Top 10 Things Not To Buy New

I was doing my junkin' thang today at my favorite Carson hot spot.

I purchased several plastic blow molded halloween trick-or-treat containers - two ghosts and a skull. I hang them from my tree with some battery operated tea lights, and they glow quite nicely - all three for less than $1.

It came to me that thrift stores always have an abundance of certain items. No matter where I go, there's always tons of these particulars on the shelves. There is such a surplus of these at garage sales, rummage sales and thrifts that I've concluded one should NEVER NEVER NEVER buy them new. Here they are:

10. Serving Trays. How many of these things do you really need, and how many times do you actually use one?

9. Picture Frames. So what if they're not the right color, paint the darn thing, and voila - it looks as good as anything you can pay $20 for new.

8. Wine Glasses. What's the difference between a 65 cent goblet and a $40 one? If you buy the 65 cent one, you can spend $39.35 on a really good bottle of wine.

7. Kid Videos. Yeah, yeah, no one sells new video tapes. But why spend $15 on a Little Mermaid CD - do you really think a 4 year old cares about Hi Def?

6. Glass Vases. If I had a dollar for every vase I've seen at a thrift store, I'd be able to buy real estate in Manhattan.

5. Kid Books. I've found every conceivable popular paperback for young readers and I've never paid more than 50 cents.

4. Candy Dishes. Also known as nut dishes, condiment dishes, pickle dishes. Unless you're 80 years old and put doilies on your sofa you don't use these things, and certainly do NOT need to buy a new one. Or an old one, for that matter.

3. Coffee Mugs. I don't need all my mugs to match. Frankly, when I have guests, it's good for everyone to have a different mug, so everyone knows which is theirs.

2. Christmas decorations. People throw these out by the TRUCKLOADS. You name it - glass balls, ornaments, lights, serving dishes, wreaths, trees, candles, cards, jewelry. You can deck out an entire home for less money than 5 new ornaments.

1. Microwave cookbooks. For every one regular cookbook, there are five of these. I suspect it is because no one actually cooks with a microwave.