Thrifty Tip

I love to browse through thrift stores. In Powell River, my favourite is the Hospital Economy Shop off Alberni near Scotiabank. They have a great selection that changes constantly, their prices are the best, plus I always bump into my friend Carol there.

Here are some of my best finds. There was a new Catalyst cap for Wayne for $.25. He doesn't work at the mill, but lots of our friends do. I found a toaster oven for $5.00 with a five day guarantee. That was a nice benefit, except I immediately voided the warranty by stripping out all of the wires to make it into a stovetop oven for my wood stove. I found a large pot for $1.00 to use to heat water for our new bathtub and I even found Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat for my collection for only a quarter.

We like to keep a fire extinguisher near our woodstove. You never know, you might need it quickly in case a bad spark, or worse yet, a chimney fire. But our fire extinguiser is round on the bottom. For years we left it lying on the floor behind the stove. Then one day while I was cleaning I stuffed it into a boot to get it out of the way. Wow - what a great idea! Not wanting to tie up our regular boots, I did the next best thing. I found a pair of colorful rubber boots at the thrift store for only a $1.00. Now our extinguisher is handy and "attractive" in a functional sort of way.

Do you like to shop at thrift stores? Where are some of your favourite stores? What have been some of your best finds? -- Margy