It was a great day at Goodwill. Oh, yes.
It's been a little while since I last stopped in at Goodwill, but this trip reminded me exactly why I love thrift store shopping.
I know I've professed my love for Goodwill jeans in words and photos before, but I have to share that for $23, I got all of this:
Finding jeans that fit my kids is a job and a half most of the time. If the jeans fit at the waist, the legs are too short. If the legs are right, the waist is too big.
And while a lot of jeans do come with adjustable waists, they start to look ridiculous if you have to cinch them in by several inches on both sides.
Even when I go shopping at a regular store, which should theoretically have all the sizes I need, it's tough to find a pair that fits.
So, imagine how delighted I was to find 7 (!) pairs of jeans that fit my girls at Goodwill, all in one day.
Someone with children built like mine must have cleared out their closets recently or something.
I also found a cupcake tshirt for Sonia.
Aaaand we found a nearly brand new in the box game of Connect Four (from 1985, but still!). Our Connect Four stand has been broken for a while, so we were delighted to find this.
$5 and we are back in business.
I wasn't positive that this was a great price for the game, but I looked it up when I got home and discovered that a new game of Connect Four costs $26. So, um, $5 was quite a deal.
The jeans? I already knew they were a steal. Even from a big box store, girls jeans are kind of expensive...at least $15-$20 a pair, in my experience.
That means 7 pairs of jeans would have cost me $105 brand new, even if I found them all for $15/pair.
So, I'm pretty darn pleased to have gotten a game, 7 pairs of jeans AND a shirt for $23. Whee!
Plus, I'm happy that we're going to love and use things that someone else didn't want anymore. Such a win-win situation.
Ooh, I should mention that lately, the donation receipts from Goodwill have had a 20% off of $20 coupon on the back, so don't forget to check yours next time you donate. I don't often spend $20 at Goodwill, but it was lovely to have the coupon this time around.
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Have you found anything good at the thrift store lately?
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Food Waste Friday is over at Simply Being Mum today.
Joshua's 365 post: Something weird
I've never really got into the charity shop habit - probably due to the fact I have spent a lot of time in them over the years from Inverness (Scotland) to Southampton (The coast) - work related.
I think $5 for the connect four game is fantastic! The reason being, when I was a child I had 'Guess Who' (circa 1982?) by MB and it was a fantastic construction - hard wearing and robust. My 7-year-old recently had a new "Guess Who" as a gift, and it couldn't be more opposite. They've changed the design and it doesn't work as well either. I'm hoping that my Mom (who does frequent charity shops) may come across an old one for me - wish I still had mine!
p.s there's a pineapple over at FWF today - not waste...hurrah! headed for a cake!
Oh and they've over-complicated it (yes I'm still going on about 'Guess who'). A sign of the times? You can change the characters to animals - and they are really hard to identify as the differences are very subjective. Anyhow off the soapbox...
I agree about guess who. The animal thing is very subjective. I bought it for my daughter because it was a game I liked as a kid but we do have a debate sometimes as to classification of the animals
Guess what turned up yesterday? With no reminder/prompt from me. An old 'Guess Who' from a charity shop. Really odd. It was just sitting on the table - my Mom had dropped it off. Not quite the quality of the early 80's so I'm guessing it may have been a lesser quality 90's version...but still much improved on the 2010 one we purchased! Must post photo on FB....I love such random occurrences...
When my kids were younger, I bought all of their games at thrift stores. They were usually a dollar a game, so it was hard to go wrong. Often, some of pieces were missing, so they had a fun time making up their own rules for the game. However, eventually, we would buy another one of the same game and combine them, so that we would have a complete set of pieces for the game if we wanted to play it the official way. However, once again, the extra pieces provided the opportunity to make up their own rules if they wanted.
BTW, I love Connect Four.
No, but you have inspired me to stop by today after I go to target!
Funny you got the connect four. I got it at a yard sale two years ago for fifty cents. It's older than your version and missing some of the coins. So, I just evened out the coins and viola, we have a game. My seller was desperate to sell everything but I still think that your find is great and much better than the store price!
Oh, I love finding thrift store deals! Good job (:
You've reminded me, I need some "new" jeans, now that we're heading into winter. I will be hitting up the op shops over the next few weeks -I can usually find some for $7-$8 (versus $40-$50 new!).
And I agree with everyone - they don't make games like they used to. I have a Scrabble set that is a year old and the print is already coming off the cheap, flimsy plastic tiles, whereas the set my parents have had since before I was born is still fine!
LOL! Every time I see an older Scrabble game at a garage sale, I grab it. I have four of the blue spinner (my favorite) and four of the old-school foldable board, which I only use for tiles. Any time anyone is missing a tile, I can always find the right letter/color/style to complete their set. I know there are a lot of cool crafts you can do with scrabble tiles, but for now I'm just happy to have a stockpile. The new ones are junk in comparison.
Are you back to blogging five days a week now? Because by my calculations, you blogged every day this week. I certainly hope so!
I did this week, that much is true! Basically, I'm making sure that I've got posts for Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and if I happen to get something together for Tuesday and Thursday, then I post then as well. I tend to do something short and sweet on Tuesdays and Thursdays, though. And if I have a giveaway or something like that that I need to sneak in, I usually do that on Tuesday or Thursday. (have one coming up this week, actually!)
I just stopped by to catch up on the frugal girl and I noticed I missed so many posts! I really do hope Kristen is back to the old schedule. I remember when I used to start 6 days a week with the frugal girl and my morning coffee
Me too! Sept now it is with my brunch pizza and icecream!
I LOVE thrift stores! I vary which ones I stop at, and I do do a bit of refashioning with some of the things I buy, but I hardly ever buy new clothes or things for my house anymore. There's just too much good stuff in thrift stores.
Great deals at GW!
I usually have excellent luck at our local thrift stores. This week, unfortunately, no jeans in the right size, and no t-shirts that I liked for myself 🙁 I'll go again in a week. Maybe it was just my mood.
My daughters, however, who are thrift shopping queens, found a dress, brand new tag still on, a t-shirt to use for a new pj top, to go with pj bottoms I made for Valentine's, and a video -- yes, we still have a video player that works! for $7 and change.
My daughters tell me that they prefer shopping at thrift shops because there is so much more variety than what you find at Target, TJ Maxx, or the mall.
I find puzzles, still sealed in their original boxes for 50 cents to $1 at our local shop. Our family loves puzzles, even the adults. We keep one out and going on the game table all winter, and anyone who wanders into our house will put a few pieces in.
Even as an adult I have had no luck finding jeans that fit. Do the people who make jeans have no junk in he trunk? I usually end up taking a tuck in mine. I just pinch the waist band on both hips and sew it up. You can't tell unless you are looking for it.
I have had some luck with stores that sell jeans labeled as "curvy". These actually fit in the behind and thighs but still go in at the waist so I am not left with gaps or sliding down at the waist. I can usually hold up a pair of jeans and tell if I should even both trying them on b/c if they don't go in a bit at the waist they will never fit me.
ok that should say "even bother trying them on" oops!
"junk in the trunk"! Never heard that and I love it!
I bought two work tops, a jean jacket that is faux fur lined, and a pair of jeans at the Goodwill last Friday evening on my way home from work. Which was around $20 dollars. A couple of days before that I found my 3 year old granddaughter (I have a hard time finding 3T jeans for her at Goodwill) 5 pair of jeans at my local Goodwill. The best part is at our Goodwill the toddler clothes are $.99. I looooove Goodwill!
We have a family wedding coming up. Our 13-year old son has grown 7 inches in the past year, and he normally lives in jeans and t-shirts, so he had no dress clothes. We went to Goodwill and bought him dress pants and a dress shirt for $6.99 each! I don't expect him to wear them again (other than I'll probably make him wear them for Easter), so I was happy to not have to pay full price.
That said, Goodwill stores in Portland, OR, are significantly more spendy than in your area. The average price for a pair of jeans is $6.99, t-shirts are $5. I rarely bother taking my kids to Goodwill any more, as Old Navy has comparable prices during their sales.
Speaking of Old Navy, if you get on their email list you get (daily, unfortunately) updates of their sales and sometimes coupons not available elsewhere. Kids' jeans drop down to $10/pair a couple of times/year!
I've found here in Denver that there's a HUGE price difference at different thrift chains. Goodwill is usually the most expensive while the ARC and Salvation Army are much cheaper. The best ones are usually the small independent thrift shops run by specific local charities. Hope you can find on that's cheaper 'cause at those prices why bother?
Salvation Army is pretty scuzzy here, and the smaller places don't have much selection for kids/tweens.
By the way, Old Navy kids' jeans are on sale NOW for $10 each!
http://www.oldnavy.com
The Connect Four makes me smile, I played it with my brother when I was little and whenever I was about to win, he made all the checkers fall out, then years later, it was the first thing that my son bough with his own money and consequently the first thing he had buyer's remorse over when the tab to hold the checkers in broke........;) Fun game.....
I used to misplace my engagement ring because I take it off the first thing I get home, and I don't always put it in the same spot. I went to Goodwill and found a leaf-shaped wooden tray that now sits on the bathroom vanity and catches all my jewelry. I also had great luck finding a Pyrex casserole dish at the same store.
I've had zero luck at Goodwill lately-bummer.
I've been looking for jeans for my kiddos (with similar requirements to your children) with ZERO luck. I'm envious, for sure. I paid $8.00 per pair at Target which is cheap IMO! Since my son's jeans all had knee holes (beyond patches really) and were too short, I couldn't wait around for until I found them at the Thrift store. Oh well. At least I got them for $8.00 instead of the $15.00 I typically see!
Our Goodwill doesn't sort by size. Is this typical of Goodwill? Anyway, it takes hours to go through the racks of jeans, and I simply don't have that kind of time. Someone usually sorts the shirts by color, which is ... helpful? This one is also spendy, though not perhaps as much as in Portland. I need flat sheets for dropcloths but decided at $3.25 apiece I'd check elsewhere first. Best find ever? A Christofle basket for $.50 that I resold on ebay for $125. 🙂
Our Goodwill sorts by size and color which is great if you are looking for something specific. They also have a flat rate of 4.99 for all adult clothes and outerwear and 1.99 for all kids clothes and outerwear. Some name brands may be marked up though. Not all Goodwills are the same because they are broken down by areas and run by different groups. My Goodwill store comes under the Goodwill of northern New England. I also happen to work there which is fun.
Atsa my girl! 😉
Katy
Love those finds!! Yesterday I went to Salvation Army and found 3 Gap shirts, a Juicy Couture sweatshirt, and a Free People wool sweater for my 5 year old daughter! Oh, and a pair of turquoise sandals for me. All for $10.80! It sounds strange, but our Goodwill is too expensive (they charge $20 for decent jeans) and I never find clothes there!
I'm with ya on the jeans for kids! I have a tall, skinny girl also! I think that the Gap skinny jean (1969) style is the best I've found so far. Good luck with your future finds!
Love getting dishes from thrift stores. My best find was a perfectly good pie glass plate for 3$, instead of the 15-20 you pay for a new one. Plus I had my choice of five that were there.
I get almost all my clothes from thrift stores now. I went to our local Value Village on Presidents Day (what a madhouse!) and came out with an Eddie Bauer Rain jacket, a Liz Clairborne Sweater, Old navy casual pants, a pair of black dress slacks for work and three sleeveless shirts for wearing under sweaters & jackets - grand total was $26.
My latest scores have been winter cycling clothes. I found insulated jerseys that usually cost around $75 for $4 each! Plus fleece lined tights & turtlenecks for about a dollar a piece. Pretty much got a whole winter biking wardrobe for about $25! I spent more on the fancy wind proof gloves (that I had to get new) than everything else combined.
I do, of course, buy the padded shorts new since they're designed to be worn without underwear, and there are some lines even I won't cross!😉
I too hadn't been in quite some time and stopped in on a whim on Monday and found 3 tops for work. One is Aeropostale navy blue tunic style I just love...and it was just $3 🙂
pretty much my whole wardrobe is from goodwill!!!
I shop goodwill on occasion with mixed results. I did find a purse for $2.99 real leather and when I got home I found it retailed for $250! My husband got a never opened box of trading cards for $.99 and sold them for $54 on eBay. Our one goodwill has these women that hang around all day waiting to see what comes out worth money.
I used to buy jeans for my kids at old navy when they had the $10 jeans sale. They carry slim to size 12 and they would fit my kids. Now my youngest is a 16 those are hard to find in slim. My 18 yr old has worn a 28 x 34 for a couple of years. I just gave up and bought Levis at kohls when they were on sale.
I actually just got home from the thrift store. For $9.95 I got: 3 pairs of ladies pants, 1 ladies hooded sweatshirt, 1 kids zip up sweatshirt, 1 reusable shopping bag, 1 pair of kids shoes, 2 paper plate holders, 1 5x7 picture frame, 2 kids cowboy hats, 1 school supply box, 1 half-gallon plastic pitcher w/lid, and 1 Made for Trade game (never used).
(This was not Goodwill, but another thrift store in my area. Our Goodwill here costs more--at least for clothing--than this other store.
I've been wanting to use reusable shopping bags when I go grocery shopping, but really don't want to spend $1 a bag, which is what they usually are at my grocery store. So I've been looking for them at my thrift store, and pick them up when I find them for 9 cents each.
The thrifts have been good to me lately. I've been growing my vinyl collection (including a few shaded dogs) in my recent trips. I've been getting mostly classical lately but the occasional pop/rock item shows up (e.g. a few weeks back I picked up The Bee Gees from their pre-disco days. I've also got some nice Deutche Grammophon CDs of various classical pieces as well.
There hasn't been anything at the thrifts as far as general merchandise, though. We don't buy clothes there though we might buy kids' clothes there sometime in the near future. 😛
There is now a #1 song on the Billboard charts called Thrift Shop. Some of the language is, um, interesting but he literally says "give me your grandpa's clothes" and talks about how he thinks throwing your money away on a $50 designer tee shirt is ridiculous.
And when you buy second-hand there is that much less packaging and waste going into the landfill. Yea! Happy Weekend Kristen.
Yes! My husband and I recently moved into our first official space as a family of 3. We scouted some local thrift shops for furnishings since all of furniture was either free or cost us under $20., many of the stuff being nearly brand new. We've had good luck in that dept. and our luck continued! We scored an antique dry sink cabinet to be used in our dining area, with the wood all in great condition, for $20. =)
Love GW!!! I try to stop there at least once a month. I am on the hunt for clothes for my son as he has gone to private school since K, but will be going to public school this year so he can't live in uniforms!! Some luck at GW!! But I have plenty of time to peice together a wardrobe for him.
I LOVE shopping at Goodwill!! Congrats on your awesome find!! 🙂
We have all kinds of old antique toys that show up in our consignment store from time to time and sometimes, I buy them for myself. There really is no telling what kind of classic memories you can find at a consignment shop.
Just had to share that we, too, had a great day at Salvation Army the other day! I scored a NEW pair of Alfani Ricky lace up boots for $8.99 (retails at Macy's and the like for $90!!!). I snagged them without trying them on because for less than $10, even if they don't fit ME, I can always sell them on eBay for at least double if not quadruple what I paid for them 🙂 And we scored some new books for the girls, hard cover, looks unread, beautifully illustrated bedtime stories and one on the night before Kindergarten which I'm saving until September when they start that grade. I also scored wool, lined, dress, camel colored from Banana Republic, like new women's pants ($98 retail - I know because I covet these...) for $3 - yes, you read that right! It was Family Day sale so 1/2 price the $5.99. 😉 Gave them to my sister because they're too big and again, if she doesn't wear them, can sell them on eBay for far more than I paid so...grand tally, for $15.15, I got $90 boots, $98 pants and 2 books which would have cost approx. $198 ($5 per book, and I'm scaling down...). LOVE me some consignment shopping! My only regret was not buying the pretty yellow antique pitcher with matching basin bowl for $7.99 - might have to go back and grab that!
I LOVE shopping GW. I recently bought a NWT "Love Quotes" brand $80 valued scarf for $2 and threw it on Ebay. I also found some new Cole Haan hiking boots for $2 and a brand new backpack style baby carrier for $6, fabulous, fabulous deals...
Best deal at Goodwill? A set of four vintage chairs plus a card table for $15. The table was (badly) covered in 90's contact paper so I Freecycled it for someone with more time on their hands and kept the chairs. My kitchen is vintage themed and though these are technically folding chairs, they are built better than some on the market today.
Either that or the 10 speed bike for $6.99 circa 1972. Super cool and completely functional. Can you tell I love vintage?
That cupcake T-shirt is so darned cute! Sonia must just LOVE it!
She does. She made sure I threw it in the wash RIGHT AWAY so she could wear it as soon as possible.
We visited the local Goodwill store and I found a beautiful American Girl (Kit) skirt for $2.50! We paired it with a light purple sweater for a total of $5 outfit! (Our daughter will wear a white shirt she already owns to go under the sweater.) At our local thrift store, I found a beautiful Old Navy pea coat (gray for our daughter) for only $1.25! We love the thrift stores!
That is awesome Kristen! I used to find all sorts of stuff at a children's consignment store for my younger two. When I was done, I could bring back the clothes and re-sell them. (I'm thinking that was the only frugal thing I did back then! :)!)
I must admit.. I haven't actually been IN a GW in a long time. I'm decluttering my house and DEEP cleaning (call it a very early spring cleaning...). I've dropped off ten 20-gallon tubs of random crap to my local GW. Anytime I drop off, I never go in. I figure it's against why I'm there in the first place 😉
But I feel GREAT! 😀 Hope someone loves my old stuff!
I just g back from Value Village. I went searching for good wool and cashmere, because those things keep me WARM in the winters up here in Canada. I found a felted wool jacket, a cashmere sweater that had been shrunk (perfect for making about 4 or 5 sets of fingerless mitts with needle felting), a cashmere sweater that was not shrunk and lovely with a loose turtleneck, a merino wool sweater which I can use a "winter underwear" layer, and a cone of fine acrylic cord I can use for lots of crafts. Total: $23.
I have had great luck with dance clothes at thrift stores for my three girls. I have bought tights and great leotards. I also have bought my older daughter some good jeans. Also, I get festive wear. Got this great green and black dress last year for my five year old to wear on St. Patrick's Day for $5 and this year this adorable pink and red dress for Valentine's Day for $3.50 both of which I can pass on to my three yera old.
Two years ago I cleaned out a seldom used area and found my gorgeous 1981 vintage pair of Frye boots. The heels were too high and I could never wear them now. I know I could have sold them on eBay, but I donated them to the Salvation Army instead (they have a local store here.) You never know what you'll find.
Cynthia Rowley 100% Cashmere sweater for $4.00 at Savers Thrift Store.
I need to go too! My son decided to grow again a few inches! I did splurg and buy him a pair of jeans at Apostrophe for $20 though (gulp) but it was half off the normal price. I try not to get him more than 2 pairs of jeans since he grows 4-6 inches a year! Have you ever searched "racks or Outlets Malls"? There you can find good stuff too. I really need to get him dresser pants for church and Chapel days at school, GW was great for formal clothes!
7 pair of jeans! that´s amazing! Congrats on the find:-) I can only imagine how difficult it must be some times!
I haven`t been in a thrift store in ages, Norwegian ones aren`t very up to date; they tend to sell only clothes from 60s, 70s and 80s... and that´s not exactly my style.. anyways, I`m not buying any clothes for the next 3 months. I´ve made a shopping ban! And it feels great!:-D
I absolutely love our local Good Will-- I go every other Saturday because it's half off! 🙂 There is nothing wrong with shopping at the Good Will or local thrift shop, but for some reason many think there is. I wonder why? I wonder why people are so competitive and always worried about "image" and what people will think of where they purchased their clothes, rather than their character? Interesting topic! 🙂 Thanks for sharing your post!
I made a quick stop at Goodwill yesterday...looking for glass 1-qt baking dishes for peasant bread...didn't find the bowl shaped ones I was hoping for but did find a glass loaf pan that is smaller than the regular loaf pans I normally use...and that will work..I don't stop at Goodwill very often, maybe every couple of months or so (much less frequently now that I can get free books on my Kindle), but I've had some pretty amazing shopping trips. Do you use the rewards card?
I wish mine had a rewards card! Alas, they do not.
Went to the local Goodwill to find a furniture project to use as a vanity for my daughter's room. I found a great wooden child's desk that I am now refinishing. We also found a framed picture for my other daughter' room.
Now, I'm hooked so we took a trip to another thrift store to look for a chair to go along with the vanity. Instead my one daughter found a denim vest, a denim skirt, a long crochet vest, and two really cute shirts - all for only $19.00.
I plan to go back to both stores soon.
One of our little local places has kids' clothes for $1 most days, half off on Tuesdays. I walk out with a paper bag full of good toddler clothes for $10 fairly often. Shopping several sizes ahead at thrift stores for my son has saved me hundreds of dollars already, and he's not even 2.
I do almost all my clothes shopping at op shops (thrift shops), for the simple reason that I love designer labels but I refuse to pay designer prices. So I wait for some other sucker to pay $200 for a dress or shirt, wear it for a season, then I pick it up for $6 at the Salvos (what we call the Salvation Army here in Australia). My wardrobe is full of designer labels and I estimate I paid a maximum of $500 over the past three years for it all - that sounds like a lot, but it's important to me because I work in a corporate environment in a management role, where how I present myself is very important. I am complimented often about my clothes, often because I wear unique and stylish outfits and rarely wear the same outfit two weeks in a row.
For example, last week I was at Savers, which had a 50% off sale. I found a new Veronika Maine dress, with tags showing it was $285. Due to the 50% sale, I got it for $9. My find of the day was a Meredith shirt (a beautiful Australian label), new with tags showing it was $180, for $22.50. Sounds expensive at an op shop, but for the cost of a Target shirt, I got a brand new designer shirt. I found a bunch of other items as well, with my half price splurge totalling $96 but resulting in about $750 worth of designer gear. Score!