Words About Things

The increasingly popular practice of thrifting is defined as shopping for second-hand goods at thrift stores or flea markets.  Thrifting is a great way to get deals on gently used clothing, furniture, decorations and other items.

Shopping at thrift stores, flea markets or other second hand shops, otherwise known as thrifting, is becoming an increasingly popular way to find great items at a low price.  Thrifting is beneficial to both the buyer, who can get what they need inexpensively, the seller, who gets money for their unused items, and the environment, as fewer things are thrown away.

Shopping in thrift stores can get you great deals on many different types of items including clothes, furniture, and decorations.  When you first start shopping at thrift stores, the quantity of things available and high turnover can be overwhelming, but there are many ways to wade through the choices.  Thrifting is a great skill to have and plenty of tips and methods exist if you’re new to the art of thrifting.

The best thing you can do when shopping at thrift stores is get to know the employees.  Employees usually know the inner workings of their stores.  If you’re looking for something specific, they can keep an eye out for you and let you know if they see what you want.  They can also give you tips such as what when new inventory is put out or sale days.

When you find a thrift store you like, you should always find out what days they put out new inventory as well as if they have sale days.  Some stores have a couple days every week when they put out their new donations and shopping first thing on these days is a great way to get first pick.  Sale days are usually designed to clear out the store before they add new inventory and are a great way to get deals that are even better than regular thrift store prices.  Keep in mind that stores may be more crowded on both sale days and days when they restock.

It is also a good idea to visit several different thrift stores and go multiple times a week.  Thrift stores are constantly putting out new items and sometimes you can go to a thrift store, find nothing and then come back the next day and find some great deals.

Adding to your wardrobe doesn’t have to be done exclusively via thrift & charity shops. Most keen thrifters keep a close eye out for closing down and High Street sales opportunities. You should also be able to find a number of factory outlet shops in your area that sell last season’s clothes or slightly damaged gear – these shops can often be a goldmine for cheap, yet stylish clothes. If you are trying to be frugal then take full advantage of online opportunities; most High Street stores now run loyalty schemes, which can include a wide range of discount and voucher codes for selected items, as well as a points-style system which you can accrue for those really have-to-buy products.

If you’re looking to save money by thrifting, you should also make a plan before you actually shop.  Set a budget and go in with an idea of what you want to buy.  If you go in with no plan or budget, you run the risk of buying things that you don’t need or can’t use simply because they were inexpensive.  Buying things you won’t use is a waste of money and leads to more clutter.

Before you go thrifting, you will also need to educate yourself on quality.  When you know what a quality item looks like, it is easier to tell if you’re truly getting a good deal.  Spending very little money on an item that falls apart tomorrow is going to be a waste of both your money and time.  Pay attention to the quality of the items your buying and always take the time to evaluate the condition they’re in.  Thrifting can be fun and rewarding as well as frugal.  It may take a bit of work, but with some effort, you can find a number of great deals on anything you’re looking for.

One of the most important things we look for when buying flowers is how they smell. While some flowers are scentless those which we cultivate and give as gifts tend to have pleasant odors and this is part of their appeal. The smell is of course an effective way of attracting pollinators like Bees and other insects but it also attracts humans. Flowers which we find pleasant have surely benefited from being cultivated by humans over the years, becoming more prevalent than they might otherwise have been.

The problem is that people like to buy flowers when have yet to open but it is difficult to tell what they will smell like. The boffins at a well known British supermarket have come up with an ingenious solution to this problem: scratch and sniff packaging. The Telegraph explains the process that went into creating the scratch and sniff panels:

Floral fragrance expert Dr Hazel MacTavish-West and natural perfumer Dr John Heffernan were enlisted to assess the fragrance of open lily flowers. Each component of the fragrance was analysed and then recreated as a fragrance in a bottle… The final step was to encapsulate the fragrance into a print varnish, which is applied to a print label as the final step. The varnish is unscented until you brush your finger across the page, breaking open the capsules and allowing the fragrance to escape.

So now you can tell what your flowers will smell like once they have opened, assuming that the synthetic compound is accurate. I wonder if they will accept returns if the flowers don’t match the scratch and sniff?

Related links:

How does scratch and sniff work?
Save 25% on M&S fresh flowers
Why do flowers smell good?

A lot of time and effort is spent trying to work out how and why we buy in order to get us to part with as much money as possible. They layout in your local supermarket is clearly not haphazard and it’s no coincidence that the sweets and magazines are next to the till. Our decision making patterns are observed and tested so that we can be convinced not only to spend but to spend more often. Ideally (for those doing the selling) we will leave thinking that we have found a great deal or got more than our moneys worth but this isn’t necessarily the case.

We all know that something at eye level is more likely to sell than something that needs to be sought out. We also know that something priced at 99p is supposedly more likely to sell than something for £1. there are however some tricks of the trade which you may not know about:

• The second cheapest wine on the menu is often the bottle with the highest profit margin. This is because most of us want a bargain but don’t want to look cheap so we go for the second cheapest option. For similar reasons the cheapest wine on the menu probably tastes disgusting, what were you expecting cheapskate?

• By adding an extra expensive option to the menu restaurateurs are able to make a high priced option seem cheaper by comparison.

• If items are bundled together (for example a set meal) we find it difficult to work out if we are paying a fair price particularly if the items are not available separately.

• Different size portions are often sold for different prices. This means that those who are hungry will pay more and those who are trying to save money will get a smaller than normal portion. Whilst the customer feels like they are getting more of a choice they still aren’t getting more than their moneys worth.

• Coffee chains like Starbucks sell their drink in confusing sizes like Tall, Grande and Venti but never ‘small’. By taking away the relation between the names and their sizes they are aiming to make us feel like we aren’t getting a small portion or being greedy by having a ‘large’.

• The upper right corner of the menu is apparently where we all look first (eye tracking studies have proven this) so items placed here are given a lot of thought. Often an expensive and fancy option will be placed here, this makes everything else look cheaper and makes sure that this item is not missed.