My closet, once overflowing with clothes has been halved, halved again, and then halved yet again since minimalizing my home a bit less than a year ago. I still have an ample amount of clothing, which tells you how much I had before. Despite my learned frugality, one spendthrift habit has eluded me until now: the sacred art of thrift store shopping.

Like many others, I am guilty of feeling negatively about shopping there in the past. I have spent a bit of time in thrift stores in the past, mostly searching for some frugal Halloween costumes. My boyfriend likes to buy used t-shirts at thrift stores, so I often begrudgingly accompany him to a store near us. I usually walk around for a few minutes without really looking, and then I spend the next 25 minutes impatiently waiting for him to finish while trying to ignore the strange aroma of the store.

On our most recent visit something changed. Out of boredom, I decided to start looking through the clothing racks. I found a beautiful Banana Republic shirt for $5 that would be great for my work wardrobe. Encouraged, I worked my way over to other racks within the women’s section. By the time all was said and done, I had spent just over forty dollars on clothing from the thrift shop. I was able to pick up two zip-up hoodies, three t-shirts, a cocktail shaker, and some cute mint green mugs.

I have been awakened to the world of thrift shopping. Here are a few reasons you should try it too:

People gain weight. (Or sometimes lose it!) You can find some great, barely or never used pieces that are still in fashion because they simply no longer fit the previous owner. Thanks North American diet!

You can find great basics. Thrift shops’ true champions are their basics, made every year by every big brand and readily available at thrift shops. I found a simple v-neck tee that I would have spent at least $15 on for less than $5.

You can find thrift shop gold. Thrift stores often sell sterling silver serving trays for next to nothing. Antique furniture, toys, and housewares can be found that are worth a small fortune.

It’s environmentally friendly. Reusing items is a great, green habit. Have you ever purchased a book, only to read it once? Buy used at a thrift store.

It helps to support those in need. Many thrift stores not only give vouchers for clothing to those in financial need, but they also donate proceeds to worthwhile charities.

You can look like Macklemore. Who doesn’t want to “take your grandpa’s style” and wear a vest covered in dog portraits? You could even start a thrift store fashion blog, if you have a unique fashion sense and a camera to document your finds.

If, like me, you aren’t willing to switch over completely to thrift shopping you can still pick up some of your wardrobe there and some of it in regular retail stores.Thrift stores require a bit of searching, but when you find a great deal it is completely worth it.

A lot of people write about how finances are influenced by their relationships. When I’m in a relationship I spend more money on going out to dinner or the movies with my significant other. Married couples often find money to be a major point of contention. Despite this truth, there is one relationship that I can attribute to 90% of the idiotic financial decisions of my past and the slightly-less-idiotic decisions I now make: my relationship with myself.

Like many women, I have struggled with feelings of insecurity and low self-esteem for as long as I can remember. These feelings were really prevalent throughout my time in high school and college. To combat my insecurities I bought many brand name clothes, the newest fashion trends, the best cosmetics, etc. I’m not saying that wanting to have nice things is bad. Making these purchases if you can afford them is fine with me but I could not afford them at the time. There are about 80 trillion people in Toronto driving around with leased luxury cars that they cannot afford. Do they get them purely for the love of fancy cars? Sure, maybe a bit but I’m willing to bet money that the main reason behind this is to combat some low self-worth and to fit in with the many well-off residents of Toronto.

At some point during university I broke. And I broke hard. I could no longer ignore how terribly I felt about myself and the poor decisions that resulted from it. Once I started to come to terms with some of my issues and work on myself, spending money started to lose it’s appeal. No longer did I feel the need to look perfect and strive to own the best clothes all the time. Feeling good about myself made those feelings start to disappear disappear. I didn’t stop showering and don’t wear the same two shirts on alternating days but I have come a long way in lowering my attachment to materialism. And my bank account shows it!

Looking at why you are making purchases you can’t afford or coveting items that aren’t necessary can help you to get to the root of what is causing your money issues. A lot of the time it’s done to cover insecurities you have about yourself. If you feel that you have self-esteem issues, battling them head-on is difficult. Through taking a hard look at your insecurities and seeing that you are blowing them out of proportion, leaning on those close to you for support, and reassuring yourself often with positive thoughts you can begin to make a positive change. I’ve found reading helpful as well. There are a lot of great books out there that can show you things about yourself you never realized before.

If you can improve your relationship with yourself you will be amazed at how great life can get. It can affect your finances in such a positive way but more importantly you will be a happier person in every part of your life, which is pretty priceless.

I generally don’t spend a lot of time wandering malls, but I do love to browse my favorite stores online. I load everything I want into an online shopping cart, and then spend a few hours agonizing over it before making a decision to hit the “checkout” button or not. Typically I overspend, and then have to find ways to earn more money the following month to pay off my credit card bill — I always do, but I can’t but help feel a bit of buyer’s remorse in the sense that maybe I should have put $40 extra into my RRSP instead of buy yet another white t-shirt.

The real problem is I never get around to buying things I actually need or have wanted for a long time, like pillow-top for my mattress or a curling iron. I always forego saving up for these small-big purchases and instead blow my money on clothes or another dinner out (I am writing this as I shove $30 of take-out sushi into my mouth).

Then I had a brilliant idea:

I need a personal spending account.

What is it? A savings account dedicated to delayed spending. Instead of the money being dedicated to a long-term goal like retirement or a down-payment for a home, this account is for purchases that I intend to make in the next few months.

How it works: I’ve set up an automatic transfer of a small amount from each paycheque to go directly into this account. Here it will stay UNSPENT and collecting interest until there’s enough for a desired purchase.

Why I need it: I am only successful financially when I am forced to be. Bills and debts are easy because they’re obligations,  savings like RRSPs need to be automatic for me to participate, and whatever is left over in my chequing account when all is said and done never accumulates. You’d think I was making a determined effort to drain my accounts every month. Actually I’m so ardent in my efforts I usually manage to reach broke  days before my next paycheque comes in.

Truthfully, I think my income increased too rapidly for me to be responsible about it. The only solution is putting tighter reins on my spending. With my student loan debt shrinking to an amount that’s laughable it’s so tiny, I’m feeling motivated to put in some extra effort until it’s all gone.

So no more spending frivolously at every whim — extra cash goes into the spending account and has to be withdrawn for pre-determined purposes!