No, not *that* kind of good Will
Feb. 21st, 2010 01:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
veronica_richIn the spirit of trying to balance my finances and put them in order, and save more money for emergencies/expensive needed items over the past several months, I have discovered Goodwill stores. They fill my need to shop and occasionally acquire, without costing me a lot of money.
Ironically, the four Goodwills I frequent most are in relatively small towns and are clean with good organization, whereas ones in some of the larger towns I've been to/lived in were not well-kept and filled with mostly stained clothes. (Which is bullshit - just because you're poor doesn't mean you should be forced to buy nasty-looking clothes. I don't buy clothes at mine, but they mostly look to be in good shape.)
Anyway, I've found some relatively expensive kitchen items at these four Goodwills that didn't cost me that much and were in new or gently-used shape; they just require hot soapy water and a good wash before using. These include several skillets, including a cast-iron one for about $4; a couple of copper pans with lids for $5 or less each; a pair of brand-new Calphalon jelly roll pans for $12; two Romertopf clay bakers for $4 and $10 (one is much larger than the other); a huge Chefmate stainless steel stockpot, brand new (still had the retail store sticker on it) for $10; a pretty nice waffle iron/griddle for $7, nearly new; little glass custard cups for 50 cents each; a glass pot for brewing tea (bag or loose-leaf) for 99 cents - keep in mind such pots with diffusers tend to run about $35 new; several quality glass baking dishes of varying sizes for $4 or less each; and probably my best deal EVER, a deep cast-iron saucepan and "mate" 5-quart cast iron Dutch oven for $5 each - Dutch ovens this size in, say, Williams Sonoma, generally run about $250 or more.
Ironically, the four Goodwills I frequent most are in relatively small towns and are clean with good organization, whereas ones in some of the larger towns I've been to/lived in were not well-kept and filled with mostly stained clothes. (Which is bullshit - just because you're poor doesn't mean you should be forced to buy nasty-looking clothes. I don't buy clothes at mine, but they mostly look to be in good shape.)
Anyway, I've found some relatively expensive kitchen items at these four Goodwills that didn't cost me that much and were in new or gently-used shape; they just require hot soapy water and a good wash before using. These include several skillets, including a cast-iron one for about $4; a couple of copper pans with lids for $5 or less each; a pair of brand-new Calphalon jelly roll pans for $12; two Romertopf clay bakers for $4 and $10 (one is much larger than the other); a huge Chefmate stainless steel stockpot, brand new (still had the retail store sticker on it) for $10; a pretty nice waffle iron/griddle for $7, nearly new; little glass custard cups for 50 cents each; a glass pot for brewing tea (bag or loose-leaf) for 99 cents - keep in mind such pots with diffusers tend to run about $35 new; several quality glass baking dishes of varying sizes for $4 or less each; and probably my best deal EVER, a deep cast-iron saucepan and "mate" 5-quart cast iron Dutch oven for $5 each - Dutch ovens this size in, say, Williams Sonoma, generally run about $250 or more.
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no subject
Date: 2010-02-21 06:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-02-21 07:03 am (UTC)Outside of kitchen wares, I have found Fossil purses for $3. Goodwill also came in handy for Christmas, I was able to find many pairs of new or almost-new nice shoes in my sister's huge-foot size for $4 or less each (if she buys new, she has a hard time finding them and then they're not cheap).
no subject
Date: 2010-02-21 08:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-02-21 07:24 am (UTC)They're great for books, and I found them very handy for temporary clothes when I was losing weight. Can find some very nice stuff in my local one. Designer gear, because I live in rather an affluent area where people will donate things just because they are soooo last season. :D
A couple of days ago in there I found a signed framed print by a local artist that my dad likes, so that's his birthday present for this year sorted!
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Date: 2010-02-21 07:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-02-21 08:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-02-21 01:35 pm (UTC)My finds at Goodwill are amazing. I have found awesome Vera Bradley bags, board games (My most recent awesome finds were "Ticket to Ride" (which was unopened) and WWJD (I plan on seeing if we can use this game at some church game nights). I have found some awesome clothing (which can be kinda hard sometimes for a big girl like me), too. I always buy Dillan's work pants at Goodwill because I don't see the point in paying a lot of money for pants he's gonna ruin any way.
Glad you are having a good time of it. If you are ever in Indy and want a tagalong, I know of a few local Goodwill's that are awesome.
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Date: 2010-02-28 03:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-02-21 02:48 pm (UTC)My shopping vice is dollar stores. Dollar General, which I discovered visiting my relatives in Tx a few years ago totally rocks. They even sold stuff like ibuprofen.
There are some real dollar stores in Canada too. However, many are deceptively named, since nothing in them costs a dollar any longer. There were two chains where everything was $1 or less: Dollarama and Everything for a Dollar Store. Only EFADS keeps the faith.
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Date: 2010-02-21 08:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-02-21 09:36 pm (UTC)If I ever get my own place, I'll have to stop at goodwill first...
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Date: 2010-02-22 01:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-02-22 05:59 pm (UTC)I know of 2 in my area and whenever I have a couple bucks, I visit them!! You never know what you're going to get!
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Date: 2010-02-25 12:45 am (UTC)