If you follow my Instagram feed, you’ve probably noticed that I love to shop, specifically at thrift stores. In fact, this summer it’s been a particular sickness because I’ve been volunteering twice a week at a shop run by a local ministry. I also dabble in consignment and bargain stores, such as Ross or Marshall’s, and I get a thrill out of finding a deal on something that meets my fairly high quality standards. At this point, I’d say the majority of my closet has some from secondhand shopping, and I almost always remember exactly where, when, and with whom I found each item, because I take such pleasure in it.

Given all of that, it’s been really interesting, via my most recent job and my current volunteer gig, to see the other side of the equation, to be involved in the behind-the-scenes operation of a thrift store. I’ve noticed some things that I think could help all of us as we purge clutter and do the good deed of donating our used goods.

First of all, donating to a thrift store is obviously good. It’s even better if you find a thrift store that supports an organization whose mission you’re particularly fond of. Both of the thrift stores I’ve worked with provide a large chunk of revenue for Christian non-profits who do great community work. Others support large national organizations, such as Goodwill or the Salvation Army. It’s not bad to give to one without knowing the mission, or to one that is simply self-serving (re-purposing items is still great for other reasons), but I think it adds a level of depth to your donation if you’re doing it to further a cause.

However, when you give, put some thought into it. Know the clientele that might be shopping your donated goods. The thrift store I volunteer for provides a lot of free clothing to people in dire financial straits due to an emergency. They often need clothing for job interviews or for work. So, this means that the stained, ragged t-shirt you’ve deemed too ugly to wear won’t help them at all either. If something is too worn for you to wear, it’s often too worn for a thrift store to sell. Most thrift stores are frequented by both people who are in need of free or inexpensive clothing AS WELL AS people like me who enjoy finding a bargain. It’s great if you can provide items that are in good shape but that you simply no longer like anymore, that no longer fit you, or that are no longer precisely “in style.” (Some of us are neither aware of nor interested in trends.)

But please don’t hear me telling you to simply throw overly used items away. One of the great things about thrift stores is that they participate in the Reduce-Reuse-Recycle cycle that is so good for our environment! Many thrift stores (or, in my opinion, any thrift store that is worth its salt) participates in some sort of baling or bundling program through which it can get rid of items deemed unfit to sell. These items are purchased from the thrift store by a rag company, so they still provide revenue for the cause. The companies do different things with them, but they are often sent to developing countries to be worn by people who might have nothing else, or they are sent to overseas factories that employ low-income populations in making rags out of them. These rags are then sold by the bundle at places like Lowe’s and Home Depot. So, even your nasty old t-shirts can live a great second life. My suggestion is that you check with your thrift store of choice about how they handle this,  and then bring your donation of these items in a separate bag from your “good clothes.” Label it as such, so that it can be thrown directly in the rag, bale, or mission pile (depending on what your store calls it). That way, it saves the sorting crew in the back some time.

Another thing I’ve been surprised to learn is how un-useful out of season items are for thrift stores. As a donor, it seems obvious that in the summer, you’ll take the opportunity to go through your winter clothes and get rid of a lot of them. But on the other end, while a thrift store will never turn away your donation, they probably can’t sell a parka when it’s 90 degrees outside, no matter how nice it is. Check with your store: some of them have room to store items to be brought out to the floor at a later time and are happy to have your items. If not, maybe you could set your bags and boxes aside to bring when the temperature is right. A small hassle for you could be a big help to a small store. (And for what it’s worth, consignment stores, at which the donor makes money on items sold, always ask you to do this. They have certain dates at which they begin taking seasonal items, because they know neither party will make money from an item that doesn’t sell because it’s too hot or cold outside for it to be worn.)

Finally, check on the policies of the store you want to donate to. Are they located in a small storefront that doesn’t have room to display big furniture? If so, don’t act surprised when they can’t accept your used couch. Do they re-hang everything on matching hangers in keeping with their boutique feel? Then bring your items folded neatly, rather than hung on a mish-mash of wire dry cleaners’ hangers. These aren’t requirements, but they’re nice gestures that can make the thrift store staff’s lives easier and make them feel appreciated.

The store where I volunteer is in an interesting quandary right now. Most stores are in constant need of donations and have trouble keeping enough inventory around to stock their racks. But we recently put out the call for donations to the ministry’s supporting churches and have been utterly snowed under with all the items we’ve received! Yesterday we got two car loads worth of stuff from a single family. This is ultimately a good problem for a charity organization to have, but it sure makes for busy days on the sorting room floor.

What’s your experience with thrift stores been like? Do you enjoy shopping for used items? What’s your method of choice for purging extra items from your household?

This was my haul from a Tuesday evening trip to Publix. This wasn’t my whole grocery shopping trip for the week (I prefer Kroger), but we have a Publix really close by, so I keep an eye out for any particularly good BOGO deals that match with Publix. If I’m just going to get a couple of things, I use it as a fun excuse to walk! Tuesday I spent the day cleaning and doing laundry, so heading out to coupon was sort of my reward.

What spurred the trip initially was the BOGO Emerald Nuts, for which I had a $1.50/2 coupon. They are normally $5.79, and I got both of these for ~$4.20. But a few other things caught my eye as well: the Sabra hummus was BOGO. It’s normally $3.99, and I had a $1.00/1 coupon, so I got this for $0.99, since Publix will charge you half price on BOGO items if you only buy one. I’ve had a Wacky Mac coupon that I’ve patiently held on to waiting for who knows what, so when I saw these on sale for $0.99 I snapped them up! I saved $1.00/2, meaning both of these cost me $0.98. The Mueller’s pasta was BOGO. I fought and fought with my computer trying to print a $1.00/1 coupon that would have made it free+overage, but I was never able to print it. So, I used a $0.55/1 coupon to get this package for around $0.17. The yogurts were $1.50, which isn’t a great price for Voskos, but I had a $1.00/3 coupon that was “redeem at Publix,” so I decided to go for it since I was there. And that big, honkin’ cucumber was all of $0.75.

My grand total was $11.33 including tax (4% on food here, which is HALF what I was used to in Alabama!), and I saved $14.54, or 57%! This is the first time ever I’ve saved more than I spent. I think it’s definitely easier to do when you’re only doing a small trip, rather than shopping for an entire week, but I was still very pleased. It was a great reward at the end of somewhat boring day.

I have been having crazy, intense dreams this week. I seem to go through phases where, for a week or so, I’ll wake up and vividly remember a highly detailed dream I was having. I don’t know what spurs these phases, but I usually figure it’s a good thing and means I’m sleeping extra soundly! Lately I’ve been waking up at some point in the morning before I need or want to get up, and the wild dream occurs when I fall back asleep for the next hour or so. Coincidentally, the most recent issue of Woman’s Day had an article about dreams that I just read. Apparently my morning dream memory is legitimate: Dr. Michael Breus, a dream expert, explains that you have more REM sleep early in the morning, so it’s easier to recall a dream when you wake up in the morning.

But what does it all mean? Today’s dream involved a new apartment complex, a few real-life friends who wouldn’t normally “go” together,  tides coming in, and a flood due to said tides (among other events). A. was there, and we were having an utterly fraught interaction with each other and with some administrative type authorities to try to sort out my car, which had been flooded by the tides. (I had parked it illegally the night before and couldn’t move it because the tides came in and made it dangerous to get to.) As I became aware that I was waking up, I brought some of the tension with me, and had to take several deep breaths once I opened my eyes to shake the feeling that I’d just been arguing.

Earlier this week, I dreamt that I was nannying for a family that I “know” from reading the mom’s blog. She was showing me the ropes, and I kept interrupting, saying, “No, I KNOW that already…I read your blog!”

Another one of the most vivid dreams I have ever had occurred some time in my early adolescence. I was standing on the edge of the Titanic as it was sinking, watching a movie on a big screen that was somehow (dream magically) suspended over the ocean. At just the last second, I dove into the ocean. Next thing I knew, I was swimming around with Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. We were underwater, but we could still breathe normally. I found a cheese sandwich that was cut into four triangles, and I was very excited.

I’m not big on dream analysis, but it is fascinating to remember these stories that our brains concoct when the constraints of consciousness are loosed. However, I’m skeptical of reading too much into them because I’ve read conflicting meanings for what some recurring themes imply. For example, I often lose teeth in my dreams. This is not too much of a stretch, given that I’ve had extensive orthodontia in real life to remedy a missing teeth situation, so having anything happen to my mouth is one of my greatest fears. I’ve read some places that losing teeth in a dream signifies a fear of change, which I could see being true of me. However, the article in Woman’s Day claims that teeth falling out in a dream signifies hidden anger; you’re clenching your jaw or grinding your teeth in real life, and your dream is warning you about it. This could also be true of me, as I’ve noticed the surface of my bottom retainer is rubbed rough, likely from me grinding my teeth. But if this imagery could mean multiple things, does it really mean anything at all? (Another frequent dream occurrence for me seems to be finding myself under-clothed in extremely public places. I don’t even really want to know what that might mean.)

To me, thinking about and remembering my dreams is just fun. It’s sometimes frustrating when I can sense that I had an involved dream and can’t recall it, but not frustrating enough to spur me to keep a dream diary or write things down in the middle of the night.

What about you? Do you remember your dreams? What are your thoughts on dream symbolism? Tell me about the most vivid dream you’ve had (ever or recently).

On Saturday, A. and I hiked up Stone Mountain, which had been on our list to do for awhile. It was a lot harder than I expected it to be! (Granted, that could be partly because I had been ill the day before and spent the whole day on the couch...) Also, it was blazing hot and, as you can see, there was no shade. This part was so steep they just stuck handrails up. And trust me, I used those suckers.

After I finished college, my friends decided that I was pursuing a degree as a goddess of domesticity. My mom took this to heart and, on our one year wedding anniversary, bestowed upon me said degree, with various trappings. One of the rewards was a copy of The American Frugal Housewife (named so as to disambiguate it from a British work of the same name. Whoops.). The book, by one Mrs. Child, is "dedicated to those who are not ashamed of economy." It was published in 1832 and recently reprinted by a company out of Massachussetts called Applewood Books, which has made it its mission to furnish the reading public with copies of what it calls "America's lively classics."

The book is pretty fabulous. I've so far absorbed such useful tips as, "Poke-root, boiled in water and mixed with a good quantity of molasses, set about the kitchen, the pantry, &c. in large deep plates, will kill cockroaches in great numbers, and finally rid the house of them." If I knew what poke-root was and where to get it this might really be a lifesaver! Mrs. Child also counsels that "[i]t is thought to be a preventive to the unhealthy influence of cucumbers to cut the slices very thin, and drop each one into cold water as you cut it. A few minutes in the water takes out a large portion of the slimy matter, so injurious to health. They should be eaten with high seasoning." I guess I ought to be concerned about the raw, unseasoned cucumber slices I ate with my lunch the other day!

I had to look up several words and learned the following gems:

• scrofula (noun): a disease with glandular swelling, probably a form of tuberculosis
• mortification (unlike how we use it today): necrosis; the localized death of living cells (as from infection or the interruption of the blood supply)

There were other terms that I couldn't even find on Google, and warnings that I have no way of heeding since I don't know the substance in question. For example, corrosive sublimate. "Too much care can never by taken of corrosive sublimate, especially when children are about. Many dreadful accidents have happened in consequence of carelessness. Bottles which have contained it should be broken, and buried; and cups should be boiled out in ashes and water. If kept in the house, it should be hung up high, out of reach, with POISON written upon it in large letters." I'm now terrified that I have some corrosive sublimate hanging out in my kitchen that is improperly marked.

But for all I am poking fun at Mrs. Child, and despite the times I actually laughed out loud while reading her pointers, the introduction to the book has some good, timeless advice. Her premise is that "[t]he true economy of housekeeping is simply the art of gathering up all the fragments, so that nothing be lost. I mean fragments of time, as well as materials. Nothing should be thrown away so long as it is possible to make any use of it, however trifling that use may be; and whatever the size of a family, every member should be employed either in earning or saving money." I like the sound of that, especially in our economic climate. And I think it's really not all that different from the mindset of those of us who coupon and save tissue paper from wedding gifts and reuse plastic bags. We just have different resources to get creative with.

So I think I'm going to persevere with Mrs. Child. I'll get some giggles along the way but perhaps also pick up some truisms and find some points that resonate with me. I'll make it a Friday ritual to come tell you about it here: to share the quotable quotes and the humorous quips. Hold on to your britches, because I just got to the section on gruel. I hope you'll come back next week to find out all about it.

The American Frugal Housewife. Mrs. Child. Boston: Carter, Hendee, and Co., 1833; Bedford: Applewood Books.