Reply #119: Going "thriftin'"...and "divorce sales." [View All]

[tomreedtoon]

When I did Rocky Horror Live Cast, I gave rides and some assistance to two people who were really poor. They lived next door to a crack house. They were decent, hard-working folks who didn't have good jobs; one worked at Disney World in costuming, the other did some security guard work.

When they needed something, they went "thriftin'." Meaning hitting all the little thrift stores, run by churches and other charities, to find something that would work. They did very well doing that.

When I took a friend to a local hospital, we noticed a "thrift shop" run by the hospital across the way. I found three excellent, high-end office chairs for $6 each. They apparently came from some architectural firm that decided to remodel.

My sister in St. Louis does garage sales. Her husband hates all the stuff she stocks in the house...until he realizes she got something he needs for a fraction of the price. She told me about "divorce sales." These are sales by wives in wealthy communities who found out their husband has been cheating on them. So they wait until he's got a busy day at work, or goes out of town on a business trip or assignation with his mistress, and they put stuff on sale. Want to buy a $400 camera, barely used, for $25? How about a set of golf clubs costing $1200 for $100? The wife takes the cash for the goods, then moves in with a friend and starts filing the divorce papers.

In other words, this isn't an easy way to buy things. It takes time, patience, reading ads in the papers, practicing driving through the most lucrative streets, and paying attention, which are often too much for Americans in this day and age. But you can do quite well with them. Especially with divorce sales.