Savvy Shopping: Deep Discounts

A few days ago I made a trip to my local second hand store, Savvy Seconds.  Its been over a month since I last visited and they had a ton of merchandise.  I assume it was a lot of garage sale leftovers, so much so that their usual year-round Christmas section was missing.  Having said that, there was a lot of stuff that didn't catch my eye.  I mean I wasn't in the market for cassette tapes even though I heard they might be making a comeback.  Probably a couple hundred total, and I didn't even look for a price, but I did browse.  Nothing aside from a Gaither cassette caught my eye so I moved on.  Books didn't look interesting either, and the more than usual glassware wasn't for me either.  With all that being said, I didn't leave empty handed.  In fact, I was quite pleased with my haul, one of my better ones this year.  So let's take a look at what I got.  We'll start with CD's as that's what I usually look at first.

I admit I don't listen to as much Christian music as I use to, but I couldn't pass up this CD from Sonicflood.  It has some of their best songs, and to be honest, I don't think I ever owned this album.  I haven't listened to it yet, but I noticed it does have Heart of Worship, which is one song that does pop into my head quite often.

I love Lisa Loeb.  I have always been a fan, so when I saw this, I got it.  I think I might have bought this already now that I think about it, but I'm not too worried about it.  Lately I've been listening to music a lot on my Roku, but I might break out my hard drive and listen to my collection.

I'll never say I'm the biggest Foo Fighters fan, though I did like their earlier stuff.  These days I just can't get into their music.  Though when I found this still sealed CD I couldn't pass it up.  I think I've head These Days and Walk, but they aren't ringing a bell.  I think I'll try to locate these songs on Youtube before I decide to open this up.  If its still I can live without, I'll keep it sealed, for no other reason then because not only does it have that sweet Grammy sticker on it, but also still has the Best Buy barcode sticker on it.  I love nostalgia, and since its been close to a decade since I've inside a Best Buy, this will make me remember the handful of times I have.

I think these were 50 cents each.  It is the going rate, but the final price seemed off so I may have got them cheaper.  A lot of sections had half off stickers so maybe I got lucky.

Next I'll show the most expensive item I got, which cost two dollars.

If I never watched that Ben Affleck movie, I'd never been a fan of Daredevil.  However I did, and I liked it, so now I look for Daredevil comics when I see comics for sale, which isn't too often.  I know nothing about comics and how to grade them or pricing, so I'm not sure if I got a good deal.  What I do know is there were probably 50 or so comics for sale, a lot of new ones like Scooby Doo, but a lot of older ones like these and Fantastic Four and such.  None really caught my eye and the oldest one I found was 1978 (as the copyright on the back page ad showed), I found a total of 5 or 6 Daredevil comics, but I knew I only wanted to get one for the 2 dollar price tag (I'm cheap, but also didn't think any had a lot of value).  I picked this one for two reasons, first because it looked like it told part of Daredevil's story that was mentioned in the aforementioned movie, and second, because besides the cool cover, it was also one of the oldest issues they had.

I found out when I got home that this seems like it was somewhat of a good issue to have.  It tells the story of Daredevil's father (as I figured), as well as the journalist finding out who Daredevil really is.  In addition, it was the final work for Marvel by Wally Wood.  He helped with the cover of this issue.  He died in 1981.  I don't know if that will add value to it, but again, I don't think it holds much value due to the condition.  It appears to be all there, but the pages seem to be discolored but if it was in better shape I'd probably find a backer board and bag it.  If they lower the prices on the other comics, I might buy some more.  I hope to read this issue soon though.  I might even scan some of it for a future blog.

The rest of the items were on clearance.  I don't know if they just wanted to get rid of stuff or what, but a lot of items were a nickel or dime, prices I've hardly ever see them sell stuff for.  I think its a smart move because it was really cluttered so they needed to move a lot of stuff out.  At any rate, I'm not complaining.

Did I need it?  No, but for 10 cents (maybe it was 5), I surely can put something inside it.  If nothing else, I can print out a list of all the Mizzou athletes I've gotten autographs of.  Or maybe a list of players I have cards or.  Since I can put something on both sides of this document holder, I could print out both lists and have one on each side.  Or I could put in in my closet and forget about it, which is most likely what I'll do.

I don't drink coffee, but I can't pass up local media advertising.  This KMIZ mug if I remember the logo is from the mid-90's.  With a price tag of a dime, it was hard to pass up.

They had another mug for the same price, but to be honest, I didn't have a need for two of them, but who knows, maybe next time if its still there I'll get it and have a matching pair.

So these last three items are clothing that I will never wear, but not only dirt cheap, but were exciting for me to find.

A girl's softball jersey isn't a normal find, but it was the sponsor that caught my eye.  When I showed it to a friend he commented "it must must be a slow pitch league to match their Internet service".  I-Land is our local Internet service and while I'm currently upset with the issues they seem to be having, I have to admit their pricing isn't bad, but I will likely need to move up a package to get a little faster service (my main issues have come up since streaming more on my Roku).  As for this jersey, I'll never wear it, but I like advertising, so this being 10 cents was well worth it to me.  Maybe one day if I ever get a house, I can display all these odd jerseys I have.

My town isn't known for very much.  Aside from school activities, our failed grocery stores, our Christmas Parade, our Co-Op getting sued by Monsanto, and a town cop who would make Barney Fife and Chief Wiggum look like the smartest men alive, above all else, we are known for our Rodeo.  "It's always the 3rd Weekend in July" isn't just a slogan, in recent years its basically become our motto when asked what happens around here for fun.  I, myself, haven't been in probably 15-20 years, but most people like it.  When I say most people, I mean most people who want an excuse to go out into a field and drink all night.  Since its outside city limits, Deputy Fife can't do much.  Though each year people forget he and the county Sheriff usually have the roads covered and drive home drunk.

As you can tell, I'm not a big advocate for the Rodeo, as its just an excuse to drink for most.  Its a shame for those who really want to enjoy a rodeo, and the performers.  Not all is bad though, as the usual rodeo clown (at least as far as I know he still is) became a celebrity a few years ago.  If you remember the clown that got fired from the Missouri State Fair for wearing the Obama mask, then that's the same guy. 

So if I'm so against it, why did I get the shirt?  Well, it was a dime, and I for some reason still have town pride.  It was too cheap to pass up.  Plus the fact that maybe one day I'll lighten up and decide to go to the rodeo again (its usually two nights) and find out that its not as bad as I make it out to be.

So there is one item left, the coffee mug was my third favorite purchase.  The Daredevil comic was my second favorite.  This last item is my most favorite item, and it cost a whopping 10 cents.  If they had 100 of them, I would have bought them all.

Holy cow, BATMAN!  That's a stadium giveaway jersey from the Northwest Arkansas Naturals!  For those keeping track at home, they are the Kansas City Royals Double A affiliate.  This is the second NWA items I've found at Savvy Seconds in the last two years.  The other item was a team history book.  This leads me to believe not only is there a local Royals fan that donates to the store, but the make frequent stops to Springdale, Arkansas.  I have a couple theories.  First they are really a Cardinals fan that goes to a lot of Springfield Cardinals games and on occasion since Springdale isn't too far across the state lines, watches the minor league Cardinals play games at the home of the Naturals, and just happen to get team giveaways they have no use for.  The other theory is since Springdale isn't too far from Bentonville, one of the local Walmart management makes trips to headquarters down in Arkansas and happens to go to these games.  Either way, whoever it is and whatever the situation is, I hope they keep it up.

Here is the back of the jersey for those curious.  This jersey is similar to the old Royals powder blue jerseys I love so much.  This is truly a find.  When I got home I tried to find out more info about it, and I believe it was a giveaway from last July.  There is one selling on Ebay still in its bag for 10 bucks.  Not a bad price really, but I don't need to spend that since I have one now.

While I will likely never wear this, I think its an extra large, so if I did lose some weight it is possible for me to try it on.  Maybe that should be my motivation.  Maybe set a goal of losing enough weight to wear it next year... on the third weekend of July.... at the local Rodeo, just to see the Cardinals fans sneer.  There are a lot of them.  But lets not talk about the Cardinals since that stupid rally Cat appeared and they hit Grand Slams against my Royals on back to back nights and swept them in a four game series.  Oh well, at least we still have 1985.

In total, including a few items my mom bought (mostly books), the total came in under 5 bucks.  To be honest, I would have possibly paid 5 bucks just for the Naturals jersey, so everything else was essentially free.

That wraps it up for tonight,  I'm hoping to watch the Chiefs first preseason game tonight, and preparing for football season.  I haven't given up on the Royals yet, but until I can see more of their games, I haven't kept up like I usually do.  As for this blog, well, I still have a lot of stuff scanned, maybe I'll find time and motivation to write soon and showcase the stuff.  Thank you all for reading and hope everyone has a great weekend.