Thrift Shops. Consignments. Yard Sales. There was a time, many years ago, when I had three children under the age of five and realized I could get "new" clothes for them by hitting up local yard sales. I'd pick up my mom early on Saturday morning, get out the classified section of the local paper (a story for another article), and hit the road. We'd stop and start throughout the morning, looking for the right sizes. Sometimes we'd hit a jackpot and walk away with bags of clothes for $5. Sometimes we'd score clothes and shoes that had never been worn. Then there were the times either she or I would find a cute top or outfit in OUR size for a dollar or two. Yes, we could be distracted by books and nifty small appliances, but the goal was always to find the upcoming season's clothes for my kids. As my kids grew, they wanted to tag along so the search expanded to toys and children's books. One of my children's favorite memories is going yard-saling with their grandma, stopping at Hardee's for breakfast, riding in Grandma's yellow Chevette. Something about finding that amazing bargain created a bond. Quality time.
Now my kids are grown but I still feel that thrill when I drive by a yard sale or walk into a consignment shop and start looking. I'd say half my closet was bought used but now instead of driving around on a weekend, I simply log on to Thred Up (my absolute favorite) or Posh Mark. Click, click, SOLD! Watch for the UPS driver to leave a box on my front porch--wear it! Thrift shops are not necessarily the landing place for yard sale rejects. With our local Goodwill parking a truck every day in a lot five minutes from home, it's so easy to clean out a closet and run it to the truck. Yard sales take planning but if you're just in the middle of that closet to purge and feel the joy of seeing the closet walls and floor for the first time in months, why not?
There are national chains of thrift stores such as Once Upon A Child, Plato's Closet and Style Encore who pay you upfront for your used items. Not selling? Walk through and be amazed at the labels from the mall that are selling for a small percentage of the retail price. Arranged by size and color, it's easy to find something nearly every time you shop. Locally, there are shops that collect items on consignment: sign a contract to display your items and share a percentage of the profit with the shop. Either way, it makes sense to realize how quickly children outgrow their clothes. Make money and save money by thinking THRIFT SHOP!
