Don't Give Up [Goodwill: San Francisco, Clement St.]

When you're trying to shop lean but maintain some standards of quality, it can sometimes feel like an uphill climb. There are so many things working against you.  It's more convenient to buy something off the rack right when you see it, rather than wait until the price drops or you find a cheaper, similar product elsewhere. There is near-constant pressure from ads to buy the latest and greatest things brand new.  When you narrow your price range, you also narrow your options to choose from.  You'll repeated have to walk away when something doesn't fit the bill for one reason or another.  It can be tempting to just give up.

I feel this way sometimes when I read or hear about fabulous finds people have found from unlikely sources such as thrift stores, garage sales, and estate sales.  This especially applies to thrift stores, since I don't make it a habit to check out local garage sales and have yet to set foot in an estate sale (though I still want to!).  So I tend to have high hopes upon entering a thrift store...but more often than not, I leave empty-handed and disappointed.

With this in mind, I now shop at thrift stores only when it's convenient.  On Friday I went to the bank and decided to check out the Goodwill store across the street, since it was right there and I had time to kill.  Now, I've been to this store 3 times in the last 6 weeks and each time I didn't find anything to buy.  So why should this time be any different?

But lo and behold, I made two purchases I am really happy with:

Aqua Short Sleeve Shirred Blazer (buy here)

Original: $88.00

I paid: $4.49

 Elastic striped belt with chain (no label)

I paid: $1.99

Blazer and belt together:

Despite my admonition to know your labels, I actually had no idea that Aqua was a Bloomingdale's brand until I did a search for this jacket.  Beyond that, I was surprised to find this exact blazer still available online for the retail price!  I had assumed this would be a style from a past season and thus unsearchable on the internets.  Judging by the wrinkles, I'm guessing someone didn't follow the Dry Clean Only directions and the jacket shrunk in the dryer.  Oh well, their loss is my gain!

So if you feel like giving up on a certain store or method of saving money, DON'T!  For every time you find an amazing deal, there will be many times you won't find anything.  But when you do find something that's a homerun, the strikeouts are totally worth it!