Sunday, August 5, 2007

Cheapskate heaven!

I love thrift shopping. I used to shop at second-hand stores because it was really all we could afford, but now it's more for the thrill of the "hunt". There's something amazingly satisfying about coming out of a store with a "find" that you've paid a fraction of retail price for, and my "finds" have gotten better and better with practice!

It all started with my Dad's cheapskate gene. I got it. I did NOT inherit my mother's retail bone; I get sweaty palms in Macy's and I can't fathom paying designer prices because I just can't see any vast difference between designer and off-brand stuff. When given the opportunity, I'd gladly shop at Wal-Mart or Target, and a trip to Sam's Club was a treat! I love to go to the mall like any other girl, but more for window shopping and people watching! My "heart" is on the sale rack! My kids have never been poorly dressed; the only time any of them has resembled trailer trash is when they did it on purpose! In fact, my thrift shopping has landed my kids some rather pricey clothing at next-to-nothing prices! Jon still wears the Hurley hoodie I got for him at a Goodwill store for $3; he'd have never owned one if I'd have had to pay full price--I just can't see paying more than $30 for a sweatshirt. The little girls have had lots of nice stuff--Carter's, OshKosh, Arizona, GapKids, and Old Navy tags are all over the place in their rooms. Kelsey has had more than her fair share of designer jeans, but I've not paid more than $10 for any of them. And the TOYS!? Wow.

This past weekend, I came home with quite a haul of books, and I'm quite proud of myself! I found a $25 algebra textbook (coincidentally, the one I'd planned on using this school year!) for $3, and a shelf full of books for Pete--Bible study staples like a Matthew Henry commentary, the works of Josephus, The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict, Figures of Speech of the Bible, plus a few others...for TWO DOLLARS, total! I was a very happy camper! I also got some "schoolbooks" for Morgan--brand new handwriting practice tablets, alphabet coloring books, and even a couple of easy reader books.

It's not even the slightest bit ironic to me (I don't believe in coincidence, but I wholeheartedly believe in God's providence!) that we've had some amazingly abundant "finds" over the years. To me, it's a matter of stewardship. God has blessed us far above what we ever imagined at times we've been the tightest with our pennies! Sure, we probably could have skimped on essentials if we wanted "the best", but we had secondhand versions of "the best" at better prices. I may be cheap, but I'm not deprived! Shoot, my hubby even has a brand-new pair of $120 Oakley sunglasses with an extra lens AND the case...and I paid a ridiculous price for it...one dollar!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I love it!! I'm the same way. Paying full retail price for something makes me nervous, sweaty palms, the whole deal.

But give me a good and I mean good thrift store, and I'm in heaven. Where I live, there are two three stores... one is a Goodwill (never find what I want in there), another one is a non-profit store and albeit there are great deals, the store stinks, is in such disorder, and the staff is creepy sometimes, it's hard to shop there comfortably; the other one is bigger than the other two, lots of stuff but some prices are like paying full price at walmart. I about laugh at the prices when I see them on some of the things. I rarely buy stuff at either of these three. The last store I mentioned does have a good point... freebie boxes in the foyer. Anyone can go through these boxes and take whatever they want... clothing, shoes, toys, household items, you name it. They toss things in there when they get too much inside on things... I've tried telling them to lower their prices and they wouldn't have to fill up 10-12 boxes a week. Oh well free stuff for the taking works for me. I have literally clothed my family out of those boxes. Stuff like Tommy Hilfiger shirts for dh and the boys, skirts for the girls and I, shoes for all, toys, household items. Those boxes have been a HUGE blessing to this family. I, of course, have to wash everything before it is worn, played with, or used. One of the neatest finds I ever found in one of the boxes was a LeapPad... just needed a new pen. I called the LeapPad company and told them I needed a new pen for my son's leappad. No questions asked they sent me a new one.

Sorry this comment is so long. I get excited about good deals. Hey, I might just copy this and make an entry out of it on my blog.


Thanks for stopping by my blog too!!

Laura
(your sister in thrift)

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