I’m not a big thrift store shopper. Mainly because we don’t really have a thrift store. Wait, scratch that, we do have the new Habitat for Humanity store in Kennett Square. I’m just not in the habit of going there yet. But, I am a big used book sale person and kids consignment person. We have lots of good consignment sales here, every fall and every spring. And the Avon Grove Lions Book Barn is open April to October. The week before Hurricane Sandy, I had the opportunity to visit both and am sharing my finds. This will be a part of a linkup on Fun Finds for Families who will be doing a Thrifty Thursday linkup.

Here are my two finds from those shopping excursions. The first was the half-price day at the Kennett Square Preschool Consignment sale. Saturday is half price day, so I scored all of those items for $0.50 each!

I will admit that some of the wooden puzzles did show signs of wear and tear, but at that price, I’ll take them! I mean, those Melissa and Doug puzzles are usually $10 each! And I love the wooden block thing, it’s an old school one with the wooden base, and it still makes the animal sounds.

The next photo is from the last weekend of the Avon Grove Book Barn. For that weekend, they had a deal of $5 a bag and they gave you a plastic shopping bag. I had ours stuffed, really pushed the limit. I even asked the guy–“Can I do this?” because I couldn’t even carry the bag by the handles or the bag would have given out. He winked at me and said “You did good.”

When I got home I counted them–34 books for $5, or about $0.15 each! I was really pleased with my assortment. About half of my books are these vintage Sesame Street hardcover books that they don’t print any more. I remember them from being a kid and my kids still love Sesame Street. My 3-year-old grabbed that vintage snowman book and said he wanted it. I grabbed the Ramona books because they are in perfect condition and my boys are just starting to enjoy me reading chapter books to them. Ramona and Beezus brings back such good memories for me! I had them all, wonder where they are now … probably with my Judy Blume collection.

Anyway, I love shopping secondhand not just for the savings, but because it also helps the environment. Subscribe to our site and you’ll be kept informed of all the consignment sales and the Avon Grove Book Barn!