Frugal Challenge Complete!

*Picture One: linen blend jacket $4.50 at Van Heusen, yellow tank $6.74 at the Gap Outlet

*Picture Two: cropped plaid pants $2.59 at the thrift store

*Picture Three: shoes $3.20 at the Naturalizer outlet

*Picture Four: earrings $1.99, and necklace $3.99 at Cato

I started off by trying to find pants at the mall clearance racks on Friday. Two hours later, no pants (but I did find two Christmas presents!). I went to Marshall's: no clearance. Finally, I headed to my no-fail thrift store and found these cute cropped pants. I promise they don't look dumpy in real life- they're actually very flattering. On Saturday, I hit up the outlet mall. Van Heusen had several racks of $5 items which I very carefully combed. This linen-blend jacket was the only one in that color and in size Medium, so it was perfect. Van Heusen now has a loyalty card program (not a credit card), and I got 10% off my entire purchase for signing up. I also had a 15% off one item coupon, but the cashier applied it to a shirt that I also bought. Next, I went to the Naturalizer outlet armed with a $10 off any purchase coupon. I studied the price signs and realized that I could only afford the 80% off items which had a purple dot. I found these purple dot shoes in my size (I take a wide size at Naturalizer) immediately, AND they're very comfy! In real life, this is where I would have stopped since the jacket's mother of pearl buttons are decorative enough for me. In the area of accessories, I firmly believe that less is more. But part of this competition is buying all that you can for $25, and I still had money left. So I went to Cato and found the necklace and earrings on sale. Ta da! This was so much fun that I think I will set the $25 limit on myself whenever I need to find an outfit.