May 18 2008
Bargain Hunting At Garage Sales
Chrissy loves to go to garage sales on Saturday mornings. We look forward to the good weather because that’s when people pull their junk out the attic to sell it in their driveway. And if you get there early enough, you’ll get the good stuff before everyone else gets to it. Just like “Black Friday”, Chrissy plans these trips in advance and we wake up early to get a jump on the crowd. She likes to target neighborhood sales so that we can hit a bunch in one visit. Usually, we have a plan for what we want, so we know what to look for.
For example, five years ago, we were looking specifically for decorations for the kitchen and family room. We got all sorts of country-style craft art for a few bucks each. These would have easily cost twenty bucks or more at the local craft fairs. People redecorate and practically give their old stuff away. Three years ago, the goal was baby clothes and toys for our upcoming little boy. Sometimes you can find name-brand baby clothes at garage sales in fantastic shape for pennies, some not even worn. This year, we are looking for outdoor toys for Aiden.
Aiden loves to play outside. Towards the end of last summer, we found him a “Little Tikes” slide and a cottage-like play area at a garage sale for $10 each. We’ve got both of them set up in front of our loveseat swing in the backyard, so we can relax while he plays. He’ll run around that slide all day, but we thought it was time for something new (or newer, as it were). So this year, we kept an eye out for outdoor riding toys. We scored a Push Tricycle for $15 last weekend and a Cozy Coupe for $10 this weekend.
- This Weekend - Cozy Coupe $10, little reading chair $5, mailbox playset $5
- Last Weekend - push tricycle $15, workbench w/ tools $20, step stool $1, bead slider toy $5
- Last Year - Little Tikes slide $10, cottage playset $10, orange wagon $.50
I think that we do the garage sale thing for fun more than to save money on things (but that’s a good bonus). But like toy collecting, this is about the thrill of the hunt. Aiden is going to wake up at 7 AM anyway, so heading out for 8 AM neighborhood sales isn’t such a chore. He loves to stroll around while we shop, so he’s occupied for the morning. We set out with an objective in mind, so there’s a certain amount of satisfaction in finding what you’re looking for for pennies on the dollar. There are still a few more weeks before it gets too hot to enjoy the garage sales, so we’ll see what we get next time.
Meta-Tags:
Aiden, Chrissy, garage sales, Little Tikes
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