Hello my little bloggerettes, Howz ya diddlin? This morning I went to Crafty Club and spent the two hours cutting out felt flowers for the next artwork. I need lots, it will take a while.
Looking back at yesterday, I went and had a nosy at the car boot sale at the football ground. Not a lot of stalls there, although it was sunny it was quite cold. Also, too many traders, it was more like a market. I only buy from genuine booters. I got a bit of a shock, I spotted a pair of boots and instantly recognized them. I had donated them to the Age UK charity shop only two weeks ago. The cheeky stall holder is obviously a trader. I was so surprised I forgot to ask how much he wanted for them, he would have bought them for £1. I asked him where he got them from, he pretended it wasn't his stall, and said, 'I don't know where he got them from'. I donate things to charity shops because I think someone might have a use for it, not so someone can come along and make money from it. I suspect that a lot of people might do this trick though.
I picked up this set of curtains for £1.50, they are very long, thick fabric, and in good condition. My first thought was, would make lovely shopping bags, of course. I'll wait a while before I cut them up, just in case any other brilliant ideas come to mind.
I've been to town this afternoon. A few bits from the discount stores, Wilko have an offer on the Ultima dry cat food so I picked up four bags. They also had a large bottle of milk for 30p, about to go out of date, so I nabbed that. Last port of call was Aldi. I haven't shopped here for a while, have been buying food from Tesco. I am not a creature of habit, I don't do a weekly shop. I pick up bits here and there as I am passing. I thought I would do an itemized list for you, so you can see what a normal shop is like when I pay full price.
2 cartons soya milk 59p each
Bottle chardonnay £3.89
5 foils of dog food 27p each
1k gran sugar 39p
2 tins baked beans 23p each
1kg bananas (8) 68p
Frozen peas 69p
Potatoes 79p
Onions 55p
2 packs ex mature cheese £1.59 each
Salted peanuts 99p
Dry roasted nuts £1.05
Butter 75p
Broccoli 37p
Cucumber 39p
Tomatoes 57p
Low fat yogurt 45p
2 bags walnuts £1.29 each
Brazil nuts 99p
Quiche £1.19
Soft cheese 49p
2 packs cream crackers 40p each
Spinach £1.29
Sliced ham for the kids 79p
Strawberries £1.35
Med FR eggs 79p
Mushrooms 89p
Farmhouse seeded loaf 85p
Bran flakes 88p
Total £30.62
I shop at Aldi about once a month, it's conveniently close to the town. They don't have everything I want, so I shop around. This is quite a big shop for me, the strawberries and wine are treats. The cheese and crackers will last four weeks, maybe more. I don't need to go shopping for a week to ten days, but if I am passing any supermarkets I will always pop in to see if there are any reductions, which will help me to stretch a normal shop out to last longer.
I'll wrap this up now. Need to take the dawg out and then do my three miles.
Thanks for popping in. We'll catch up soon. Toodle pip.
I went to Aldi the other day and spent a similar amount. I'm astonished with how many treats my shop contained. x
ReplyDeleteWhen I was deputy sales manager in a charity shop, some people volunteered just in order to get first dibs on stuff before it went onto the shop floor and also a discount. I never did that and always paid full price for things that had been on the shop floor for some time. There were lots of other dishonest activities too. I used to get a couple of dealers come in and they would pretend they were bone fide customers - they always wanted me to knock down the prices - it never happened. Natalie
ReplyDeleteNaughty, naughty Ilona, you didn't need the walnut whips, har, har! Of course you did!!!Woman doesn't live by frugality alone ...
ReplyDeleteNow, the boots. I once knew a 2nd hand bookshop owner who would trot off to the local charity shops and boot sales and pick up lovely books for next to nothing, especially if they were quality ones or by authors who the charity shop hadn't heard of, or were modern first editions that were collectable, pay next to nothing for them and then sell them at an inflated price. It's called business. Sadly, this is what happens even when we intend our donations to charity shops are for the deserving poor (or those with little spare cash after all bills have bene paid.)
Love those purple beads.
Margaret P
I didn't buy any walnut whips. I bought bags of walnuts.
DeleteWhat on earth are walnut whips?
DeleteThey are hollow cones of chocolate with a whipped cream filling with a walnut in the centre. Sold singly or three in a pack.
DeleteI wonder if my subconscious changed bag of walnuts into walnut whips? That or I'm losing the plot, Ilona! So sorry, you are forgiven for buying walnuts, tee-hee. If you lived closer you could have some off our tree in the autumn! Now, they might be small, but they are amazing! Nothing like dry ones in the shops, moist and juicy walnuts from the tree are lovely. Not as strongly flavoured, but lovely all the same.
DeleteMargaret P
Yum! Thanks, Ilona :)
DeleteAlways interesting to read your posts, lots of variety you have there.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to seeing your craft works!
3 more miles, good for you.
You know I think if we donate to a charity shop and someone buys it and sells on for more then that's ok. If I donate something then what happens to it after that is nothing to do with me. Someone will still get a bargain item hopefully wherever they buy it from.
ReplyDeleteWhen I go to church rummage sales, I often see people who I believe are dealers. They are buying far too many items just for one family. One rummage sale has actually started charging $5 to attend the first day before everything is picked over.
ReplyDeleteI shop a lot at Aldi here in the U.S. and it is interesting to see the prices you pay. Many are about the same when you account for the £ to $ conversion. Other items like broccoli are much more expensive here, $1.79 at Aldi compared to your 37p.
I work in a charity shop and I know of one lady who would buy items to sell on at car boots. We have one man who buys records from us sells them to a collector and then comes back to the shop and gives us some of the many he has made, must admit there is not many like him, a lot of the customers try and knock us down. When my grand-daughter was saving for something big she would buy clothing from car boot sales wash and press them and sell on eBay, I can not see anything wrong in that. I shopped in Tescos today and brought a pack of salmon and lamb for half price so was really pleased. I did noticed that they were selling strawberries that were slightly mis-shaped for a very low price.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the week.
Hazel c uk
I think that idea of a charge for previewing a rummage sale is excellent! I hope more places start doing it. When we give to charity shops we do it in the hope that someone who truly needs it will get it at a good price. JanF
ReplyDeleteNot to sound harsh, but it's nobody's business what a customer chooses to do with an item they purchase from a thrift shop. I I buy, say, a kid's winter jacket from a thrift shop for $1, and give it my daughter, then the thrift shop gets $1. If a reseller buys that same jacket, and then sells it for $5 at a flea market, well, the thrift shop STILL gets $1. It's not the shop's place to determine what the customer chooses to do with the item.
ReplyDeleteSomeone I know buys secondhand books from charity shops to sell on, he pays asking price. However, he also points out to shops when they have a book that is of value and does some research for them and advises on what they could charge ie more, he does this free of charge. It seems a fair trade to me.
ReplyDeleteWe very occasionally disagree. I must admit I have bought things from charity shops and sold them on ebay for a small profit. The charity shop I support does very well from me financially, I also donate things to them. I never really saw a problem with this. Also keep in mind that the people who trade at car boot sales by collecting things from charity shops might be subsidizing a low income. I know when the kids were little I appreciated a bit of extra money for holiday treats. My daughter dabbles in vintage clothes and reselling, charity shops are the first port of call for her. This is helping her through her education. I think the whole thing is ok as long as things are being reused and not put in landfill. I love those curtains btw, very retro! Good find.
ReplyDeleteWhy on earth is the broccoli wrapped in plastic wrap? Is this common in the UK (I have visited many times but probably never bought broccoli)? It is a relief to know that even you occasionally buy things at full price! If I buy at full price it is usually only the store's own brands (which these probably are from Aldi), if I want my favourite brands I will wait until they are on a catalogue special or marked down.
ReplyDeleteI do understand your feelings about giving to a charity and then a trader buying to sell on. I have no wish to be controversial but surely the goal is to raise funds for your charity? A £1 is a £1 at the end of the day no matter who paid it and the charity will have benefited. The alternative is that charity shops sell their goods at a high price to deter traders which will also sadly deter those without much money. No-one could want that surely?
ReplyDeleteI can understand your feelings at seeing your donated boots to Age UK on a stall at the car boot, I think I would have felt the same. I see people in the charity shops looking through stuff and buying that look as if it's not for them. I noticed that you follow Vintage Vixen blog page (so do I) she is also buying from the charity shops and selling on. There's many people doing the same on e-bay too, perhaps we should just call it enterprising. Rae
ReplyDelete