If you’re anything like me, you’re a sucker for a name brand. Despite wanting to be above it, I die when I see the new Marc Jacobs handbags or Prada runway show at Fashion Week. Also, if you’re anything like me, your bag costs more than what’s in your bank account and realistically you shouldn’t be buying that Chanel watch that costs more than your rent.

And that’s where consignment shops come in. Once you get past the fact that you’re not going to have a Saks-esque experience, these stores are a goldmine of high-end fashion for a college budget. However, rooting through said stores can be a lot of work and not exactly the most pleasant experience. So you turn to Ebay; it’s great for designer labels, but you soon learn (often the hard way) that you never know what you’re exactly getting.

Enter, online consignment! The way of the shopping future is here, and it’s named WWW and wearing Gucci loafers.

Consignment is just like picking through a closet that isn’t yours. The closet of that girl on campus who always looks super pulled together and fabulous. The one you want to hate because she always looks so damn perfect, but you can’t hate because she’s just so darn nice. She’s got a smile that matches her flawless wardrobe and handbags, and you would just kill to raid her closet for just one night.

Well, now you can! Christabelle is that girl and she’s opened her closet to you! OK, so maybe she’s not actually letting you rifle through her personal closet, but Christabelle’s Closet, an online consignment shop, is every college girl’s dream. This online shop has new or nearly new designer clothes that would make any savvy college girl gasp. From Gucci Flats to Rebecca Minkoff bags, Christabelle’s got it all, including a fully stocked designer label $10 section chock full of Michael Star tees and Intermix dresses. Yeah, ten freaking dollars.

And Christabelle is as sweet as she is fashion savvy, offering a very haute deal for CollegeCandy readers:

She’s giving you (and me!) 15% OFF ANYTHING in her closet for the entire month of March just by entering the code COLLEGECANDY when you check out.

I know I’ll be using it when I finally snag those Dolce & Gabbana heels that I’ve had my eye on for-ev-er. And probably a few other gorgeous things she’s got hanging in that virtual closet of hers.

With a deal like this, soon you’ll be that girl on campus that everyone wants to hate because you’re always looking so good. And they’ll want to hate you even more when they know how little it cost you to do it.

Here’s a question: How many things do you have lying around that you don’t use anymore? How many things do you have that you’ve never used?

I’m betting it’s more than you think. When you’re done reading this article, go take a peek in the back of your closet or the depths of your dresser drawers. It’s no secret: they’re filled with crap.

Everyone has junk they don’t need. One person’s trash might be another person’s treasure, but really, it’s probably just a piece of junk. So in honor of spring-cleaning time, here are some ideas for moving your junk out of your home and into someplace other than a landfill.

Thrift Stores:
Duh, we all know how awesome thrift stores are. If you have a few pieces in your closet that you don’t wear but can’t bear to part with, maybe you can give them the thrift-store treatment by finding accessories that go with them or using them to enhance other thrift-store finds (using a great fabric to sew patches onto jeans, for example). Or just donate your crap. It’s probably stylish to somebody.

Consignment Shops:
These stores are popping up all over the country right now thanks to the economy, and they are the perfect way to get rid of last season’s clothes (or the last five seasons if you haven’t cleaned that closet in awhile). Simply pull everything you no longer wear out of the closet, make sure it’s all clean and in good shape, then take it to the local consignment store and sell it! You can get anywhere from 35-50% of what they sell your stuff for, which is a great way to make room in your wardrobe for new duds….and the money to buy ‘em. Read More »

We’ve all felt the effects of the current economical status; gas alone has been breaking my bank account on a weekly basis. While I work my butt off to make ends meet, everything from fruits and veggies to gas to, well, almost anything, contines to get more expensive. And my bank account whittles away.

What’s a striving- to- have- more- money- 20- something to do? I brainstormed – in my desperate need to scrounge up some extra cash – ways in which you can get creative, have some fun and throw somethin’ extra into that piggy bank.

Turn your hobby into some cash. Do you enjoy making scrapbooks, knitting, creating playlists or setting up peoples’ iPods for them with the latest tunes? If so, take your hobby and make it into something profitable. Put out flyers in your neighborhood, an ad in the local paper, send out a mass email or even create a standard template website and let people know you’re open for business!

Sell some old clothes. Those prom dresses have sat in your closet since high school and, let’s face it, you’re not going to be wearing them anytime soon. Go to a consignment shop, take out an ad in the paper or swing by a local beauty pageant (I swear they’re around and the ladies will bite for those gowns). With, say, 50 bucks a dress, you could walk out of there with a couple hundred dollars! Read More »

As a girl on a budget, shopping (or more accurately: window shopping) can be painful. When even chain stores are too pricey (really Urban Outfitters? $110 for a shirt?), what’s a girl to do? Well, I always head straight to the sale racks for some of my best finds, like the $10 leather bag I got this weekend, but sometimes the most heavily discounted stuff is out of season, ill-fitting or just plain ugly.

The thrifty girl’s best friend is, well, the thrift store. While I can’t afford to drop hundreds of dollars on clothes each month, plenty of people can and do. And when these people get tired of their outfits, they sell them or give them away. That’s where we come in.

The first step to good thrifting is knowing your stores. Scope out your town or city and figure out where the good shops are. Most cities have a Salvation Army or Goodwill, as well as various consignment shops. Bigger cities and most college towns will have thrift or vintage stores (but keep in mind–vintage is often code word for EXPENSIVE!) If you find a shop you like, go there a lot, even if you don’t buy anything when you go. You’ll get a sense for when new clothes come in, so you can get to the good stuff first. Read More »

If I put all the clothes I’ve ever given away into one place, it could probably fill up my entire bedroom, floor to ceiling and wall to wall. Over time I’ve made disastrous shopping purchases I was more than willing to give to Goodwill.

But the times I have painstakingly attempted to sell my clothes for a bit of extra cash, they never take the bait.

It is always incredibly perplexing as to what they do take. One time during a serious dough drought, I decided to sell some of my lesser worn yet well-known articles of clothing. Amidst an entire trash bag of recent goods the numbskulls took one item: a hot pink, crew neck, Lycra-cotton blend shell from the Gap OUTLET that dated back to ’98. Read More »