OMG, Thrifting!
Kristen and Dawn have introduced me to the wonderful world of thrifting. You would think it would be a no-brainer for me: I’m poor, I should buy used clothes on the cheap. But I don’t like to shop and I absolutely hate to shop in chaos. I <3 T@rget so much when I absolutely have to buy something, not because it has good stuff, but because it is neat and orderly. Order soothes.
I thought the thrift store would be very chaotic, but it was lovely. Everything was sorted by color, which I didn’t think would be a good enough system, but it was. I kept getting butterflies every time I saw something that I liked that was in my size for $1.50. A dollar and a half! I had to really work at keeping my excited squealing under control. We ended up spending more than 4 hours in a single store. I don’t spend more than 4 hours Christmas shopping without a food break. Actually, if I were ever to shop in regular stores for 4 hours in a row, that would involve 1 lunch break, 1 coffee break, 7 potty breaks, and a cheesecake break. And I would spend 3 times the amount of money and come home with 1/8 of the stuff.
By the time I came up for air and decided to look at my watch, I thought it might be around 2:00ish. It was 5:15. I was in a thrifting-related time warp of some sort, the likes of which I haven’t seen since 1991 when Bryan bet me I couldn’t drink a fifth of Jack Daniels. (The last thing I remember from that night is slamming down the empty bottle, standing up and saying, “Somebody owes me TWO DOLLARS!” And then I woke up and it was 1993).
Anyway, yeah. Thrifting is fun. You should totally do it. But set an alarm or something because the time warp will get you and then you’ll realize that you’re starving and you didn’t get groceries like you planned to and then you’ll decide that you and your thrifting friends and their husbands and children should all go to the Chinese buffet for dinner (since you saved all that money at the thrift store) and then you’ll try to run the next morning with a pile of buffet food in your guts. Not a good idea. But the thrifting was totally worth it.
May 19th, 2008 at 10:36 pm
Ha! Welcome to the club. Before you know it you’ll become some sort of freaky elitist and will balk at paying $4.00 for something you just know should be worth $1.50 and you’ll get all indignant and wonder…what is happening…oh yeah…more people are getting into it so GET THE HELL OUT OF MY LOCAL THRIFT STORE…ok…ok…I’m calm again….glad you had a good time!LOL
Just kidding by the way…I’m in another state altogether and glad that more people are into it because now I don’t have to pretend I got it at the mall!LOL (there was a time I’d say thirft store and people would look at me carefully trying to determine if lice were going to jump from me to them!).
I’m w/ you on the orderly thing though…I hate to go in and waste hours sifting through stuff…most of the ones around here are separated by size which is GREAT so I can just mosey on over to the fat..ahem…portly…ahem…plus sizes w/out having to go through 100 size 2s.
Then there are books, and junk and books and books…love thrift stores!
Ok…I’m slowly stepping away from the computer now!
May 19th, 2008 at 10:47 pm
Forgot to add…last time I pulled a Rip Van Winkle it was alcohol related too!LOL
May 20th, 2008 at 9:10 am
So glad you weren’t disappointed. Now you know why I have soooo many clothes-at $1 a pop its easy to load up. May you never buy new again-except undies!
May 20th, 2008 at 9:26 am
There’s no thrill like it! Warning, this is addicting–but you get something for your money and you’re helping save the planet, so go ahead, be addicted. And if you think thrift stores are thrifty, garage sales can be even better. I rarely pay more than fifty cents or a buck for my clothes, and I wear Coldwater Creek, Liz Claiborne, Jones New York…
Oh yeah, you also get to brag about your great scores!
May 20th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
I have never had much luck at the thrift store. But that won’t keep me from trying again!
May 20th, 2008 at 9:39 pm
Tag sales are wonderful too! I’ve bought loads of great furniture at them. The best deals are had early the first morning but I can’t stand having to get there an hour before it starts in order to get a number to be one of the first ones in. Cause I get totally pissed off when the regulars are in front of me and they take the first 12 numbers for their buddies. Stuff like that really gets to me. I believe in first come first serve but that’s not how it works in real life.
Oh, and second day of tag sales is usually discounted, sometimes 50% off.
May 22nd, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Oh yeah, it’s addicting. I could not live without my Frenchy’s fix!
May 28th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
dude, i LOVE thrifting, especially for wool sweaters. there are just so MANY of them - you can buy 12 for like 15 bucks! who doesn’t need 12 sweaters? me..but still, i do it.
i don’t know where you were getting your thrift on but you should totally check out ohio’s best thrift store (that’s just what it’s called but it’s my favorite) on cleveland avenue in the amos shopping center. yes, it’s a sketchy neighborhood but it’s SO worth it.
it’s extra dangerous for me since i work right around the corner - i can shop for goodness on my lunch hour!
August 14th, 2008 at 11:57 am
And if you still had that 2 bucks, you could buy a shirt or something… cool.