Category: Thrifting Adventures

[Media Meandry] Books To Read

I have acquired many books I want to read, yet my mind constantly encourages me to visit more thrift stores, bookstores, and acquire – rather than read – more. Is it, then, easier to own than read? What if we adjust our thinking away from “acquiring” to “finishing” as the biggest obstacle in completing tasks? We can oversaturate our task-acquisition to anything we want making us spoiled by choice. What if we oversaturate our task-finishing time instead?

WANNA CONSIDER THE SEDUCTION OF DATA ENTRY? CLICK HERE TO KEEP ON READING!

[Thrifting Adventures] Thrift Store Sadness

The saddest thing about browsing through thrift stores is seeing these mementos of lives once lived. Family photos and personalized notes written with love are heart-breaking, but all part of the general progression of life. Every rainfall destroys priceless artifacts. When I think about my time working in a thrift store, I remember the priority for the sorters was speed. The furniture department worried about quality, but for the miscellaneous items, just price and go.

WANNA CONSIDER THAT IT’S OUR CHOICE WHETHER WE WANT TO FEEL SAD SEEING TRAGIC FORMERLY-OWNED MEMORIES? CLICK HERE TO KEEP ON READING!

[Thrifting Adventures] Thrift Store Adventures

In 2013, ‘I was unemployed and looking for work, so I thought it would be a good idea to work at a thrift store. I thought it would be fun. I was wrong.’ I’ve written about some of these experiences years later, but I uncovered this essay from that time, so let’s read, together, my thoughts on working there. I’ll edit anything out that’s too personal or too weird, otherwise, this was how it was like…

WANNA READ HOW IT WAS LIKE WORKING IN A THRIFT STORE IN 2013? CLICK HERE TO KEEP ON READING!

[Downsizing Zeal] What’s More Adventurous?

I might actually be in the clear now to move into a one-bedroom apartment, having sacrificed my yearly outing to a concert festival for downsizing my storage room nicknamed “Zeal.” It’s such a relief knowing I will not be a slave to materialism, but the cost is giving up certain events like this over the next few months… I wasn’t really aching to go, but if my schedule were freer, I absolutely would have gone.

WANNA CONSIDER HOW QUICKLY WE CAN BURY OURSELVES INTO OBLIGATIONS THAT OBSCURE OUR GOALS? CLICK HERE TO KEEP ON READING!

[Moving Zeal] Your Scrap Motherboards

Each motherboard is a different puzzle to both assess for resale value and dismantle for scrap value. Sometimes you’d get the old school ones where the soldered-on batteries and huge heat sinks would be a pain to snap off. Other times you’d develop a rhythm after scraping your hundredth slightly-outdated board. What surprised me about the recycling company most was how infrequently we’d consider selling them online. Waiting for $20 versus getting a quick X-cents/pound, perhaps?

WANNA CONSIDER HOW SOME NON-TRADITIONAL REVENUE STREAMS ARE MORE OF A GAMBLE THAN OTHERS? CLICK HERE TO KEEP ON READING!

[Moving Zeal] Your Clothing Donations

I can only speak from my experiences working at a big-box thrift store for a few months, years ago, but I’ll never forget baling thousands of pounds of clothing per hour, and despite putting in my best efforts, still being a slower worker than a man well past retirement age. So when I donate my depreciated clothing, I/they don’t care if it’s worn or damaged: they’ll bale everything except soiled materials and sell them overseas.

WANNA PEAK BEHIND THE CURTAINS AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS TO YOUR DONATED CLOTHING? CLICK HERE TO KEEP ON READING!

[Sober Living] Your Altruistic Donations

I don’t believe in the power of donating to companies to provide for my community. After throwing myriad items into the trash compactor, some better than what I own, and watching these kind-hearted gestures from you and me become destroyed for no other reason than because these items were old stock or didn’t sell, while I may still donate and buy from thrift stores, it’s with all altruistic façades removed. Sobriety is like that, too.

WANNA CONSIDER THE INNOCENCE OF LIFE AND HOW FRAGILE IT IS? CLICK HERE TO KEEP ON READING!

[Sober Living] Day of Clutch-ening

The day before I sobered up is one I’ll always remember, not so much sequentially, but more cerebrally than that. I was working at the thrift store at the time, directionless, unmotivated, blaming others for the problems I wasn’t addressing, and just squandering my life. It was a difficult job. When I wasn’t jumping into moldy trailers or being lambasted for working “slowly,” I was trash-compacting high-quality goods. Then… maybe a glimpse into something greater…

WANNA CONSIDER HOW IT ONLY TAKES ONE FUNDAMENTALLY POSITIVE EVENT TO CAUSE CHANGE? CLICK HERE TO KEEP ON READING!

[Moving Zeal] 50% Off Sales

I don’t care about half the stuff I own. Sure, I enjoy observing particular items, interacting with action figures, or listening to albums. It’s just now we’re living in a society where photos of items can immediately be retrieved autonomously, action figures can either be repurchased easily or viewed in dynamic photographs, and albums are available for legal streaming. The message is no longer confined to the medium. Is the only problem purging that pesky 50%?

WANNA CONSIDER HOW REDUCTION ISN’T JUST A ONE-TIME PURGE? CLICK HERE TO KEEP ON READING!

[Moving Zeal] Not Spending Money

I used to go thrifting with my wallet ready to bleed money. I would scour through thrift stores, pawn shops, swap meets, flea markets, antique boutiques, and other second-hand resellers ready to buy anything weird or that which should be in any of my collections. I’m more reserved now. I even doubted if I should ever go back to any thrift stores, but it turns out, it’s easy to turn down that compulsive over-spending. How?

WANNA BROWSE THROUGH A THRIFTING MONTAGE AS A WAY TO DECOMPRESS FROM THE IDEA OF OWNING AS A STRICT MECHANISM OF APPRECIATING MATERIALISTM? CLICK HERE TO KEEP ON READING!