Finding Treasure!

When you step onto the big stage of life at the tender age of 16, finding yourself married and with child, the meaning of both budget and value suddenly take on a whole new meaning. This was the case for me back in 1986. Even though I am a little more than 3 decades beyond that time in my life, my financial situation is much the same today as it was then. I often say that I pinch my pennies so hard, you can all but literally hear them squeal!

My current life standing involves me being on stage with 3 of my 10 children singing in front of a huge audience 4 times a week. The challenge in that is following the dress code for two teen girls, one teen boy and myself. While many may think finding affordable clothing for the male is easy, I need to add that he Is 6’2” tall and has a 30” waist. Finding dress pants for him is just as hard as finding full length, reasonably priced, dresses for the girls and myself!

Along with clothing that is appropriate for the stage, we also have to find shoes to match. The one thing I love about Goodwill is that they often have new shoes that were donated from various stores. Recently we found two such pairs of shoes. One for me and a killer set of boots for one of my teens; both new with original tags on them. Had we found them at their original place of purchase we would have spent close to $100.00 on just the two pair. Instead, we paid a little more than $8.00 for both pairs when adding on tax.

I think my favorite part of showing up in our new apparel is the comments we get. Other members of our musical group always tell me that I should not admit how little I have paid for our wardrobe because the items are simply too beautiful. I laugh and tell them I am proud of our ability to remain in a very tight budget while adhering to all our dress code requirements.

My oldest teen is always getting compliments on her wardrobe from friends at school. One particular friend could not believe so many of her outfits were purchased at our local Goodwill. Her mother only shops at high end retail stores, yet her daughter’s clothes honestly do not compare in quality and beauty.

Recently, when I picked up this teen for a sleepover, I overheard her asking Marissa where she got the shirt she was wearing and before Marissa could answer, she said, “Please do not tell me it came from Goodwill.”

Marissa answered in truth stating that pretty much everything she wore, outside of an occasional gift from a family member, indeed came from Goodwill. Her friend then asked her if it ever bothered her that she always had to wear used clothes. Without missing a beat, my daughter replied, “No. Why would it? As soon as you wear an item one time, it is used clothing. The only difference is my mom gets value item for item and other people in the world likely lives with a lot of buyer’s remorse.

Years ago, Goodwill, launched a series of commercials. To this day, my favorite is the one that had a summer dress hanging in the middle of the store, suddenly the camera pans to a lady running towards it like it was the be all of all get alls. The commercial was so funny to me because in all actuality this is often what happens when we walk in through the doors ourselves.

While admittedly we do shop various consignment stores, I have yet to find a thrift store that offers better prices along with such a huge variety of items. When you add the likely hood of scoring a great deal on something to the additional discounts that Goodwill offers on specific days, makes electing to stop into their stores rather than others a no-brainer for this mother of many. Granted, no Goodwill is the same as another when it comes to how they operate and discount, in the end, you simply cannot beat the trove of treasures one finds among the various aisles in any given Goodwill store.

Over the course of years, I have stumbled upon many mind-blowing deals. In the past 3 months, we have bought a stove, a TV, kitchen appliances, toys, movies, books, furniture and of course clothes and shoes. As a mom of many, I would simply not be able to live the life I do without the ability to save so much money on my family's everyday needs, not to mention our wants. Goodwill has been a life saver with its trove of never-ending treasures! Should you find yourself in the vicinity of one of their stores anytime soon, treat yourself to a little time treasure hunting!