Over the weekend the town where I live hosted it’s annual community-wide yardsale. So after my son’s soccer game I drove around town, stopping at any sale that looked interesting. I was reminded of the bargains that can be found, if you take the time to look for them.
I always like to have a list in mind when I go yardsale shopping. I don’t know about you, but I’m easily taken in by a big bargain. If I don’t know what I need, I find myself buying things I don’t need, because I think it’s a great deal. Of course, if I don’t need it, it’s really not a great deal.
Last weekend I had two things on my mind: books for homeschooling and clothes for the kids. I scored big on the books and not so big on the clothes. Oh, I found a few clothes here and there, but my daughter is hard to size (she’s right between girl and junior sizes), and my son is at the age where most boys ruin their clothes, so there’s not much available for him at sales.
But the books I found this weekend…I was in book heaven! Next year the kids will be studying ancient history, and I found all kinds of books to go along with that time period. Kids books on King Tut, the Seven Wonders of the World, the history of weapons…all subjects my son loves.
I also picked up books that we’ll use in coming years: books on the Civil War, World War I, and the United States Presidents. My husband will read them now.
And to top off my day, I found a CD series on classical composers. I was wondering how to introduce music to my son (my daughter already leads a music-filled life), and now I know what I’m going to do.
All in all, I came home with several bags full of books, CDs, and clothing. And I spent $20. Yes, I love yard sale season!
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Oddly enough, when my brother and I were in middle school and high school, we used to love to ride our bike around and go garage sailing! As an adult cleaning out my old stuff, I really how much clutter I actually created. How do you balance the clutter from yard sale finds?
I love yard sale season too! I have been waiting all winter for it. I am trying to keep a mental list also, b/c I can easily be wooed by a 25 cent item that I really don’t need. I am always looking for clothes for my preschool girls, books for the kids and cookbooks for me. I also look for canning jars and those blue ball canning jars.
I have been trying to declutter the house, so I have to figure out a way to get through yard sale season, w/o bringing more junk into the house.
What about a physical list? I write one that has exactly how many long-sleeved shirts and pants, etc., I need for each child, and any other items that I am looking for go on my list.I hve a friend who goes yard-saing for me in another state, and she takes my list with her.
My mom took my list once and found an item I was looking for by handing my list to the person having the sale. The woman said that she had something on my list; it had been out in her last garage sale but she didn’t remember to put it out this time. My mom was able to get it for me, and I now use it several times a week!
Having a list is nice!
I found a great one this past weekend as well. You have to “kiss a lot of frogs” but that one good one can make your whole day (or week!)
Blessings!
You did Great!
I love yard sales as well. The LIST is key– know what you are looking for. I am always looking for tools, fishing gear, books, and potential eBay selling items.
Oooh, I love yard sales too. And flea markets! One thing that I have done in the past is to de-clutter the house, then take those things to the flea market to sell. As I made money selling those things, I used that money to buy things that I needed. It encourages me to get rid of MORE clutter and it also keeps me from overspending because I can only spend as much as I make.
A couple weeks ago, my parents were visiting. Mom, DD, and I went to a one-day fundraiser flea market, plus the regular flea market. I was looking for boys’ clothes for my 6 and 10 year olds, but all I saw was BABY clothes. I did find 3 family-friendly DVDs for $1 each AND I bought 10 tomato transplants for $10. In fact, they gave us 2 freebies and one of the pots had two growing in it, so I actually got 13 for $10. LOL! After that, we went to Goodwill where I found some clothes for the boys, a pretty blue dish (I’m a sucker for blue), and a wooden rack perfect for magazines. I was going to paint it, but it matches our cabinets perfectly so I may leave it as is.
i too love yard sales! so much so that i need to stay away….i am guilty of the ‘gotta have it-look how cheap it is’ disease…lol
i am currently in the process of trying to de-clutter, the last thing i need to be doing is dragging more ‘stuff’ in through the door.
If i had young kids at home though it would be a different story…i think you can really make out like a bandit when raising kids (seeing all the stuff they go through)….
here’s to a season of profitable and happy hunting to all of you…!
Regarding classical music for kids…if you haven’t already tried them I highly recommend the Classical Kids composer story CDs. We stumbled on the Vivaldi one at the library (“Vivaldi’s Ring of Mystery”) and we’ve since gone on to listen to all of them repeatedly. Our whole family loves them.