Whether you love to shop, or hate to shop, shopping takes time. All that running around from store to shop, shoppe to boutique; all that searching for the right size or color or brand; all that decision-making as far as price goes; all that searching for some help from a salesperson!

And if the “IN” color or style is just, well, not you… shopping will take even longer, costing you the only commodity you can’t buy. Time.

Well guess what the solution is.

Resale shopping. You can find a wide selection of every choice under one roof: style, color, quality, brand. Not sure if you want a post-modern lamp for that corner, or maybe something industrial-looking or even boho? Head for the resale shop.

Need some tops in your wardrobe, but aren’t sure what you really like? Resale offers the widest selection of fit, fabric, fabrication in your size, on one (or a dozen!) racks for your (quick!) browsing pleasure. And a resale shop will have a genuine staffer who’ll reserve a dressing room for you, find you some selections you may not have considered, and tell you honestly whether that top does wonders for you or not.

When you shop resale, you also save the time you’d spend shopping online. The time you spend clicking from company to company, the time figuring out whether their medium is the same medium your body is or their teal is the teal you have in mind…. the time you spend comparison-shopping to be sure you’re not overpaying… the time you spend packing your purchase back up and taking it to the post office because the armholes are too small or their teal is your ghastly-green.

Think of all the time you’ll gain… free time to do other things… and for free!

Can you tell I suggest you shop resale? Can I suggest a shop or two for you? And BTW, since you now have all that extra free time… will you share this post?

PS Is there such a thing as a boho lamp? You betcha.

When we think fall, we think denim skirts. Short with tall boots and a chunky fisherman sweater. Midi with ballet flats and a plaid shirt and a great burnished-leather belt. Maxi with a tight black velvet tee and glittery sandals for date night. Any way you serve it up, denim skirts say

Welcome Fall!

But of course, our denim skirts aren’t the run-of-the-mill boring, anyone-can-buy-this-with-enough money. No, our denim skirts are, like us,

UNIQUE.

For example, we could take those old jeans, add a found vintage fabric (lace tablecloth? Mid-Century drape? why not?) to create

the Boho look:

Or use lots of leg panels and a hand-done X whip-stitch!

Here’s a graphic “how-to” using thrift-shop found fabric:

Are we excited yet to put our own stamp on denim? Or… are we feeling bad because we don’t even own a needle and thread? Either way, find what you need at your favorite resale shop! Find one near you on the HowToConsign

Resale Directory.

Now, I am a firm believer that those who shop secondhand first are SMART:

• They’re smart in the sense of spending wisely. 
• Resale shoppers are smart in shopping locally. They support their fellow citizens first.
• And of course, resale shoppers are just plain smart in the sense that they, their kids, and their home have style and substance.

But did you know… shopping can make you even  SMARTER?

Yup… all you need to do is power down that Kindle or that reading app and pop over to your nearest resale shop to buy some real, honest-to-goodness, physical BOOKS! After all, new books are expensive (which is why there have been used book stores around since before we all were born). Grab a novel, grab a non-fiction on a topic that interests you, grab a collection of those authors you’ve been meaning to explore.

Studies show:

The brain reads… based on the placement of the page in the book and the word on the page.

The tactile experience of a book aids this process, from the thickness of the pages in your hands as you progress through the story to the placement of a word on the page.

Reading long, literary sentences sans links and distractions is actually a serious skill that you lose if you don’t use it. As we increasingly read on screens, our reading habits have adapted to skim text rather than really absorb the meaning.

Reading an old-fashioned novel is also linked to improving sleep. When many of us spend our days in front of screens, it can be hard to signal to our body that it’s time to sleep. By reading a paper book about an hour before bed, your brain enters a new zone, distinct from that enacted by reading on an e-reader.

Read the full article.