Beach Essentials for Under $20!

*Click the price in the graphic above and it will take you directly to the respective item.

Happy Monday, Friends!  If you've been following along, you know that I just came back from a wonderful beach trip.  {I'm working on a blog post to tell you about all of our favorite restaurants, boutiques, and things to do on 30A, so stay tuned!}  With summer in full swing, I thought it was perfect timing to share some of my tried-and-true beach {or pool} essentials.  You won't believe where I found all of these amazing items for under $20...I found ALL of these goodies at Wal-Mart! {I know, I told you you wouldn't believe me!}

Before getting into details on these beach essentials, first I have to tell you a funny story...


So we left for the beach on a Friday evening.  On that Friday morning, I realized I needed a few more things of sunscreen {ain't nobody got time for wrinkles and/or skin cancer, y'all}.  I thought I would be extra responsible {since we were about to spend a lot of money at the beach} and go to Wal-Mart for these last minute items - because I would obviously spend way too much money if I stepped foot in Target.

I walked into Wal-Mart, made a bee line for the sunscreen, grabbed what I needed, and started to the register feeling very proud of myself for only buying the necessities.  Just as I was thinking to myself how smart I was for coming to Wal-Mart instead of Target, I passed the women's clothing section.  Y'all, I was SHOOK!  The cutest striped bikini caught my eye - only $16! Obviously, I had to have it.  Then, on the other side of the section, an adorable straw hat that said "Out of Office" caught my eye - only $10!  Had to have it.  Then I thought, if the clothing section has all of these cute items, I'm sure the shoes are cute, as well.  It went WAY down hill from there...I'm not proud of it.  I ended up with 3 swim suits, a beach hat, beach bag, pair of sandals, oh, and sunscreen!

I was so excited about all of my great finds at Wal-Mart that I couldn't wait to share them with you!  I put together a list of necessities for every beach trip, and they're all under $20!

Brooke's Beach Essentials:

1.  Swimsuits

Their swimsuits ran true to size, were super comfy, and were great quality!

2.  Cover-Up

They had tons of cute cover-ups.  I'm actually proud of myself for only leaving with one :)

3.  Oversized Beach Towel

I love a cute beach towel - especially when it's large enough to lounge on without half of your body laying in the sand.

4.  Beach Bag

I also love having a HUGE beach bag to fit all of my beach essentials and a cute pouch to hold my smaller items - like cell phone, lip balm, keys. etc.  The palm leaf pouch also makes a super cute clutch!

5.  Water Bottle

This water bottle looks and feels exactly like the WAY more expensive Swell bottles for a fraction of the price!

6.  Sandals

They had so many cute summer sandals! They ran true to size and I was very impressed with the quality.

7.  Sunglasses

I like designer sunglasses just as much as the next girl, but I don't like wearing my nice sunglasses while on the beach.  They get scratched easily and get covered in sunscreen and sand.  So I prefer to wear cheaper shades while on the beach - If I lose them while in the ocean, so what? They were only $5!

8.  Tinted Lip Balm

Burt's Bee's lip balm is one of my fav beauty products {on or off the beach}.  It keeps my lips moisturized and gives them a little color.  My fav shade is rose.

9.  Good Books

There is nothing better than laying on the beach while reading a good book.  I always like to bring one non-fiction and one fiction book to the beach. I read Girl Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis {which was AMAZING - every lady needs to give this one a read.  I felt so empowered and motivated when I finished}.  I also read Slightly South of Simple by Kristy Harvey.  This was the perfect beach read about a mom and her three grown daughters unexpectedly all living in the same house at the same time.  As you can imagine, there was lots of drama but it was also very heart-warming.

10.  Beach Hat

I love a good floppy hat to cover my face - especially when I'm trying to read.

11. Oh, and Suncreen!

Thank goodness I needed that last minute trip to Wal-Mart for sunscreen - otherwise I would have never found these cute things to share with you! I love CeraVe products - I use their skin care and body lotion.  I have very oily skin and suffer from adult acne, so when I saw they had an oil-free face suncreen, I gave it a try and loved it!  I also like to use Neutrogena's sunscreen for everywhere else.

I used/wore all of my Wal-Mart finds while on my trip and was so impressed with the quality given the price.  I never thought I would say this, but I will DEFINITELY be shopping at Wal-Mart more often {don't worry, Target, I'm not breaking up with you}.  If you're headed to the beach this summer, don't forget about Wal-Mart when purchasing all of your beach essentials!

What are some of your tried-and-true beach essentials?? Tell me in the comments below!