Comments on: A Day with My Wife

By: Danielle

Danielle — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 06:27:42 +0000

Honestly, my favorite thing about this post is that it sounds like you had a fun date with your wife, rekindled your relationship, and paid nothing for it other than the cost of a few items needed for your family.

This, for me, is like grocery shopping with my husband when the stores aren’t busy. No direct cost for the time together, but special to our relationship nonetheless.

By: Griffin

Griffin — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 03:31:03 +0000

Your sweater snakes idea gives me an idea:

Take a sweater, cut off the sleeves, cut the chest/back area in half and use that to stuff the sleeves. Sew the ends and you have a draft/door/window snake. Voila!

By: Steffie

Steffie — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 18:10:47 +0000

I found that when my man and I go to the thrift store we often talk about stuff that we don’t/can’t talk about when we have the children with us. And sometimes an object at the thrift store will trigger a memory which helps us learn more about each other and where we came from, why we think the way we do or why we do something the way we do it. Plus he is tall (6’6) and can see the top shelf of the knick/knack section!

By: Annie Binns

Annie Binns — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 03:00:00 +0000

I just wrote about a similar experience. I thrift shop regularly and at least every OTHER trip I find an absolute TREASURE – something totally unexpected and perfect for either me or someone I know (last time it was a book for my sister). In my family, you are considered a much better gift-giver if you do NOT purchase a new item.

By: Louise

Louise — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 23:37:31 +0000

Another thing: I find that a lot of thrift-store stuff is something that was “too good” for everyday use (bought by an indulgent grandma, perhaps), and was outgrown before the kid even wore it. That’s why my kid wore very expensive Kitestring sweaters when he was little, bought for $4 – $5 each.

By: Louise

Louise — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 23:34:57 +0000

I LOVE thrift-store shopping! I discovered this when my son was a baby; it’s crazy to pay full price for something that may be worn only a handfull of times. Also, after my son lost 2 jackets at school, I resolved to only buy them at thrift stores. There’s a great store here where I find Ralph Lauren shirts for him (look like they were never worn) for less than $2! In fact, I now do most of his clothes shopping at thrift stores, and he’s one of the best-dressed kids in his class!

By: Money Funk

Money Funk — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 20:35:45 +0000

I ditto that message about get past the mountains of marketing. Once you realize that message you see how sucked in media has the average consumer.

Great job on the thrifting and spending time with the wife.

By: Nancy

Nancy — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 16:13:47 +0000

Has anyone tried the Silly Snakes pattern? There are no instructions, just some PDFs to download and use as patterns. I’d love to try to make some but would like a little more guidance than simply black and white patterns with no instructions at all! Thanks.

By: deRuiter

deRuiter — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 10:48:25 +0000

Look for those special items! In Dublin you can buy lovely fisherman’s sweaters in the thrifts because the people want new, and different stuff. I bought a suitcase full of the fisherman sweaters (each family knits a different design so when a fishing boat went down and bodies washed up on shore you could identify who was whom after a long while in the water, by the knitting pattern of the sweater) in that lovely ivory colored wool. Wore one there, it was cold. When I got home I had them cleaned at the discount dry cleaners for $3.25 each and sold them on ebay. Ditto 6 books bought for 3 Euros for all, which sold for $9.99 each for 5 and $60. for one from 1907 about tea plantations in I think it was Maylasia. Always LOOK in the thrifts! Great bargains!

By: Leah

Leah — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 04:23:11 +0000

I did this over christmas with my dad! We hit a few thrift stores, spent an afternoon together, and didn’t spend a crazy amount. I get all my jeans from thrift stores. I favor Gap and American Eagle jeans, and I never have a problem finding a pair or two in my size.

to Bonnie, you might try looking at thrift stores when you travel. I live an hour away from the Twin cities, and the thrift stores in my town aren’t the best. My boyfriend and I make time to thrift when we’re already headed up to the cities to visit friends or go to an event, and I always thrift when I go visit my parents in Seattle.

By: Little House

Little House — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 01:18:33 +0000

I love the “Silly Snakes” idea. You could probably also make sweater/sock puppets for your kids to play with and help them create a puppet theater with painted cardboard. I know your kids are still little, but even kids under 5 like puppets!

I don’t have kids, but I’ve noticed that you can get great baby clothes as thrift stores for 1/4 of the price. Babies grow so quickly they don’t out-wear their clothing!

By: frugalscholar

frugalscholar — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 21:30:44 +0000

Great story. It is a law of thrift store karma that you will find good and needed items after you donate. If you don’t find what you need, that means you need to donate more!

By: Kathy

Kathy — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 19:45:43 +0000

Looks at the comfy broken in jeans that no longer fit and wonders why she hasn’t donated them to Goodwill yet.

By: Auntielle

Auntielle — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 19:33:21 +0000

Great post, Trent. Really nice to know that you and Sarah were able to have some time out just for the two of you.

There’s a thrift store in my area that has TONS of clothes, including racks upon racks of Levis – or, I guess I should say “blue jeans” of all brands. The thrift shop does a beautiful job; it’s obvious that the jeans have all been washed and well pressed. The normal price is around $4.00, but they have Half-Price Days – so it’s very possible to scoop up jeans (including designer labels), jean skirts, jean jumpers and denim overalls for only $2.00 each. Many of these items have YEARS of wear left in them, too. Can’t imagine why anyone would want to discard those comfy “broken-in” jeans, but I’m happy to bring them home. At that price, you could pick up enough denim to use in craft projects as well: blue jean purses, quilts, etc.

It pays to check out ALL the thrift shops in your area; some tend to have a terrible selection of, children’s toys, for example, but a fantastic supply of something else – such as the jeans described above. There is a thrift shop in East Long Beach (CA) that obviously receives donations from “well-to-do” sponsors (it is a charity-run shop), and I’ve picked up some GREAT decorative vintage pieces for my home.

By: Bonnie

Bonnie — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 19:09:35 +0000

Wow, Trent, this was probably one of the most enlightening posts I’ve read from you. I really enjoy these types of posts, because it really shows how people manage that balance between frugality & consumerism. Now if only I could get DH on board. He’s the typical type that thinks only poor people shop at thrift stores and it would be awful to be perceived as poor. I wish our thrift stores were as well-stocked where I live. Here, people have large extended families and kids clothes/toys get passed around among children and families until they’re only good for rags, so very little of it makes its way into thrift stores. On the other hand, I’ll also inherit all of my nephews’ hand-me-downs for my own children, so it pays not to be the first in your family to have children.

By: Christina @ Northern Cheapskate

Christina @ Northern Cheapskate — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 18:43:01 +0000

I love thrift store shopping. But you do have to be careful.. it’s easy for those little expenditures to add up fast. I like to keep a list of things I’m on the lookout for, so that I don’t do too much impulse buying at the thrift store!

By: Jenny

Jenny — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 16:15:40 +0000

I love it! That sounds like a great afternoon.

By: kat

kat — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 14:56:27 +0000

The only thing I would have done differently was to sort the toys before Xmas, and donate the ones in really good shape to a local shelter for the kids there.

By: Christina

Christina — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 14:47:40 +0000

I actually prefer to shop at thrift stores, in a way. I love the thrill of finding great deals. And I also love leaving a store without the guilty feeling of spending too much money.