The Thrifty Chicks leak thrift store deals before Black Friday

Reports are out that the giants of conventional retail are leaking deals early, before Black Friday, to entice shoppers to get ahead in 2009’s retail home stretch. But, they’re talking $598 television sets. Call me crazy but $598 for one gift is not a deal and I think most Americans, given this economic climate, would agree. I don’t believe I'll spend anything close to that this holiday season. But I certainly won’t feel cheated.

We thought it wise to leak thrift store deals in turn. In the left column there is a Picasa Slide Show titled “Thrift Catalog” of over 200 items we have thrifted for pennies on the dollar. I believe the most expensive item is an antique gilt mirror for $30. The vast majority of items range from $3-$9 and don't compromise quality, most of them are originals, some brand new.

We tried to assemble a catalog that would appeal to most everyone from brand new items still in the box or store tags still attached to gently used to vintage to antique. Yes, even in this rough economic climate, people are tossing brand new items over to thrift stores. How could we?

I understand that many people have hangups with the idea of giving a used object as a gift. Funny to think that just a few generations ago, a used item would be accepted with gratitude, appreciation and grace; ahh - the days before planned obsolescence.

News flash - if you shop EBay chances are you’re buying a used object – that’s where I go to learn about many of the products I find in thrift stores. I also learn that I pay a lot less than the EBay list price and don’t pay shipping. For example, I purchased a beautiful silver plate ice bucket for $4 at Goodwill. The same bucket had a starting bid of $20 on Ebay before shipping.

I don't wish to knock EBay, it's a fantastic venue for the reuse market, which in turn is better for our economy and environment. And if you prefer not to thrift, please feed EBay buckets of money. I just find it amusing that people who so readily peruse EBay listings say “eww” to thrift.

A funny thing happened the other day while Thriftfully Modern Mommie and I were checking out a boutique in Denver’s upscale mall. This store was a mix of new and vintage items, some of which I’d seen on the shelves at Goodwill a few days before only now at a 300% to 400% markup from the thrift store price. There was a fur stole on the rack and I noted to Modern Mommie that I had just seen this fur stole at the ARC Thrift just a few days prior. A customer glared at me like I’d said something blasphemous. We had a giggle over that. Where else would the buyers find vintage inventory? Do customers think these buyers have a time machine that transports them back to the 1920’s fur shop to buy the stole fresh off the rack or better yet, from a French trapper? If I had a time machine, I’d certainly do something other than retrieve new old items before they are used.

There is much to the thrift store mystique that needs some clearing up. Once converted, most people rarely go back to conventional retail.

Please take a few minutes and double-click on the left column in the box marked “Thrift Catalog”. I recommend you run it full screen, to really see the products. I am certain there will be enough items to inspire you to thrift. We will continue to add to this slide show as we post photos to our weekly post, Thrift Store Conventions, on how to incorporate thrift into your life.

Please enjoy the show. I’ve learned so much more about products and quality since I’ve been thrifting. I’ve an eight-year-old daughter who can spot cashmere in a ten-foot long rack of sweaters. I think that's pretty darn notable.

Should you not go chopping on Black Friday like Thriftfully Modern Mommie and I will do, I hope your Black Friday leaves you in the black and not the red.

The items below were prepped for shipping at the end of the summer. The total cost of these items was $129. To peek what's inside, click Here. But remember that ultimately The true gift is to be known and understood and that's something money cannot buy.

You're mission, should you choose to accept it, its to relax and enjoy your time this holiday season. Being an adrenaline junkie for nearly two months is not what I call fun.

Thrift Store Conventions: Reflection

French poet Jean Cocteau is quoted as saying, “Mirrors should reflect a little before throwing back images.” I couldn’t agree more. This begs to question if new, assembly line mirrors from chain retailers are have much to say. Probably not. Like most things in life mirrors need seasoning to really cast a meaningful, telling image.

When in need of reflection, go to the thrift store. You will find more material on the shelves and racks that provides for a mindful reflection on how we live, what we value and what we don’t. Good to know these things and check in to see if you are in sync with the values our culture translates or perhaps what retail buyers think or project what we espouse. I do not follow the trends of conventional retail. It's very confining.

Should your reflection be in need of a self imagine, you’ve also come to the right

place. Unique, stylish and original mirrors can be found at thrift stores for a small fraction of the cost a new, illiterate mirror. Since I am imperfect and somewhat aged, I feel no need to have a precise refection. Aged cloudiness or tarnished black spots are fine by me for I bare them both inside and out and and have no need in pretending or hiding them. I am at my strongest when I admit what I am and my weakness when I deny it.

With a steep pitched roof to handle the heavy snows of Denver, the Golightly 110 year old home is 1,800 square feet. It’s just right for our family of four. However, mirrors hung onto the walls can create an illusion of added space in some of our smaller and oddly shaped rooms, unique to old homes.

Thrift stores serve up many types of mirrors from hand held to magnifying to trays to hanging or standing. They all flow through thrift stores on a fairly regular basis.

As we head into this holiday season during a deep recession, some might call a depression; I think this is a good time to reflect. Make certain your reflection holds a seasoned, wise version of reality to help you define yourself over time.

The mirrors: 1) the round mirror was purchased at a 50% Saturday sale at Goodwill for $8, it has a three foot diameter; 2) purchased at a yard sale for $4, I painted the frame to add the look of a metallic age; 3) the gilt mirror hanging on the door was purchased at a yard sale for $30, a bit pricey but worth it; 4) the wood framed painted mirror was an ARC find for $6; 5) with a clouded patina the table top mirror was $4 at Goodwill; 6) the three stacked mirrors range from $3 to $7; 7) this three-paneled, etched mirror was a $5 yard sale find and 8) the tray below was $7 at Goodwill.

In lieu of shopping, go chopping!

Thrift store regulars are a fortunate lot during the holidays. Since they’ve been planning and shopping all year, they can take a reprieve during the national retail nightmare.

Reported as news, the final two months of the year play an abnormally large role in the American economy. Is it profit procrastination to hope all falls in line in the last two months of the last fiscal quarter? Does this create an economic bubble that is bound to pop?

Should shoppers dare to follow our January 1st post of 2009, Thrift Shopping a New Year's Resolution Revolution, retailers will have to change if we remain steadfast and Shop Like Pioneers and seek out the holiday gifts, which we know we're going to give, year round. When we have more time to shop, we just might actually find something worth giving and redefine the Art of Giving on terms with what the recipient needs or likes. Because, ultimately, Being

Must we really all race like lemmings to the stores at 5AM the day after Thanksgiving and trample to death the store guard? I’ve never been able to figure how shoppers can do that after feasting on L-Tryptophan-laced turkey not even 12 hours prior.

"This looming black Friday, I urge people to
replace shopping with chopping!"

For over decade my family scores a $10 permit from the National Forest Service to wander a designated area near the quaint town of Buffalo Creek and hunt for our holiday tree. This particular program helps remove forest fire fuel and helps set the terrain straight, as Mother Nature would have it be. Smokey the Bear makes an annual appearance at this event.

We bring our sleds and Thanksgiving leftovers to the hunt. Sometimes it snows, making it idyllic. We drive home with a tree on the roof of the car, hot cocoa, and holiday tunes on the stereo.

Our trees are fresh, just a few hours from the forest so they go up early. Who knows how long it’s been since the trees in the parking lot bid farewell to their roots? Harvested in Oregon or North Carolina, they can cost over $100.

I suggest people to take Thanksgiving leftovers to the forest as a picnic for a holiday tree hunt. Permits are up for grabs now, often in limited numbers and sell fast. Any Internet search engine will list local options. Typical time frames for chopping are in late November to mid December. If you are along along the Front Range in Colorado, you can contact The South Platte Ranger Station for information regarding this program. Perhaps living in Colorado makes me a bit spoiled because National Forests spread far and wide. So, I apologize the options are few to none. (I guess there wouldn’t be that many options in El Paso or Palm Springs unless cacti are available.) A quick Internet search will reveal what programs are available in your area.

One bit of tree hunting advice; the forest provides a different perspective. A big tree can look really, really small, when dwarfed by giant trees and set against a panorama of mountain ridge lines. Our first experience resulted in 15-foot tree we thought was only a baby, so we had a bit more sawing to do one we arrived home. But, we did make good use of the extra greenery.

Now, I must get back to wrapping gifts to mail. Doing this now saves me from the killer lines at the US Post Office and saves money. I ship ground, not Priority or worse, Next Day Air. Some people think I’m nuts, but come mid December they’re nuts and I’m playing dominoes while sipping cocoa and mackin’ on cupcakes

We've come to find that the best trees come with their own decorations of Douglas Fir pine cones and a wee bird's nest from time to time.

Happy chopping!

Thrift Store Conventions: Miniature Terrariums

Going forward I will share bits of information on how I incorporate thrifted items into my home and life in a series of weekly posts on Mondays or Tuesdays titled, Thrift Store Conventions. The first of this series is at the request of a few readers who spied various miniature terrariums in photos from my home and asked me about them.

I have a deep attachment to moss. It might be a tad bit obsessive. But, when I stumble into a mossy glen in the forest, I’m transported to an ancient place and am forced to ponder the possibility of forest spirits, something more magical than the every day experience. I think we all long for those moments.

Upon close inspection, a childlike wonder is immediately evoked. It just happens. Sink your nose to a patch of moss its ancient scent brings comfort. I wear Demeter Cologne bought from my local green grocer. My scents are Dirt and Thunderstorm. Petite Poe, my daughter, wears Wet Garden. Perhaps someday Demeter will produce Moss, a relaxing scent to transport us to the natural world while we are boxed up in buildings and cars.

Maybe your not transported like me but if you’re a thrifty by nature, you will find that this tiny plant commands a lot of respect in its frugal yet elegant existence. Its design is simple, one of complete economy. It lacks both a vascular and root system. Yes, a plant without roots, amazingly possible. And, moss thrives in neglected places.

To me, moss symbolizes to me the power and wonder of all things small, important. I keep small terrariums of moss about my house. Not only because these terrariums are pretty, but they remind of certain key principles in life. I’ve tagged some terrariums to remind me of these principles to hone my daily focus. Given these hard economic times, I especially need to practice these basic principles. I believe in Biomimicry and think moss is a fine example to glean life lessons. To me moss symbolizes:

Bravery. Born of algae, this pioneer of the plant kingdom did something quite extraordinary. It dared to leave the comfort of the seas and migrate to land where it has since prospered.

Adaptation. To leave the seas, moss needed to develop a new method of reproduction aside from cloning else it would cease to exist. This tiny plant developed a system of spreading spores and it worked so well, spore production never changed.

Resilience. Not having the constant nourishment from the sea, moss had to be creative and survive to dry periods. I’ve read that some mosses can stay dry for decades. Once splashed with water, they are instantly awakened.

Being a gardener at home and in community garden for over a decade, I have many friends who appreciate botany. I have given moss terrariums as gifts to many friends.

Building a moss terrarium is quite easy. Take a glass-covered container such as an apothecary jar, easily found in thrift stores ranging in shape and style and selling for one to two dollars. A teacup or any other small container will work as long as it’s under a glass dome also found at thrift stores for under $5. Fill the bottom of the container with crushed charcoal to absorb moisture and prevent molding. Place a light layer of potting soil over the charcoal. Lay a layer of moss over the soil and lightly spritz the moss with water – not much is needed. It can be kept almost anywhere in the house. And, if you ever desire a moment of comfort, take the lid off the jar and catch a whiff of the forest primeval.

Moss can actually be bought online. However, I prefer to go moss hunting. I stroll down alleys with a pie server and a plate and look in neglected places. The pie server comes in handy in serving up an undamaged layer of moss. Remember this plant has no roots so it is basically resting upon the soil. I may look odd as when I go on a moss hunt, but assure you I’ve done stranger things and am less concerned with how I look than what I find.

I also cultivate moss outside in my yard for the garden and a source for more terrariums. I’ve read you can mix moss up in a blender with buttermilk and broadcast that over a space where you wish moss to grow. Haven’t had much success with that.

I think it bad form to swipe moss from forests. Besides, it’s best to find moss in innocent neglected spots close to home. Something from the forest is probably not going to survive in the new ecosystem of your yard. I’ve actually heard that people taking moss for commercial use from the rainforests of Washington’s Olympic Peninsula is a growing problem.

To learn more about this division the plant kingdom, visit The British Bryological Society or visit the Saiho-ji Zen Garden in Japan. Who knows, you might develop a love of mosses that might extend to liverworts and hornworts too (both sound wretched but are beautiful plants that transport the imagination).

The pinch hitters of American retail

I could think of no other way to describe this topic but couch it in baseball terms. I’m not a baseball fan but the analogy of America’s favorite pastime was too close to call.

The Retailers are down while The Consumers are up in the top of eighth in the 2009 American Market Series. With the unemployment rate high and on the rise, looming mortgage foreclosures, and the slow trickle of stimulus funding, The Consumers have a new game strategy of holding on to their dollars and hunkering down with basic provisions. This new strategy has socked The Retailers’ morale despite the rally in the seventh inning stretch when they brought in the Feds as a new base coach. Cash for Clunkers knocked one out of the park but that streak was short lived. The Consumers went back to their new strategy staying safe at home. The Retailers have yet to score a run since.

The Retailers’ pitches have been off, The Consumers are walking; they’re not swinging at trash. Wall Street fans are worried. Did the crash of The Bulls mark a Retail curse?

It’s time to bring in the unassuming, but heavy, pinch hitters of retail. Upon first sight they look harmless, a possible disadvantage, but these pinch hitters can score an easy base hit with visions of a grand slam.

Who knew that little slip of register paper - the pinch hitting return receipt - could swing a game? With Halloween now past, The Retailers are changing game tactics, warming up and printing return receipts with nearly every sale as we near the holiday season and all eyes turn to this national game.

The return receipt steps up to the plate when The Consumers are getting edgy. Holiday urgency can lead to a loss of financial resolve and The Consumers are frequent to balk or make errors. It happens nearly ever year. The Consumers forget these pinch hitters are easy incentives on completing a shaky sale. This holiday frenzy often leads The Consumers to a disadvantage come January. They’re financially defeated, still licking wounds from last year’s spending and winter’s heating bills will pound them for several months to come.

At all other times of the year, the return receipt is innocuous, an easy out when The Consumers are gifting for weddings, baby showers or birthdays. But, heading into the holiday ninth, The Retailers play them on every purchase – requested or not.

The return receipt is a panacea for holiday gift purchases The Consumers are uneasy fielding. If they are on the fence, the return receipt easily shifts the play to The Retailers’ advantage.

If the gift is in error, the return receipt drives the gift back to the store for exchange. Frequently The Consumers take their eyes off the ball and outspend the original purchase, not only upping the total sale but also helping to move post holiday inventory.

As a coach, I ask The Consumers to understand return receipt strategy. If you’re giving a gift, make certain your pitch is solid. Ask yourself, “Is this a gift that will land in the recipients hands? Will this gift be well received? Is it needed? Will it stick?” If not, then don’t play it, don’t buy it.

If you receive a gift in error that needs to be exchanged, make certain you’re not upping the original amount of sale. It’s easy to rationalize “free store credit” and toss your hard earned money into the game. This can set your up for financial error, especially with post season sales making you feel like you’re getting a steal. If you don’t need the items you’re purchasing, you’re not the one making a steal.

At holiday seasons’ end, it’s all about retail stats. When will The Retailers stop aiming their sights above The Consumer means? When The Retailers lose, why are The Consumer’s made to feel that somehow they've "let the market down?" because they have enough in the pickle jar to get through the winter? Has anyone ever pondered the converse? We are playing the same game every year. Would it be nice if we just called it a tie?

Haunted Cookware

One type of thrift I've come to love is kitchen thrift, vintage cookware. I’m not writing about Calphalon or Kitchen Aid, which can be purchased at thrift stores. I’m writing about enameled cast iron from Belgium, Yugoslavia, and old copper sauté pans from France. Emile Henry ceramic baking dishes from France. Haunted cookware.

Haunted by the meals they have brewed, simmered, sautéed and served. There is a spiritual element to a well-worn piece of cookware. With is comes a long history of trial and error that eventually gave rise to perfection.

It’s hard to capture the beauty of this Emile Henry rectangular dish in the photo below. It is very old. The crazing it poetic, it’s like wrinkles from time. This dish I purchased for $0.99 has cradled masterpieces. Please click on this image to enlarge and see the detail.


We often cover our pots, set a timer, and walk away never giving one ounce of thought to what’s lies beneath. That’s when the pot takes over and orchestrates the mix into a pièce de résistance. This seasoned cookware knows how to properly blend ingredients and make them sing. They are cooking companions, friends you can count on. It’s surreal to hold the brass stem of the copper sauté and have it almost tell you when to flip the crêpe.

Sometimes I ponder the possibility of a séance around my island chopping block, inviting the women who once held these pots into my kitchen. Perhaps we might have tea and share our stories.

Never, never frown upon a piece of fine vintage cookware. Be assured, it knows more about cooking than you. Well, unless you’re my 85-year-old grandmother who lives in a house that smells like cake.

Should you see a quality piece of cookware on the shelf at a thrift store, grab it, clutch it close to your heart, and race home. It will tell you what to prepare. You just have to listen.

Psychic Shopping. Do you have “the gift?”

There is a constant tactical debate amongst thrift store shoppers. To make lists or not, that is the question. I am list-less in thrift. I regularly and list-lessly shop at thrift stores in 10-minute recon strikes in conjunction with running the routine errands of my life and it rewards my pocketbook and my family. I learned to have an omniscient understanding of my family’s needs. Call it intuition. Call it psychic power. Call it Snake Eyes. But, find it and don’t leave home without it.

Though list-less, I am strategic. My overarching goal is to avoid the retail pinch. I think ahead about changing seasons, upcoming events and growing children while I peruse the shelves and racks in thrift. I imagine this is how pioneers shopped, in advance and within budget. I might shop six months out. Why do some people consider it gauche to buy a winter coat in April, especially when that coat is in quality condition, costs $8.99 and will be needed for a six-year-old who has outgrown his or her current coat? What many don't know is that Americans are so wasteful that we toss brand new merchandise over to thrift stores where the shopper actually cay pay less than 10% of the retail cost for a new item. The coat in the adjacent photo is a fine example. Is it so smart to wait until October/November when coats are in department stores costing well above $80 and your child has already suffered through a few cold days?

What’s a retail pinch? That’s when the market has you by the you-knows, and you’re desperate. You think you are in immediate need of something. Retail pinches can be brutal. One chilling example happened last year when holiday shoppers (shivering en masse outside a Wal Mart waiting in the dark and cold at 5AM for bargains) were so harried to get inside they trampled a store employee to death. Another example from last year happened when two men were shot dead in a Toys "R" Us after an argument. Could we really feel that frantic about shopping to play out events that would end in manslaughter and possible second degree murder? I don’t think our nation was allowed to completely process those horrific events or do any national self-reflection on how insane holiday shopping has become. That’d have been a great story for investigative journalism, but no one picked it up because they were too busy reporting daily holiday sales figures, contrasting them to last year's and the projected figures for Wall Street. I used to run with that harried crowd and have near PTSD from the experience.

We’ve been trained to think daily. Granted, there are some days that are so rough and crowded, we can only think hourly. Daily tasks lead to daily lists. Ever draw little boxes next to the tasks to so you can check it once done? Ever made a checked box for something already done just to have an immediate sense of accomplishment?

Becoming parent taught me to place the stake out far beyond daily tasks. Parents need to think in terms of months, years and decades to keep up with the growth of a child. Time is not going to stop and wait for us to catch up – that becomes most clear with the onset of parenthood when you watch a newborn zoom through countless developmental stages in a mere year. Best to think ahead. When baby is born the crib, diaper changing station, clothes and car seat are all ready. Put up the safety gates before the baby tumbles down the stairs. Put safety latches on cabinet doors and drawers before baby can open them and pull out a knife. Have a new winter jacket before it gets cold and baby doesn’t have a jacket. Start saving for college at birth. How I wish I had learned this lesson of projecting long term retail needs long before becoming a parent. Alas, it's tough to live with the regret that accompanies hindsight. You don’t need to become a parent to shop smart and have vision.

Shopping in thrift stores gave me a new awareness of want, need and planning ahead. It is a place untouched by spending researchers and strategists. The thrift store is free from specialized marketing tactics devised to jack up the number of items purchased via impulse, along with a sales staff on commission. Thrift stores do not have strategists laying out the merchandise in the store so that a shopper must walk by X, Y, and Z to get to A. There’s no study on what music to play or specialized fixtures. The retail market plays a little dirty but because it's a part of the free market, no one really calls it dirty. Never mind that retailers (along with credit lenders) have preyed upon the consumer to the point where we are sitting on piles of retail waste - and are over our heads in debt. Never mind that US shoppers mostly buy products made abroad because companies bow to Wall Street rather than to balance out a sustainable economic system with manufacturing operations providing jobs to the folks that actually buy their products. It's The American Way, shoot yourself in the foot and act like it doesn't hurt like hell because you meant to do it. Okay, that's a bold statement. Truly harsh. But as we reexamine our banking system, housing markets, automotive industry, and the granddaddy of them all - health care - would it be so wrong to toss retail into the mix?

The thrift market leads seasoned consumers into a different form of shopping behavior that tends to benefit the consumer. As I have noted countless times, shop thrift stores for about three months and you’ll find that you develop a Flinch Point, a dollar amount that you must ask yourself, “Do I really need this?” My Flinch Point is $5. That’s right - $5. If an item is over $5 I really think about it. But, I really don’t have a Flinch Point if I go to the mall. I have it on high suspicion the retail market works hard to eliminate the possibility of a consumer Flinch Point because it is not in their best interest. Another behavior that accompanies the thrift shopper is that they tend to check their carts before checking out. They review their selections, and often put things back. The focus is on need and, often times, budget. Rarely does it seem mall shoppers perform a final overview of their purchase. Ever been asked, “Would you like me to put those items up at the register so you don’t have to carry them around?” Once it’s at the register, odds are that sale is now closed. Plus when standing in long register lines during the holiday season, one can almost feel the hot breath of consumer rage breathing down your neck. Best to not review your purchase there or the annoyed crowd behind you might react.

I’ve had a lot of people try to apply conspicuous consumption to thrift shoppers. Sure there may be some cases, but they are rare. Most thrift shoppers shop out of need instead of want. Thrift stores are not in the business of casting want or impulse. You see people rummaging through their carts near check out all the time. It's difficult to apply standard retail jargon to thrift because they are very different in operation. Sure, there's racks, cash registers, even returns but that's about it.

Given this, I believe retail does not want you to plan too far out. They focus on the here and now because it creates a false sense of urgency. When faced with urgency, you are more likely to spend whatever it takes to be relieved of it. No one likes the feeling of urgency. I've come to think of the word urgency with a dire need of a bathroom like a mother with a newly potty-trained child searching for a store that will allow her child to use their restroom.

This is where having an omniscient understanding of your future needs is essential. If you are focused on a strict list, opportunities will be missed. My crystal ball tells me that a stinging retail pinch is in your future. My knowing has done well for me at the thrift and, it actually adds some creativity to my shopping. I really do some of my best thinking in thrift stores. Perhaps Goodwill should open coffee kiosks and dot their stores with little conversation pits. I wonder what would happen if a congressional committee routinely met in a thrift store, free from external influences where they could really focus on the needs of the American public at large. Boy, that’s pie in the sky.

Speaking of government, let’s do a little Supreme Court word play on list-less thrift shopping, “I can’t tell you what I need, but I know it when I see it.”

A friend of mine cautioned me to not be so bold or challenging. If you're a reader you know my retort. In the words of my family's matriarch, "Someone's gotta!" Perhaps this was just a release of bad air. I've been holed up with bronchitis.

We count calories. Why not carbon?

This is one from the archives, it ran in May of 2009 in The Christian Science Monitor. It's wise to pause and reflect. I believe this is what I was discussing with Little Pie while we took a stroll in the Adirondacks one day.

Little Pie is especially concerned about environmental issues. She tells me that "Too many people have let go of the thread that ties them to the earth."

Denver - Thanks to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), I see that my serving of Honey Nut Cheerios has 110 calories. This, along with dozens of other data points on the box, helps me make educated choices to do right by my body. I'm ready to tackle the day as an informed consumer of food.

Wait! That box: What "ingredients" went into that? Ditto for the plastic liner and all those O's: How many "calories" did it take to manufacture them and then ship them to my table? What's the carbon footprint of my breakfast?

At the store, I can compare cereal carbohydrates but I can't compare how much they cost the planet. I'm not empowered to shop right by the health of the planet. I might as well put on a blindfold.

Americans need to broaden their understanding of energy and its cost. Nearly everything in our homes, from toasters to hair dryers, consumes energy (and emits pollution) from start to finish. But we don't think about that. We think that's the job of the energy companies. We turn down the thermostat and buy reusable bags at the grocery store, but that's about it.

Americans are voracious shoppers. We use more than our fair share of resources in this world. To embrace conservation, shouldn't we consider a product's carbon cost? Take appliances. Many come with an Energy Star rating. We all nod and feel good about it. But this label just shows the relative energy cost of ownership, not the absolute cost of manufacture. I wonder if it is confused with the car device OnStar; consumers may think washers have satellite connections offering emergency assistance for grass stains.

Think about all those products that companies dare to call "green." Unlike "organic," which is a federally regulated label, companies can affix "green" to just about anything, even petroleum-based plastic Easter eggs from China! Head slap. The manufacturers can't be trusted – they're colorblind. By "green," they must mean the color of money. Unless they start making edible sofas, this is beyond the FDA's scope, so who is going to settle this issue?

Misconceptions abound. Most runners don't think they have a negative environmental impact. The runner just runs, right? Hats off to Runner's World magazine for taking a hard look at this question in "The Runner's Footprint." The article showed that the carbon cost associated with a shoe's life cycle can be eye-popping. My husband is a runner. Runners don't like air pollution. So I know a shoe's carbon cost would weigh heavily on his choice.

If price and quality were equal, which widget would you buy – the one that cost 10,000 carbon points or 100? From jeans to washing machines, we need a common metric for the pollution costs that products incur during their life cycles. If we can list the nutritional value of a pickled egg, surely we can drive a healthier market and planet through system-cost comparison.

While we wait for that, we don't have to wait to be smarter shoppers. When we spend money on new products, we spend a great many carbon points. But when we buy repurposed goods at thrift stores, we spend close to zero carbon points. We have choices, but we need to be informed to make responsible ones.

Don’t splurge! Purge! You’ll feel much better.

I value emails and comments from readers. This email came in last Saturday after the September 25th post, I’m sorry major retailers, say what?

Dear Thrifty Chicks,

On my job, we were invited to have old papers shredded in exchange for donating food for the Food Bank…I took 9 big boxes of old paper to the shredding truck!

Tossing out the old paper was like Atlas getting a chance to take the load of the world off his shoulders!

It felt so good that I sorted through the clothes in my closet and found 50+ garments that were the wrong color, size, fabric, or style and took them to three or four of my favorite thrift stores. Not only did I feel good about recycling the garments for those who can use them and get them at a reasonable price, but I also appreciate the tax write-off. I also had a defiant, courageous feeling, "You call this a recession! Hah! I can afford to let go of these clothes!" [Like Francie in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn].

Clearing the clutter made me feel much better than if I had just acquired new things. What is left (of the clothes, at least) is harmonious with each other, and I can better see what garments I need than in a crowded closet. I still have plenty.

This process has been one of the most uplifting events I have experienced in years!

Karen A. McDowell
Denver, CO

Three points need to be highlighted:

• Clearing the clutter made Karen feel better.
• She can now utilize her closet because it's not stuffed and her wardrobe mates, meaning she can build more ensembles from less.
• She still has “plenty.”

Compare that to a trip to the mall to engage in some retail therapy and a few more items that would have been lost in the mix of an overstuffed closet.

We need to wind up that donation cycle and jump start this reuse economy. When economists study sales indicators and make statements about the condition of the national economy, I’m not certain thrift is tossed into the mix. But, it’s high time it is.

How about us take all the stuff we’ve been buying for the last 30 some odd years and put it into the reuse market and make it explode! Good grief America, the inventory is sitting unused in your homes, filling up rooms and closets.

Thank you Karen for such great testimony. And, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a favorite book of mine. I have a vintage hardback copy for my library that I bought for $1 at the thrift store. Last night I began reading to my youngest daughter Little Pie. It's a long book and will require some editing while reading but I figure it's a story she should know. Little Pie was very intrigued how the children of the neighborhood salvaged gum wrappers and bottles to take to Carney's to sell for pennies on Saturdays. It's hard to imagine that Betty Smith based this book on her childhood and was published a mere 66 years ago. So much has changed.

I'm sorrry major retailers, say what?

Okay folks, we are in hard times. As of August, the US unemployment rate is 9.6% and it’s on the rise. More layoffs. I’m baffled by the lack of response from the retail market. I don’t watch much TV and we don’t carry cable or dish. But when I do, I see business as usual in commercials and am left feeling deficient because there is no possible way I can go out and live as the television instructs. Retail denial, that's what it is.

We need to reform our retail structure and there has not been one word about in Washington. It's head-scratching to watch this Economy of Excess flap around like a fish trying to get back to water to swim through this deep recession. Retailers, the days of more upon more upon more are behind us. An Economy of Excess is simply not sustainable. It's hurting our pocket books, the economy of our communities, our health and our planet. How do we overhaul this broken retail system?

Retailers don't get it as highlighted in this article brought to me by The Queen of Fifty Cents from the LA Times, "Savers need to resume buying habits to aid recovery, experts say." As far as I'm concerned she is the Queen of the Fiftieth Sense! "Experts" are telling us, who have no money, we need to start spending to get us out of this mess? Do "experts" really think the average American's tiny little pocket book is going to get us out of this mess? Who are these "experts?" I desperately need a job and think I could make a lot more sense and produce a healthier economy than they've been. I want to elbow my way through this crowd and take the helm.

Hey America, it's time to Dump Our Current Retail Mindset! Eventually retailers are going to be forced into change because I need that money for my mortgage payment, not some stupid chocolate fountain or a $90 pair of jeans!

This is reminiscent of the whaling industry scoffing at the prospects that a coal industry would ever take over the need for whale oil. Why everyone needs whale oil!

Stock your stores all you want guys. We cannot feed your registers if we can barely feed ourselves. Many of us cannot even afford your sale racks.

My grandfather grew up in The Great Depression. He honestly tells me he never felt deficient because "we were all in it together." I sense no togetherness here. I sense an odd isolation and a confused fragmentation. I sense identity crisis.

We cannot let times like this pass without it making a permanent mark on our ways. This is a time to suck in some serious life lessons. I wish we could turn back to the days of economic practices of my great grandmother as described in the March 10th post Six Baccarat Tumblers.

I personally like Le Dandy’s Shopper’s Fast.

You are not alone like the TV might like you to think! And this recession is not your fault. Maybe this post sounds a bit angry, but given the path that the American consumer's have been led and being told shopping is patriotic, someone's gotta be! We're none the better for it! In fact, we're jobless and in the hole.

Should you want more on this Economy of Excess and the lessons it MUST teach us, please read Kurt Anderson in the April 6, 2009 issue of TIME The End of Excess: Why this crisis is good for America. Anderson went on to write, "Reset." I've been hoping this book would eventually land on thrift store shelves and I've yet to see it, which possibly means it's something to hold on to. Yeah, new books can land on thrift store shelves in a matter of weeks of release. I was hoping Anderson's cover page feature would have made more stir in the economic dialog. But, I guess the major retailers are going to have to go by the way of the whaling ship captains.

Golightly trips to the mall and what does she see?

I’d burned through my stash of premium scented candles and decided to trip to the local upscale mall. Off to Anthropologie I go to score a few good candles in the back 40 of the store also known as the saleroom. Illume’s Yuzu Mint fragrance gets a big thumbs up and also I bought Sweet Rhubarb. They were $20 but I pay $9.75. That’s $4.75 above my Flinch Point but, hey, this is my one simple luxury. Well, it’s more than a luxury. It’s piece of mind. We have three cats and I am forever in fear that visitors can smell the litter box. The candles come in handy. The other day, I almost didn’t clip any fresh basil because I’d feared the worst. But no, it was just a pungent basil odor, nothing more. I’m not shy about my fears either and will often interrupt good friends to ask, “Do you smell cat pee? You’d tell the truth wouldn’t you?” I’m a bit flakey that way and my friends are used to it.

As I walk out of Anthroplogie I see SALE posted in five-foot tall letters in some garish color over at Urban Outfitters, a younger cousin to Anthropologie. Sale is one of my favorite words, so I’m game. In the kitchenware section I spot something that instantly flashes me back to a comment from Saver Queen from the August 27th post Faux is Foe!

“I also notice styles from antiques or vintage house wares being recreated. I recently noticed a bunch of kitchen products being sold in stores and advertised in magazines that have the "hobnail" look. I wonder why anyone would by modern hobnail items when this style can be found on vintage items that are easily gathered from garage sales or thrift store. For example, hobnail milk glass vases are a dime a dozen.”

Saver Queen is right! But what I saw reproduced at Urban Outfitters made me laugh. I cannot count how many times I seen this covered dish made in the shape of a nut with a squirrel sitting on the lid in thrift stores. It’s usually marked at $2.99 and does not fly off the shelves. So, technically one could wait for a 50% off Saturday and buy it for $1.49. The buyers at Urban Outfitters have a different approach; they are promoting a remake of this head-scratcher of a classic for $18. Don’t believe me? Click Here. If you don't see it on that page to back or forward a page. They keep moving it.

As an aside, on my way out of the mall, I spied a new boutique that caters to uninformed Francophiles. A quick look-see raised my eyebrows to find items I’d seen on the shelves of Goodwill just that week. This shop was selling a certain item at a 500% mark up. Who knew? Thrift shoppers that’s who! All other customers are unsuspecting and are paying heavily for their lack of awareness.

What a strange retail world we shop in.

Oops! I almost forgot. You know how you see all these wonderful candles in Anthropologie alight and resting in a glass container atop sand, birdseed or acorn tops?You can find those containers at thrift stores for $0.99. Or you can pay huge mark ups else ware. Tough choice, but someone's gotta make it. So, say I bought the original at the thrift store on a 50% off Saturday, which run frequently. I could pick the original for about 8% the cost of the remake. Funny, I always thought originals were worth more than remakes.