Sunday 25 December 2016

My twelve favourite bargain finds of 2016

Merry Christmas everyone!

As I have been a bit remiss about blogging this year, I thought it only fair to do a round up of my favourite acquisitions over the past 12 months.  After all, what is a blog about being thrifty without any bargains?

I'll start with this, star buy of the year I think and from the local YMCA furniture shop which has since closed down.

Ercol Windsor shaker style chairs and Chester table, £45 the lot.  OH was with me and we had the chairs in the back of my car before the assistant could finish telling us the price!  I've kept the original cushion inners and will make new cushion covers for them. As you can see from the photo, the chairs were very dusty and the cushion covers were filthy and a bit worse for wear. 

Ebay bargain next, I've wanted a patterned coat or jacket for a while, but didn't want to splash out as I'm not keen on standing out from the crowd.  Anyway, this was a bargain at just £29 including postage, they retail at £120

A charity shop purchase next, a lovely grey needlecord Laura Ashley jacket for £1.  Ironically, this is from a charity shop that I used to just give a passing nod to, as it was expensive.  This year they have changed their pricing and I have bought quite a bit from them


A find from early on in the year now, this lovely new crocheted cardi from Next, found on ebay and my winning bid of £7.05 included postage too. 




More furniture, and also from the YMCA shop. A pair of three seater sofas by JC and MP Smith, makers of cottage furniture (now no longer trading).  Cost was £90 for the pair, and delivery was £15

 Next up, a charity shop bargain for OH, this WeirdFish fleece lined macaroni jacket for £7.99.  I hardly ever see these macaroni jackets in charity shops, and OH really liked mine, so when I saw this I bought it, and he loves it!



and another OH bargain, these Merrell shoes for just £7.99 in a BHF charity shop (I thought the price was a bit OTT until I realised how much Merrells cost).  He didn't like them until I asked him to try them on, then he didn't want to take them off, they were so comfy!


A bag next, this gorgeous navy leather Faith bag was unused and just £3.50 in a local charity shop.  I'm a fan of this Hobo shape so will get a lot of use from it.
   
This next purchase was a carefully considered one, a brand new item!  I bought a Weirdfish Macaroni full zip hoodie in foxberry colour, from Weirdfish a couple of months ago.  We visit the Cotswolds fairly frequently and I had seen them in the shops there for the RRP of £70, the lowest price they got to in the sale was £49 online.  I found a 15% voucher code online as well, not expecting it to work on sale items, it did and I also got free shipping.  Total cost to me was £41.65.


The next item is my new favourite jumper, a charity shop find from Broadway in the Cotswolds.  There are two charity shops there, both pretty expensive, and this jumper was £5.50, but I liked it so I bought it. The actual colour is green and lavender but the overall effect is grey.  The brand, Lilith, appears to be pretty high end and knitwear is somewhere over £100, so it was a bargain.  When I washed it I found it was absolutely filthy though!


This next bargain is a freebie.  I have a voucherback credit card, which I use for general shopping and paying bills if I can do so without penalty, and I accumulate points towards retail vouchers.  I'm pretty rubbish at spending vouchers usually, but always look forward to collecting my freebie retail bargains about once a year (as I actually don't spend much it's only worth cashing them in once a year!).

My last visit to Birmingham, with my vouchers, I visited Marks and Spencer and picked out these two tops for free.


  Last but not least, yet more furniture.  This time a Gumtree find, a pair of Ercol Goldsmith chairs for £30 the pair.  I needed a computer chair and just couldn't bring myself to buy a piece of modern tat.  I liked the dining chairs we already have, they are so comfy, and these are the same shape.  They have been sanded and re-varnished in a mahogany colour but I am hoping to paint one to go in the spare bedroom and sand the other back and just clear varnish it.

  So there you have it, my 12 fave finds from 2016, charity shopped, new and heavily discounted, ebay finds, freebie retail bargains and Gumtree finds too.

Linking this post up to Patti's Visible Monday

Have you found any great bargains this year? 

10 comments:

  1. Hope you had a great Christmas! You did well this year, Claire. My favourite is the Seasalt coat (I'm still looking for a similar one myself) but the table and chairs come in a close second. As you probably know, I found quite a few bargains this year. Maybe I'll do a round up of my favourites too ... xxx

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    1. Ooh yes, please do a round up, you've had so many bargains! xxx

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  2. Those Ercol chairs are beauties, sure beats some vinyl monstrosity from PC World!
    What a great years for bargains finds, here's to even more success in 2017! xxx

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  3. Great shopping, you! Love the crocheted sweater, and those chairs are fab. Thanks for linking up, xo
    -Patti
    http://notdeadyetstyle.com

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  4. Some great bargains there especially the Ercol. I also love the Next and Lilith knitwear. Let's hope 2017 is even better for bargain hunting.

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    1. Hi Fiona, thanks, I love the Lilith jumper, so comfy if a little drab in colour. xx

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  5. Ooooh, you HAVE done well!!! I'm v impressed with the sofas another seasalt coat. I would love one of their patterned ones!Xx

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    1. Thanks Kezzie! It was quite hard picking just 12, I love all my bargain buys! xxx

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