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Friday, November 21, 2008

~From Trash To Treasure~

I am addicted.

Well, lets say I have a new obsession. Its treasure hunting at the Goodwill Outlet. Did you know they even had those? Its FABULOUS with a capitol F. (no.... seriously!!)

The first time I went I admit I was taken back, I walked in with my sons and noticed there was quite a few people with not only gloves, but surgical face masks. (I just about walked out.)
However, I'm not one to be frightened off that easily, so I took my time and walked around a bit before I dove in.

Dove in? Yep... Diving in to a table that is. The Outlet is filled with these extremely long table bins. A table bin?!- I guess you would describe it like the old cafeteria tables in elementary school, only instead of a table top its one huge long bin. The bins are random. (By random I mean they don't sort anything out other than shoes, books and clothes. everything else goes into catch all bins.)

I'm a bargain hunter. I dunno if I would call myself a diver, but I found my way.

So this last trip I took I made out like quite the bargain bandit! I've never been one to be huge into brand names, I just liked clothes that fit me nice and looked good and didn't break my pocketbook. Since finding this Diamond in the rough, I've become a brand name snob! (teehee)
Fendi, Banana Republic, Gap, Armani,BCBG, DKNY, Ralph Lauren, only to name a few!

I even found an adorable REI vest for one the of the twins and some North Face sweats for my oldest. (which he hasn't even taken off the past couple days!)

Long story short (I know too late right!) I brought home my loot and started sorting. Some of the clothing had tags on it from the regular goodwill stores.
This gave me an idea, a wonderful money saving show-my-husband-how-much-I-saved idea! I counted the items I purchased (which mind you was THREE huge garbage bags full) and then added up the total of each of the items that had tags and took that total to the Hub.

Now the Outlet charges you by weight.
Can you believe that?
AND its cheap!
Like 1.69 a pound for up to the first 10 lbs then the price gets cheaper for the more weight you have! So its a bonus to find more and save more! Wink

My totals were:

62 items (in the three bags)
Of those 62 items- 15 had price tags
Total of price tags: $90.85
How much I paid for my loot: $27.25
A Savings of: $63.60
~And that's just the total for the items that HAD tags! AMAZING!

Like I said, I am obsessed. Its a wonderful place, its a treasure hunt every time. Why go to a store and window shop for stuff I know I don't have the money for when I could go here and find other people's trash that I can make my treasures!
(and the best part- if the kids destroy it I don't feel so bad as I didn't pay an arm and a leg for it!)

Thank you Goodwill for your Outlet stores! Cheers!

10 comments:

Tracy said...

ok - where have I been? Why have I not seen these new posts & pics???? The saints parade is TOO FUN! I guess we've been pretty busy - or rather I have been just trying to keep up with the house & so I'll post, but not do too much commenting - still missing ya!
I'll try to email soon to really catch up.
SOOOOO good to 'read' from you though!
blessings,

Kate said...

I LOVVVVVEEEEEE Goodwill and Salvation Army stores! I've been known to go in there and spend $10 and come out with five outfits and a few dishes for my collection. It's great! At our Sal. Army they have 50% off two colored tags on the weekends so I only look at the colors on sale. No matter what. It's so much fun! I miss it, since the girls are more mobile now I dont' go out much. At our hospital thrift shop I spent $130 on a china set when we first got married and came to find that purchasing the pieces I got on Replacements Ltd. online it woul dhave cost $1,200. So yeh, I was thrilled! They look wonderful in our hutch too! Going to read back a bit in your blog, been gone a while!

Debra said...

Outlet? I thnk I would faint from the joy of seeing one!!!!

I too buy my kids clothes at Goodwill and Salvation Army. And right now, mine too. Because I am inbtwn sizes & still losing weight.

I bought a pair of Croft & Barrow boots for me for $4 and they were BRAND new! And a wool winter coat for $15. I LOVE my Goodwill though, they have 25 cent Mondays. Every week it is a new color tag. They first mark the color 1/2 off, then 88 cents, then 25 cents. LOVE IT But the ladies can get down right rude so I have to go without kids. LOL

Bonnie the Boss said...

Although I wish they had one around here, I bet my hubby is thanking his lucky stars we don't!
You did a great job getting such a super bargin.

Claremont First Ward said...

I didn't even know there was such a thing.......where is the one in your area?

I am Arizona; a person, not a place. said...

I'm a thrifter too. I didn't know Goodwill has outlet stores, though! We have regular Goodwill stores and there's a huge, two story Salvation Army thrift store near my house. I buy jeans there, but I rarely find tops that I like so I rarely look anymore. I do go through the kids clothes. So many times I've found barely worn clothes or clothes with the original price tags still on them. And Salvation Army only charges $1 for most of their kids clothes. Great buy. WHat I love at our thrift stores is fabric and yarn and sewing machines! If you go upstairs at our Salvation Army its a *bleeping* mess, but you can find new fabric, new yarn and occasionally, vintage sewing machines. SOmetimes I find sewing notions and trims, too. Since the economy has been rough lately, there have been more people at the thrift store. Have you noticed that, too? I wish they would go away so we can HAVE IT ALL! lol!

Connie said...

I am a terrible Goodwill shopper...I get too overwhelmed, and impatient...and I didn't know they had outlets!! That is awesome!!

Connie said...

So another thing...you'll die from all my comments...but I don't know what happened with my reader!! I hadn't seen anything from you in so long and then 10 posts appeared one day...to see you!!

Jocasta said...

I would so love to have the patience! I go to our stores but never really find anything good - I guess I'm just not looking hard enough

Jaime said...

Goodwill outlet? Who knew? I would love that!