Dollar Day

What can you get for one dollar?

Yup, it's another post about the Goodwill. I'm officially addicted. Now, not only am I checking out 50% off Saturdays, but I've discovered $1 Thursdays. I had seen the signs but totally misunderstood what was going on. If this makes me incredibly stupid, so be it, but just in case you don't know, I'll share.

See, they have these signs at the entrance. Items are marked with either a Week tag or a Colored tag. The sign says which week and which color tags are on sale. On a regular day, that week and color are 50% off, which in itself is pretty awesome. On Thursdays, however, those items are marked down to a dollar. No matter what the original price, it will be just one dollar.

The thing was, I always thought that it was just that week that was on sale. For instance, this past week it was week 50. The problem I had was that the stuff I was finding was rarely marked with that week. I'd find stuff from prior weeks and curse myself for missing that week. Well, a few days ago I overheard a cashier telling a customer that it is the week on the sign plus all the weeks before it. Hold the phone? WHAT???

She went on to explain that they can't say that on the speaker because this is week one and if they did people would be bringing up the new stuff and being all like, hey, this is lower than week 50 so I want half off! I wonder how many people besides myself did not know this, because I see the same stuff, cool stuff, there for weeks. Stuff you wouldn't glance at twice for seven bucks, but for one, it's worth bringing home, you know?

So, I went today to see what I could find. Not everything that I bought was on sale, but a good portion of it was.

Favorite find - this old stamp holder/carousel to hold my Heidi Swapp and 7 Gypsies stamps. It was two dollars!!! Those stamps were in a drawer and I never remember that I have them. Now that I can see them perhaps I'll get more use from them.

A ceramic urn and a vase - only a dollar each. I haven't decided if I'm going to spray paint the urn or leave it orange to be used next fall.

A milk glass Fire King carving platter - you guessed it, just a buck! I actually saw this earlier this week but thought it was plastic so I didn't look twice at it. It was sitting all alone on the bottom shelf and I just picked it up on a whim today when I noticed the week sticker. I was wondering what kind of crack they were smoking to mark plastic that high!

A small ironstone serving platter. At two dollars, I couldn't pass this up. I decided that ironstone platters will be on my watch list so I can be like Eddie Ross when I grow up.

A mirror for three bucks - it's a decent size too. This will be part of my mantel display when the Christmas stuff comes down.

A pair of khaki shorts from The Children's Place, a pair of madras plaid shorts from Gymboree, and a plaid Ralph Lauren button down for the boy - total paid was seven dollars. I read a post on a message board that some woman wrote complaining that there were kids running around the welfare office in designer clothes, and how if you could afford labels you shouldn't be getting welfare... um hello! This stuff was cheaper than shopping at Walmart!!! And I'm recycling to boot so not only will my kid look good, he will be good for the environment.

I also got four tiny mercury glass votives for a dollar and a small milk glass planter for a dollar as well. That means I got all this stuff for under twenty dollars!!! If you're not hitting the Goodwill, what are you waiting for? I swear to you, I do not work for them and I get nothing from posting about this stuff. I just want to inspire people and show them you can have nice things even when money is tight. It's amazing what you can find if you're just willing to look! :)