One man's trash is another man's treasure.
ENGLISH PROVERB
We just aren't bringing in as much money. Mr. Peasant remains at home recovering, and I am working part time to supplement our lowered income. As we are scrimping this and denying ourselves of that, the costs for our same simple life keeps rising and rising. Our electric bill and gas bill increased this month even though our usage was lower! Our monopoly internet service provider informed us this week that our current plan speed was too low. (We never had any issues.) Now, we will be forced to purchase the "new lower plan" that is ten dollars more a month which is $120 a year! We are now required to carry renters insurance for our apartment, and that coverage premium has increased this year. And lastly, our durable flip phones we have had for seven years will be retired this year due to the mandatory "upgrade" to 4G. It'll cost us $600 to purchase two new flip phones. It is so frustrating! Then, there are the incredible shrinking sizes of items at the grocery store. As I save a quarter here and a dime there and talk myself out of a new fill in the blank, our bills have increased without warning almost a thousand dollars this year. It's called stealing, folks.
There is still one magical place I never feel taken advantage of-- the thrift store. I have been shopping at thrift stores my entire life, and some of my most beloved possessions I've purchased from these places. You never know what you'll find at the thrift store. Often, I leave empty handed. But when I do find a treasure, it's an incredible deal!
We stopped by the Goodwill last weekend. Mr. Peasant insisted we pop in just to see what they had. I was leery due to not wanting to spend money. And I am so glad we did because I found an unopened bag of Oreck vacuum bags for 2 dollars. The bags are usually $25, and they were exactly the right model number! What are the chances? I walked out grinning ear to ear like I had won the lottery! I gained $23.00 in value in 15 minutes. Amazing.
That's exactly what thrift store shopping is--the lottery for regular people except your chances of winning are incredibly higher! It's just like the regular lottery slogan You have to play to win. You have to go into the thrift stores often since they get new inventory everyday. So, pop in a few times a month, keep a running list of things you need, and be patient. I found my Oreck vacuum bags in a bin above the men's pants, so be sure to look all around your thrift store!
The thrift store is one of the few places left that you can still find value for your money, but you have to play to win! So go into your thrift store more regularly. You never know what you'll find. Thank you for reading! God bless you!
