You are forcing me to stop by Goodwill this afternoon.

And Salvation Army!....

What a great deal! I love when I find something really, really nice at a thrift store. Makes me want to go out and look today.

Karen

I must not be living right, I NEVER find great buys like so many of you do. I've never seen a KA, roaster or ZO around here. I don't even see any breadmaker in good shape, period. I have maybe seen one or two old crockpots and that's it. I'm telling you I'm not living right.

I was once at a Salvation Army thrift store. Found a grain mill (this one retailed for a hundred or so). They had $20 on it. I plugged it in, and the motor seemed jammed without turning the burr plates. They sold it to me for $10. Got home, took it apart: a small screw had fallen between the two burr plates. Once it was out, the item worked great. Still working.

I have found some old carbon steel knives in thrift stores for a few bucks. I prefer them to stainless. Most knives you find today in stores are stainless.

My wife was a volunteer for the local community theater, and we were in a thrift shop looking for clothing that could be used for costumes in an upcoming play. I was idly looking at stuff, and found a gorgeous Harris Tweed jacket in my size, great condition, for $5. Snatched it up. About a year later, we got some cheap tickets to London. Had tea at the Savoy while wearing my $5 jacket. I fit right in.

Good score! I have a "faded" yellow one that goes back to 1978 and it still works great. I am always looking for bargains. I got a Zo bread machine for $35, works great. I also got a Turbo Convection Oven for $20, that you see advertised on TV for a couple of hundred. It actually does cook a whole chicken in a short time and browns the skin. Never know what you are going to find.
Clare

Plus, that 1978 one was made by Hobart. After Hobart sold the KA division, KA went through some quality problems.

Don't usually brag... but I will about some of my thrift store finds. A Cuisinart food processor, bought in hopes of just having an extra bowl, ended up being larger/stronger model... $8! LeCreueset square grill pan, blue enamel outside (NOT chips or cracks), non-enameled cast iron inside (tiniest bit of easily removable schmutz in ridges... $5! Cuisinart burr coffee grinder & ice cream maker (wish I always had ROOM in freezer for insert)... at website about $50 or more... at thrift store maybe $5 each. BRAND NEW KA digital (7 speed) hand mixer... $69.99 on box... $5 for me.

Spend a HUGE amount (for me at least) on a BIG lot of Fiestaware at a yard sale. A dozen dinner plates, salad/sandwich plates, mugs, probably 20 bowls (soup/cereal) and a few extra items... $50.

If an item looks CLEAN, barely/rarely used... in box with manuals... and CHEAP... I'm interested. Bought a bread machine at a yard sale... cuz never had on, was curious, and it was still TAPED in plastic in box. Used it for a while, got bored with it, cleaned it up REALLY well, and donated to one of favorite thrift stores.

Like they say, one WOMAN'S trash is another WOMAN'S treasure!

I do lots of shopping at Goodwill, that's where I get sweatshirts for the farm, old t-shirts for gardening, that kind of thing. Sometimes, like Arley, I get something nice there too.

I bought two bread machines at Goodwill, one for Makayla and one for Ashley. Makayla's cost $7, it's not a Zo but it works fine and she uses it almost weekly. Ashley's got knocked on the floor by the dog and broken, good thing it only cost $5!

I never found a KitchenAid, though, or any LeCrueset or a food processor of any kind. I used to find canning jars at thrift stores and church rummage sales but it must be getting more popular or I've bought them all because I seldom find those anymore either.

Annie

There goes my theory that klseiverd was a man! I usually make the mistake in the other direction.

I have not looked much at kitchen appliances at thrift stores, but now I guess I should. However, I do go there to buy irons, but I haven't needed a new one in quite some time.

I really liked the thrift store in Kihei - they had great shirts and swimming trunks for cheap. San Francisco had really good thrift stores for some reason when I lived there back in the 1970s. I would go there to buy vintage clothes instead of the horrible 70s fashions. I used to get jeans there for cheap, take them apart and sew the fabric back together as appliques to make new garments.

Lars

Great find!

I shop thrift stores frequently and have scored occasionally. What I'm seeing a lot of are ours are becoming like dollar stores i.e. they have a lot of new stuff like the dollar stores carry. About a third of the space at a new Goodwill store in our area is for new "junk". Not happy with that!

Nice find!!

I hit our thrift stores semi-regularly. And garage sales!

I pick up canning jars cheap (10-25 cents).
Brand new 4-tray dehydrator for $10 (2 replacement trays are $11 alone!).
My best and most used is the Victorio Strainer for $5.

I missed a LeCreuset dutch oven for $20 because I had never really priced them and convinced myself it was too much...
Sigh.........

It really is like treasure hunting!

Deanna

Like some of you, I've never found much good cooking stuff in our thrift stores. In our town, we have an old shopping center that is almost all "resale shops". Many of the larger churches, including ours, run a resale/thrift shop in that strip mall.

I will admit, though, that I can't "thrift store hop" as often as I'd like, because of their hours and my own schedule.

Costume hunting??? Yes, I always send my costume moms to the thrift store mall when we're doing a play at my school. One mom just brought me an 1800's preacher-gown that she'd created from a suit coat bought at a thrift store for $3 and some fabric from her stash.

Hmmm....maybe I'll hit the thrift store mall next week!

Donna

The best I ever found at a thrift shop is a 1940's Hamilton beach three head malt mixer. The old light green one like they had when I was a kid. I think I paid $15.00 for it. My grandson had so much fun with it when he was little. When we remodeled this old house I had a cabinet built especially for it and it's still going strong. I hardly go anymore I'm at the point in my life where I need to down size and get rid of stuff I must have enough kitchen stuff up in the attic to fill another kitchen.

Claudia

Our thrift shops are getting more lame each time I go in there. I think with Ebay and all the flea markets around...they are being stormed by people that resale their stuff so really any deals, if there even were any, are long gone. Our thrift shop has had the same OOOOLD WORN OUT bread machine sitting on a shelf for a YEAR( I kid you not!) and they are wanting $8 for it. The writing is worn off, the blade is gone and the pan's non-stick is all worn off. It needs to be in their free box but for some reason the just keep hanging on to it. The one bread machine I found was $8 and it did not work when I got it home. Of course no returns...so not a bargain! I still keep going hoping to find something...books seem to be the only thing still worth looking at.

I usually shop for clothes at thrift stores. I'll look over the housewares, but haven't seen much there that has caught my eyes. Like Lars, the current fashions don't do anything for me, so I'm more likely to find something I like at a thrift store.

Estate sales are where I usually get my kitchen stuff, but I don't always have time to get to them when they're open. I do what I can when I can, though, and have a great time!

Sally

Our local thrift stores seldom have any decent cooking stuff. Though we did get a very nice mandolin at a Goodwill this year, and there are sometimes nice cast iron pans at high prices. I've never found a good knife, pot, etc at a thrift.