Goodwill Hunting shopping day - Recap!

I met my friend Heather on Saturday and we headed out for a day of Goodwill shopping.

Heather and I know each other from church and have many mutual friends, but we've never had the opportunity to hang out together. It was fun getting to know her a bit better and realize that we have A LOT in common. Aside from loving a good deal at any type of thrift or resale store, we both are stay at home moms with common values in how we raise our kids. She's also a type A personality which is always a good pairing for this type A personality!

We ended up stopping at two Goodwill stores and the Salvation Army. Heather had never been to the Salvation Army, so it was great to introduce her to the 1/2 price deals of SA.

Heather got some great deals on school uniforms for her daughter who will be starting Kindergarten this year. She also found several really cute outfits for her youngest daughter who is almost two. She also scored some really great clothing items for herself.

I found a variety of items and ended up spending less than $30 the entire day.

• Banana Republic tank
• 2 New Balance sport bras
• Nike skort and soccer shirt for soccer practice
• 5 books
  
• Littlest Pet Shop playhouse
• Ron Jon Surf Shop boogie board

It was a fun day and Heather and I agreed that we will need to set up another Goodwill Hunting shopping day soon.

Book update and other stuff

Sadly, I never received a response to the email I sent to Goodwill Industries of Central Texas, but in this case, actions speak louder than words!

While in Goodwill yesterday, I noticed the children's book have been re-tagged to $.59 - $.99 each! WHOOHOO! No more price gouging! I was so excited to see this change that we bought three books. I wonder now if I was the only person to complain...

In other news, I recently purchased two really cute items for the girls. The pink Bermuda length shorts are from the GAP. They have adjustable waist and are in excellent condition. I paid $1.99 for them.


The skirt is from The Children's Place and is fully lined and is also in excellent condition. (I took this picture right after I washed it, so the fabric is a little damp and the colors look darker than they really are.) I paid $3.99 for this skirt which is more than I would have normally paid, but because I had my little girl with me and she loved the skirt, I couldn't put it back.



But, here's tip for shopping at Goodwill. The cashiers ring up the items based on the category that the item falls in to. The guy at the register rang the GAP shorts up in the "shorts" category, but failed to place it in "children shorts" category. Adult shorts are $5.99 and children shorts are $1.99. Quite a difference! When he corrected his error, I also questioned him about the price of the skirt. I felt certain the price wasn't $3.99, but rather $1.99, since skirts and shorts are closely related in category, but he insisted it was indeed $3.99. I didn't argue with him about it since my little one really wanted the skirt. However, had I been alone, I would have put it aside.

This is where the magic happens!

My "desk" set up at home is in my kitchen. This is where the magic happens!

I love having my computer in my kitchen because I can do all I need to do on the computer while I cook, clean up and watch my kids eat breakfast. It's also great because when my girls are playing on the computer, I'm usually in the kitchen and can quickly oversee what they are doing.

I have been in the market for a new stool. My previous stool squeaked every time I sat down or stood up and was quite literally falling apart.

I found this stool at Goodwill and it was priced at $6.99. Sold!

I love that it is a bit higher than my last stool and that it also has a back. Another cool thing about it is that it folds for easy storage! AND, it doesn't squeak every time I sit down!

In other news... I've recently noticed that the prices of children paperback books at one of my favorite Goodwill locations have increased from $1.29 each to $1.99 each! I couldn't believe my eyes! More importantly, I know that my book buying will drastically decrease with those kind of prices. It's really sad because there are a lot of great titles that I would typically buy for my kids, but now that the price has increased, I can't see myself spending that kind of money on used children paperback books.

So, last week, I wrote an email to the Goodwill Industries of Central Texas. Here's what it said:

"Dear Sir or Madame:

I shop at the Round Rock location at least once per week. I especially shop for books, not only for myself, but for my two daughters who are both avid readers. There have been times when I've left Goodwill with in excess of 10 or more books because of the great selection and low price.


However, I've recently noticed that children's paperback books have increased in price substantially. Those books are now priced at $1.99/each. While I understand, paying $1.99 for a book is still a good deal, it seems a bit exorbitant for a used book at Goodwill. I have visited other Goodwill stores in the area and I've purchased books from those stores priced anywhere from $.59 - $1.29/each. In my opinion, those prices seem to be a bit more in line with what one would expect from Goodwill. I'm not quite sure why the Round Rock location would increase the book prices across the board as they have.


I'm under the impression that pricing is set by the store/store manager, not Goodwill Industries corporate, but I wanted to pass along the fact that I can no longer afford to buy books from Goodwill in Round Rock if the prices remain as high as they currently are.


Thanks so much for your time."

I'll let you know if I get a response...

Books!

I love to go book shopping at Goodwill. There is a untold wealth of books at every single Goodwill I have ever been in.

A good rule of thumb for book shopping at Goodwill is to go in with an idea of the types of books you want to find, rather than go to Goodwill on a mission to find a particular book.

Case in point:
I have been looking at "Young Women of Faith" series books for quite some time. A girlfriend mentioned them to me a while back. I've looked on Amazon (for used books) and on eBay, but was still finding the cost to be a bit more than what I wanted to spend at this time. So, I tucked it away in the recesses of my mind for a later date. Then, on Thursday, I found these at one of my favorite Goodwills!

Three books from the "Lily" series by Nancy Rue! Each book was $1.29.

What a great find. I'm excited to have found these. It pays to wait sometimes!

Christmas Challenge! Day 8

One of the comments left on my other blog was by my friend Charlotte when she mentioned giving books a Christmas presents, because it is much better to own than to borrow from the library! I could not agree more!

Last year, in effort to get Elisan to enjoy reading more, I began buying her a book or two at Goodwill when I'd see them. Her homework assignment was usually to read for 20 minutes, but she'd often struggle with the books she checked out from the library at school. The books would either not keep her interest or the books would be a wee bit over her level of comprehension.

Once I got the girl started on reading books she enjoyed, I couldn't hardly keep up with her. She was devouring the books and wanting to go back to GW to get more books. As you can see, we've spent quite a lot of money on books from Goodwill. These are all the books that she's read. We're hanging onto them for when Kyla is ready to read them.
I've seen the price range on books from store to store. One store sells them for as little as $.59/each. I've also seen them as high as $1.29 each. Either way, that's still a great bargain, don't ya think?

The Goodwill stores that I shop have many, many chapter books for kids. It's a great way to buy the whole collection of series books as well. Elisan loves the "Babysitters Little Sister" series of books.