Behold the beneficiary boutiques! | Norton of Morton

I must confess, I love a good charity shop. Last Christmas, I managed to cobble together a party outfit for the princely sum of £38 and it’s fair to say that I am continuing to unearth even more bargains (to the detriment of my wardrobes).

This year, I have made a vow of sorts to buy the majority of my clothes from charity shops (or ‘beneficiary boutiques’ as my chum Bruce Partington-Plans refers to them). As I know what sharp eyes you’ve got, I have afforded myself a little get-out by writing that is my intention to ‘buy the majority’ – a chap must allow himself sufficient leverage to snaffle something extra special from time to time.

Well, I am now three months into my aforementioned abstinence and suffice to say, I am doing rather well.

Take the other weekend for instance. My beloved hails from Darwen in Lancashire and as she doesn’t drive, I did the gentlemanly thing and escorted her twenty miles to spend the afternoon with her friends. Bidding my beloved and our baby daughter adieu, I toddled off with our eldest in tow.

With three hours before we were due to collect my beloved, we had a bite to eat at a nearby eatery before heading to the plethora of beneficiary boutiques, all within walking distance of each other.

This may sound awfully dull for a six-year-old but my eldest had made the mistake of telling a deliberate untruth earlier in the day so as punishment, I scrapped our plans to go bowling and ventured to the beneficiary boutiques instead.

As it turned out, by the end of the shopping experience, my eldest commented that she’d had a lovely time and spent the journey home with her head stuck in a newly-acquired book. Even if it was about a high school musical.

Anyway, I am prattling on and I’m sure you’d like to know what we managed to pick up.

Well, I managed to unearth two ties (£2 each), four shirts (£2 each), one sports jacket (£3.50), plus a heap of records (£2) for the combined total of £17.50.

In addition, my eldest bought nine books. And what did I get for the beloved? This bone china tea set for the ludicrously low price of £6.50.

Have you had any success at the charity shops? Pray tell, ladies and gentlemen.

G.M. Norton
Protagonist of ‘Norton of Morton’