Thrift Store Shopping: Everybody’s Doing It

Maybe you’ve heard that song by Macklemore called “Thrift Shop” that goes “I wear your granddad's clothes. I look incredible I'm in this big coat from that thrift shop down the road. I wear your granddad's clothes.”

I think it’s funny that shopping at thrift stores is the new trend because I’ve been doing it all my life and when I was in school a lot of my classmates made fun of me. Now some of those kids are adults and thrift store shopping.  Full circle,huh?

I grew up in a penny pinching house. The only time I can remember ever having something new from a store as a kid was when my Mom bought me my prom dress, but it was store bought only because it was on sale for the same price it would have been at a thrift store.

I remember when I was a teen thinking how I couldn’t wait to make my own money and how all my clothes would be store bought and I’d never walk into another thrift store again.  Well, I grew up and got a job and my idea of only buying store bought clothes didn’t last very long. Once I realized how expensive store bought clothes were, I found myself back in the thrift shop.

Out of all the towns I’ve lived in, the very best thrift shop I’ve ever been to is right here in Binghamton.  If you’ve never been to Salvation Army at 3-5 Griswold Street in Binghamton, you’re missing out on some serious awesomeness.  This winter I bought a brand new, tags still on Lands End winter coat there for TWO BUCKS.  Score! 

Yeah, sometimes you have to do a little digging around but two bucks versus $150 for a brand new coat means I was able to save some money and turn my heat up a couple degrees on the super cold winter days.