EXCERPT

Repeat after me, “Thrift stores are your friends”:

I’m not saying you have to like thrift stores and I am not even saying you have to shop in them.

All I am saying is that they are your friends. I mean, when you can buy a Guess t-shirt and Oshkosh B’Gosh jeans for your young ones for a mere $7.00, these people have got to be your friends. … HELLO! There was a time during my marriage when I was introduced to the Red White and Blue thrift store in Miami, by my Spanish professor, no less, and all I can tell you is that it was love at first sight. There were rows and rows of clothing from Guess and Oshkosh, to Ann Taylor and Liz Claiborne, all having been preciously and previously worn by some wonderful fairies who had decided that I could now have them for say, under $5.00 a piece. Now come on, who could resist such a phenomenon? All I can say is that store made my little ones and me the envy of the neighborhood while we were wearing the finest duds at the most affordable prices.

It even got to the point where I became a thrift store snob, looking down my nose at people who spent more than $5.00 on an item of clothing! I was showing off, eating at fancy restaurants, taking my kids on vacation, while my friends were busily shopping at the mall, buying the latest fashions with their scarce checks, just like mine,—and eating dinner at my house. Of course their children also ended up wearing my kids’ clothing because the couple of outfits that $50 at the mall could buy were never enough. Oh, and the toys that we shared with all of their friends also came from the same source. I even picked up the hobby of buying cheap books from there so today I have a vast library consisting of books with minuscule prices stamped on them that I can’t seem to get off no matter how hard I try.   These days I even try not to be too embarrassed about those tags, now that things are not so rough, if you know what I mean.

Do I still bargain shop you may ask? Absolutely!  Did I eventually have the need and time for thrift stores as time progressed? Not so much because that is how life goes; we progress and are the better for it, but never do I fail to honor those days of sifting and “thrifting” through other people’s discarded treasures.

There are some things in life that are designed to help us progress. I strongly believe that thrifty shopping is one of those things. So if you didn’t know—now you do!  And remember: If you are ever in a spot as I was, needing to make those dollars stretch … run like the wind to your nearest and dearest bargain center, garage sales count too, because someone is probably having a half-off sale even as you are reading this! Plus, think of it like this: You may even be embarrassed when you see that you have so much more money left in your pocket after purchasing your finds, than your friends who don’t have the smarts to do likewise.