1st stop: Almost everything I found was $.25.  Wowwee!  As you can see here, I got some nice books for only 25 cents.  The pink books are some pre-k/kindergarten books.  He let me have all of them for $.25.  Those will come in handy with Cuddlebug over the next two years.  I also picked up a pink fuzzy purse for Alligator girl.  It was only $.25 too.  Somehow the purse didn’t make it in the picture.

Stop 2:  I found these Ty stuffed animals for only $.25.  My kids don’t really need any stuffed animals, but these were so cute.  I threw them in the washing machine (on gentle) and they’re good as new.  I also found two wallets/small purses for Alligator girl for $.25 and a few clothing items for her for $.50-.75.

Stop 3:  The lady at this yard sale had two boys, so I was able to pick up a few things for the boys.  A large floor size Thomas the Train puzzle was $1.  Other things I bought: alligator toy $.50, Premiere gold earrings (new) $1, Buzz Light Year figurine $.50, Rollerblade brand rollerblades (adjustable) $2, Franklin VHS tape $1, Toy Story book $.25.

I think we did pretty well and the kids are happy with their new things. 

Have you been to any yard sales this summer?

images (c) Karen Weideman

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

We’ve had some beautiful weather lately and the yard sales are starting.  I love the thrill of a bargain and finding great stuff for a great price.

Saturday we were on our way out of town and I spotted a yard sale.  Trust me, it wasn’t because of their signs.  Anyway, they had books, toys, children’s clothes, and more.

I was able to get Alligator girl four pairs for $1 each and she needed the pants.  I also picked up a Mrs. Spider’s Sunny Patch cd for $1, a Dora dvd for $2, some magnetic alphabet letters for $.50, and a few other things that I can’t remember right now.

I also spotted a box of books geared for preschool though second grade.  There were many early reader books in there and most of them were by Scholastic.  I asked how much the books were and they said $.50 each, which was a good price.  After looking in the box and seeing that I would like to have a majority of the books, I asked how much for the whole box.  I bought all of the books for $5.  When I returned home, I saw what a bargain I received.  There were over 70 books in the box and several of them hadn’t been read yet.  That means I paid less than $.10 each for the books.

Hooray for saving money!  Have you found any yard sales?

image is mine

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

1)  Go through closets, dressers, toys, cupboards, cabinets, bookcases, etc before the yard sale.  Take out items that you no longer want and add them to your yard sale pile.  It’s good to do this at least once a year.  You may want to wait until spring when you’re doing your spring cleaning.

2)  Find a decluttering buddy.  I don’t know about you, but it is easier for me to get rid of things when I have some moral support.  It helps to have someone that can honestly say, “That doesn’t look good on you.  That’s out of style.  You haven’t used that in years.”  Sometimes a little nudge is all we need.  Unfortunately, I don’t have a decluttering buddy.   

3)  Price as you go.  As you find things in your home that you want to add to your yard sale, go ahead and take the few seconds to put a price on it.  This will save a lot of time and aggravation on yard sale day. 

3)  Spread the word.  I’m having a moving sale soon and I’ve already begun telling friends, people from church, and others about the sale.  I have people saying, “email me and let me know when it will be”. 

4)  If possible, post signs.  We like to use the fluorescent poster board and thick black permanent markers for our signs.  We have found that we do better with signs than with advertising.  People stop by and say that they saw our signs.

5)  Put your signs up the day before the sale so that people see them on their way home from work. Then they’ll think, “I’m going there tomorrow.” Otherwise, they might not be out and about the day of the sale.

6)  Let friends and neighbors be a part.  You can advertise the yard sale as a multi-family yard sale.  This will let customers know that there will be more things and a bigger selection to choose from.  Participants can also share in the advertising expenses.

7)  Put a price on everything.  Some people will walk away rather than asking the prices for things.  Even if the item is 25 cents, you need a price on it.  All those 25 cent items add up.

8)  To save time, buy the premade price stickers.  You can purchase these in the office supply departments at most stores.  Recently, I even saw these in Dollar Tree.

9)  If you’re selling an expensive item, take the time to print a copy of what the item cost new.  I’m doing this with toys that were expensive.  This helps the person to see that they are getting a good deal.

10)  Advertise your yard sale, garage sale, or moving sale on Craigslist.  It’s free!!!!  Specify what you will be selling.  I sold $120 to someone on Craigslist before the sale just by listing a moving sale ad. 

11)  Get up early the day of the sale.  If your sale starts at 7 am, you may consider getting up at 5 am.  This will allow you time to get everything organized and set out before customers begin to arrive.  Some early morning commuters may even see you outside and stop on their way to work.

12)  Specify if you don’t want “early birds”.  Some people are pretty serious about shopping yard sales.  They’ll come out as early as you’ll let them.   

13)  Look through purses, wallets, pant pockets, coat pockets, etc to make sure there is no money or credit cards.  Someone once told me they paid $1 for a purse that had $10 inside.

14)  Put attractive items in clear view.  A lot of people are looking for furniture, so it would be wise to put the furniture where drivers can see it from the road.

15)  Don’t pick a holiday weekend to have your sale.  I remember we did this one time and we made less than $100.  It was such a waste of our time.

16)  Don’t have continual yard sales.  You’ve seen people before who seem to be always having a yard sale.  It gets old and then people don’t drop by their sale anymore.  Plus, it’s tacky and your neighbors will be really annoyed.

17)  Have change.  It’s hard to determine how much change you’ll need and what kind of bills to get.  It seems as though first thing in the morning you’ll have customer after customer with $20 bills.  It’s really frustrating.

18)  Guard your money.  Unfortunately, sometimes theives show up at yard sales.  Usually every hour or so, I take my wad of cash out of my pocket or fanny pack (lol) and put it inside my house.

19)  Have bags available for your customer’s purchases.  I can’t stand plastic bags and I don’t understand it, but some people do like anything they purchase to be put into a bag.  It’s a courtesy. 

20)  Be friendly.  Greet each person or group that comes to your sell. 

21)  Group like items together.  All of the Christmas items should be together in one area, the kitchen stuff in another area, baby clothes in another, and so on.

22)  Sell miscellaneous items together.  If you’re like us, you have a bunch of half empty spray cans sitting in your garage.  We wondered who would buy them, but then we decided to put them all into a box and sell them all together in a lot.  This helps to sell those odd items. 

23)  Get some baggies and rubber bands.  The baggies and rubber bands will help to secure like items together or keep you from losing the pieces.  Come sell day, it will be hard to make sure your customers get all the parts that go with their items. 

24)  Have an extra person around to help out.  For me, this would be my husband.  This insures that you’ll get potty breaks and be able to eat.  It also helps so that you can talk to customers while someone else collects money or answers questions.

25)  Check with your local government or homeowner’s association to see if there are any restrictions.  Some areas require you to have a yard sale permit.  Yep, just another way to make money.  

26)  When the yard sale is over, clean up your area and take down your signs.  Don’t you just hate seeing signs that are several weeks old or searching for a yard sale that was probably last week?

27)  Advertise.  This could be in your local paper or in a free online ad.  Regardless of where you decide, you’ll need help letting the public know of the sale.

28)  Check your yard and make sure it’s safe.  Wrap up garden hoses, fill any holes, and tape down extension cords or cables.  You don’t want you visitors tripping and getting hurt.

29)  Have a strategy in place for what you’ll do with the leftover items.  Will you put them back in your house for another yard sale later in the summer?  Will you give them to charity?  Have a plan in place.

30)  Get someone to watch the kids.  I can’t tell you the number of yard sales I’ve been to where the person’s children were out in the yard digging through their old stuff and getting upset that mom was getting rid of it.  If you can’t get a sitter, then you need to have some discussions with your children before the day.  Perhaps they could even help decide what they would like to sell.

Do you have any tips to add to this list?

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Each time we move, we get rid of tons of stuff.  But you just don’t realize the magnitude of excess possessions you have until you scour every nook and cranny possible.  I guess in previous years we had disposed of the obvious unnecessary things from our lives.  This time a painful and time consuming purging was what we needed.  I’m talking a Clean House kind of process. There were many times through all of this that I was ready to cry, walk away, give it all away, and/or give up.  I’m so thankful I pressed on.

We set the date of the first moving sale for July 12th, with a possibility of another date in a few weeks.  The reason for two sales is because we soon discovered we had more things than we could possibly fit into one sale and we didn’t have time to go through all of our belongings.  Sad, I know.

We have been working so hard and such late hours into the wee hours of the morning trying to get these things done before the sale so that we could make the money that we wanted for our things. 

Saturday morning rolled around and I was up at 5:30 am, dragging along as I tried to unpack and set up before the buyers, scavengers and thieves arrived.  I am so incredibly thankful that three friends stopped by to help.  And yet, even with the five of us working, we could hardly even manage the crowd.  It was so crazy!!!!

Now I sit here somewhat frazzled, relieved, and ready to continue purging as we plan another sale.  Of course, we don’t expect to make another $2953, but another $500 or more would be nice.  After the sale, we’ll donate all the remains to a worthy charity for their thrift store. 

What do you think of our earnings?  Have you ever had a profitable yard sale?

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Yard sale pros:

• You usually get more for your stuff.
• I love people watching.
• Every once in a while you just don’t want to load up your car. The front yard is closer.

Yard Sale cons:

• You have to worry about the weather.
• You have to advertise to get traffic.
• You have to sit for hours and be nice to people who snob your stuff.
• You have to price and sell your stuff.
• Don’t forget to have money enough to make change.
• What are you going to do with the stuff you are left with?

Consignment sale pros:

• You don’t have to sit for any length of time.
• You don’t have any leftovers.
• Drop it off and be done with it
• You can take that money and immediately spend it on stuff you already need without making 2 trips

Consignment sale cons:

• Its a big one: You don’t get much money for your stuff!

It really is a personal preference as to what you want to do with your stuff. I love going to yard sales but my husband refuses to have one. I think I might load up my stuff the next time my girlfriend has her neighborhood yard sale. It would be free publicity and they always do really well. But for time’s sake, I will take my stuff to the consignment sale place or give it to someone who needs it. That is probably what I will do with all my baby stuff when I know for sure that I am done with it. I have been blessed with hand-me-downs so why not bless someone else with them as well? Sometimes, being thrifty or frugal means giving away instead of just finding a good deal.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Craigslist has become a very popular classified website.  Several years ago Ebay bought 25% of Craigslist.  For a while, they didn’t do anything with it and just let it sit there as an investment.  But now, Ebay is going into competition with a company they partially own by launching Kijiji.com.

Now we have two free online sources for selling things.  Looks like the two companies will be competiting for our business, which is good for us. 

I confess . . . I have a huge pile of boxes in my house with yard sale stuff in them.  I need to get busy and list this stuff on one of these sites so that I can make some money. 

Source:  Clark Howard

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

About a month or two ago, I had my husband hang up my RC Cola box in my living room.  Inside the box, I put my Raggedy doll that I’ve had since I was a baby.  It seemed the perfect place for Andy, since they’re both old and the colors go well together.

Since then, I’ve been looking for something else to go in the box with Andy.  I was pleased when I went to a yard sale the other day and found a box of old buttons for $1.  Wow, what a thrifty deal! 

After I left that one, I found another great yard sale.  This one had old rare mason jars and wooden cola boxes.  We bought more cola boxes to add to our collection (although I have no idea why) and we also bought some mason jars.  I was thrilled that my buttons go so well in the mason jars.  Check out my pics.  (Yes, I know my hubby chipped the paint when he hung up the cola box.  We’ll have to touch that up later.)

This post was inspired by Thrifty Goodness. 

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Once again, though, let me remind all of you frugal shoppers out there to get the things you want when you see them.  I let several toys go because I was looking for a doll house for my DD and didn’t want to spend all my money in case I found one.  So when I went back an hour later, the great deals on toys that I wanted were gone.  It just about ruined my day.  So don’t wait to go back at any yard sale of rummage sale.  Jump when you find a good deal.

Enjoy the yard sale season and let us know what kind of deals you find.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

But I was reminded of what she told me one day when I was flea marketing last weekend.  She said that after 2 kids, she learned her lesson the hard way about buying good deals  ahead of time.  She would come across a great deal on a summer outfit and think it would fit.  And then when it came time to fit her son, it was winter.  So I have taken that advice to heart and only bought in season. 

But here is the one exception.  Overalls and pants.  You have to be careful about short sleeve and long sleeve tops for your kids as they might not be in season when your child is ready to wear it, but overalls and pants are always in season.  I say all this to justify a pair of adorable pink, yes I bought pink for my daughter, overalls I got her last weekend at a flea market of sorts in town.  They are a size 6 and right now she is in 24 months.  So obviously, she won’t be wearing them anytime soon.  But no matter the season, she will be able to fit in them when she is that size because they are perfect for a long sleeve shirt or a tank top.  Why didn’t I just pass them up?  I could have, but they were only $.50.  Who leaves a brand new pair of overalls when they cost less than a dollar!  Not me.

So the moral of the story is be smart with your money.  Buy your kids clothes used but be careful if they are season specific because your kids might hit a growth spurt and pass them right by.  But if you find a truly good deal for an every season outfit, jump into the frugal world.   You will like it.  I promise.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy