I love thrift stores and the great deals I can find. 

 Hi ... and welcome Luzianne.

I love thrift stores - never know what 'goodies' will be found! Goodwill's prices went sky-high in my area, so off to the women's shelter and mission store - the small amount I spend is going back to help these non-profits organizations. 

I especially love them for DD's clothes.  Kids are in and out of stuff so fast that I don't see the point in buying tons of new stuff.  I just spent $20 at a Goodwill in town the other day and bought 7 shirts, 1 pair of pants, 1 denim summer skirt, and 3 sweatshirts all for DD.  Some of it was for right now b/c she's in a growth spurt and outgrowing all her size 5s left and right and I only stashed away pants and not enough shirts (oops).  Some of what I got was for her bin of stuff-that-is-too-big.  I get about 1/2 her wardrobe from thrift stores and the other 1/2 is gifts from the grandmas or stuff I simply couldn't get any other way and had to buy brand new.  (For me this is not often.)

I bought myself 5 sweaters/cardigans from Goodwill b/c I'm in a much colder climate now and needed more warm clothes, but we didn't have much in the budget for it.

Also great for baskets for making gifts or random other tidbits.

Yes, I shop at thrift stores.  I set certain standards for my shopping so that I don't just overload my closet or drawers with stuff that I don't need.  First of all, the local Goodwill has .50 sales on certain items on Sunday and Monday of each week. Usually, Salvation Army stores and Goodwills will have a certain day where certain items will be on sale. While the sale items are my priority, if I see a pair of pants for work (I am a school librarian), I will spluge and pay full price - $4.99.  I have found Liz Claibourne dress trousers for .50 - almost brand new.

 Also, unless it's an item that I really need, I don't buy used clothing that I can buy at Wal-Mart.  I look for more expensive brands and have several pieces in my wardrobe such as Talbots, Chico's, Worthington, and several Nine West purses for $4.00 each.

 It's the thrill of the hunt!! Don't forget to look at housewares. I found a service for 4 of Miriska china for almost nothing.  I try not to buy dated styles. I enjoy "window" shopping at the mall to keep current with styles so that when I find a Goodwill bargain, then I can recognize it. Also, don't forget looking for buttons on the sale clothing.  A blouse might not be something you want to wear, but the buttons may be worth quite a small fortune.

I got my snootie sister from az. going her 2 young girls can wear jeans out quick she found alot of jeans for her 2 girls all for 14.00 dollars total about 5 pairs she loved it she got 5 sweaters for her and snow boots

Palucas6-thanks for sharing your wise ideas about thrift store shopping. I can add one thing I always look for are kids books. They are 3/$1 at my goodwill store. So I try to keep up with 8 grandkids: who is reading what series, etc. Then we pass them from kid to kid as their reading levels and interests change. Finally when the youngest is through with the book we donate most of them back. (A few just wear out).No need to worry about lost library books this way. I also like that my store has a drop off center right there so I can easily pass back things I am done with which helps reduce the overload. I have a sense of how many sweaters, sheets, etc. I need and if I find something I want to add I try to donate at least that much back. Ruthellen

Shopping thrift stores is a form of entertainment for me. There was a time when I couldn't shop anywhere else; now I don't because I see no reason to pay huge prices for things that I can get for so little. I do make an effort to donate more than I purchase, simply because I'm working on not being a packrat. As some else noted, I can dress in great quality brands for next to nothing. My house is appointed with a number of items which I consider treasures, but would not have paid art show prices for.

 I love to shop at thrift stores, but with a caveat. With careful shopping, I can often purchase nice clothes for almost the same prices as the thrift stores around here. So, I am very picky. That said, I've found great things at a couple favorite thrift stores. New items for my boys, housewares, and more. I don't shop at these places often, just because overall we're not spending, but it's good to know which places usually will have what I look for. I recommend getting to know the stores close by, so you can combine a trip to a favorite thrift store shop with other errands.

No good thrift stores around me but I do my thrift-store type shopping at one or two carefully selected school or church fundraisers.  My DDs, especially the youngest, benefited tremendously - I was able to score fantastic deals on otherwise expensive clothing brands.  I learned recently that for years, DD17's schoolmates thought she was rich because she was always decked out in the "cool" brands!   What they didn't know was that I never paid full price for any of it, and most of the clothes cost me $2 or less!

I haven't had much luck in the past year or two, though.  The merchandise isn't as nice as it used to be!

My best thrift store purchases ever were the $45 skirt that I got for $1 and the leather crossbody purse - normally $50, paid 50 cents!