Americans today often think of thrift as a negative value—a miserly hoarding of resources and a denial of pleasure. Even more telling, many Americans don't even think of thrift at all anymore. Franklin’s Thrift challenges this state of mind by recovering the rich history of thrift as a quintessentially American virtue. The contributors to this volume trace how, from the eighteenth century on, the idea and practice of thrift has been a robust part of the American vision of economic freedom and social abundance. For Benjamin Franklin, who personified and promoted the idea, thrift meant working productively, consuming wisely, saving proportionally, and giving generously. Franklin's thrift became the cornerstone of a new kind of secular faith in the ordinary person's capacity to shape his lot and fortune in life. Later chapters document how in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, thrift moved into new domains. It became the animating idea behind social movements to promote children's school savings, create mutual savings banks and credit unions for working men and women, establish a federal savings bond program, and galvanize the nation to conserve resources during two world wars. Historians, enthusiasts of Americana or traditional American virtues, and anyone interested in resolving our society's current financial woes will find much to treasure in this diverse collection, with topics ranging from the inspirational lessons we can learn from the film It’s a Wonderful Life to a history of the roles played by mutual savings banks, credit unions, and thrift stores in America’s national thrift movement. It also includes actual policy recommendations for our present situation.

In this introduction to shopping at thrift stores, we see that "thrifting opportunities range from traditional thrift stores, consignment shops, vintage and antique stores, flea markets and garage sales, to auctions, estate sales, and online sites such as eBay, Etsy, and Poshmark. You can find just about anything: clothing, jewelry, accessories, sporting goods, vinyl records, CDs, DVDs, furniture, home goods, books, artwork, toys, gift ideas, even cars"--Amazon.com.

"Thrift" by Samuel Smiles is the sequel to his two previous books, "Self-Help" and "Character," in which the author continues to express his philosophy. In this book, he touches upon the moral aspects of money use, wealth, and poverty. According to Smiles, poverty was caused primarily by irresponsible habits. His writings significantly influenced British political thought, and he was considered a father of mid-Victorian liberalism.

Thrifting is the last frontier for treasure hunting in modern day shopping culture. They're the chaotic, clustered, and colorful establishments that you drive by on the way to work. Most of all though, they're a gold mine. The Art of the Thrift explains the in's and out's of how thrifts work, and how the brave among us can make serious money by shopping there. Not save money. Make it. The thrifts are the one of the most underutilized resources we as humans have, and this book gives you every bit of information needed to create a full-fledged empire out of them. It's riddled with business tips, strategies to use within thrifts, and how to grow shopping from a hobby to a full-time income. This book is a portal into a world of the ever-so profitable second-hand market, and an investment that you'll be sure not to regret. Take notes, tell your friends, and most of all, enjoy!