Now it may come as a surprise to you, but I DON’T have an unlimited budget to spend on clothes (which my husband will adamantly and strongly remind me of…).

But I know right?! Shocking! Can I just say though, that doesn’t stop me from having fun with my style (and encouraging other to do so too).

A reader asked me the other day if I actually wear any outfit twice haha! (I do btw) but it made me think about how I keep my wardrobe ticking over on very limited funds.

Wanna know how I do it? Here’s how!

1. Buy designer pieces second hand

Most (actually I think ALL) of my designer pieces are second hand. I have no qualms with buying things that have been gently worn by someone else – I just make sure to wash them first!

I recently discovered an awesome site called Recycle Style. The amazing girl behind the site, Crystle, wanted nice things (like all of us) but couldn’t afford them, so came up with the idea of buying and selling second hand designer clothes online.

She now has brands from Trelise Cooper and Karen Walker to Decjuba and Country Road available, and the good news is she ships WORLD WIDE!

I picked up this fun Cooper by Trelise number for only $65 (much less than the couple of hundred it would have sold for in store!)

Want to nab your own designer piece? Just use the code CAIT at the Recycle Style checkout until midnight on Sunday March 23th for 15% OFF on all purchases!

2. Make money BACK off your clothes

I’m a huge fan of moving on clothes that I no longer want/need or fit (!) so why not make a little of your purchase price back on it right?

There are HEAPS of ways to sell your unwanted clothes – hold a garage sale, sell them to your friends and family (like I”m doing over on my Facebook page RIGHT NOW!) or even send them into Crystle at Recycle Style and she’ll sell them for you! TradeMe is SO last week!

If you’d rather take them into a bricks and mortar store, in New Zealand, try Recycle Boutique, with 7 stores around the country, in Brisbane check out Designer Archives and in Sydney – Blue Spinach is just one of many!

I’ve grabbed many a bargain from ALL these stores, but Iv’e also a nice wad of cash back off them from selling my clothes (money come, money go – as an old Thai fortune tell once said to me).

I picked up this cute STORM skirt from Recycle Boutique for only $30!

3. Get the looks for less

I am the bargain QUEEN! I love it when someone says, “ooooh, cute dress!” and I can go, “thanks – it’s from Kmart!“. GET OUT! is normally the response I get.

I just scored these puppies from Kmart for $19 (I think they are even $15 in Aus)…. look familiar?

I’ll also quite often share those bargains on the blog – in fact, here’s a post I wrote recently about how to get the looks of 4 awesome bloggers for less thanks to The Warehouse.

The trick is to know what you are looking for, and then don’t judge a store by your conceived ideas about what you’ll find. You just never know!

4. Ask your friends!

Have an event or “do” to go to? (Wedding season anyone?!) Why not ask a girlfriend to borrow a frock, because let’s be realistic here – you’re probably going to buy something and only wear it once right?

I LOVE lending clothes to my friends (hear that girls!) I actually get a great amount of joy out of it – plus I can only wear one thing at a time, and I have HEAPS of dresses so may as well share the love.

My wardrobe is your wardrobe… now if only MY wardrobe looked like this!

Just make sure that if you DO borrow something, you return it in the same, if not BETTER condition than your borrowed it, and in a timely manner. A girl doesn’t want to have to ask to borrow her own frock back ok?! And if you do damage it, offer to replace it – you break it, you bought it.

So there are a few of my little secrets for seemly spending MUCH more on fashion than I actually do!

Do you have any tips your like to share too? I’d love to hear them! Tell me in the comments below

Until Next Time,

In Love & Style Always

This post was brought to you by Recycle Style. Please support the brands that support this blog.