To Goodwill or not?

Hello there! How are ya?

So I sometimes dig my heels in on stuff when everybody else does it…it’s just my thing. I will avoid something that is super trendy just because it’s…well, super trendy. :) The same went for Instagram – it took me forever to get on the bandwagon but I gotta say I have enjoyed it. It’s fun to share snippets of stuff throughout the day, especially when I’m out and about shopping.

Some interesting conversations have started up on some photos, and the other day was no exception – it got me thinking:

The Bub and I popped into Goodwill before an appointment the other day and I gotta say…some of the prices were a little shocking. ;)

I am and will always be a thrifty girl, but you may have noticed I’m not the Goodwill shopper I used to be. That’s for a few reasons – I just don’t have the time for it like I used to. The kiddo is getting older, the blog is getting bigger and to find the goodies at Goodwill you need to stop in often. I use to stop by one two or more times a week and lately I just haven’t made the time.

When you stop in once every three months it’s hard to find the deals. ;) And when I used to go a lot and I would find fun stuff and it would come home with me and sit. And sit. (Forever.) Because I couldn’t pass it up of COURSE! And there’s only so much time in the day to transform things so the items would take up space in our house and in my head. I finally had to come to terms with it and STOP.

This Goodwill stool I redid with Annie Sloan paint had sat in my garage for a least a year before it got painted:

You see, when you find a deal at Goodwill you have to buy it NOW or it will be gone when you come back – at least 90 percent of the time. And I had a lot of buy-it-nows cluttering up my house. :)

When our stores changed their return policy (you just get a credit back now), that also changed how often I shopped there. If I can’t just return it I won’t buy as much, plain and simple.

But the biggie is that Instagram photo up there – when I have stopped in over the past year or so some of the prices have been shockingly high. The response to that pictures was much of the same – many of your have noticed it as well.

Now PLEASE don’t get me wrong – I used to work closely with our Indiana Goodwill’s and truly believe in their mission and believe they do GOOD work. They provide hundreds of jobs for those who may not be employed otherwise. I also understand the price of everything goes up over time.

But every time I’ve walked through lately I am shocked by a price tag on more than one item. I laugh about it because I wonder if blogs have a little to do with it – over the past five years or so more people are seeing the value in transforming something old or worn and making it work in their home.

I don’t know what it is really, I’ve just noticed the prices have gone up considerably. Target sells some of their extra items to Goodwill and I’ll sometimes see prices at there for higher than you can get it on clearance at Target.

So…in a nutshell that’s why I’ve moved more towards antique malls and Craigslist over the years to find most of treasures. I find at antique stores you don’t have to worry quite as much about an item being gone…I’ve left many things and come home to think about them and they are still there when I return.

Craigslist is nice because when I want something specific I can search for it over time and wait for the right piece and price.

There are still a few go-to items I visit Goodwill for, of course. I love to use books when decorating and end up picking some up from Goodwill occasionally. I always find books I would actually read but it doesn’t hurt to find a pretty one. ;)

I picked up a few coffee table-style books to fill in the library built ins:

And of course Goodwill is always great for frames, although even with those you have to watch the price lately. I love that I can find so many different styles and sizes all in one spot. I found a big one for the basement here and had a few on hand from Goodwill for the kitchen chalkboard:

And most of the frames in my office were collected at Goodwill over time (and then painted white):

I love that they look like just that – collected.

So are you still a Goodwill shopper? Never was? If you are, have you noticed the difference in price over the past year or so like me? I will continue to shop there and support their mission…just not quite as often as I used to.

**To see more of my Goodwill transformations, go here.