1/7/2012

1/7/2012

Since garage sales are not as abundant here in the winter I have been looking on craigslist to make sure we hit some good ones. I hit a fundraiser for a baseball team. No where near the biggest garage sale I have been to but a pretty good size! At this garage sale I bought. A soccer ball, pair of shoes, little buzz lightyear costume, and some laces..... grand total: 3 dollars. I didn't take a picture of the soccer ball but it was in great condition.

I have been looking for some cute flats and I love these. They were $1!

I use lace for SO many things so I always try to have some on hand.

Jaysa LOVES Buzz lightyear. I put this on her when I got home and she kept asking me to call her Buzz.

I also bought these pillows today for .50 cents a piece. I have been looking for pillows like this at stores for the last few months! They are a dark brown burlap fabric. Crazy I found them at a garage sale! Saved myself a lot of money!

Here they are on my bed. I only ended up using two but I am sure I will find a spot to put the others. Took this pic on my iphone so sorry it's not a great one.

I also picked up this boppy for $1. I am going to wash it, get a new cover for it and give it to a friend that is pregnant. You really have to be careful about giving garage sale presents. I ONLY give garage sale gifts to friends who I know don't mind shopping at second hand stores, who have come garage saleing with me or have asked me to pick up things for them while I garage sale. Some people don't like the idea of having something that was previously owned. I don't look at it that way. I see it as being able to have the finer things in life and saving money at the same time. Here is how much I saved. At Target a bobby pillow that comes with a cover was anywhere from $35.00 to $50.00. Click here to see their prices on Boppys. I saved at least $34 dollars. Even after buying a new cover I will still save $24 dollars.

DEAL OF THE DAY

Today my Deal of the day would be this double stroller and car seat that I bought for $20! They had $30 on it which is a great price. However, I went and asked if they would go down and she said she would take $20! This is a really nice double stroller. It's a Baby Trend Sit-n-Stand Plus and has been kept in really good condition. The women said she only used it like 4 times. I looked up stroller at Target.com and something similar runs about $160.00 The car seat sells for $98.00. Thats a $238 savings!!!! Totally worth it to me. Unfortunately I do not need a new double stroller and I for sure do not need a new car seat. I paid $55 for my car seat and stroller. So this was a better deal but I am going to list these on craigslist and see if I can make a profit on it.

When buying car seats from a garage sale you have to be VERY careful. It has to be a recent car seat. If it's too old it may not meet car seat standards these days. Make sure it's only a few years old and that it has not been buckled into a car during an accident. Someone told me that in some places policer officers are starting the cut the straps of car seats that have been in wrecks so that they cannot be used again. I also know that none of the second hand stores will take a car seat if the stickers on the side have been ripped off. To some people I would just suggest they buy a new one. If you can't afford a new one buy one from a second hand stores who have checked out the car seat already. Initially I was just interested in the stroller but the women threw in the car seat for me. It has all its stickers and is a recent model so I knew I could take it to a second hand store and have them buy it from me. In this case it made no sense to leave it behind.

OTHER AWSOME DEALS

Cute barstools. $5 dollars a piece!

Such a cool old dresser!!!! This was bought when I got there. The lady only paid $10 dollars for it and plans to redo it!

Kids toys. Toys are SOOOOOO expensive in stores!!!! which is why I prefer to buy mine at garage sales. The three little bikes in this picture are $2 dollars a piece. Thats a much more affordable price.

LESSON LEARNED

Today I decided to drive out to a neighborhood that was not on my route but that was in an affluent area. Initially I thought it wasn't going to be that far out of my way but I was WRONG. I wasted 30 mins and my gas getting out there and it was not even a garage sale! The couple had the bright idea that they would clean out their garage Saturday morning but list it as a garage sale just in case they wanted to sale anything they didn't want........WHAT?!?!?!?!? Needless to say they had nothing good and had no idea what was for sale and what they were keeping. I was not happy! I had wasted my time and money. Lesson Learned: Just because it is in a nice area doesn't mean they will be selling nice things. Sometimes driving to the nicer areas that may be a little further away doesn't pay off.

DPWF Works on Anyone!

You can use dress-per-wear-factor (DPWF) to analyze how much money you are spending on your family's clothes too! Lets take a look at my kids for example.

Here is my Miss Jaysa Sue. Again, everything she is wearing is from second hand stores and garage sales. Her jeans are teal Oshkosh jeans I found for 2.99 at Savers. I also found her silver sandals at Savers for 3.99. Her white tank and hot pink GUESS sweater are from a garage sale. The white tank was .50 cents and the sweater was $1. Her total outfit cost is 8.50 now divided that by ten and we have an .85 cent dress-per-wear-factor!

Here is one of Paisley's outfits I put on her all the time. The pants are not from a garage sale but if I remember right they were only 5 dollars at the children's place! Her boots were $1 and her vest and t-shirt were .50 cents a piece. We will go ahead and throw in the bow and headband too. The bow was a flower I bought at Roberts Arts and Crafts using a 50% off coupon so it was only 1.50 and the headband was in a little baggie of headbands I found at a garage sale. I can't remember exactly how much I paid but I know I wouldn't have paid more than a dollar for it and there were a lot of headbands in the bag. Just to be safe we will add on 10 cents for the headband. Total outfit cost is 8.60 making our DPWF .86 cents!

Here is another outfit of Jaysas. Winter jackets can get expensive even if they are just for your kids. I found this winter coat for Jaysa at a garage sale for $3 dollars.

This is a bad picture but it shows her jacket more. Her jeans were $1. She has little Nike shoes on that I bought for $1 also. Here is a closer look at them since you can't see them in the picture of her in the leaves.

I don't really remember what shirt she had on but we will say .50 (thats what I normally pay for a t-shirt) If we want to get really technical we could add on the bow again. I bought a huge bag of flowers from a lady for $3 dollars and made her bow from petals out of that bag. My guess is that there were easily a few hundred flowers in the bag but we will just say 10 cents for the bow just to be safe. It probably adds up to that once you add on the clip that I have to put on the flower anyway. So now that we are being very technical our total outfit cost is 5.60. DPWF= .56 cents! If math was always this easy it would be fun right?!?! To learn how to find your dress-per-wear-factor click here!

DRESS PER WEAR FACTOR

A year ago I was sitting on a plane next to a couple who were on their way to Las Vegas. Being on a cramped plane, I couldn't help but overhear to their conversation... okay I admit, I was eavesdropping. It was apparent that they didn't know each other very well because they were still making small talk, but I had to laugh at what they were talking about. The man was a bit of a cowboy and the women seemed to be a rich valley-girl that loved to spend her daddy's money. She was telling him about a girlfriend that had called her asking for her advice on whether she should buy a $400 dollar dress that her husband already told her not to buy. Here's what I heard:

Valley Girl Who Likes to Spend Daddy's Money: "I told her to totally but it! Because if you really think about it, if she wears the dress 40 times her dress-per-wear-factor is like only $10 dollars!"

My mouth dropped open. Dress-per-wear- factor??? Is that a thing!? And wearing the same dress 40 times.... that would take a long time. There are 52 weeks in a year. You would have to wear that same dress almost once a week for an entire year to wear it 40 times! That's like living in an episode of Charlie Brown, every kid is wearing the same thing every day.

At first I was so annoyed at this ladies materialism but then I got to thinking. Dress-per-wear-factor isn't a bad concept. I took a look at some of the outfits that I would have worn last year. MEK Jeans: $85, Dressy T-shirt: $20, Cute heels:$20. Now lets say I was going to wear that outfit 10 times (much more realistic than 40!). My dress-per-wear-factor would be $12.50. Still a little high in my opinion but better than $40, which is what the dress-per-wear-factor of that black dress would be if you wore it 10 times. Today I spend much less on my clothes. Here's an outfit I wore today. Everything I have on is from garage sales.

My shirt was $1 dollar. My jeans were $3 and my shoes were $5. Even my white spaghetti strap under shirt was a dollar from a garage sale.

Here's a close up of my shoes. Anyone notice the brand? Naughty Monkeys. You can't find these for less than $50 in stores! But name-brand doesn't mean that your dress-per-wear-factor (dpwf) has to go up. The total cost of my outfit is an even $10 dollars. If I wear it 10 times my dress-per-wear-factor is only $1! So much cheaper than a $12.50 dpwf! Take a look in your closet and add up your dress-per-wear factor. Is it a reasonable price? Looking fashionable doesn't have to be expensive. If you're smart you can look cute and still have money in your pocket. I will be posting some other outfits I have found at garage sales and second hand stores with their dress-per-wear-factor later so check back in!

It's Been A While

This Christmas Season has been a busy one for our family! Due to my computer crashing (and loosing pictures I had taken while garage saleing), family pictures and heading to Texas to see the in-laws for almost 3 weeks I have not been able to get out and garage sale. However I am so excited to get out this coming Saturday and post about what I find! In the mean time here are some of our family pictures. There are several things I used in our photoshoot that are from garage sales!

I have always loved the idea of a couch in a field with the mountains in the background when taking family pictures. Knowing that I would be taking family pictures soon I kept my eye out while garage saleing and found something that I loved! The couch we are sitting on is a teal antique love seat that I bought for $40 at a garage sale. My plans were to use it in our pictures and then recover it with a fabric I liked better. However, after seeing how our pictures turned out I think I am going to leave it be and maybe use it again if I ever get the chance to do someone else's family pictures.

Now on to our outfits... My cardigan is from a second hand store. I paid 3 dollars for it. I paid $1 dollar for Paisley's boots at garage sale and paid $10 for my boots at a garage sale, which are actually Jessica Simpson boots!

Most of the materials that I made my girls bows with are also from garage sales. Here is a closer look at them. The only thing that is not from a garage sale is the fabric. I have picked up all kinds of fabric at garage sales but didn't have anything that matched perfectly so I went and bought 1/8th of a yard in a matching brown and coral. My total for the fabric was less than a dollar. The Cameo in the middle of Jaysa's bow I bought for $1 dollar.

I don't exactly remember how much I paid for the center piece on Paisley's bow but I can't imagine that it was more than a dollar. The feathers on the bows are also from a garage sale. My mom picked up these boa strands for about .50 cents a piece!

My guess is that the cost of each bow was about 1.50. After going on esty to compare prices I would say thats a steal since the bows that were similar were between $15 and $30!

The mirror I used in these pictures of Paisley is also from a garage sale. I paid way more than I wanted for it but I fell in love with it when I saw it and had to have it. It was $20.

Here's a better picture of it.

I currently have it on my collage wall as an open frame with a cow skull in the middle of it..... I will be posting about that a little later!!!

11/26/2011

ROBIN'S FINDS

This week C.J. did not come with me. He was out canoeing on the Colorado River with my dad and brothers.

11/26/2011

There were few garage sales out this week most likely due to Thanksgiving and the fact that most people still have family in town however I still found plenty of things to buy!

New shirt with tags still on it! Suggested retail is $36.00 on this shirt!

Pink lace vest

Black fringe vest. Not sure what I will do with this but I think it is such a fun vest.

The girl I bought these four pieces of clothing from wanted 8 dollars for the white shirt with tags and 3 on the pink vest which is a total of $12. In my opinion a little to high priced but I was able to talk her down to $15 for all four items! I got each one for about $3.75. Still a little bit high for me but one of the shirts was new and this white and pink one hasn't even been worn so I went for it.

Here is what I did with it!

My shoes are also from a garage sale!

I could't help myself with this one. I love old things! This is such a cool old book and I have a vintage room I am working on so I am sure I can find a spot for it in there. Maybe something like this...

DEAL OF THE DAY

I always try to pick these up when they are cheap because they make good gifts to friends who are having kids. I bought this one for $5 dollars. In stores these babies are expensive! I found the exact same one on the Target.com website for 36.99! I saved $32 on the next baby gift!

click here to see how much they are at Target!

LESSON LEARNED

I picked up this bumbo at a garage sale and was going to buy it but realized I only had $5 dollars left and a lot more garage sales to shop at. For that reason I put the bumbo down and left. As I was driving around and looking for signs I couldn't stop thinking about the bumbo so I went back to buy it with my last $5. When I got there a man had it in his hand. I was so disappointed but decided to watch him for a little while to see if he would put it down. After about 5 mins he put it down and walked off. Trying to keep my composure and not jump for joy I walked over, picked it up and paid for it. Lesson Learn: 1. Always bring enough cash. 2. if someone has something you are interested in hang around and see if they put it down. If they do that means they don't want it and it's all yours!

DEAL OF THE DAY #2!

Here's another great deal. I got these little swimmers for .50 cents. This is a bag of 11 and they are all there. I actually had no idea how expensive these are because I have never bought them in stores. I just always pick them up at garage sales and save them till the summer. Click Here to see how much they are in stores!

OTHER AWESOME DEALS

Cute patio set

Bench with a chair and two matching pots

This women only wanted $20 for this set. To be honest they were old sets that she just spray painted but why go through the trouble and time if you can find it this cheap!

Garage Sale Guidelines-quick version

Garage Sale Guidelines- quick version

For the extensive version of my Garage Sale Guidelines click here

Here are some guidelines to help you be more effective when garage saleing

1. Always bring Cash.

2. Don't dress nicely. You may be quoted higher prices on items if you are dressed nice.

3. Be friendly. If the seller feels like you are their friend they will be more likely to give you a better price

4. Time is essential. The more garage sales you can hit in a shorter amount of time the more treasures you will find.

5. Be prepared. Make sure gas tank is full and bring water and snacks to limit your stops.

6. Don't judge a garage sale by its sign.

7. Don't judge a garage sale by doing a "drive by." A drive by is what you do when you just look at what the seller has from the seat of your car. You may miss something amazing.

8. If there is something you like or want, pick it up and carry it around with you before someone else does. You can always put it back down if you decide you don't want to buy it.

9. If you can, always ask if the seller will go down on their marked or stated price. This will save you lots of money!

10. Ask for a group price for all the items you want. Many times, if you are buying a large amount from a garage sale, the seller doesn’t mind giving you a discounted price on your total purchase. But remember you have to ask for it!

11. Be prepared to meet some very interesting and sometimes even rude people. I have learned there is not a limit to what someone will do to get what they want.

12. Unless you have someone that knows how to work on electronics I would suggest you don't buy them. If its something that can be plugged always ask to see if it works before you buy it.

13. Understand that you are shopping at a garage sale. Things are used and may not be perfect. Be creative! Sometimes you can still make these things work to your benefit!

14. Listen to how the seller deals with other customers. By doing this, you will be able to gauge whether the seller is pretty firm on their prices or if they would be willing to let things go for cheap.

15. Try not to offend the seller. Once you have offended them, they are less inclined to give you a good deal. If you don’t want to name a lower price because you aren’t sure if it would offend them simply ask if they would go down so that they name the lower price instead of you. Then you can bargain further if you wish.

16. Remember that you have no obligation to buy anything! If you are feeling obligated use an excuse. My favorite line is "let me talk to my husband."

Garage Sale Guidelines- extensive version

Garage Sale Guidelines-extensive version

For the quick version of my Garage Sale Guidelines click here

Here are some guidelines to help you be more effective when garage saleing

1. 1. Always bring cash. Bring a variety of bills. Not everyone has the right amount of cash to break your larger bills so make sure you have a good variety of smaller bills. There is nothing I hate more than asking if the seller will go down from 10 dollars to 7 and then handing them a 10 dollar bill to pay them because I didn’t have any smaller bills.

2. 2. Do not dress nicely to go garage saleing. Just wake up, brush your teeth and throw some sweats on. Whether it is consciously or subconsciously the person having the garage sale will judge you by how you look. If you’re all dressed up with your makeup on they may quote you a higher price.

3. 3. Be friendly. For example, ask the seller how they are doing today. This gives them a good first impression of you. Since first impressions are all you have when you’re garage saleing they become very important. With a good first impression the seller feels like you are their friend and will be more likely to give you a better deal.

4. 4. Time is essential. You want to be friendly but don’t have to become best friends with someone. Get in and get out. The good stuff goes quickly so the more garage sales you can hit in a short amount of time, the more treasures you will find.

5. 5. Be prepared. Bringing water and something to munch on is a good idea. Having to stop at a gas station to buy goodies slows you down. Having to gas up the morning of is also a big hassle and wastes time so try to have your gas tank full.

6. 6. Don’t judge a garage sale by its sign. A good sign does not mean anything! Just because the sign says the garage sale is HUGE doesn’t really mean it’s huge.

7. 7. Don’t judge a garage sale by doing a “drive by.” A drive by is what you do when you just look at what the seller has from the seat of your car. C.J. is a huge fan of the drive by. There have been times that I have stopped him from driving away and found something worthwhile that I would have missed.

8. 8. If there is something you like or want, pick it up and carry it around with you. I can’t tell you how many times C.J. and I have lost out on something because we haven’t done this! You can always put it back down if you decide not to buy it

· If the item you are interested in is too big to pick up, skim the rest of the items at the garage sale while standing next to your item to make sure there is nothing you are more interested in.

· If there are a lot of people at the sale or you notice someone else is interested in your item, stand guard! The second you leave the item it becomes fair game for them. If the item is not marked stand by your item and speak loud enough asking the seller how much they want for it.

· If the sale is one of those HUGE ones they have in a parking lot, try to find a helper to give you a price on the item. If you are positive you want to buy it, go straight to the payment station and ask the price before you continue shopping. While you are there pay for it and ask them to put a sold sign on your item.

· If it is a really good garage sale, your hands are full and there is still more you want to buy, ask the seller if you can start a little pile close to them and away from the other items they are selling. This will help ensure that no one starts digging through your pile. Keep an eye out though because I have had to tell people those are the items I am buying.

9. 9. If you can, always ask if the seller will go down on their marked or stated price. A lot of first timers are afraid to ask if the seller will go down on a price. In fact, my husband still makes me ask for him! Don’t be scared. This is totally normal. Every once in a while, you will find those individuals who haven’t had a garage sale before and say they are “firm on their prices” or you get those people who think their used items are worth a fortune. Then at the end of the day they wonder why they are left with almost everything they began the day with. In most of your situations, bargaining will be completely acceptable. If you remember to ask every time you buy something you could save yourself a lot of money!

10. 10. Ask for a group price for all the items you want. Many times, if you are buying a large amount from a garage sale, the seller doesn’t mind giving you a discounted price on your total purchase. For example. If you have 10 pieces of clothing you want at .50 cents a piece your total would be 5 dollars. Ask the seller if they would do 3 dollars for all of it. You are more likely to get a better deal if you do lot prices for multiple items than if you bargain out each item individually. The seller will get tired of the same person asking if they will go down. If you do a lot price of everything, you only have to ask once.

11. 11. Be prepared to meet some very interesting and sometimes even rude people. I have learned there is not a limit to what someone will do to get what they want.

12. 12. Personally, I don’t normally buy electronics from garage sales. This may also be due to the lack of someone in my home that knows how to work with these items. If you or your husband can work on these things go ahead! If you have a good feeling about the item and want to buy it anyway, ask them if they will plug it in so that you can see it works.

13. 13. Understand that you are shopping at a garage sale. Things are used and may not be perfect. Be creative! Sometimes you can still make these things work to your benefit!

14. 14. Listen to how the seller deals with other customers. By doing this, you will be able to gauge whether the seller is pretty firm on their prices or if they would be willing to let things go for cheap.

15. 15. Try not to offend the seller. Once you have offended them, they are less inclined to give you a good deal. If you don’t want to name a lower price because you aren’t sure if it would offend them simply ask if they would go down so that they name the lower price instead of you. Then you can bargain further if you wish.

16. 16. Remember that you have no obligation to buy anything! There are times when I feel bad about walking away without buying anything or have felt obligated to buy something. In these situations, it’s best to make an excuse. Tell them you have to see what your spouse thinks or that it’s for a friend and that you will call them and tell them about it. I have even blamed it on my husband and told the seller that I would be in trouble with my husband if I bought it.