Paul's discovery
By dorannmwin
@dorannmwin (36392)
United States
November 18, 2012 10:08pm CST
Last week we made a trip to Salvation Army because Kathryn needed some more pants and a couple of shirts for school (they wear uniform and Salvation Army is the best place to find school clothes for the kids).
In addition to getting a few pairs of pants and three shirts for Kathryn, I also picked up a couple pairs of pants and shirts for Paul. Well, today he was wearing a pair of his new pants and all of a sudden he came into the office asking me if they could go to the pop machine up the street. I said, you all don't have any money, you can't. He shows me a five dollar bill. I asked him where he got that and he informed me that he found it in his pants pocket.
So, the pair of pants that I bought for him for $1.50 actually paid him $5.00. Have you ever found money in the pocket of something that you've bought from a thrift store?
I've heard of this happening in the past, but this is the first time that we've ever experienced it first-hand.
3 people like this
14 responses
@bounce58 (17380)
• Canada
17 Jan 13
This is a great story!
I'm sure that when and if I do get rich, I'd become eccentric and I'd also stuff bills in my old clothes and donate it to thrift stores. I'd get great satisfaction thinking about people getting paid for deals they find in the store.
But alas! I am not rich yet.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
17 Jan 13
Please be sure to let me know what thrift store that you are donating to when and if you are ever rich and decide to do this.
@much2say (57760)
• Los Angeles, California
19 Nov 12
Lucky boy! You hear of things like this happening on the news when a person finds big time treasure at thrift/garage sales. I can only wish something like that would happen to us - hee hee!! Maybe you guys should shop at that Salvation Army more often - hee hee! 
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
20 Nov 12
We actually shop at that store pretty often because we've found that we like the organization a lot better at Salvation Army than we like at Goodwill. Though we won't be making a trip there this week, we will be going back in the next few weeks because Kathryn has decided that she would rather have money to buy new clothes at Salvation Army than to have just a few brand new outfits.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
21 Nov 12
I will agree with you that the prices are better at Salvation Army. Not to mention, at least the one that is here has all of their clothes and shoes on sale for half of their ticketed prices every Wednesday, so that leads to even better savings for us.
@much2say (57760)
• Los Angeles, California
20 Nov 12
I agree - I like Salvation Army better than Goodwill too. There was some bad news about Goodwill years back . . . something about the employees taking the donated items for themselves, among other things. But in all honesty, I think I like Salvation Army better is because their prices are much cheaper!!
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
20 Nov 12
It had never happened to us either, and I've been shopping thrift and yard sales from the time that I found out that I was pregnant with Kathryn. It definitely came as quite a shock to me to see my son running around with a five dollar bill. I've put it up for him so he can spend it when we go shopping later in the week.
@coffeebreak (17797)
• United States
21 Nov 12
Hasn't happened to me either, But I was having a yard sale once..and was going through my purses to get rid of those I hadn't used in awhile. I checked all the pockets and slots etc. Then put them all in a box. Couple days later when I was getting the sale ready, I went through them to price them. and something just told me to check the pockets again..and I unzipped one and there was 2, $20 bills in there!!! I couldnt believe it as I made a point to check them prior...but apparently didn't check good enough!
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
21 Nov 12
I'm sure that you were certainly glad that you did decide to check the pocket of those purses once again. There is really not much that is better than finding money that you had forgotten that you had.
@cutepenguin (6430)
• Canada
4 Dec 12
That's great! I've had similar things happen to me, but never with clothes. (Also, I tend to have a lot of trouble finding clothes that fit me at thrift stores, maybe I'm a bad size?)
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
5 Dec 12
I don't have a lot of luck with finding clothes for myself at the thrift stores. However, when it comes to the kids, they are at sizes that tend to be really easy to find clothes for them at the thrift store. In fact, we are going to be going to the thrift store tomorrow because I gave Kathryn $25 for her birthday just so that she could go to Salvation Army and find some clothes for herself.
@Fishmomma (11658)
• United States
19 Nov 12
I have found some interesting items over the years including money. The state quarter was one of my favorites, as it was one my daughter didn't have in her collection. Its fun to see what surprises you can find when purchasing clothing. The most unusual was a rock with a hole in it.
@coffeebreak (17797)
• United States
21 Nov 12
So would it be wrong to go to the thrift store and just dig in pockets of the pants on the hangers?
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
20 Nov 12
Well, this was the first surprise that we've ever found in the pocket of something that we've bought second-hand, but you can bet that from now on I won't be surprised if I find a little something in the pockets again.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
21 Nov 12
LOL. My children informed me that they were going to do just that the next time that we go to the thrift store.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
17 Jan 13
Because of the fact that Paul was the one that found the money in the pocket of his pants, I allowed him to use the money for whatever he wanted. He ended up using the money to get a few How Wheels and also a candy bar.
@cher913 (25781)
• Canada
3 Dec 12
wow, what a great find! that hasn't happened to me ever but i have found other stuff. i found a cute little magnetic bookmark in a library book which i have kept but nothing exciting as money in a purchase. i guess they don't bother to check the pockets of donations. all the thrift shops that i visit always do that.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
4 Dec 12
I really don't think that they go through the pockets of donations that they receive. When we went to Target the week after Paul had found the money in his pocket, he ended up using his five dollars to buy a Pokemon toy that was on clearance. He was one very happy little boy.
@jillhill (37353)
• United States
19 Nov 12
No but the last time I brougt my granddaughter to the dollar store we were looking at kleenex and there was a bin with spray bottles in it....she found three dollars..she is 7 so she was so excited! She got to add a few things to her shopping bag!
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
20 Nov 12
This isn't the first time that Paul has found money. Last year we were at Halloween Express and he and I had walked outside to see the inflatables and next thing I knew he was telling me that he found a dollar (that was actually a ten dollar bill). He has really good luck with money, I remember finding money from time to time when I was a little girl, but it seems that he finds money more regularly than I do.
@mommyboo (13174)
• United States
19 Nov 12
That's pretty cool =) Good reminder... I'll have to make sure there wasn't stuff from kids left in the pockets of anything I donate or ship off somewhere lol. I'm going to try and put together a box of clothing and other items to send to victims from hurricane Sandy. A friend told me she was able to ship a box free - but I live on the opposite coast. I gess I'll see what the P.O. tells me tomorrow!
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
20 Nov 12
I've not heard of them offering free shipping to send donations to the victims of the hurricane, but I think that is a great idea. I think that this should be something that is offered every time that a natural disaster occurs in this country.
@bunnybon7 (50970)
• Holiday, Florida
21 Nov 12
my daughter here, when she was about 7yrs. asked me to let her carry a purse id bought at a yard sale for a dollar once. i really liked it but i told her if she was careful with it she could carry it for a day. after she gave it back, i was getting ready to transfer some of my stuff in it and noticed the inside had a flap near the bottom. i lifted that and there was 37 bucks there
when she found out she cried. i gave her some of it which made her feel a little better. we still laugh about her carrying that around all day. now of course we look through all purses . lol btw, my grandma used to stash money in books and coat pockets to save. and lots of times we wonder how many people do that, then accidently sell them at yard sales etc.@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
22 Nov 12
Well, my great-grandmother was one of those people that always stashed all of the extra money that she had in her freezer. When she was alive it was the funniest thing because you could see her get paranoid when someone said that they were going to get some ice to put in their drink.
@cynthiann (18612)
• Jamaica
20 Nov 12
How wonderful! No this has never happened to me but I am so happy that he experienced this. What a find and what a wonderful deal
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
20 Nov 12
I'm happy that it happened for him as well. You see, there are a lot of times that he seems to get forgotten because he isn't a girl. (This is not by me but by his grandparents). Paul is the only boy on my side of the family and my in-laws always wanted a lot of grand-daughters since they'd had only sons. They treat Kathryn like a princess and tend to forget about Paul most of the time. I try to do little things special for him to make up for this.
@sender621 (14889)
• United States
19 Nov 12
It's great to be able to find something useful that you need at a reasonable place and price. this is a good find for both you and your family, i hope that it serves you well.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
20 Nov 12
Well, I've had him put his money up so that he can buy something when we go shopping later in the week. As far as shopping at Salvation Army (or other thrift stores) goes, it is something that I love because I'm able to save a lot of money on clothes for the kids (and for myself) and the kids are always happy with the clothes that I found for them.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
25 Nov 12
I too have had times when I've put some money in my winter coat pocket and I will only realize that I had stashed some money in my pocket when I put my coat on for the first time the following winter.
@Mavic123456 (21891)
• Thailand
19 Nov 12
NO, but I found money from my own pants that were washed and kept months ago. and I call it as a blessing in disguise a saving from noone. I am a person whose wallet contains receipts and other things except money. If I buy something I will just put the change in my pocket and in my bag except my wallet. One time I was on a tight budget really had no money, I took a bath and found my pants in the cabinet. It was washed long time ago and I just so happened was not able to wear it for some time. Usually when you wear a pants you put your hand in one pocket and another, to fix the fit on your hips. LOL, I found bunch of bills and in huge amount whew a reliever for a tight budget. Yepeeeee... it was lying there for months already folded and kept.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
20 Nov 12
You know, I used to be one of those people that carried money in my pockets whenever I had money, but I've had one too many times that the money that I had in my pocket disappeared (I lost it) and now I don't keep money in my pockets anymore, it goes in my purse where I am less likely to accidentally pull it out.
