Second Hand

It turns out that I like thrift stores.  For a long time I had a real aversion to used stuff because it reminded me of hand-me-downs, even when I was too tall to wear stuff originally meant for Ian. During the height of my comic book addiction, I went online and bought a bunch of Superman action figures from the early to mid nineties, but all of it had to be mint in box, even though I knew full well that I was planning on opening them up.  However, since I have no stuff right now, getting used stuff on the cheap is really attractive.

The thing about going to thrift stores (there's a Goodwill about ten minutes from my apartment) is that you have to very picky.  There's a lot of junk at these stores, both busted up stuff and stuff that wouldn't be worth getting new.  I did get a couple of nice work shirts recently, but it required a solid ten minutes (per shirt) of going through the racks of shirts.  Some shirts were too worn out, some were out of style, and a lot of them are the wrong size, but if you can find one shirt that's the right size and looks nice, it's worth the time.

Housewares are a little easier in that the items aren't hiding behind each other on clothing racks.  I bought a very nice set of glasses, a few storage containers, and even a rice cooker (for six bucks!).  Again, most of what you see is crap, but if you take just a little be of time, you can find some really useful stuff.

Since moving to Maryland, I've gotten three shirts, one pair of slacks, six glasses, four storage containers, a silverware drawer organizer, a three-cup capacity measuring cup, and the aforementioned rice cooker.  All for less than thirty dollars.

I know that many of my readers have had similar experiences with thrifty store and finding really useful stuff on the cheap, so I'm not convincing you of anything new.  It's still nice to have a to get needed items for the home without breaking the bank.