National Thrift Shop Day: Why Thrifting is Good For You (And Your Bank Account)

August 17 is National Thrift Shop Day this year. As if thrift stores and consignment shops couldn’t sell products for any less, this special day is the perfect time for frugal deal seekers to visit second hand stores in their neighborhood and score even better deals on the merchandise.

Most thrift stores have special discount days throughout the year, but National Thrift Shop Day usually offers some of the best savings. Getting the opportunity to be able to buy used everyday items and even furniture and electronics for an extremely discounted rate can really help decrease your spending and increase the amount you are able to save.

Here are a few ways thrift shopping can be great for you and your wallet.

Helping the Environment

When you shop at thrift stores, you’re not only helping yourself find great deals for less, you’re also helping the environment. Thrift stores like Goodwill and Savers help keep gently used items like clothes, toys, furniture, tools, electronics and small appliances from getting thrown out and sent to landfills.

Reusing, recycling, and repurposing are some of the most eco-friendly actions you can take to help eliminate waste and clutter.

The Best Place to Find Gems

Thrift stores are the best places to find high quality gently used merchandise that would normally retail at a higher value in mainstream stores. Whether you get excited when you come across a gently used designer handbag for cheap, name brand electronic devices or fancy home decor at an affordable price, I classify all these items as being ‘gems’ since they can be found at thrift stores for a quarter of the retail price.

If you want to spice up your wardrobe but don’t have money in your budget, head to the thrift store in search of these gems. It’s important to get past the thought of being uncomfortable wearing someone else’s clothes or using items that were in someone else’s home if you want to find top notch products at the thrift store.

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When you think about it, we share and reuse tons of items with other people all day long whether it’s the dining room table at a restaurant, your shopping cart at the grocery store or even the gas pump handle at gas stations. According to America’s Research Group (a consumer research firm), about 16-18 percent of Americans shop at a thrift store during any given year. More people should be taking advantage of thrift store and resale shops to soak up all the savings.

Find Children’s Necessities For Less

Kid’s clothes, toys and books are some of the best items to find at thrift stores. As a parent of a young child who is constantly growing, it’s more economical for me to purchase some clothing items and toys from Goodwill so I’m not overspending on items that my son will either wear out or lose interest in over the next few months.

From my experience, young kids are only interested in certain toys temporarily (when they’re new) and have little interest in clothes AT ALL. So it always made little sense to me why parents would spend so much money clothing their children with outfits from retailers like GAP, OshKosh, and Under Armor. If I really wanted to find a GAP or Nike shirt at a thrift store for my son I probably could, but spending time together and investing in activities and outings that we both enjoy sounds like a much better way to spend my money.

Thrifting Can Be Therapeutic

As much as I hate to say it, shopping can be therapeutic when done in moderation. I wouldn’t exactly agree with the whole ‘retail therapy’ concept that embodies the idea of running out to the store when bad things happen in your life to buy items in an attempt to make yourself feel better.

On the contrary it has been proven that shopping with friends can help relieve stress and let’s face it, when you find a good deal on a household item you need, it’s hard to escape that feeling of success just by knowing that you kept more money in your wallet instead of spending it.

It’s important to set a budget before you go thrifting and plan your shopping trip with the intention of picking up something you really need and that would be of value to you. It’s a great feeling to walk away with items that you wanted without disturbing your budget.

What’s are your favorite thrift store finds? Do you take advantage of special discount days?

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