There isn’t one piece of furniture in my house, other than mattresses, that I bought new. It is all thrift store or yard sale finds or someone was kind enough to pass it down to me when they were through with it.
I also love decorating and redecorating my home. This isn’t really part of the budget but if I find a great picture or a beautiful mirror and use paint and fabric to build a room around it, everything looks wonderful and I take care of the decorating bug.
I know some people who will not shop in thrift stores. They say the clothes make them itch, even after they are washed. I say, whatever, I wish I had your money!
There are things I won’t buy at a thrift store, bras and panties come to mind, but most things, once they are clean they are good as new. I’ve bought doll houses that are seventy dollars at the store, a little soap and water and you can’t tell my five dollar dollhouse from a more expensive one. The first time you use something it’s used anyway so let someone else pay the high markup for things.
Thrift stores are great if you don’t necessarily follow the trends. You can find things that are uniquely you without having to pay a premium price. I like repainting furniture. No, my coffee table is not brand new but you won’t find another one like it anywhere and that makes it worth much more than I paid.
I like being able to get my daughter some things to dress up her room without paying a fortune. I get so tired of saying “We can’t afford it.” It’s nice to be able to say, let’s go on a thrift store run and see what we can find. This has made both of us more creative and I think we appreciate the things we have a little more because we had to put more work in them than just writing a check.