by Blake Cole
My name is Blake Cole and I am a freshman at the University of North Texas. This year I did my dorm shopping with Goodwill North Central Texas. Thrift shopping is in my DNA, I was raised to appreciate the value of every dollar. Growing up my mom took advantage of all the sales. Finding the best bargain is always important to me. This means that I search for coupons in every store that I go into, even if it only saves me a couple dollars or shopping thrift store or second-hand shops like Goodwill. What a lot of people don’t seem to realize is how many good deals that Goodwill actually offers.
This year back to school shopping was a little different. Shopping as a college freshman, I was looking for some of the essentials that I would need for a good dorm setup. Goodwill definitely provided. I found a plethora of things that I am currently using today. I found numerous journals and binders, notebook paper, and pens and pencils saving me tons of money on school supplies. I found a great organizer to keep me on task. I found a really nice, brand new computer bag. It has multiple pockets and a padded pocket to keep my computer from being damaged. Being a college student, you aren’t going to have the funds to go out and eat all the time. Cafeteria food is eventually going to get stale, so with this in mind I had to plan for late nights with my favorite Ramen noodles. Bowls and silverware were a shopping must have, I also found some cups and a few other kitchen items that will definitely come in handy.
I like to keep my living space clean. I was surprised to find dish soap, floor cleaner and air freshener to keep my space clean and smelling nice.
Finally, I wanted to get a few things to add a little personality to my space. I scooped up a massive fish pillow that sits at the top of my bed along with a little Reese’s pillow that sits in my chair.
Thanks to Goodwill, I feel like I was able to make this foreign place feel a little bit more like a home. If you want to go somewhere that has amazing deals, helps change lives and just gives so much back to the community, Goodwill is the place to go. Do yourself a favor and stop in to your local Goodwill because I can assure you that you will not regret it.