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Smith Says

Published Tuesday, April 27, 2010 1:16 PM

By Julie R. Smith
Summerville Journal Scene ®

Craigslist, I love you madly. Goodwill, what a thrill. Habitat, you have my heart. E-Bay, we had our day.

I love you all. And I’m not just saying that.

Eighty-five percent of everything I own came from thrift and resale stores. As a card-carrying tightwad, I was taught the gospel of Goodwill at my mother’s knee.

Whether she needed a church dress, dishpan or gardening gloves, “Goodwill has it,” she’d predict, and off we’d go in her Impala. Not once did we leave empty-handed.

You’ll probably find whatever you need at Goodwill. You might have to hit more than one location, but hey, humans were born to hunt. And when your purchase supports your community, how can you walk away from that cute little fondue pot?

At Goodwill I’ve snagged oil paintings, Liz Claiborne boots, gold-rimmed wineglasses, Ann Taylor blouses, a blender, blazers from The Limited, handmade lace table runners, books of every genre, and my greatest find EVER (as of last week): A pair of vintage, mahogany and damask armchairs without a blemish. They look great in our living room. You’d never guess they cost $22--for both.

Then there’s Craigslist. What a variety! You’ve got your “household items,” with more 1970s light fixtures than you can shake a stick at. Your “arts and crafts” with every Jim Booth print ever… well, printed. And those freebies (aka “curb alerts”) make me drool. (I don’t need a This End Up couch squatting on a street in Awendaw, but it’s nice to know it’s there.)

Craigslist is where I found an oval, iron-and-glass coffee table that sits between the Goodwill chairs in the living room. The $75 price included a smaller version that fits neatly in the guest room, now topped with flowers and framed photos.

(Aside from bargains, Craigslist is infamous for its “missed connections.” I’ll always wonder if the blonde runner on Central Avenue ever read the epistle from a male jogger who, after one look, wanted to propose.)

E-Bay was more of a passing fling. It provided me with vintage toys and books and three discontinued bottles of “Beach Blonde” by John Frieda. (The cost of THAT splurge will remain my secret.) On e-Bay I learned how to bid/bargain in cyberspace. These days, however, there’s less room to haggle, so I’ve drifted away.

The Holy Grail for bargain-hunters may well be the Habitat ReStore. Profits help build affordable homes for people living in substandard housing--and the bargains will knock your socks off. They sell everything but the kitchen sink—oops, that’s a lie: They sell kitchen sinks, too. And cabinets, storm doors and other surplus building supplies.

When I prowled around the Jedburg store last week, they also had sofas of every size and style, a dining table and matching chairs, framed art, serving platters and bowls, a gilt-edged vanity tray, old albums, lamps, coffee tables, bedspreads…

I left with a hardback copy of “Mrs. Whaley Entertains,” a painting of weather-beaten wicker baskets for my kitchen and a scratched-up wooden picture frame. I sanded the frame, spray-painted it glossy black and popped in a 53-year-old photo of my husband as a toddler. It now hangs in the hallway. Every time I look at his innocent face, it almost breaks my heart.

But not my wallet.

Julie Smith, who will walk a mile to save a dime, can be reached at widdleswife@aol.com.

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104 East Doty Avenue | Summerville, SC 29483 | 843-873-9424 office | 843-873-9432 fax