Bargain Buys

I love shopping at charity shops. Really. I buy most of my clothes, books and items from these places; I also purchase my coin purse from charity shops too. It makes me wonder what makes people throw out so much good stuff when it's still useful... well, besides decluttering their homes and rooms. Hey, I give generously to charities on a regular basis because the some of the stuff in my house has gone beyond its used-by date.

Yesterday, I was at a Life Line Store not far from my house and I found a few small things that would make my life a lot easier. One of them was a set of circular needles - longer ones than what I had - because to purchase them new was to fork out more than what I was prepared to pay.
I also found a brilliant book! It was a Michael Whelan book 'Works of Wonder' it was fantastic and so cheap. But when I arrived at my folks' house today,I looked it up on www.bookfound.com and found it was worth a lot more than what I purchased it for... what an amazing find! I really didn't expect this kind of thing.

It's not often I find a great thing like. However, it's always wonderful to score a find such as this. And they are all out there in our charity stores and in the markets on weekends; but you have to be on the lookout for them. It's not as though these things will jump out at you. The Michael Whelan book didn't. It was up on a top shelf in the book section of the Life Line store and if I hadn't looked up at the top shelf (which I usually do in case there's any books which are hiding on me up there), I would never have found it.

But books aren't the only things that I have found at charity shops which have been bargain buys. I often find really nice clothes which are practically brand new for a quarter of the price. Or I'll occasionally find a vinyl or two that aren't scratched by some heartless soul who thinks other people don't wish to listen to them. I also love to use old handbags that are from the 1970's too; so long they look retro and not up-to-date, I'll use them. However, it's not always the the 1970's look I end up with funnily enough; yesterday, I picked up a nice streamline-look-alike backpack for around $5.00. Now, that was a great bargain!

So, do tell. Where have you picked up a great bargain? And where's your favourite place to go to relax and buy exactly what you need at the price you like?