A Secondhand Story: Rolling with Cheapskates

As a bit of a break, this post will be a little explanation from me about how I came to discover the finer points of never paying full price for anything.  I come from a long line of thrifty people, my mother is a serious coupon-er and my grandfather shops almost exclusively at the 99 cent store.  My mom is also one of those people who goes to multiple grocery stores, buying the cheapest thing from each one without realizing the money she spends on gas outweighs what she saves on getting that cornstarch 4 cents cheaper at Safeway.  

I wasn't always so keen on getting a good bargain, but I was destined to become a thrift store shopper.

It's a little embarrassing during the family rationing of "the ranch dressing we bought in bulk because it was cheaper, but now we have 4 gallons and not enough carrot sticks to finish it all."  Half of my family is made up of compulsive cheapskates, that is, they buy something because it's cheap, not because they need it.  So every now and then we end up taking a small plastic container of rationed salad dressing home.  

My mother did her best to instill the thrifty genes within me, she gave me stacks of coupons to Subway and immediately proposed a trip to the thrift store when I said I needed new clothes.  As a teenager I would give her a look and say "I don't want to go to the thrift store, I said I needed new clothes."  Maybe there's some kind of stigma as a post-puberty high school student.  The desperate need to wear designer clothes to flaunt how much money you have.

"See that small, barely visible badge of a seagull on a plain t-shirt?  That cost me thirty dollars."

But, as most college students learn, money is a lot harder to come by when you're forking over hundreds of dollars on fat text books.

My first willing trip to a thrift store was to a Goodwill.  I was killing time during a lull between classes and, it being the dead of winter, I needed some sweaters.  Upon entering college, I finally embraced my feminine side.  I became obsessed with clothes.  But I didn't have the money to quell my obsession for long.

Short story even shorter, I browsed the racks of Goodwill and before I knew it, I had gathered 5 sweaters.  I worried briefly whether I'd have enough money to pay for all of them, but when the cash register read 10 dollars, I was elated.  Yes, elated.  I even questioned the employee, "were these marked right?  It can't be THAT good of a deal."  She was not amused, and assured me with strained patience that yes, the clothes were the right price.  Good will indeed.

And now I understand that adrenaline rush and sense of pride you get when you find something really good and really cheap.  

So I'll probably be the one carrying the 4 gallons of ranch dressing next time.

Here's to a lifetime of bargains!

Thanks for reading my little anecdotes!  

When was your first trip to a thrift store?  Was it a good or bad experience?  

As always, please share your stories in the comments.