Yard Sales

13 March 2012

My wife loves to go yard selling, thrift store shopping and is a master at making a dollar stretch to the point of infinity!!! I love her for it and certainly our budget does as well! She doesn’t have anyone to go with her so this last weekend I accompanied her for a bit.

On Friday morning we got up early and hit the road to an estate sale after an appointment. Estate sales are when people come into your house after you have passed away and sell your stuff. I always feel a bit weird going in the house. You can get a good deal at these sales. Furniture, clothes, kitchen stuff whatever is in the house is generally up for sale. Get there early enough and you might find a huge bargain on something of quality. My wife likes crochet and in particular some now “out-of-print” crochet magazines. In the past I have found for her a bunch of them that she was missing from her collection. Yeah, I am one heck of a guy!!! One thing I really like about estate sales is the kitchen stuff. On yard sales you get throwaway stuff and other things people don’t want anymore. At estate sales you can find a lot of kitchen utensils and appliances that you can’t find in the stores anymore and you can find it cheap. Like old fashion metal can openers or cork screws, hand mixers or the older crock pots. I have over 5 crock pots right now and they’ll one day wind up in my estate sale.

On Saturday morning we got up early AGAIN, and hit the road. I normally get up pretty early anyway so I don’t mind that. It’s the having to get going first thing that gets to me!!! However, yard sales are fun. I like going to talk to the people, find out a little about them while I am running through their stuff.   There’s always good stuff at yard sales. I am always amazed at how you can find clothes, with the store tags still on them, on a yard sale rack or table for pennies on the dollar. You can find bargains and sometimes you can find junk. I get amazed at the junk people will buy at yard sales too. If you are just starting out on your own or starting over, yard sales are a great way to acquire some needed supplies, especially kitchen utensils and other odds and ends cheaply.

My wife has “yard sale-ing” down to a science. She searches the online sites that list yard sales for potential “good” sales. In the ads they often list some of the items they will be selling. She can also determine by the neighborhood which ones are good and which ones probably aren’t. Typically older neighborhoods with older people tend to have some good stuff. Newer neighborhoods with younger folk tend to have a lot of good stuff too, especially baby clothes and toys. She keeps a keen eye out for the coveted “neighborhood sale” where nearly everyone in the community trots out their surplus stored items. She has a few other tips like “Don’t wear good clothes when Yard sale-ing” as people won’t barter with the well-dressed shopper and ALWAYS, “Ask for the best price” on anything. I’ve seen her barter on a 50 cent priced glass and walk away having spent a quarter!!!

We always have fun going to yard sales. It gets us out of the house and occupies some time. It gives us something to do together which is always good. With times being as hard as they are, yard sales and Estate sales are a great way to go if you are looking to save a little money. Once a year, there is an event known as the “World’s Longest Yard Sale”. It stretches from Michigan through Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee and into Alabama, all along the “route 127 corridor”. It is packed with yard sales, and is insane every year. We’ve been once and I hope we can go this year. You can check out the details in the “related links” section below. Those that know my wife and I know that we love anything that puts us on the road!

Have a Blessed Day Ya’ll!

Related Links:

World’s Longest Yard Sale Official Site

http://www.127sale.com/

A Site for finding yard sales in your area (there are many of these sites out there!):

http://www.yardsalesearch.com/

Today’s “Did Ya Know?” Did you know that today is “National Jewel Day”? Time to break out all your finery and let it shine!!!! Got bling?  Maybe you can hit some yard sales and snatch up some extra jewelry!!! Maybe wear some hard earned Mardi Gras beads!!!!