A woman from Lancashire has explained how bargain shopping tactics she learnt from her mum helped her save £10,000 for a house deposit.
Johanna Kirkham, 23, saves on clothes and even manages to pick up entire outfits for less than the price of a supermarket meal deal thanks to her habit of patiently trawling through second-hand rails.
"I've saved thousands of pounds over the years, I sometimes look through my wardrobe and wonder 'how on earth did I find that so cheap?'," Johanna, from Chorley, Lancashire, said.
Johanna, who works as an optical advisor and model, regularly snaps up entire outfits for £3 – kitting herself out for photoshoots for less than a sandwich, drink and crisp deal.
And her frugal shopping habits were key in helping her and her fiancé Mitchell save-up enough to buy a home.
'How we saved £25,000 to buy our first home in just 18 months'
People buying first homes now handing over £46,187 each up front
"Buying from charity shops was instrumental in helping us save for the deposit on our house," Johanna said.
"We did have to resort to moving back in with my mum to save too because we were renting at the time.
"It's quite difficult to step onto the property ladder but we managed it successfully and we bought our house in June last year.
"Living frugally, including at charity shops, was a massive help and we managed to save £10,000 in 12 months. "
'We gave our daughter £30,000 from my wife's pension for a home and have no regrets'
But now she's moved in, she has no plans to go back to shopping new.
"I love the unique pieces you can find in charity shops and at car boot sales, you can go into a shop and find such a variety of things," she said.
"I have an eclectic fashion sense and love picking up unique pieces. I like quirky things, pin-up style and band t-shirts and jeans – not just things you'd find in a high street store.
"By going into a charity shop I can come out with all of those things and the bonus is nine times out of ten it costs me less than £20.
"The by-product of shopping this way is that it's environmentally friendly as well as you're recycling things that may have only been worn once or twice."
Phil Spencer's 9 things you need to know before buying a new build house or flat
Johanna's best finds include a Karen Millen evening gown for £7.49, a 50s-style Hell Bunny dress for £3.99, a Regatta coat for £1 and a pair of Levi's shorts bought on holiday for body">
A woman from Lancashire has explained how bargain shopping tactics she learnt from her mum helped her save £10,000 for a house deposit.
Johanna Kirkham, 23, saves on clothes and even manages to pick up entire outfits for less than the price of a supermarket meal deal thanks to her habit of patiently trawling through second-hand rails.
"I've saved thousands of pounds over the years, I sometimes look through my wardrobe and wonder 'how on earth did I find that so cheap?'," Johanna, from Chorley, Lancashire, said.
Johanna, who works as an optical advisor and model, regularly snaps up entire outfits for £3 – kitting herself out for photoshoots for less than a sandwich, drink and crisp deal.
And her frugal shopping habits were key in helping her and her fiancé Mitchell save-up enough to buy a home.
'How we saved £25,000 to buy our first home in just 18 months'
People buying first homes now handing over £46,187 each up front
"Buying from charity shops was instrumental in helping us save for the deposit on our house," Johanna said.
"We did have to resort to moving back in with my mum to save too because we were renting at the time.
"It's quite difficult to step onto the property ladder but we managed it successfully and we bought our house in June last year.
"Living frugally, including at charity shops, was a massive help and we managed to save £10,000 in 12 months. "
'We gave our daughter £30,000 from my wife's pension for a home and have no regrets'
But now she's moved in, she has no plans to go back to shopping new.
"I love the unique pieces you can find in charity shops and at car boot sales, you can go into a shop and find such a variety of things," she said.
"I have an eclectic fashion sense and love picking up unique pieces. I like quirky things, pin-up style and band t-shirts and jeans – not just things you'd find in a high street store.
"By going into a charity shop I can come out with all of those things and the bonus is nine times out of ten it costs me less than £20.
"The by-product of shopping this way is that it's environmentally friendly as well as you're recycling things that may have only been worn once or twice."
Phil Spencer's 9 things you need to know before buying a new build house or flat
Johanna's best finds include a Karen Millen evening gown for £7.49, a 50s-style Hell Bunny dress for £3.99, a Regatta coat for £1 and a pair of Levi's shorts bought on holiday for $1.80.
"My favourite find is a Karen Millen dress, which is absolutely gorgeous, that cost me £7.49. On eBay the same dress secondhand was £120," she said.
"Another favourite find is the most beautiful blue fishtail gown I spotted when I nipped into a charity shop, it cost me £9.50.
"It's not something you can wear to the shops but modelling gives me the opportunity to wear gorgeous dresses like this.
First-time buyer transforms home into Insta-worthy pad using 50p Wilko and eBay finds
"A charity shop I regularly visit does three for £1 on all clothes and I've picked up some great stuff included branded items from Adidas and Superdry.
"I picked up a pretty vintage floral strapless dress from a £1 rail, put it with some white shoes I got at a car boot sale for £1 and a 'pearl' necklace I picked up for £1."
Johanna's loves of charity shops started early – she even worked as a volunteer in one as a teen.
"When I was younger my mum and I would have a little nosey around the charity shops," she said.
"Back then it was amazing, you could find big clear bags full of job lots of Barbie dolls – so my love of charity shops started from there.
"I would be so excited – I'm still like that now.
"I even volunteered for a hospice shop twice a week for two years, it gave me great experience and knowledge of working in the real world and helped me get my first job."
Mum-of-two wears 10p evening gown she found in charity shop to black tie event
And she's passionate for other people to join in too.
"To anyone who's not shopped this way before I would advise them to just try it," Johanna's said.
"I love telling people how little I paid for something I'm wearing, it's amazing.
"I would say to use common sense – if something is riddled with stains and full of holes don't get it.
"I don't see buying items this way any differently than if a friend gave it to me, I would stick it in the wash and wear it."
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"My favourite find is a Karen Millen dress, which is absolutely gorgeous, that cost me £7.49. On eBay the same dress secondhand was £120," she said.
"Another favourite find is the most beautiful blue fishtail gown I spotted when I nipped into a charity shop, it cost me £9.50.
"It's not something you can wear to the shops but modelling gives me the opportunity to wear gorgeous dresses like this.
First-time buyer transforms home into Insta-worthy pad using 50p Wilko and eBay finds
"A charity shop I regularly visit does three for £1 on all clothes and I've picked up some great stuff included branded items from Adidas and Superdry.
"I picked up a pretty vintage floral strapless dress from a £1 rail, put it with some white shoes I got at a car boot sale for £1 and a 'pearl' necklace I picked up for £1."
Johanna's loves of charity shops started early – she even worked as a volunteer in one as a teen.
"When I was younger my mum and I would have a little nosey around the charity shops," she said.
"Back then it was amazing, you could find big clear bags full of job lots of Barbie dolls – so my love of charity shops started from there.
"I would be so excited – I'm still like that now.
"I even volunteered for a hospice shop twice a week for two years, it gave me great experience and knowledge of working in the real world and helped me get my first job."
Mum-of-two wears 10p evening gown she found in charity shop to black tie event
And she's passionate for other people to join in too.
"To anyone who's not shopped this way before I would advise them to just try it," Johanna's said.
"I love telling people how little I paid for something I'm wearing, it's amazing.
"I would say to use common sense – if something is riddled with stains and full of holes don't get it.
"I don't see buying items this way any differently than if a friend gave it to me, I would stick it in the wash and wear it."
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