Top 4 reasons to visit thrift stores

Who loves thrift stores, raise your hand? The one clutching all that money you saved by shopping at one of these fine establishments. I'm fortunate to live in an area that has a great selection of used goody stores, from higher end consignment shops to kind of junky places that you need to dig long and hard to find treasures. And wash your hands real good after. No matter, I visit them all, and here are the top four reasons why.

1.  Cool stuff you won't find at WalMart. Nothing against the big box store. I shop there a lot. It's convenient, open twenty-four hours and has everything in stock all the time. Can't say that for thrift stores, but WM lacks charm and character. If I buy decor or clothing there, everyone else will have one too. And as big as they are, those super stores only have so much room. They can't have a hugely diverse selection and certainly don't have one-of-a-kind items.

2.  Cheap. Yep, I'm a bargain shopper. If I can find what I want, gently used at a discount, I'm tickled pink to have not paid full price. I can come away with a bag full of goodies and still have money left for groceries.

3.  Keeping Mother Earth happy. Reuse, recycle. The more we follow this pattern, the better for everyone.

4. Treasure hunting. When I'm on the prowl for a specific thing, nothing beats zipping around from shop to shop in my quest to snag the item. I map out my route and away I go. Usually, I'll find something else totally unrelated, and that's okay too because (see number 2 above) I'm not shelling out big bucks to indulge my shopping habit.

This picture below, it's from a vintage "re-purposing" store, a new trend I hope will catch on. Don't you?