Thrift shop bargains

While shopping for furniture for Five O'Clock Somewhere, Pat and I discovered the joys of thrift shops. While our initial motivation was furnishing a 2100-square-foot house without spending too much money, we have also discovered that a good thrift shop is also a great place for clothes, and a fantastic place to get books. Two of our favorites are in Pagosa Springs, one run by the Methodist Church, and the other by the Humane Society. It was at the Methodist shop that I found the volume of Elizabeth Barrett Browning that I mentioned in an earlier post. It's a 100th anniversary specal edition, published in 1950, in excellent condition complete with the dust jacket, which has only a bit of minor moisture damage. It was priced at $2, but we got it for $1, because the last Saturday of the month is bargain day (all the clothes you can fit into a paper grocery sack for $2, everything else half price). I haven't looked up what it's really worth, but I'm sure it's a lot more than $1. At the Humane Society shop, I recently picked up a first edition of Jimmy Buffett's Tales from Margaritaville in like-new condition for $3; it's listed at $36 retail in the guides.

It's ironic -- in Albuquerque, I've lived for more than a decade within a few blocks of two of the biggest malls in the state, and never had a real interest in shopping. But now that I've discovered thrift shops, I enjoy the adventure.