Saving money as you travel, by shopping in op shops

I think I have referred to going to a few, op shops on my blog before.  Op-shops, short for ‘Opportunity Shops’ are what people in the UK know as Charity shops, or Thrift stores in the states.

I think I mentioned before about how much of an op-shop snob I used to be in the UK. I’d always go to recycle old clothes there, but never buy. However, since I have been here, I buy the majority of my stuff in Op Shops. For two reasons, 1. if my stay in New Zealand is not that permanent then I can get rid of a lot of excess things without worrying how much I have spent on them in the past and 2. my flatmate is obsessed with Op-Shops, although only one in particular, which I am going to talk about in this posting.

Save Mart which has then slogan of ‘where you dress for less’ is probably less of an actual op-shop by many op-shop standards, but brands itself as a recycled clothing store. It still is what a Charity shop to me at home is, expect on a larger scale. Clothing is given to them from clothing bins, factory seconds, woollen shops, surplus stock and opportunity shops.

Save Mart started up 40 years ago and has a number of locations all over New Zealand and is just fantastic! My flatmate probably goes twice per month, and can spend 4 hours there. I am not that hard out at it. I do tend to get frustrated at having to sift through things, but if you have patience, you get some pretty good bargain!

One of the good things about Save Mart is that it is set out in colours, which I love, as you can instantly be drawn to the colours you like or that look good on you.

Last year my top buys were some winter boots for $15, which lasted me a good 5 months, and a pair of ski pants, which cost something crazy like $20, as opposed to $50-100 brand new, and they served me well.

Recently I had a bit of a spree and managed to by a cardigan, 3 cushions with nice covers, boots, a new handbag and a new top, all for under $40 – Bargain.

I think shopping in places like this is important as a traveller. Saving you money for more important things. It is not to say I haven’t bought brand new things – I have. Due to my excessively long legs I often have to buy jeans and work trousers in a regular shop to fit me, but that is ok, as I would do that at home.

So if you are a traveller, I would definitely leave behind your pride of buying second hand stuff and get involved. You can often get really funky stuff.