Archive for the 'garage sales and thrift stores' Category
May 19th, 2008 - Toys don’t come from Target, they come from garage sales!
Maggie likes to play “going bye-bye.” She’ll pick up a backpack, purse, or bag and tell us she’s going someplace, usually work. However, she just told me, “I’m going bye-bye to buy new toys at the Target.”
My response, “Oh, no! We don’t buy new toys at Target! We buy used toys at garage sales!”
Then we had to have a bit of a conversation about why. I don’t think she quite gets it yet…. I’m also surprised at her plan to buy toys at Target, as I don’t believe we’ve ever bought toys at Target for her. Or for anyone else while she was with me.
I think I need to start taking her to the sales. On the other hand, Saturday’s my day off, and it’s such a hassle having a 3 year old to get in and out of the car seat at every stop. But heaven forbid a child of mine things toys come from Target! LOL
May 11th, 2008 - First garage sales of the season
Yesterday morning, I spent 3 hours at a neighborhood sale–my first garage sales of the season. I went to it last year, arriving around 10am, when streets were already crowded and I was already tired from 2 hours of saling. This time, I went there at 7:40 and no where else. I hit most of the sales, but not all.
The best deals were in the first hour; I got almost nothing in the last 2. Last year, I got a lot of nice clothes for Maggie at great prices at one particular house which I managed to find back. For only $10, I’ve mostly outfitted her for the summer (shorts, t-shirts, and tank tops). Plus, I got 4 pairs of size 4 jeans (one size 3, but it’s too loose and Eric doesn’t like the style anyway) and a number of larger shirts for the winter. And some of the t-shirts should fit next year as well. All the prices were 25 or 50 cents; condition great. Other places had $1 and $2 clothes, in poorer condition.
The other good spot netted me crib sheets and mattress cover (we had only one of each that fit, so I hope these fit) and some brand new onsies. I spent twice as much there ($19), for less stuff. But it was the only place I saw these items and they two were in great shape (or new).
Other odds ‘n’ ends: plastic sled (Maggie loved the one at preschool this winter; I didn’t want to buy one new, nor plastic. This says up to age 2, but given her weight, she might be able to use it next year. If not, kiddo #2.), the things for my compost sifting, large wooden beads + string (had some beads already, but no strings for it and these added some new shapes and sizes), some wooden spools (to add to the bead set), a baggie of snaps and hooks, a cultivator (4 small tines at the end of a long handle; meant to use it yesterday on the onion/zinnia bed but forgot), and a new food bowl for Sith (been looking for ages; we have only one because the other one broke so it almost never gets washed; and what if it breaks?). I think I picked up a few clothes at another sale as well.
All told, I spent $35.
November 29th, 2007 - Black Friday purchases
I should have written this last week, but I forgot about it. I did indeed go out shopping on Black Friday.
At PJ’s Patch, which is closing and had 70% off everything (unfortunately, I forgot my key tag which would have given me an additional 20% off), I spent about $25 for
- a set of wooden doll house furniture ($6). Don’t know if Maggie will ever have a doll house, but the furniture can be used without one of course. Or maybe she’ll make her own out of shoe boxes like I did as a kid. It includes beds, chairs, sofa, vanities (one with a mirror), end tables, and dressers. At least 20 pieces, maybe more. A wonderful future birthday or Christmas gift!
- a new Melissa and Doug Egyptian floor puzzle. I think this was about $3 but it looked so neat. And brand new. Another future gift.
- two skorts for next summer, two dresses for this winter and next (one is corduroy), some shirts and some pants. And a green short sleeved shirt for me.
I could find any of my consigned items so it looks like they all sold. Probably won’t make much money, but even a little bit will help. I wish I’d remembered to go yesterday–the final day–but oh well.
I also returned things at two stores, bought peanut butter, and spent $26 on three Gamma Seal Lids for the 5 gallon buckets for wheat berries and sauerkraut (or other things I might make with the third bucket next summer). And found some things at St. Vincent’s for $6–some wool items for felting, cool orange gloves for Maggie’s stocking, two pairs of mittens for Maggie (she had no kid ones that we could find! she loves to wear my magic gloves, but they aren’t quite appropriate for playing at preschool!), and a green sweater for me.
May 26th, 2007 - Recent purchases
Speaking of 90% reduction….it’s a little weird to write of things we’ve bought recently, but actually most of them fit right in:
- Cotton shower curtain: While not organic, it is unbleached (went with the natural color, although a hydrogen-peroxide bleached white is available) and grown without chemicals. Pretty close to organic. And the store I bought it from is in Madison! I’d hoped to skip the shipping and buy in person, but I wasn’t able to go to Madison for the last meeting I had there. It was lovely to get rid of the old, mildewed, too long vinyl shower curtain liner. I wasn’t as excited to lose the old, ripped vinyl curtain, however, as we’ve loved the design since we bought it for this house: A “photo” of dolphins, fish, coral, etc. But it had ripped out half the holes, and the repairs with clear duct tape only lasted so long, too. I personally paid for half, figuring a nice vinyl curtain and liner would have run about $25. It does come VERY large and the first wash shrinks it quite a bit. I couldn’t believe it actually would, but it fits perfectly! As they say, it doesn’t billow, it’s soft and dries easily. It’s so much easier to wash, too, as I can put it in with the rest of my lights once a month, and it doesn’t drip up the stairs to re-hang like the vinyl would!
- cloth pantyliner: I’ve thought about this off and on, and a discussion on Emme’s Urban Sustainable list made me finally commit to trying it out. I ordered a sample from a place that had a good review (I’ll post later my own review and links). They are expensive, and maybe I could make my own, but imagine the savings I could have! Actually, my savings won’t be all that great until I replace tampons, which I will try as well (sea sponges), as I use the cheapest, largest box of pantyliners.
- two-wheeled wheelbarrow: The cheap one-wheel we had just wasn’t doing it. For one, it tipped so easily that I couldn’t put much into it. For two, the crossbar, which had no bolts or screws, fell out at least once per use. So we spent nearly $90 on a new one. Couldn’t get it in metal, so the barrow part is plastic, but I guess at the larger size it makes sense weight-wise. We love it already–it’s so much easier to haul the wood chips. Which means we get more yard work done more easily.
- snowblower: not necessary, in my opinion, and not much to do with the 90%. But it is something we’ve talked about since we bought the house. I do enjoy snow shoveling, but not as much as I used it. Going out before the hike to work just isn’t the thrill it was the first few years when I had a lot less to do! (Not to mention the physical issues I now have like sciatica that simply make it more difficult to do.) We did buy it on an end-of-season sale, and we got one that fits our needs rather than getting the next higher model, which had some nice but unnecessary features. Eric looks forward to doing our neighbors’ sidewalks a few times, as they have taken care of ours in past winters. Oh, and we bought an Ariens, which is made up in Kaukauna.
- stuff at garage sales today: Nothing too exciting. I went to about 10 sales, and most were a bust. Oh, 90%-wise, I decided to be careful about driving all over town and restricted myself to the north side plus one really good one on the south side. I ended up with a second one there that was good, and it wasn’t out of the way at all. While I like sale-ing, I’m concerned about the miles I end up driving around each Saturday. If I go out to just one section of town and only spend 2 hours, I will be just as happy–sometimes happier–and use less gas. I made on completely unnecessary purchase. For $2, I got a brand-new-looking mini muffin tin. Like I make muffins all the time! Or desserts! Totally an impulse buy. Now I have to make something in it to justify it…. My other purchases were clothing for Maggie and a kitchen timer. I put it in the living room for time outs. It’s an old fashioned analog one, woohoo!
April 21st, 2007 - Hit the jackpot!
Maggie and I went for a walk this morning because I’d seen a garage sale on my way home yesterday. It was a bust. We continued the walk and near the end, found another sale. This one was great! We found two wooden baskets, a pitcher with a spout, and something I didn’t include because it’s going to be a gift for my brother. The lady also gave Maggie the bird; she said she wanted to know who got it and then was thrilled when I said Maggie loves birds and calls it “music” when she hears them singing on our walks. It was an older couple selling their home, so I’m guessing they are going to a retirement community. [AARGH! Em already got to it and chewed off a foot. AARGH! Em has this thing for soft toys even though she ALWAYS gets in trouble for it.]
I love the wooden baskets–my parents had some large ones we used in the garden when I was a kid. I’ve wished for some of my own, but all I have are a few plastic buckets. These are pretty small, but they’ll be perfect for picking vegetables. Currently, I use some small sand buckets and sometimes I can’t fit all the veggies in them. These will work better–and aren’t plastic.
April 3rd, 2007 - Thrift shopping Sunday
There’s one potential problem with thrift shopping: If you forget to look in advance, you might be out of luck when you need something specific.
Luckily, this didn’t end up being a problem but it could have! Apparently, last fall when I put away my summer clothes, I made a mental note to buy new pants over the winter. Unfortunately, I promptly forgot the note (I really should have written it down on paper). When the weather warmed up last week, I found only three pairs of pants in my closet. I was expecting 3 “around the house” and 3 work pairs. Instead, I found what appeared to be one of the former and 2 of the latter. I say appeared because while only one was marked for around the house, the other two weren’t wearable to work! (As I learned after wearing them. Luckily, the worn spots didn’t wear out during the day!)
Also lucky for me, the warm weather didn’t stick around and I was comfortable in my lighterweight cords the rest of the week. Sunday was the day for shopping. I intended to hit at least three stores, with my goal to find 2-3 pairs of chinos for $5 or less. $5 is what I can buy new pants at Lands’ End for, if I find what I need, which is more hit-or-miss than thrift stores. But they are new. First stop was the Goodwill near church. The prices, I think, are higher than the local one, but it was only two blocks out of the way instead of across town. To my delight, it was the only stop! For just under $30, I got three chinos, two green short sleeved shirts (I had only 3 for work which makes laundry more frequent than normal), and two dresses for Maggie. My average was a bit over $5, but it was worth it to have only one stop. This Goodwill, while it might be higher, is about 2x the size so has a much bigger selection of clothing, especially in green shirts. (My preferred color; if I could buy only green clothes, I would.)
March 28th, 2007 - Saling season!
Yes, the title is spelled correctly, or as correctly as I can. Garage sale season started last weekend. There were four going on in our fair city and I hit them all.
The first was a great hit: They had a beautiful 4T Easter dress; it’s a little too dressy for church, but there’s a chance it will still fit next spring as it’s almost ankle length: Perfect for a wedding! But she’ll need a sweater to match (I have the whole summer to shop for that now). Also picked up a size 6 dress, but it turned out to have a very torn hem that I can’t fix so it’s heading to the dress up box. Since she doesn’t fit her 2T clothes anymore, I was also delighted to find some 4T tshirts–thank goodness since with the warm weather earlier this week she wore them! Also found a step stool; it’s plastic but for 25 cents worth it till I find a wooden one. Maggie needs a stool in both bathrooms and next to her bed. We currently have two (three if you could her potty chair as one, but it might not be tall enough). The one next to her bed has very narrow steps and isn’t terribly safe for getting down. I’m hoping to find two wooden stools this summer. Two dresses, two t-shirts, and a stool for $4.25.
Then I stopped at a thrift store I’d not been to before (well, when it was a consignment store I had been there). They advertised a special $1 for clothes, toys, and something else. I was shocked at the cost of things. I kind figured the clothing deal wouldn’t be all that great because I rarely pay $1 for clothing, but I was thinking garage sales there instead of thrift. Even so, things were pricey. I did find one dress for Maggie.
Next was the $2/bag clothing sale at a church. Things were pretty well picked over for clothes her size. Got a few things, some dress up clothes, and a couple of older sizes that were too good to pass up (black turtleneck that won’t go out of style.
The last one was a total bust. Looked like the guy had pulled junk out of his garage/storage and set it on tables. Nothing was priced, nothing was set out nicely. It was weird.