Goodwill operates as a network of 185 independent organizations in the U.S. It is unfortunate that Goodwill in other areas are not up to par. In my area the stores are brand new buildings and huge. They are clean, well maintained and organized. They all have a drive through lane to drop off items and on weekends it always has a line of cars that keeps moving through. They come right out to the car and unload it for you and give you a receipt. Everyone is polite and well groomed and wearing a t-shirt uniform. The items in the store seem to really move, including clothing. If you see something you like you cannot 'think about it' and come back later as it WILL be sold and gone. I found out by chatting with one of the workers, that they do not put out any items that are not in pristine condition and sort the shabby items out to sell to places that buy scrap metal and rags and recycled glass. They still make money off of this, so donate everything. I suspect they have dealers come in to purchase items separately or they put valuable vintage items on ebay to fetch more money, as I never see a special area set aside in the store for such items to be displayed as featured collectables as other thrift shops do. So a Jadite mixing bowl would not be set out and priced at fifty cents nor does it end up in a special display case and priced as a vintage find at twenty dollars for collectors seeking out those rare finds. They do have *standard item pricing* though. For instance, all coffee mugs are fifty cents no matter what. I got a really cool Starbucks mega mug for the same price as all the junky ones with all the advertising on them.

BIRDS Yes on the cheap bird toys, and saving money on diet, too! :D TOYS: Get a 1 qt. stainless steel bucket (google for it) on the web for less than $5 and it will last forever and go in the dishwasher for cleaning. Hang it where he won't go potty in it, and cross your fingers. 1 qt. is a fine size for an Amazon. The big macaws and such can do a 2 qt. bucket. Just use the SS, no other metal, as other metals can contain zinc, which is toxic to birds. For a little bird like a 'tiel or 'keet, you can use a clean yogurt container, cut vertical slits in the side, and fasten it to the side of the cage with an electrical cable tie. Then fill the bucket with his "used" safe broken toy parts, new toy parts, smooth cleaned beach rocks he can pick up but not swallow (fun to drop on the cage floor for the noise), and SAFE branches, flowers, leaves, and pinecones from the yard. If you don't know which plants and trees are safe for birds, you can google for the info. If it's not nesting season, you can also put in balls of wadded up paper... but don't do that during nesting season. If your bird loves to undo screws with his feet (cockatoos love this), get some stainless steel washers, nuts and screws and thread them through a small block of wood, or some plastic disks. That'll keep 'em busy. They're expensive to buy, but they last forever. At night pick up the toys off the cage floor and wash them (I put the plastic stuff in the dishwasher, but not the wood or rope), then return them in the morning. My birds all LOVE their buckets. I love them because I don't have to string a bunch of stuff. Another toy my birds love: grab a few drinking straws, cinch them in at the "waist" with a cable tie to form a pompom. My 'zon also loves those plastic easter eggs, but watch hard plastic as it can be sharp if broken. You can hide goodies in those plastic eggs, too. I also buy plastic chain at the hardware store and run it through the dishwasher to sterilize. Then I cut fleece in 1/2" to 1" wide strips. Don't make the strips long enough to wrap around a little neck. Thread the fleece through the chain, knot it once, and tie beads, blocks, Mirabella beads and hoops, and bird toy parts on the ends of the strings. It's very colorful, very interesting, and the fleece and chain are indestructible (provided you use heavy enough chain for the bird in question). You can replace the toy parts when they're chewed off. I save a ton of money by going to the bird fairs and buying toy parts there. Never take your bird to those places, and carefully sterilize everything you get there before giving it to your bird. If you have any local parrot stores or breeders, they can probably tell you where and when the shows are, or watch your local newspaper in the classifieds in the Birds For Sale column. If there are no bird fairs in your area, watch eBay and you can pick up bargains there. Again, sterilize everything that might have come from where other birds are. To sterilize things, I use Avicine (google for it), since it's recommended by the top avian disease researcher in the country. There is also a great section called "The Toymaker" at birdsnways.com. But use your head, as there's no guarantee everything there is safe for every bird. I strictly avoid all cotton rope for my 'zon as he gets too into his toys, and he once got his foot caught in it. We were lucky he wasn't hurt. He snaps bird-tanned rawhide immediately in two, so that's no good for him either. But they can't bite the fleece in two, and the fleece doesn't unravel dangerous threads. You can also sometimes find cheap baby toys at the thrift shop, but be careful they're safe, and clean them well. My birds LOVE their buckets! I think it satisfies the need for them to forage as they rummage through the contents trying to get to the bottom. You can switch the toys out to keep it more interesting. One set is being washed, so you use a different set. I swap buckets between my 'zon and RFM, and also between my G2 and TAG. But I don't give the medium sized bird's toys to the big birds or they would destroy them in a heartbeat. I usually soak the dirty toys in the bucket in water for a while, then hand scrub them with a stiff brush. Then I soak them in Avicine water for a few minutes, then rinse thoroughly. I don't soak the toys in Avicine first, as I want them to absorb water, not chemicals. BTW, if you're handy with a saw, you can pick up chunks of 2x4 (pine or fir) free out of a burn heap at a new building site, but ask their permission before you take anything. With wood stuff, you can sterilize it by baking it in an oven at 200 degrees for 1/2 hour -- but double-check me on the temp and time, please, by googling for the info (that's just from my memory). Then cut it into suitable sized chunks and drill holes in it if you want to string it, or just toss it in the bucket. NEVER give them treated lumber, as it will poison them. Or, just buy a 2x4 at the lumber yard. You don't have to dye the wood. FOOD $ SAVINGS: Seeds are not good for birds; but if you sprout the seeds they're one of the most nutritious foods in the world. Invest in a decent sprouter (I love my EasySprouter). Learn safe sprouting methods. If you only feed organic, there are mixes you can buy on the web. If you can't afford organic, there are lots of safe things in a good health food market bulk department that will sprout -- ask the clerk. You can sprout lentils from the grocery store (very cheap). You can sprout pigeon mix from the feed store (my birds get these every night). That is very inexpensive! You can sprout parrot seed, but it's expensive and it often contains other junk you have to pick out like dried fruit, nuts, and pellets -- no good. Feed the sprouts when the tails are still just teensy nubbins, don't let them grow long. That's the optimal nutrition, and the longer the tails, the more bitter the sprout. The birds just snap the tails off and drop them anyway. Birds LOVE sprouts -- that's mostly the way they eat seeds in the wild, if they can. Of course, they need fruits and other veggies, too, so shop for bargains. Do feed organic if you can; otherwise wash very well and peel most stuff (they peel their own grapes). And your 'zon needs the equivalent (in size) of two peanuts (out of the shell) in nuts per day. More than that can give him fatty liver disease. I vary which kind of nut my birds get every day -- all UNsalted and preferably raw. You can sprout raw nuts, too. Just soak them over night and rinse well. They don't grow tails. Macaws need more nuts than other birds. My RFM (mid sized macaw at 1 lb and 2' long) gets about 6 nuts a night. Almonds, btw, are loaded with calcium, which Greys need. If you're nervous about sprouting, just soak your seeds overnight in hot (bath temp) tap water. Then drain them in the morning, rinse well and refrigerate. That is vastly better for your bird than seeds that aren't sprouted. The old farmers used to always soak their chicken feed in a bucket overnight. They knew! On diet, your bird also needs a wee bit of cooked egg or meat every other day or so. My 'zon gets 1/2 HB egg. I slice and dice fruits and veggies for my birds every morning. They get sprouts and frozen veggies at night... plus anything healthy and not salted that I'm eating. I thaw frozen mixed veggies in a strainer run under hot tap water for a few seconds. Don't nuke their food. Forget the dairy, as they're not mammals -- but a wee bit of yogurt every few days is okay. I also sprinkle just a wee bit of powdered health food store vitamins over their breakfast each day, just to make sure they're getting their nutrition -- you know, the kelp, barleygrass, powdered carrots, etc. type mixtures. Like lightly "salting" their food with the vitamins. Remember, variety is the ticket to good nutrition, and it's better to pay the grocery store than the vet (and cheaper). A good vet will tell you that about 90% of a bird's longevity is in good nutrition and in cleanliness. I hope this helps the bird owners out there. :D

Went out "rummaging" last Saturday. Spent a morning of pleasant talk time with DH while enroute. Got a little exercise getting in and out of the pick-up, walking up and down the street (there was a neighborhood sale on one block). Bought some nice t-shirts in several sizes (DH and I wear XL, DGS wears L, DS and DD wear 2X) for 25 cents each. They were all glad to get them, and I have stained up most of the t-shirts I currently have, painting and gardening. I always watch for things that might make good Christmas presents for my family. They like to get rummage sale stuff because they know I have a set amount that I spend for Christmas and they'd rather have more stuff than just a few. I found a Cuisinart food processor, clean, didn't look like it had even been used, with the book, both blades and also two stems and a julienne and grating blade, for $10. I tested it out before buying and it works perfectly. DD will be so happy to discover that under the tree! I found a large, brand new, still-in-the-box George Foreman grill for $10. (no book, though) Used it to grill hamburgers last night. The weekend before I found a nice Fossil watch, still in it's original box, for $10. One of the DGS' will be the recipient of that. The weekend before that, I found a brand new Eureka Hot Shot steam cleaner that I had been wanting, still in it's original box with all attachments and the book, for $5. Sometimes, I don't find a thing I want. But even then, I get out and meet people and I enjoy my morning. Out of the garden this week, I got cabbage, beets and beet greens (they were yummy), plenty of romaine and a few onions. Last month we had baby lettuce, watermelon radish and asparagus. The beans are beginning to form and I have some green tomatoes on my plants. No squash this year as I still have some in the freezer. Next year, though, I'm going to dehydrate some like Grainlady does. There are tiny cucumbers on the vine and the dill looks like it'll be making umbrels right on time. I'll be using MIL's old recipe for garlic dills this year, that you can make a jar at a time. The sunflowers are heading up. I garden without chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Every fall I collect my neighbors' leaves that they bag up and put on the curb for garbage collection. I save the leaves by sticking the bags under my porch, where, as long as they are there, they insulate the foundation along the east side. They keep the wind from blowing things under there and they keep weeds from growing along the edges. Then, as I need them, I use them for mulch all over my garden. I happen to have come into several bales of hay for free and I find that if I put a little "slice" of hay on top of the leaves, it keeps them from blowing away. By the following spring, that mulch becomes healthy soil. I did get some cow manure from a local rancher this spring but I think I will not do that again. Lots of weed seeds, though not nearly as bad as the horse manure I had several years ago. Cows must be more selective in what they eat than horses are. I get heavy cardboard from a local furniture store. The boxes are large and some of them are sized perfectly for fitting down into the spaces between my raised beds. Bermuda grass is a problem here, it gets into everything and chokes things out, sending it's long, sinewey roots clear to China. The only way to control it is to shade it out. I have to admit, I did splurge on seed buying from Baker Creek, as they are offering free shipping till the end of June. but I got things that you just can't pick up anywhere, and even if the package of seed costs $2.50 and $3.00 (isn't that outrageous?), I use my seeds very carefully and so just one plant that produces well will more than pay for the seed and the rest is "just gravy". A package of seed, stored carefully, will be viable for years. We always batch our trips, so when we get done rummaging we go by the grocery store and buy whatever we need, usually on sale. I hear gas prices are going to be going up again, so even if you do happen to have a 'gas guzzler' vehicle, you will get more for your $$ if you learn to do as many of your errands at the same time as you can. DGS got a ticket for not wearing his seatbelt! The officer told him it would be only $20 but what he didn't tell him was that if he waits for the court date and appears then to pay it, he will have to pay court costs too. Luckily we discovered in time and informed DGS of that, so he went to the court house and paid his fine and avoided paying court costs. Let this be a lesson to him, wear that seat belt!

I'm not sure I'll be much help on this subject since I'm just now decluttering and reorganizing my home. Here's a few little things I'm doing: Since I don't have a regular pantry (I'm going to make one somewhere, someday--lol) I keep all breakfast items in one drawer, like instant oatmeal, grits, hot chocolate, etc. So, I know in a glance what I need and don't buy extras. I just tear off the top of the pkg. and set the whole thing in the drawer. I also keep my ironing supplies on one drawer---irons, spray starch, etc. I actually had to buy a second iron because I couldn't find the first one---before I organized! I took all on my junky paper and cut it into note size, put it in my desk drawer. If I have pretty junky mail, or envelopes, I cut them up to use as gift tags or small note cards. I hate frying bacon, so I bake it now on a rack. It's healthier and I don't have to spend so much time at the stove. I actually baked a pkg. this morning, used it all at once---now, we have bacon for tomorrow. I don't have very many closets, so I'm using decorative tins and hatboxes (I went thru a hatbox-making phase a few years back) for storage of sewing and craft supplies, and anything else that I can't find a place for!!! LOL These things hold a lot, so I may not have to buy any shelves. In my foyer area, I have a narrow table with a mirrow above it. I just cleaned out that drawer in the table----I have a place for car keys (his & hers), gloves, hairbrush, and glasses. Since I wash my hands a zillion times a day, I keep either an old dish detergent bottle or shampoo bottle with soap, water (*and now hand lotion or baby oil mixed in) under the sink to wash hands with. I just saw a Dr. on Tv say that if you wash your hands too much and they're dried out, germs can enter your body thru the cracked dry skin EASIER!! They were talking about the flu viruses. He actually said that rubbing your hands back and forth, creating friction, would kill germs on your hands!! Rub your hands, rub your hands!!!!!!