Thrift Store Shopping and Freecycle

Every time I drive into town I try to include a quick stop at our 2 local second hand shops.  Both are clean, well organized and have a decent selection.  Most recently, I found some lovely vintage handmade table linens made with high quality cotton, one was a funky print, one set appliqued, and another set cross stitched all by hand.  I was in awe of the amount of work that someone had put into making these special table linens and was thrilled to take them home for a very low price.

I also found 2 small cast iron fry pans which was a great find!  I love cooking with cast iron, for it gives a lovely colour and crispiness to foods.  I often find brand new clothing for the kids and I frequently find very useful items for the home and kitchen.  There is a lot of junk there, though, so you just have to look past that.  Sometimes, one stop nets a lot of useful things and often, I leave empty-handed.  Such is the way of trolling thrift shops!

Another recent useful "find" is Freecycle!  If you have not yet discovered the wonders of your local Freecycle group, I encourage you to look into it.  We have been able to give away MANY things that we no longer use (from large items like furniture and appliances right down to small things like toys and clothing that the kids have outgrown) and in return, we have received many things we needed (canning jars, garden tools, etc.).  We even received HUNDREDS of vinyl albums for our son, Ian who is an avid collector.  Freecycle is an excellent way to keep things out of the landfill and it is fabulous to know that your no longer needed items are going to a local person who can use them.

When one spouse is at home full time, it's important to stretch the family income as far as possible.  As you may have read in my last post, we choose to spend our money on high quality local organic food, and in order to do that, we need to watch our spending in other areas.  Thrift Shops and Freecycle really help us with that goal!

On another note - our delinquent cat Squeaker has been getting into my newly planted seeds!  Grrrr....  He's really intent on digging up every single little cup, so I'm going to have to devise something to keep him out.  I've been covering the lot with a blanket at night, as the seeds are JUST emerging and there is no plant yet to squish, but that won't work for an ongoing solution.  Kelly offered to rig up some wire to cover the lot of them. Yes, please!!!  And HURRY!!!!!!