clearance racks do wonders, good starter cloths and padded bras in all sorts of sizes.

The goodwill outlet store is the best for clothes because it is so much cheaper than normal goodwill pricing. I tend to be looking for something cool and vintage when I go to goodwill though rarely am I looking for something basic like a tank top or the like.

For basic essential clothes and underwear i only seem to go a few places:
1: rugged warehouse- hit and miss but the prices are low.
2: Burlington coat factory- ignore the name they sell everything and have layaway and decent prices.
3: target- suprsingly fashionable clothes are sold here.
4: Walmart- probably the best place for things like plain panties.

As far as makeup, walmart and target are great for some things, but they don't sell Dermablend.

Also mccalls patterns are pretty reasonable and so is the walmart fabric pricing if you are into a more DIY approach.