No, not *that* kind of good Will

[veronica_rich]

In 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.

Comments

[sirriamnis.livejournal.com]

A friend of mine found a nearly new Kitchen Aid mixer in a Goodwill once. She jumped all over that shit. For like $20.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think the KA stand mixers are like THE Goodwill Urban Legend, or maybe I should say, the Mecca of all thrift-store shoppers, LOL. (I once found a Sunbeam stand mixer in the box, but for $20 more I could've bought it new from the manufacturer, so I let it go.)

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).

[sirriamnis.livejournal.com]

I have found some awesome designer shoes in thrift stores. I cannot remember the name, though. It'll come to me, later, in the dead of night...