Our local Goodwill closed here, due to the pandemic. We were ordered to stay home but I hadn’t missed our Goodwill till now. I need some things and I don’t want to pay full price. Now that we have a bit more freedom and can safely roam about the cabin, I was able to locate an open Goodwill store in another county. It was a bit of a drive but in the end, it was worth it.

First off, it was good to be in a bargaining frame of mind again. Second, the Goodwill store was right next to a very well kept Salvation Army Thrift Store, so it was a double feel-good whammy. Over the winter, with all the cooking and eating at home we did, I had chipped two of my soup bowls to the point that they were unusable. Normally, I would go to my Goodwill and easily find a replacement bowl at $1.00 each. Not this time. I looked for the same bowls online and found Amazon sold them BUT you had to buy a set of six and the total cost came to $19.05. Reluctantly I purchased them but when the shipment arrived at my home I was very hesitant to remove the dishes out of the box. I just could not justify spending the $19.

Now, I know I’m not cheap because I just bought a $40,000 pick up truck for cash (click here) and that’s a sign of not being a cheap person. I sincerely just could not justify the price. I couldn’t justify spending that amount of money on soup bowls when I know I could get what I needed for much, much less. The value just wasn’t there. Maybe that’s why I can buy cars and houses for cash because I am indeed careful with my money and super thrifty!

Needless to say, I couldn’t justify spending $19 on 6 soup bowls. I returned them and got my money back.

So, yesterday, the sun was shinning and it seemed like a good day to take a ride to the newfound Goodwill store. I was in heaven when I entered the store. I was finally with ‘my people’. There were rows and rows of clothes (“I’ll be back!”). The housewares were in the backend of the store. There were plenty of housewares to choose from but unfortunately, there were no Corelle dishes, which was odd. Normally, Goodwill would be swamped with Corelle. But as I noted, the price of Corelle has risen substantially. When I did a price check, if I were to replace my 4 person Corelle service set that I originally paid $21 for, today’s price would be $54.

So, I walked slowly through the ample displays and yes, I did find something that caught my eye. It was a four person soup set, complete with serving plates and a unique Asian, hand-painted design. The price was $4.99 which I confirmed with the clerk was for the set, not just individual pieces. It was also senior citizen day so I got an additional 10% off, which made the final price $4.49 for a beautiful (to me) soup set. It would be perfect for chili too and would make a great presentation for authentic onion soup (with the melted cheese on top). I was psyched!

I fell in love with this soup set for four. I also fell in love with the $4.49 price for all!

Naturally, when I got back home, I noted that the bottom of the set had the inscription: PMC Made In China. A quick look on Etsy.com revealed that this was an authentic, porcelain vintage set dating back to the 1980s and would clamor high prices today. Score!

The soup set cleaned up beautifully in the dishwasher. I can’t wait to use them! The soup set gives me that ‘good price’ feeling. I’m certain my soups and my chili will taste extra special in my ‘new’ set. That’s what buying well and justified does for me. Satisfaction completes me.

Looking forward to a happy shopping spree this spring!