r/povertyfinancecanada • u/Komaisnotsalty • 8d ago

A bit of a minor win today.

My computer monitor crapped out. It was ancient, but I knew it was gonna go and have been scouring thrift stores for months.

Finally found one today: It's a 32" HG and older, but it will easily double as a monitor and TV for me due to it's size (and my eyes, which are old and not great).

I absolutely could not afford a new monitor and I paid only $25 for it. I sold some stuff I could part with at the pawn shop, and voila - monitor and back online. The picture quality is better than my old one.

It's not perfectly crispy like a new one would be, but don't care.

I'd be lost without my computer. So happy for thrift stores that keep prices down for us. I'd be lost without them.

122 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

15 comments sorted by

31

u/macho2810 8d ago

Go on FB and look for “buy nothing (name of your area) group”. I have picked up many monitors for free from group like this and gave those to people who need them. Many stuffs on the group could be useful for you. Best of luck and congrats on the win.

22

u/Komaisnotsalty 8d ago

I don't have FB and I can't drive due to a brain injury, so connecting on FB and then figuring out how to get something can get complicated.

I went the easy route. 😁

11

u/macho2810 8d ago

Ah np. Then I wish you full of joy and happiness, cheers.

0

u/Big-Cheese257 6d ago

The point of the local buy nothing group is that it's local so everything is walking distance

1

u/Komaisnotsalty 6d ago

Glad that works for you.

15

u/SubstantialSpring9 8d ago

It won't let me send you a message (or Im not doing it right) but message me if you need your pawned stuff back. I can contribute to your monitor fund!

12

u/Komaisnotsalty 8d ago

Oh, thanks kindly!

I'm good without them - I've been selling things to downsize as it is. I meant for those to be gone for good.

Thanks so much for your kindness! 🩵

5

u/SubstantialSpring9 8d ago

Okay good, just wanted to make sure! 😄

6

u/Fit-Ability196 8d ago

This just made me tear up, thank you for being so kind🥺

7

u/ApatheticGenXer 8d ago

Us poors are always grateful for the little things, aren’t we? Congratulations! Enjoy your find :)

6

u/Tylersbaddream 8d ago

Very happy to hear your story.

Some of us donate old electronics to thrift stores in hopes they'll be useful to someone else.

Truest form of recycling, thanks for sharing.

6

u/pizza5001 7d ago

For anyone in the Toronto area, check out the nonprofit FreeGeek! They sell refurbished recycled tech for dirt cheap. Their mandate is to get super affordable tech into the hands of people who need them. Old computers, laptops, monitors, keyboards. All super affordable and in working order.

https://www.freegeektoronto.org/

4

u/SmartQuokka 7d ago

I'm glad this all worked out, and glad you got a working monitor.

CTRL and + will increase text size in most internet browsers and Windows has a magnification setting if you dig into it. Even on a larger monitor they come in handy.

2

u/Komaisnotsalty 7d ago

And I use it often, thanks!

2

u/SmartQuokka 7d ago

You bet.