LOUISE Croft loves fashion – but she loves a bargain even more, which is why she has devoted her time to jetting all over the world in the hunt for discount designer goods.

The 25-year-old, who funds her jaunts by writing about her adventures in her blog, has spent the past four years scouring charity shops and flea markets on five continents to find a deal, rarely spending more than £1 per item.

Her tenacity to hunt down a bargain has paid off with some incredible deals on luxurious labels including goodies from Moschino, Calvin Klein and Vans and she has now been named Bargain Hunter of the Year 2015 by money saving website PromotionalCodes.org.uk.

Louise, who lives in Bournemouth, rarely spends more than £5 on an entire outfit and has hacked fake designer bags to look real, styled a pair of pyjamas from a charity shop to replicate a catwalk look and keeps a close eye on the runways to see what fashion steals she can replicate for the minimum price.

Some of her designer steals include a Moschino belt, which she got for four dollars and a pair of Calvin Klein sunglasses for £1, both from charity shops all over the world.

The full-time blogger has always been a keen traveller but it wasn’t until she was a student she found out about international bargain hunting.

Since then she’s racked up the air miles visiting India, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, USA, Greece, Peru, Morocco, South Africa, Norway, and Australia, as well as closer destinations such as France, Italy and Spain.

“I’d always been into charity shops and car boot sales back at home but I was astounded by how popular it was in America,” she says.

“The quality of items in thrift shops and the amount of people blogging about them really surprised me. I made my best charity shop find in Atlanta, Georgia. It was a brand new Moschino belt in the bargain bin for four dollars.

“I assumed it must have been a fake but when I got home I double-checked and it was real. It would have originally cost me £155 at face value. Now I can add it to any outfit to give an instant designer facelift for a fraction of the price.”

After that, Louise, who avoids hoarding by doing regular car boot sales and charity shop drops, caught the bargain hunter bug and couldn’t wait to start exploring the world and see what other treasures were out there.

A few months after leaving uni, her boyfriend persuaded her to quit her job and travel to Thailand with him, where she delighted in discovering the flea market and charity shops of Chiang Mai.

“I have fake designer handbags from Thailand that I did my research on to make sure they looked as authentic as possible,” she says.

“I have two Chanel bags and a Celine one all for £15 each. If I had bought them all for the original price it would have cost a small fortune. A trick I have to make fakes look authentic is painting the clasps with clear nail varnish so they don’t tarnish.”

Louise likes to pick up something from every country she visits – her biggest bargain was a pair of shorts in Estonia for 20 cents, which equates to around 15p – but has found some great buys back home in the UK too, including a pair of £100 Calvin Klein sunglasses for £1 and a £68 pair of silver Vans.

“I love to transform outfits and make them as high fashion as possible for the absolute minimum price,” she says.

“Even when I shop at Primark I head straight to the sale rails and don’t spend more than a pound.”

Follow Louise on promotionalcodes. org.uk/frugal-blog/ and on her website paupertoprincess.com/