Thrift Shopping

Yesterday my daughter and I did the rounds.  We visited most of the thrift stores in my area.  Whew!  Busy day which wore me out, but it was also just so much fun!

I'm wondering about myself however.  We have an OK income for the two of us, in our current home.  We are comfortable enough.  We aren't rich, but I wonder .... is shopping the thrift stores addictive?  I've been at least three times in the last three weeks.  There is still one, a  Habitat for Humanity Thrift Store, I haven't visited, and it's my plan to get there next week.

One local shop has half price sales! Their regular prices are less than any of the other shops!  Plus if you buy 15.00 worth they'll give you 5.00 free clothing.  Yesterday they had more specials, buy two pair of blue jeans for half price and get a third one for free,  purses and shoes - half price, clothing - half price, five sweaters and/or sweatshirts for 5.00 and ten for 9.00.  The shop received three or four large shopping carts full of donations while we were shopping.  Such generosity would seem to be an good indication of their honesty and integrity.  They are doing what they claim with the proceeds.

My daughter found two pair of boots which fit her perfectly, a suit with jacket and pants, one pair of jeans for her husband, and a couple other tops for herself, and she spent less then $30.00.

I bought items for their unusual buttons and cloth.  One blouse in particular will make a beautiful lining for a bag or there may be enough fabric for more than a couple bags.  There are so many (of us) who buy things and never wear them; these are so much fun to find in the thrift stores.  When looking for things to use for my bags I only want good looking and like new items. 

The point of buying clothing, jewelry and etc. to repurpose is each bag will truly be unique.  The hunt for interesting cloth, buttons, jewelry, embroidered designs, and beads to make my bags spurs my imagination.   It's very enjoyable.  Of course, the thrift stores aren't my only places to look.  I do shop the crafts and sewing sections of several other stores.

Two out of three times my thrift store shopping trips have resulted in clothes I can wear as well as clothes suitable for sewing into bags or repurposing into other things.  The savings on these is unbelievable. 

So....I think, after going over all of this, thrift store shopping is addictive.  I may need a 12 step program to stop.  If my bags sell well, I don't know, may just stay addicted!