As you all know I took up
my thrifting lifestyle when I started high school. I was raised to believe
that money shouldn’t be splurged on material goods. Saving
was the name of the game in my house growing up. My mother was the
biggest influence on my decision to save and if I did have to spend, to spend
wisely. She spent most of her time shopping at garage sales and thrift
stores. However, when she did shop at department stores she would surf the
clearance racks and always be armed with coupons. I decided to sit
down with my mom and ask her about her reasons behind her saving and budgeting
lifestyle.
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| Photo taken by Amy Reinhardt |
Q: What life experiences
did you have that led you to wanting to save money on material items like
clothing?
A: "I worked at a
department store (Jones Store) in high school and part of college.
While I worked there I noticed how quickly items were marked down from their
original price. Having an employee discount of 25 percent I was able to
purchase clothing at very reasonable prices. This caused me to never want to
pay full price for anything ever again. I also grew up in a house with four
sisters. Once we got jobs at the age of sixteen it was an expectation from our
parents that we buy our own clothes, so locating the inexpensive options was
essential."
Q: What are your favorite
methods for stretching your dollar?
A: "I like to go to thrift
stores to check out what’s available first especially when they’re having
a 50 percent off special. I am constantly pulling relevant coupons from
advertisements that are for items I know I’ll need whether it’s for clothing
stores like Kohl’s or grocery stores like Price Chopper or Hy-Vee. I keep an
eye out when I’m driving for neighborhood garage sales or estate sales in the
area."
Q: What’s the best find
you’ve ever had at a thrift store?
A:
"I was shopping in a
thrift store called Savers and I saw the exact model of a yellow vacuum
cleaner
that I had purchased from Kohl’s and owned for five years before it
broke. This
thrift store vacuum cleaner was only 15 dollars plus an additional 30
percent off coupon I had. I’ve now owned the Savers edition of this
vacuum cleaner for a couple years and it’s still going strong!"
Q: If you had to choose,
what is your favorite thrift store?
A: "My favorite thrift
store is Savers. I enjoy the organization and layout of the store as well as
the variety of items including clothing, shoes, books, household goods and
other miscellaneous accessories. This thrift store also constantly hosts sales and
discounts on their already inexpensive merchandise."
Q: If you could give
people advice about thrift shopping what would you say?
A: "I would save to give it
a try and treat it like a huge garage sale. You may strike gold and find an
item with its original tag that has never been used or worn. With as much
luck as I’ve had inside these secondhand stores I would definitely
encourage everyone to at least give it a shot!"
