I love Goodwill, too. I buy a lot of things for the girls there--although they never really have anything nice for boys. I brand shop, so almost everything I buy there is Gap, Old Navy, Copper Key, Osh Kosh, etc.
Okay, so I have a funny story for you--I was just at our local Goodwill yesterday looking for Hannah some new skirts. I'm not sure if they're all the same, but at our Goodwill, all the kids' clothes are $1.99 each, and the ladies' skirts are $5.99. (Remember those prices.)
Every now and then I'll find a kids' brand skirt in the ladies' section, and when I do, they'll give me the kids' price. Well, I had a whole pile of tops and skirts, and I had found two Copper Key girls' skirts in the ladies' section, sizes 10 and 12. (girls' sizes)
When I got up to the cash register, I asked the cashier to reprice the two skirts to the $1.99 price. She replied, "Oh, no, I can't do that, and besides these are Junior's sizes." I said, "No, these are kids' sizes--see, I have a child's shirt in the same brand from the kids' section!" (showed her the Copper Key shirt) She insisted, "No, once it's priced I can't change it." I said, "Well, you've done it for me before...."
She looked at me, serious as can be, and said, "Well, I could give them to you TWO FOR THREE DOLLARS!" I looked back, just as serious, and said, "Great, that works for me."
When I told my pastor, he laughed, and then said, "I can't believe you were dickering with Goodwill!"
...but with kids in the house--they're like a money funnel.
My daughter Alia starts her first Job next week. She was rather annoyed when I informed her that her first paycheck marks the last article of clothing I buy for her. She turns 17 Tuesday. Time to start weening her from my wallet.
With a pension from General Electric after 32 years of service, plus a Social Security check for me, plus a Social Security Check for my wife the total comes to barely over $50,000.
Those figures are gross income.
We don't get that much.
Just deducting Medicare and the Medicare supplement bring the total down to under $50,000 per year.
Federal taxes are deducted (we have to pay state income taxes quarterly on our own).
Medicare deductions for the two of us from my pension and from our Social Security checks are $405.80 per month ($4869.60 per year)
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Sam also known as Jim Ellis
Apostolic in doctrine
Pentecostal in experience
Charismatic in practice
Non-denominational in affiliation
Inter-denominational in fellowship
My daughter Alia starts her first Job next week. She was rather annoyed when I informed her that her first paycheck marks the last article of clothing I buy for her. She turns 17 Tuesday. Time to start weening her from my wallet.
Good plan--but you don't really mean it, do you? I used to love it when my Dad took me shopping--I never had to ask for anything. I'd just point and say, "Oh, look at that, that's pretty." And he'd just buy it. LOL!!!! He had good taste in clothes, too.
I agree with letting her buy her own things--but the occasional treat or special dress is great.
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"God, send me anywhere, only go with me. Lay any burden on me, only sustain me. And sever any tie in my heart except the tie that binds my heart to Yours."
--David Livingstone
"To see no being, not God’s or any, but you also go thither,
To see no possession but you may possess it—enjoying all without labor or purchase—
abstracting the feast, yet not abstracting one particle of it;…."
--Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, Song of the Open Road
I used to love it when my Dad took me shopping--I never had to ask for anything. I'd just point and say, "Oh, look at that, that's pretty." And he'd just buy it. LOL!!!! He had good taste in clothes, too. 
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