Holiday Sales at Salvation Army

Christmas isn't the only holiday around which you can find great buys. After "major" holidays, ie, Valentine's, Easter, Halloween and Thanksgiving, it is pretty well known that you can get holiday-related items for 50%, 66% and 75% off sometimes even the afternoon of the holiday but certainly in the week following. We've all also seen advertisements for Presidents' Day sales, Labor Day sales, etc., for linens, cars, appliances, etc. These sales all take the same diligence as a regular sale to make sure you are getting the best deal: using coupons, price comparison and, in the case of large purchases, comparing accessories and options.

But did you ever think to shop Salvation Army or Goodwill at the holiday? I know I didn't, but I was in for a very pleasant surprise this past weekend. I have 3 skirts I wear for church and dress-up occasions but had gotten chocolate on one (gee, wonder how that would have ever happened?!) and have not been able to get the stain out, even with bleach, so I really needed another skirt. I have not had much luck finding nice clothes in the plus-size rack at Salvation Army (it has a bigger selection than our Goodwill) but figured it wouldn't hurt to stop in and look. If nothing else, I could see if they had jeans in the next size for DS; I try to keep at least a couple pairs in the next larger size for him since he tends to outgrow things NOW. Anyhoo, DD went with me, and upon walking in the front door, we took notice of the sign - yellow tags 99-cents and green tags 50% off. Not bad. But then 2 steps later, we were greeted by a lady offering coffee and cookies for the holiday, and she says all ladies short-sleeved tops were 99-cents! Oh. My. Goodness. To make a long story short, I have never tried on so many clothes at one time before in my life. I have probably not tried on this many clothes total since my kids were born! But I ended up getting 10 tops, 3 skirts and 1 pair of pants for myself and 3 shirts and 1 shorts for DS, all for the grand total of .......$23.77 including tax! DD pulled out several things I would not have, and I think she had fun playing dress-up with her mom. From what I got, I now have one top-skirt combo, a skirt that went with 2 tops I got and a sweater combo that I already have, nice pants that go with all the shirts, and I can now throw away several well-worn and stained tops at home, knowing I won't have to wear the same 4 shirts over and over this summer or pay retail to restock my wardrobe.

It was a very pleasant surprise, and I won't hesitate to go back to Salvation Army as my first stop when I need more clothing. In fact, I may go back the weekend of Memorial Day; hopefully they will have a sale on long-sleeved apparel then!