intentional thrifting

Something became pretty obvious early on this year. Even though I'm not shopping for anything new, my thrifting needs to be very intentional. I don't want to end up buying anything (no matter how good the deal is) if it's something I don't really need or won't significantly improve my life in some way. My solution? Go in with a solid plan!

I downloaded a grocery shopping app on my phone awhile back and added a new list just for the thrift stores so I can refer to that before I even start to browse. It's great as a reminder of exactly what I'm hunting for so I can really look more closely at those areas of the stores and just quickly browse the other areas since things do get misplaced fairly often. If I find a great deal on something not on my list, I really question myself if it's something I need before I dole out the cash to bring it home, no matter how great that deal is. I'm not saying I never buy off-list, but I keep it to a minimum. The funny thing is, once I made a list, I started quickly finding exactly what I needed. It's almost like I'm shopping in a regular store!

I decided I wanted a stovetop popcorn maker. I don't do microwave popcorn because for one, I don't have a microwave, but also because I wouldn't want the extra packaging. It was only on my list a couple weeks before I found this:

Whirley-Pop! And just in time for National Popcorn Day!

Excellent! New, these run $25-35 depending if you catch a sale. I snapped this one up in new condition for $4.79. I stopped in the grocery on my way home and picked up some bulk popcorn using one of my fabric bags.

I've seen a lot of crafty folk using salad spinners to aid in drying newly washed knitwear and handspun and since I didn't want to use the spinner I use for food, I decided to look for one secondhand and found this nice, larger one:

I checked Amazon.com and it sells for just over $37 new. My price? $3.99. Sold! If I don't love it, I'll happily redonate it but I have a feeling it'll be pretty handy. Who knew these things were so expensive new?! The smaller one I use for greens was a gift.

I often use my cell phone while shopping for secondhand items. Since Amazon has such a wide variety of items and usually pretty decent prices, I use their app to check new prices to see if the used price is reasonable or not before I decide to buy. I love buying secondhand because it saves resources, but I love saving money too! :-)

Do you shop thrift stores with a list? Or just stay open to what you might find?