Thrift Week 2021, Day 5: Socks

Today I discovered one of the biggest flaws in my plan to shop for a whole week at local businesses: Sometimes, they won't let you in.

Since there was nothing in particular I needed today, I decided to try for a purely frivolous purchase instead. I headed uptown to a local chocolatier, thinking I'd browse a bit and settle on something tasty. But when I got there, I found a big sign on the door informing me that the business was open for curbside pickup only. To make a purchase there, I'd have needed to order it online before setting out. I suppose in theory I could have whipped out my phone and placed an order then and there, but I didn't much feel like standing out in the freezing cold waiting for it.

So I headed back downtown along a route that I knew would take me past a bakery. If chocolates weren't on the menu, I figured I'd indulge myself with cookies instead. But that store wasn't just closed to walk-ins; it was closed entirely, dark and shuttered. A sign on the door said "We will be closing at 1:30 on Fridays," but since today is Thursday, that didn't explain why it was closed then and there.

Frustrated, I turned and headed back along Main Street, trying to figure out a fallback option. Brian, who was with me, suggested we just take the car out this evening and fill it up with gas, but that barely seemed to qualify as local shopping, and it certainly wouldn't make a good blog entry. So I decided on one last-ditch attempt: I turned in at the door of our local dollar store. Actually, it's not so much a dollar store anymore as a discount store, with some stuff priced up into the double digits, but the point is, there's a wide variety. This place carries all kinds of stuff, from cleaning products to costume jewelry, so I figured I should be able to find something.

I poked my way up the center aisle, past the makeup, the hair ties, the little kitchen gewgaws, and I found myself facing a display of socks. And I recalled that, while getting dressed that morning, I had noticed that I was running low on clean socks — or at least, the really good clean socks. I have a few pairs of nice, thick wool ones, and then a larger supply of somewhat wussy acrylic ones that don't fit as snugly and aren't as warm. So when I spotted a three-pack of wool-blend socks in assorted colors for $8, I thought, "Bingo!"

I haven't worn these properly yet, but I tried one of them on, and they seem — well, not too bad. Maybe not quite as nice as my top-tier socks, but better than the bottom-tier ones. They're reasonably warm, reasonably thick, and reasonably cushy. And there's even a nice burgundy red pair that matches one of my shirts and should be cheerier to wear than plain black or grey.

At $8 for three pairs, I'd say these were a pretty good value. I mean, heck, last month on a trip to a different discount store outside of town, I spent that same amount on just two pairs of wool socks and considered it a good deal. Granted, these aren't quite as high-quality, but I'd say they're at least two-thirds as good, and they were something I actually needed.

So, once again, local shopping for the win. Can I keep it up for two more days?