Wednesday, October 3, 2012

31 Days of Little Things - Thrift

The Nester is once again doing 31 days of blogging. Check out what others are writing about for 31 days. Growing Up Gillian is doing her series on 31days of Thoughtful Thrift and Beautiful Objects has 31 days: Thrifted Project. Which so happens to tie into what I want to blog about today.

Yes, I love to thrift.  It is the thrill of the hunt. Thrifting especially for clothing stretches my dollar. It is a little thing that I do to save money. It also provides lots of entertainment. Here are a few thrifting tips I have learned.

1. Places where the security has to sanitize especially when they do it in front of customers is not the place for you.  Unless you are a hard core picker.  Those people are a breed all their own.

2. If you see it, get it.  It most likely won't be there in a few minutes.  You can always walk around with while you decide.  Mrs Epi and I followed around a young kid with a guitar hoping they would put it down.  That is not Stalkerish at ALL.  Had we just picked it up when we first saw it.

3. Thrift doesn't necessarily mean cheap.  Thrift prices have been going up.  There are still significant deals to be found. It just seems they are few and far between in the area I live in. Sometimes you need to branch out beyond Goodwill and Value Village.  Some of my great scores include a 27 cent bookcase

4. Consignment lately has been better than thrift for me especially for boys jeans.  The quality is a lot better too as most screen their goods.  I praise the woman who is dropping off the size 14 husky pants and shorts. 

5. Expect the unexpected. You will see interesting things - prosthetic legs. Yes, Goodwill is where I go for my prosthetic leg needs.

6. Visit often.  Chances are there are going to be many times that you visit and leave empty handed. Those who thrift often are rewarded.

7. Have an open mind about what you are looking for. My Mom collects pie birds.  I found a pie bird. I did not go in looking in for a pie bird. 

8. You sometimes need to use your creative eye to see the potential in some items.

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