Let's have seconds!

"Seconds" applies not only to my love of dessert (specifically chocolate. If it's fruity, it had better at least have some ice cream with it) but also my love of second-hand stuff; not because I don't love the off-gassing of new plastic or opening the nearly-impossible shrink-wrap or peeling the stickers off every conceivable surface (yep, I love all of that) but because second-hand stuff is so undeniably CHEAP! And I am, at my very core, a cheap person. This rightly and truly should make me a FRUGAL person, but that just isn't so - I'll "save myself into the poorhouse," as my Grandpa Smiley used to say, buying so much awesomely cheap stuff that I go above and beyond our more moderate, "cozy" budget. My second-hand mania has been tough to tame, but I've really been trying!

This little mania struck again last night as I browsed Goodwill "to kill time," secretly looking for a used copy of Les Miserables and secretly finding 1,000 items I couldn't live without! I had sworn I wouldn't go overboard, refusing to use my debit card and only bringing $2.50 with me into the store. I didn't find Les Mis, but I DID find THIS!

Since I didn't have any more money we went home and waited with bated breath for Joe to get home so we could drag HIM back with HIS cash and get me 2 books (White Oleander and The Poisonwood Bible) and Patrick about 20 new shirts. That kid has more clothes than we could ever hope for him to wear, yet we still buy more! They are just SO IRRESISTABLE in that size! 2 sweater vests, 3 plaid button-ups, 2 tongue-in-cheek t-shirts, etc etc. All for the measly sum of $9.40!!! Seriously, I can never justify shopping at "real" stores when I know I can get 10x the clothes for the same money. Poor Joe, he is just a sucker for getting anything for Patrick - he just loves buying him a childhood, so I play on his weakness and we get all this great "new" stuff! New for me pretty much means "it's been through the washer now!" The great part about this is that everything from a "real" store is SUCH a luxery! Like living in a 500 sq. ft. apartment with a baby, it can only get better from here! Now our 800 sq. ft. place is HUGE to us, just like off-the-rack-from-anywhere is DESIGNER.

I didn't really realise I was so transparent in my mania until I was wearing my favorite jeans one day, bought at a thrift sale for $8 (my "expensive" jeans!). My sister asked me where I got them, and I had to wriggle around and contort myself to look at the tag in the back, since I didn't really know the brand; meanwhile I told her how I'd gotten them so thriftily. When I finally pronounced "American Eagle!" she said "I know, I have some just like them, but you would never pay full price for jeans, so I was just wondering." OH. How well you know me. So if you're ever out perusing Goodwill or Savers or Arc or whatever and you come across something wonderful but think, "would it really be appropriate to buy a used gift?" If it's for me, that answer is YES. ALWAYS. And thanks for avoiding the shrink-wrap!