Frugal Tip 13: Thrifty Shopping

Recently I started posting a more in depth look at each of the frugal tips. Over the next few weeks I will publish the frugal tips that I have collected. Please note that not every tip will work for everyone. Chose as many of the tips that will work with you and your family and start implementing them. Today we will proceed with Tip #13 Go to thrift stores, yard sales, and auctions, rather then buying new.
Many people are now looking for more and more ways in which they can save money, especially on many of the basics, such as clothing. Thrift stores offer you the consumer a way to get necessities, and even a few luxury items, at a fraction of the cost of those same items in larger retail stores.

In fact, if you shop the sales at these stores you can save even more money. Every thrift store has it's own way of running sales – one store may discount items with a certain color tag, while another may offer a percentage of off a different department each day. Find out how sales are handled at the stores around you. Then, make the most of them.

Recently this idea has become more of a concern then I ever remember it being. That is because the number of incidents of bedbugs has risen. So what do we do to avoid getting bugged by these pests?

Sure, it's a sweet deal in theory, but scoring a sidewalk sofa isn't necessarily a harmless act anymore -- at least not as long as bedbugs are as serious an issue as they are right now.
- LemonDrop.com

First if it is on the curbside (instead of donated to a local charity) that should be a red flag. It is probably there for a reason. Perhaps because the previous owners are dealing with the little critters themselves. So stay away from those items on the street corner.

Still, take heed against thrift store furniture, too -- especially if it's wooden or porous, like wicker furniture. Bed bugs can hide in wooden cracks and wicker crannies unseen to the human eye.
- LemonDrop.com

As for clothing LemonDrop.com also suggests,

Before buying, give your thrift store find a 360-degree look to determine bedbug risk. Stretch knitting between your fingers to expose any resting critters, and look along the inner lining of a winter jacket. If it seems suspicious, pass it over.
- LemonDrop.com

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