I inherited several traits from my mother, her eyes and her chin but one trait I have only recently realized— her thriftiness.
It used to bug me. Tearing paper towels in half because most jobs don’t require a whole paper towel…. Seriously? How about rinsing out baggies and pinning them in the cupboard door to dry…. nope not a big fan of used baggies. Why buy new when you can get it cheaper at a garage sale?
OK, now I’m on board. I now love a bargain. When I was a teen I wouldn’t be caught dead shopping a sales rack and garage sale finds came back to haunt me at school. One day when proudly wearing my “new” embroidered “oneof a-kind” blouse to school an upperclassman pointed out to everyone “it was her old shirt.” Die of embarrassment much? I did. Then I hid the blouse in the back of my closet and never wore it again. I learned my lesson there….don’t shop local for second-hand clothes.
Most of my clothes come from wonderful consignment shops like Clothes Mentor or Turn Style. When my children were young Once Upon a Child was a favorite shop of mine. It was like a year-round garage sale with business hours. The prices might not be as low as a rummage sale but the quality is good, the clothes are clean and sorted for my color and size.
The prices of new clothes floor me. If people make $7.25 minimum wage how can they possibly afford a $49.95 blouse? Who wants to work six hours just to buy a shirt? I would be nervous I would wreck it in the washing machine. If I paid $10.95 it’s a different story….I can wear it for six months and pass it on to the next person without a second thought.
With the weather finally getting nicer it brings our garage sales every weekend. This is so much fun for me. I find things I didn’t even know I need. My latest find is two gorgeous lamps from the Annandale City Wide Garage Sale. Ten dollars each! If you priced high end lamps lately you know I scored on these! (Now I just need new living room furniture to match.)
I have decided that this year I will have some ground rules when shopping.
I will buy nothing that needs repair, honestly, I will never get it fixed exactly the way I’d like it.
I cannot buy any new “projects”… I learned my lesson last year after buying 25 wooden bowls. My plan was to finally put to use my North House Folk School classes. Ask me how many I rosemalled to date? Nope, not one.
And finally, I cannot buy anything for my daughter that costs more than $1 without her permission otherwise I will get upset on wasting money when she tells me she doesn’t like it or want it.
I have now set myself up for a happy healthy garage sale season. Thanks mom for the thrifty gene. I think this is going to be a great summer! Life is the greatest bargain – we get it for nothing.
Yiddish Proverb quotes
Taste of Home columnist Sandy (Anderson) Holthaus lives on a farm in South Haven, MN with her husband, Michael, and their children Zoe, Jack and Ben. Her heart remains on the North Shore where she grew up with her parents, Art and LaVonne Anderson of Schroeder. She enjoys writing about her childhood and mixes memories with delicious helpings of home-style recipes.
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