Lesson Learned

Here is a difficult Lesson my Mom and I Learned this week.

When my Mom goes out to garage sales, I always tell her to keep her eye out for things that I might like. Saturday morning she text me this picture to see if I was interested in this mirror. Um, YES! I LOVE it! It's so unique and they only wanted $2 dollars for it! So she bought it for me along with a few other things for her self and went out to the car and set everything beside the car. She then went back to help a friend get out to the car with her things. When she came back EVERYTHING was gone! In the few minutes that she wasn't looking someone stole what she had just bought! I couldn't believe it! I don't even think I can put my disappointment into words! However, I found this flyer that expresses much of what I am feeling. This person's bike was stolen and I imagine their feelings are quite similar to mine.

I DON'T EVEN WANT THAT MIRROR BACK. I ONLY PUT THIS ON MY BLOG TO TELL YOU THAT I HATE YOU OLD VINTAGE MIRROR THEIF! I HOPE THAT YOU HANG THAT MIRROR ABOVE YOUR BED AND WHEN YOU GO TO LAY YOUR HEAD DOWN AT NIGHT IT COMES CRASHING DOWN ON YOU AND GOUGES YOUR EYES OUT SO THAT YOU CAN'T SEE WHAT YOU STOLE FROM ME. I HOPE THAT YOU WALK THIS EARTH FOR THE REST OF YOUR DAYS NOT BEING ABLE TO SEE SO THAT YOU CAN NEVER STEAL AGAIN!

Lesson Learned

A lot of times I will skip the grungier parts of town because it only makes sense that the nicer areas would have nicer things right? NOT ALL THE TIME! This week I found an almost 6 ft long antique mirror and a garage sale in a TRAILOR PARK! This mirror is worth a few hundred dollars and I bought it for $40!

Here is a close up of the detailing

We are working on getting it up in my Master bathroom right now!

1/14/2012

1/14/2012

We are right in the middle of the garage sale dry season, AKA winter. Depending on where you live the dry season may still have enough reward to make you want to get out and garage sale. In Texas where I grew up my Mom went garage saleing all year round. In other places where it snows or rains a lot garage sales are almost non-existant during the "dry" season. Here in St. George, UT it only snows about once a year so I am able to get out most weekends during the winter. However, every once in a while on those colder weekends I have had to learn to cut my losses and go home. This weekend was looking like one of those weekends. I got out at 8:00a.m. (garage sales usually start around 7:00a.m. but in the winter they usually start a little later) From 8 till about 9:30 the only thing I had bought was

a basketball for .50 cents

I finally decided that it was just not my week and started to head home. I stopped at one more garage sale on the way and found a few things that made my garage sale day worth while. These were also my Deal of the Day

DEAL OF THE DAY

It was a garage sale that a lighting company was having because they were going out of business. Since C.J. and I are planning on redoing all the bathrooms in our house this was perfect!

If you have ever gone shopping for light fixtures you know they can be pretty expensive! These were brand new and still in the box.

This light fixture was marked at $35

This light fixture was marked at $25

We also bought a new fan for our master bedroom

It will look much better when we hang it. This fan was marked at $30. These were all fair prices, not a steal like I had hoped but definitely fair prices. I found a similar fan on Walmart.com for 89.00. Click here to compare. I also looked up light fixtures. The closest thing I could find to the ones I bought was this fixture.

Which was $114!! and this is at Walmart!

My total for the two light fixtures and fan was $90. I knew I didn't have that much cash on me so I pulled out what I had...$63. A lot of times when i don't have enough money I will use a strategy I have seen my Mom use several times, but I didn't know if it would work this time. I went to the lady and said "all I have is 63 dollars....Would you take that?" To my surprise she said yes! So I got the two brand new fixtures and a new fan for $63! Thats a steal for how nice these are!

This company is also the same company I bought my huge chandilier from last time they had a garage sale!

I paid $350 for it. I love chandeliers! I believe that there are a few things that make a house look amazing and a big beautiful chandelier is one of them. I know $350 sounds like a lot but Check this out...

I found this chandilier on walmart.com. Similar in size, but I think mine is a much more elegant piece. This retails at 1,230!!!!!!! Click here to see the link. $350 doesn't sound so bad now does it?

OTHER AWESOME DEALS

here are some other awesome deals I saw that might have made your day worth while.

Single sconce $10. If you only have one outside light on your front porch this could work for you but what I like to do is put these up high on shelving nooks if you have them. I did it in my old house and everyone loved the way it looked. You cant turn it one or anything but it adds varitey to your decor.

Kids bike $10!

fan $40

Chandelier $60

I loved this big clock. So cool. They wanted $100 for it. probably not an unreasonable price but still too much for me. I actually might call the lady and see if she will go down on it since it didn't sell. I was looking on craigslist the other day and there was one on there just like it for $350!

Bedroom set Dresser Hutch and two night stands for $50!

These were already sold and I was JEALOUS! I have been looking for a new project and I think these would have been a fun redo!

Vases and Mason jars galore!

There are so many pinterest projects you can do with mason jars!

Red neck wine glass. Fun for a party

Fun outside chandelier

craft storage

vases for flowers
.

awesome light fixture

bathroom storage and organization

beautiful wedding center pieces

gardening!

The posiblilties are endless! Especially when they are this cheap!

10 for a $1! I have a hanging cactus garden and I bought mine at D.I. for .25 to .50 cents a piece. I over paid!

FOR ALL YOU MEN OUT THERE

Coleman camp stove $10

the inside

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.

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!