sucked in to Brewster's Millions - er, Brewster's $400?

[Beck Water]

Neighbor does a lot of work for St Vincent de Paul.  Helping families who are burnt out, people transitioning to housing out of shelters, DV victims etc.

 

Long involved story I don't entirely understand, but St V d P is ending a voucher system as of the end of October, and she and her friends have been trying to use up the vouchers in the thrift stores to acquire stuff they need.  But she and her helpers are also busy, well, helping people.

 

So yesterday evening she shows up on our doorstep with 2, $200 vouchers and a plea: "can you go to St V d Paul thrift shops today and use these tomorrow? 

Here's what I need."

 

It's not what I'd planned to do today, but I agreed.

 

So we're fairly frugal.  Can we actually spend $400 in about 4 hrs, at a Thrift Shop?

 

We Shall See.....

 

....Anyone else ever done anything like this?

[DrDawkinstein]

Considering that most thrift shops have gone fully mainstream/commercial and are no longer the great places to find deals that they once were, I'm confident you will be able to spend that money.

 

Most items we see at Goodwill now are priced as if they were BRAND NEW. It's ridiculous.

 

I'm sure some decent stores still exist out there, but long gone are the days of finding a haul of vintage Tshirts and Button-downs for $10-20 total. Now, every item is $20 itself.

 

Keep me posted on how it goes in your area!

[Just Jack]

41 minutes ago, DrDawkinstein said:

Most items we see at Goodwill now are priced as if they were BRAND NEW. It's ridiculous.

 

I've seen posts/pictures about people finding items at Goodwill with dollar store stickers still on them.  

[Beck Water]

10 hours ago, DrDawkinstein said:

Considering that most thrift shops have gone fully mainstream/commercial and are no longer the great places to find deals that they once were, I'm confident you will be able to spend that money.

 

Most items we see at Goodwill now are priced as if they were BRAND NEW. It's ridiculous.

 

I'm sure some decent stores still exist out there, but long gone are the days of finding a haul of vintage Tshirts and Button-downs for $10-20 total. Now, every item is $20 itself.

 

Keep me posted on how it goes in your area!

 

I know what you mean - I like to thrift, but it’s getting harder to find true bargains.  And yeah, Goodwill has gone crazy.  But these stores weren’t that bad for prices, though there were some things they just didn’t have.  I saw some nice pieces that weren’t on my list, but were reasonable.  

 

It turns out spending $200 in one St Vincent de Paul thrift shop (with a specific list) was surprisingly hard work - harder than I thought it would be and took longer.  And some stuff on my list, they just did not have - table forks!!!!!, rugs

 

Filled up 2 carts, not including furniture, at the first store

Just one cart at the 2nd store

Took about 5 hrs all told, including loading and unloading SUV 2x.  It was fairly full each trip, but not totally stuffed as full as it could hold.

 

In the 1st store, spent $201.66, they let the $1.66 slide.

2nd store only spent $186, but looked at the line behind me and didn’t have the heart to ask if the checker would let me grab another table lamp and a few more cereal bowls (this was due to one color of sticker being 50% off, I thought I had >$200 and would have to leave a few items)

 

Here was the haul:

 

From my list. These are to furnish a rectory that’s being converted to a 14 bed women’s shelter.

4 nightstands - 1 needed knobs, which came out of our basement

4 straight chairs with cushioned seats - one needed seat screwed on, screws from our basement

2 mirrors

8 table lamps, all work and have bulbs and shades

9 “colorful pictures”, one an original oil and one needlepoint

2 “colorful throw pillows”

a large bag of bedding for twin-size beds - only 1 fitted sheet though - maybe 6 sets

2 bath towels in great shape

3 blankets

 

”Filler” I was told they can always use:

3 Mr Coffee style coffee pots

8 knives, 7 spoons, 2 “flippers”, 2 cooking spoons

12 cereal bowls

small frying pan

large deep fry pan with lid

2 3x women’s jeans and a 3x turtleneck sweater

 

I was kinda tired at the end - needed a cuppa before I got into carving the Halloween pumpkins, and those had simple designs this year

 

What I did was actually about half a days work for our neighbor, who picks up sorts and delivers furniture 4 or 5 days a week, year round, in all weather

And she’s a good decade older than I am - in her 70s.  Farm girl turned nurse/nuns, left to marry and raise kids.

 

She’s a “Machine”, No Doubt.  

 

Anyway, it was interesting, and different.

 

Edited November 1, 2023 by Beck Water

[Beck Water]

9 hours ago, Just Jack said:

 

I've seen posts/pictures about people finding items at Goodwill with dollar store stickers still on them.  

 

Don’t doubt it - I know Goodwill gets stuff from Target that doesn’t sell on clearance - but didn’t see any of that at these stores (St Vincent de Paul)