The Art of Thrift Store Shopping, Part Two

Last week I talked about the pre-shopping part of thrift store shopping. Now, I'm going to take you through one of my more successful trips so that you can get a sense of how I do it. The key part of this by the way is speed. If you try to find "good deals" you'll end up spending an hour or two. Focus only on what you need and things go a lot faster.

And now, one of my trips.

Finding what you want

We were given a set of mattresses through a friend of a friend and I was thrilled. It was high time for my youngest to move into a bigger bed. Now, I just needed sheets for it: two sets if I could manage it.

First tips: try to go to a store near a place you'll be going anyway (this helps cut down on the frustration if there's nothing there), go when you have more than one item you're looking for, and set limits.

So, I went to a thrift store that's near a place where I do part of my grocery shopping. I set both a time limit and a budget limit. Because I wasn't just going there for sheets -- I knew we needed coffee cups, some Christmas toys because I like to spread out the cost, and maternity clothes -- I budgeted for those plus a little extra just in case I found some small item that wasn't on my list but would help our family (there are some things that aren't high priority but are difficult to find at thrift stores).

Because I was doing this as part of my weekly grocery shopping, I set my time limit at 30 min. I could do it in less than that, but I wanted to give myself some room just in case I found several options and wanted some time to think about it.

Next tip: be open to possibilities... within reason.

When I walked into the store, I went straight for the back where the dishes are kept because those are very easy to look through. On my way there I passed the book section and got the feeling I should stop and look for a book. So, knowing that when I do I often find something I didn't even know we needed, I followed that prompting and before long I've narrowed it down to one particular hardback book. It's a decent price, though a bit pricey considering my budget, and it fits in with some of the stuff my husband and I have talked about. I get the feeling the book isn't for me though... it's for him. I put it back on the shelf and get the feeling once again I should buy it. So, in spite of my doubt (do books really need to cost that much and why can't I go to the library for this one?), I put it in the cart. Just below it I see a book on cake decorating that I feel I should get. That also goes in the cart (I'm ambivalent about this book for the rest of my trip because it's about a subject I'm not interested in at all).

I eventually find out that one of my friends is far more artistic than I thought, so the book gets marked for her. Also, I later find out that the book I bought for my husband has helped him in more areas than I thought.

Back to the trip: throughout this, I'm still keeping things within my budget. That's the key. As long as I spend the overall amount I've previously decided on, I'm still okay with these extra purchases.

Next tips: try to only go to the areas you feel you need to visit, and don't spend a lot of time in those areas. If you must go to a different area of the store, visit it as part of your route through... don't make a special trip for it.

Then, on to the dishes. I'm in luck today... there's a set of three coffee cups in a shade of blue that will match the blue in our plates. And they're not only in a solid color but I really like the way they're shaped. I was kind of hoping for a larger set, or something bigger, sturdier but these are very nice and I get the feeling they'll grow on me (they did and have become my favorites).

Next, come the maternity clothes. I "scan" the rack or, in other words, I very quickly flip through the clothes hanging up... very, very quickly. Because I already have an idea of what colors I'm looking for, and I'm really trying to keep a coordinated wardrobe to maximize efficiency, I'm able to dismiss any clothes that don't fit within that color scheme. Today I can't find anything, no pants or shirts or even a decent dress, so I begin to glance at the tops of the racks where the toys are kept as I make my way to the area where the sheets are kept.

And there, in among the toys is a cleaning caddy. And it's a good one, made of decent plastic, unlike many I've been seeing in the retail stores. And it's one tenth the price of the ones in the stores.

This was a lower priority item since I'd found substitutes that kind of worked, but I have never seen one of these in any store I've visited. I've especially never seen one at this price. It's a hideous shade of brown but who cares! It's a good cleaning caddy! So, it also goes into the cart as part of the extra in my budget that I talked about earlier.

Since then, it has been more than useful to me, making cleaning up after all our kids much, much easier.

Don't see any toys that might work for Christmas, so it's on to the next item: the sheets. The only good set I can find for a twin size bed is $10 for the whole set. And that isn't bad at all, especially considering how nice the fabric is, but I was hoping to find two sets or at least one more fitted sheet. And I was also hoping to find something more suited for a little kid; these sheets look a little too grown up in their classic-ness.

Sheets are the one thing I don't like buying at this thrift store because I can never be entirely sure from the way they're folded on the hanger if they're fitted or flat and that's one thing that isn't written on the tag. So, I have to carefully unfold part of it and search for the elastic. Impatient as I am, this drives me nuts. Thankfully, I've found one set (even if it's not exactly what I wanted) and it's made of good fabric in a classic design that won't clash too bad with my baby's room, so I'm not disappointed.

I still have some money left in my budget and decide to look in two more areas: towels and men's clothes.

I find several towels in good condition for a couple of dollars each. I really don't care about color but I do care about fluffiness: these are nice and fluffy. I get a few so that everyone can finally have their own towel. (This was my fault. I just hadn't kept track of how many towels were getting worn out.) I almost get some hand towels that match the colors of the master bathroom and decide against it. If I find what I'm looking for in the men's section, I'll be over budget.

Next tip: when looking for clothes, triple check for stains, tears, poor construction, etc. You may think you've looked but you may not have looked hard enough. Think, "Why on earth would someone give this away?"

Finally, I take a look for some shirts for Mr. Vinca. "Scanning" the racks, I find a couple of shirts he can wear to work (one rayon and one a lovely cotton/linen blend in a wonderful color for him) and a more casual shirt that he can lounge around the house in. And it's a baseball type shirt at that. He'll love it.

After checking all over very carefully for any rips, tears, stains, or any other reason I could possibly think of for someone to get rid of such nice shirts, I find a very small stain on the upper corner of the baseball shirt. It doesn't look too bad... I think I might be able to get it out with some stain lifter I have at home (I find later that I was right). The other two shirts don't seem to have anything wrong with them, so I check them again just to be sure. The one time I didn't triple check a garment, it turned out to have an unmendable hole under the arm. Well, I could have mended it but it would have looked really bad. I'm not going through that again.

I still don't see anything and each shirt is between $2-3. So, in the cart they go.

And that ends my trip. This was a very, very good trip. I don't usually find such great deals or sometimes even something I can use until I find what I want. There have been times I've gone and haven't found anything we need.

I take the things to my car and do my grocery shopping, still inside the 30 minute limit.

What to do what you can't find what you need

I look at Stuff like wind currents. Stuff is created by someone and passed along to someone else, who passes it along to someone else or else more stuff is created. And eventually you will get the things you need if you're looking and you're willing to make do with what you have in the meantime.

Movie spoilers follow... just so you know.

To use an example from a movie (can you tell I'm a movie buff?) in Cast Away, Tom Hanks' character spends years on a deserted island. He learns to make do with what the island can give him, which is really very little. It's a hard life and yet he manages to adapt and not go too crazy in the process (Wilson the Volleyball aside).

And then, one day, part of a port-a-potty washes up on the beach. Now, up to this point, his character has resigned himself to living on the island because he doesn't have the strength to make it over this one part of the waves that rush to the island. So when he sees that ripped up piece, he doesn't see trash... he sees a sail.

I feel many things in our life are like that. I feel sometimes we look at our lives and say we have nothing when in fact we have quite a bit; we just need to expand our definitions a bit. Okay, maybe a lot. But eventually, whatever you truly need in life will wash up on the shore, and hopefully, by that point in your life, you'll be able to see it for what it is and have the strength and creativity to use it. It's just the nature of Stuff.