Good Will Savings

I credit my creative thriftiness to my father. He grew up on farm in Jersey where he worked from the age of twelve. He had three shirts in high school, one red one blue and one green. My father was smart and savvy with his money. And while I also inherited his pack-rat capabilities, it is amazing what you can reuse if you keep stuff long enough. Two years ago it was smart and quirky to shop thrifty. Now it is downright necessity. A friend of mine recently told me "forget being in the black, everyone that I know is just trying to get back from a mound of debt to a nice even zero."

Good Will and Salvation Army are two of my favorite stores. As a rule major chains like Target donate a lot of post season surplus so be familiar with their seasonal merchandise because then you will recognize it. I have scored pocketbooks, wrapping paper and baby gifts with the tags on at my local Good Will. I always shop February and July for men's clothing. Every single man gets a ton of shirts and sweaters for Christmas and Father's day that are not his style or size (medium, sure!) and they arrive unworn.
When we visit my brother-in-law and his wife I am always amazed at what different things are in their Sally's (what we call the Salvation Army because his grandma used to deceive her husband into thinking it was a department store). We get tons of household trinkets there, ceramic planters, shelving, etc.
My favorite thing to scope out are 1980's floral rayon dresses. I usually pay about three to seven dollars a dress and can wear them to church or work. I get tons of compliments and they are comfortable and easy to wash. And when I pay less than ten dollars an outfit, I can stretch the rest a lot further.