As a bit of a treat, Martin and I went on Saturday morning to a nearby local town and had a good snuffle through the charity shops. We do this every now and then. It's a nice morning out, gives us a bit of exercise and we mooch around somewhere we haven't been before.
I'd sorted out some clothes to donate - there was a titanic amount of jumpers in the cupboard that were too warm to wear anywhere but an Antarctic expedition plus a few smart office blouses and shirts made redundant after my firm brought in a casual dress code.
The first stop was Oxfam, which runs a scheme offering a £5 off M&S voucher in exchange for donated clothes as long as at least one item is M&S (I had three). You have to spend £35 on clothes, beauty or homewares in M&S to get the money off, but Christmas guarantees at least one relative will want something from there and we still frequent M&S for our smalls so the voucher will get used.
Because it was a wealthy market town, the quality of the goods in the shops was high and I managed to find some bargains:
1) a pair of new suede Hush Puppies £15.99 (see photo above) Instant love for me, and they are super comfortable. These retail between £40-£65 so this is a snip for a good pair of shoes.
You can tell from the sole they are unworn.
A new Country Rose (EWM) waterfall cardigan £8.99. Original price tag £28.
Martin removed these from my grasp to wrap up for Christmas so I have to wait for a while longer to get my hands on them! We often do this just to help keep the cost of Christmas down. Also, it feels wrong to buy something pristine new when there are excellent versions available for a fraction of the price secondhand. I'm pretty militant about books in this respect. No excuse new chopping down trees.
I also found this top from Apricot for £4, which I loved and was in exceptional condition.
Finally two films (£1.00 each) and a book (£1.50)
It wasn't all just me though.
Martin bought a 8 or 9 £1 horror DVDs so I shall be having those inflicted upon me this week in honour of Halloween.
I'll be a nervous wreck come the weekend.
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