Friday, June 18, 2010

Thrift

I hate shopping- unless it involves things that go bang or make other things go bang.

I especially hate going shopping with others- at least alone I can get an onerous chore done in the minimum of time. Places where browsing is essential really wind my crank.

Like Save Mart.

So where does the wife want to go on my week off?- all three of the bloody shops in the region!

BUT

-and here is the real story- while I hate the place, you DO get amazing bargains there. We save a ton of money buying stuff there- especially when after kids stuff that they destroy or grow out of six months later.

I'm certainly not too proud to wear second-hand clothing and of course we cherry-pick for the better quality brands, which are only slightly higher priced than second-hand Warehouse tat. This is the wife's forte- she can spot a label in a rack of junk and knows the retail value of everything.

She made the point of taking me to several of these upmarket outlets to compare what we had just paid to the on the rack price.

The jacket and pair of jeans that I brought for about thirty bucks would have cost about $350 new- which is way more than the whole pile of Savemart bargains in the back of the car cost!

Funny thing- the shops aren't full of poor-looking people (there are a few there of course). Most of the shoppers seemed well-dressed and well-groomed and this reflected in the late-model cars parked outside. So it's not just that they are better presented by virtue of having cherry-picked the goods too!




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