CHARITY SHOPPING

Pippi Longstocking Doll. My favourite find as I really wanted one and it had been discontinued with the new one on the market not being as nice. £0.50!!

I wanted to write a little entry here about charity shops as they can definitely be called a hobby of mine.

Everybody loves a good bargain right? England certainly is a consumer paradise with thousands of shops competing for customers, but what is way better is that every high street of every town has at least one charity shop on it. Or ten!

Kid loves puzzles so we have quite the collection

For anyone who doesn’t know what I’m talking about, imagine a mini flea market where you can donate your olds things for charity. If you have children these shops are a must for cheap clothes (sometimes unused, with original tags still on), books and toys. But you can also find anything from furniture, electrical appliances to high end fashion.

I often have people telling me I’m very lucky with my finds, and I feel lucky too, but I’m sure it has a lot to do with popping in for a quick look on a regular basis. I think the more you do it, the more your eyes get trained to sort out what you’re looking for. I recently had a friend of mine tell me off for making her dizzy as I was running in and out of shops in seconds. But after almost three years of experience it doesn’t take me long to scan the shop and see if there are any interesting items for my son. One day (soon), when I have more time to actually enter a fitting room I’m hoping to find more clothes for myself too.

Lots of wooden train track can be found, but you have to snatch those quickly.

But it’s not just the shopping experience that I love. I’m also a big fan of donating my old clothes and other unwanted items to charity shops. I happen to like a lot of stuff, but I’m also very organised, so I like to declutter the house on a regular basis and get rid of things that have gone unused for too long. With kids clothes being outgrown so quickly it’s nice not to have to pay through the nose for them, and to take them back to a charity shop for a new donation and for someone else to get use out of them.

I’ve included some pictures on this post of mine and my son’s favourite finds, but a lot of the furniture can also be seen in my Chalk Painting Adventures Post.

I feel like I should include a word of warning too. You do need to keep your head cool sometimes and be mindful with what you buy. There’s no need to buy everything just because it’s cheap. Though you might not lose more than a pound or two at a time, it can quickly add up so always be mindful.