Discover the Joys of Secondhand Shopping

This is not an article meant to inform aficionados of thrift store/garage sale/flea market/consignment shops, but rather to inspire the uninitiated. If, up to now, you've spent little time scouring the want ads for garage sales, or have rarely stepped foot into a thrift store, flea market, or consignment shop, I want to clue you in on what you've been missing.

Initially I was reluctant to write this article. After all, so many people may become inspired to to add secondhand shopping to their repertoires that there will be more competition for the bargains and treasures out there. But as one shopper to another, it seemed only right to share what I've learned.

I began secondhand shopping when my kids were youngsters, and did so out of economic need at the time. Today, I continue to secondhand shop to stretch my buying dollars to their utmost-what I save sure helps when I have to pull the automobile up to the gas pump.

Another reason that second-hand shopping is a great idea is that it's good for the environment. Instead of all that stuff ending up in a landfill somewhere, its life gets extended. Fewer new things have to be manufactured, meaning less fossil fuel is burned to make stuff that someone is just going to be tossing away in the near future.

And, if you love shopping, second-hand shopping offers the ultimate in the thrill of finding a good bargain and just the right piece or item for which you've been searching.

Secondhand shopping requires patience. It isn't like going into a department store and expecting that at least some semblance of what you're looking for is going to be there. You might be fortunate enough to find what you're looking for in the first few trips to the thrift store or flea market, but more than likely you will not.

Other than clothing, which you'll find at all the secondhand places, other items are more hit and miss. I usually have a list of items I am looking for at any given time, say a new lamp for the bedroom, just the right magazine rack for the family room, and frames for the many photos I always want to display.

Crafters, if you haven't discovered secondhand shopping, you're missing out on a whole new plethora of craft items. As a crafter, you're likely to know that many items may have many purposes, or with a few changes may be just the piece for which you've been searching. For instance, I love baskets and silk flowers, but buying them new just doesn't make sense to me most of the time. I've found many wonderful baskets and silk flowers for all occasions by secondhand shopping.

I'm no Martha Stewart, but then, I don't have her budget to work with either. But my home is comfortably furnished and decorated-much more so because I secondhand shop rather than buy everything brand new.

There are plenty of practical reasons why secondhand shopping is a good idea; there is also the reason that for many of us, shopping is just plain fun. At the end of the day, a secondhand shopping spree will leave you with more green stuff in your wallet, even if your trunk is full of bargains.