Men Should Thrift Too!

Hello guys,

I guess it’s still safe to wish you a happy new month. When I was young, my parents didn’t have a ton of money. Everything that we needed and most of what we had was pretty much used from the toys, furniture and clothes. My mom would take my sister and I thrifting at the popular Soweto market in the CBD of Lusaka, Zambia.

Ironically I discovered it was easier and cheaper for my sister to thrift than it was for me. I struggled a little not until I mastered the secret to affordable and satisfying thrifting tips for men (these tips apply for women too). Thrifting is the purchase of second hand goods, such as clothes; In Zambia this is called ‘Salaula’. The first thing you see when you reach the Lusaka’s town Centre are the numerous thrift stands located on the sides of various roads.

Did you know that celebrities like Zooey Deschanel, Julia Roberts, Drew Berrymore and rapper Macklemore are huge lovers of thrifting , in fact Macklemore blew up with a mega-charting hit ‘thrift shop’ and the rapper still enjoys poppin’ tags in the thrift store.

Recently I thrifted this entire outfit for only K100. For most men out there you must be wondering and thinking “he must be playing games on us” well uh-no!, I got the denim pants at K20, denim jacket at k10, brown Gucci bag at K10, the T-shirt for only K10 and the shoes for K50 giving me a total of K100. You must be asking yourself “how does he do it?” well it’s actually very simple, consider the tips below.⬇😊

1. Draft your budget
Before hitting the thrift store/stands make sure to always work in the confinement of a budget, this will save you time and money hence hindering you from impulse buying. My entire outfit costed me K100 and that’s the amount I was only willing to spend on clothes. For your own information I advise you to only carry the amount you’re willing to spend. This will save you from the overzealous sellers and impulse buying.

2. Patience
I cannot over emphasize this tip especially for men, please be patient! Explore the thrift stands and don’t be shy to try-on different clothing from different thrift stands. Time is money hence going thrifting on Monday’s before mid-morning (8am-11am) will save you money. Most thrift stand sellers have new stock on Mondays which before 12am isn’t priced this allows you authority to buy the items at a low price.

3. Build Thrift stand/store loyalty
This tip will enable you have a closer relationship with your thrift sellers allowing you the ability to purchase clothes at a very affordable price. I got my denim jacket from a loyal thrift stand at only k10 when initially it was being sold for k50.

4. Make it a continuous habit
Remember you will not succeed at first but eventually you will master the art of thrifting and soon you be offering advice to others. By sticking to a thrift shopping strategy, you’ll not only buy the things you truly want, but you won’t waste time shopping in a way that doesn’t fulfill your goals. Plus a good thrift strategy will actually help you to spend more wisely.

An additional tip, please check the clothes you buy inside and out-all angles and cleanliness. I’ve suffered many thrift shopping catastrophe’s that could have been prevented with close inspection of my piece before purchase. That’s why you should always closely examine your thrifted pieces before talking them home to prevent every thrifter’s worst nightmares: A thrift fail!

I hope these tips help you get your thrift spirit on & slay as much as i did in my head to toe k100 thrifted outfit 😃😎!!!

Thank you for reading!