On Saturday, I took out $100 at the ATM and swore I wouldn’t spend a penny more at the thrifts this weekend. I don’t even know why I arbitrarily decide on a hundred dollars every time I know I’m going to a secondhand spot that doesn’t accept cards. I never, ever, ever spend even close to it. I buy small things. You may even say I have an obsession with buying small things– plates, bowls, vases, pots, kitschy framed art. Rarely do I find anything large that I really, really need: a tv stand for one, or a headboard. Since I buy small that $100 stretches long and wide and by Monday is crumpled up 20s in the bowl on top of our credenza, up for grabs for whoever needs cash more during the week. This weekend was no exception and small was the rule so I have lots of leftover money for some thrifting this week, too.
This set ran me a whole $5 at a church rummage sale. I saw them on the table the second day of the sale and knew they were mine immediately. This was the largest purchase I made on my two days off.
I can’t wait to hang this in our slate gray hallway. Sixty cents (the y is for the color tag it would have if it could be tagged, indicating its half-price day) from Village Discount Outlet on Friday evening, where I also bought a crapload of sweaters and dresses for about a dollar each.
See? Small, tiny, inconsequential, you-so-don’t-need-this things! I have a weakness for little bowls. This was fifty cents at the church rummage sale referenced earlier.
This little ashtray came from the Evanston Flea Market. I peeled off the price-tag too quickly but I think it was around $2.50. I take off my earrings once I’m already in bed most nights and have lost a few to the floor after they roll off my bedside table. This will hold them, my wedding ring and my nose ring (I take it out nightly so it doesn’t get lost in my sleep) perfectly.
The Mister and I have lost 22 and 12 lbs respectively in the last two months. This means lots of measuring– granola, cereal, milk, cottage cheese. We’ve taken to leaving a plastic measuring cup on the kitchen counter and it was driving me crazy with its ugliness (if this doesn’t give you a clue into my neurotic personality than I don’t know what will) so I was overjoyed when we spied this at the flea market on Saturday. $3.50 and a deep cleaning.
Last but not least, from the same flea market, a battered toy VW Vanagon, like the kind my Mom and Dad used to cart three screaming kids around in. This will be a Christmas gift for dear old dad. $3.
