I always say that thrift stores are endorphin-inducing experiences. Still, my recent decluttering (still-ongoing) has made me think twice about bringing things into the house. After we brought half the stuff back into the newly-painted living room, I realized that I didn't want to bring everything back in. A friend told me her house looked better after her (bad) husband left and took half the furniture with him.
Although I have been emphasizing space issues, money issues are--obviously--pertinent too. Even $3.00 thrift store purchases add up.
Here's a partial list, all from JUST THE PAST WEEK:
--really nice flannel sheets at Goodwill
--good coffee on clearance at Walgreens
--a beautiful English shetland sweater for Mr FS at GW
--some Brooks Brothers wool pants for Mr FS also at GW
--several Banana Republic shirts for Frugal Son, GW
--a red crinkled scarf for me at GW
--a J Crew barn coat for Frugal Son at GW
Hmmmm. I notice that I use my family as an excuse. The items total about $25. These are. I repeat, things I've seen in the last week. $25 times 50 weeks--over $1000, not an insignificant sum. And quantity: 9 items times 50 weeks equals 450 things that would need to be processed. Talk about bad feng shui!
What have you resisted lately? Was it an issue of space or money?
P.S. Check out Deja Pseu's thoughtful musings on the issue of NOT acquiring. What a wonderful multi-faceted title: Near Misses,
Custom Search
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
6 comments:
Thank you, FS!
It's true, the little stuff doesn't seem like much at the time, but adds up.
While the cost may be a tenth of retail, the space it takes to store it and the energy to maintain it is 100%.
I decided not to buy some bath towels on sale for "when ours don't look fresh". By that time there will be another sale.
Ha, I actually give myself a thrift budget (and it is significantly higher than yours). Today, I spent an hour in Savers. Had three items in my cart. Then, because it was senior citizens day and the lines were long, I put it all back!
I did a lot of online shopping for professional clothes at Banana Republic and Ann Taylor since they carry the petite XXS and 00P sizes, but ended up just closing the browser and giving up because even with a gift card I couldn't see spending that much on a couple of sweaters.
It doesn't make sense really, I already know I can't get anything in the local thrifts here, I've looked and come up empty so many times. But I balked at the spend anyway. *shrug* No sweaters for me!
When I moved recently, I got about 2/3rds of my stuff into the new apartment, had a party, then had to add the other 1/3 of my stuff... and that was a killer. Suddenly, my nice, open rooms are jammed with Rubbermaid tubs and boxes and plastic bags of "stuff" I was fine without for a month. one result: I am seriously contemplating selling my great-aunt's china--an amazing transformation.
I resisted a $300 sectional sofa - only because I had no way to get it home and into the house. I still want that sucker...
I've also passed on some paperback books - bought just the 1 - because I have a TON of books and this one just happened to be a series I was collecting and a book I was missing. I also passed on some dvds..I'm a sucker for books, dvds, dishes, and afghans/quilts. I have a bunch of rescued afghans that I've hardly looked at but couldnt stand to leave them in that awful place. same with books.
Susanna
Post a Comment