Goodwill Rocks

I’ve always been a big fan of second-hand stores. In fact, you might say that my biggest problem is not spending too much at them! That“It’s such a good deal, I can’t pass it up” mentality.

I am doing much better in that area: really thinking hard about whether I really need an item, and not knee-jerking into getting it just because it’s a great price. Lots of clutter comes from getting a lot of really great stuff.

That being said, Goodwill and the Thrift Store are the first places I look when I need something. With the season change, that something right now is clothes. Unfortunately, I do not know anyone where we live right now who has kids the right age and gender who is able to pass their kids’ clothes down to mine — and I’m certainly not above asking.

My daughter, specifically, was in dire need of summer clothes. Her favorite thing to wear, each and every day, is dresses. So it only made sense to stock up on a few of those to last her all summer. I popped into Goodwill a couple days in a row and made a beeline to the size 6 girls’ section, and on day two I scored.The Hubs calls this her “Mint Julep” dress. “Shall we go out onto the veranda and drink our mint julep?”
We were waiting for her school bus and I told her I was going to go get my camera and I’d be right back, and this is how I found her waiting for me. What a tough girl.

I also realized, rather belatedly, that she needed some sport-type pants. She had grown out of hers but I didn’t worry about it because, you know, winter is over. (Right?) But I forgot about T-Ball. She would be the one to fall and skin her knee. Have I mentioned that Melodrama is her middle name?

I threw in the shirt for good measure. Which she does need. To go with her skirts, you know? Besides, it’s all sparkly and cute, and that’s a flag on there under that necklace and it’ll be perfect for July 4th and …

Oh, whatever. She loves it. And the shoes, too.

The kids’ clothes at our Goodwill here are priced at $2.19 for each item. The shoes are $1.99. The clothes you see above cost $10.75: two dresses; one pair of pants; one pair of shoes. That’s a steal in anybody’s book.

By the way, I had heard that Goodwill can also recycle fabric, so if you think your jeans are too holey even to donate, for instance, it’s still worth dropping them off at a Goodwill rather than throwing them into a landfill.

I asked them about it at our Goodwill here, and while Joe the Worker didn’t know specifically about the recycling program, he did say that any items that Goodwill can’t use in this country they go ahead and send overseas to various African countries, etc. You know, places where $2.19 isn’t a steal: it’s half their day’s wages.