Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Yard Saling... (sp?) is that even a word? Well it is in our house!
So its Saturday. And what does that mean? That the alarm is set for 6:15. :D and im HAPPY about that! Its time for our FAVORITE family activity, Yard saling. We wake up the kids, get them semi dressed, (usually its PJS and actual shoes...) and grab some food and a sippy cup/ bottle of milk, and in the car we go!
Now, the previous night, I am on the computer with 4 tabs open, Facebook on our local towns yard sale page, gsalr.com, the newspaper's list of sales in their classifieds, and google maps. I then take all the sales I can find (gsalr searches craigslist among a few other places) and put them together on google maps then re-arrange in a route that make sense based on the sales that start at 7 vs 8, kid stuff vs just good ol yard sale, distance from the house/ to the next sale etc. So this is my GAME PLAN. I need to create an algorithm really. It usually takes about 1 hr to do this, but I wouldnt find near the amount of stuff i do with out planning it out. ITs not like california where there were so many yard sales off of one st (Wardlow in LB) it took you 3 hours to go 6 or 7 miles.
So this morning, the yard sales were scattered. The good ones I like to hit first of course, cause as the Master of all Yard saling has shared with me, my FIL Galen, the early bird gets the worm and that is SO true. The golden hour is 7-8. But alot of ppl out here dont start til 8 so that makes things tricky. So lie I was saying, this morning the 7 am good ones were very spread out. some were in stuarts draft, which is about 7-10 miles south of me. some were her in my town, and others were about 5 miles north! I hate that. caus ehten you have to choose where to strike first bassed on their ads. Sometimes you choose right and sometimes you dont. this morning, unfortunately, I didn't choose right.
WE headed out and the first couple of sales were bombs. then I hit one sale that I wasnt even going to but saw a sign for ( another rule of yard saleing you ALWAYS stop whe you see a sign. you can never be too far for a u turn. but you have to make quick judgement, if this sale is worth it to make you late for the sale you were already heading to. in this case that was a yes. I got some clothes for me (Kohls and target brand) for 1$ each. that is a great price. (always compare to thrift stores. at good will, those clothes would have been 3.50 each, and proabbly would have been snagged cause they were cute.)
at the same yard sale though one of those very typical things happened to spencer that sucks. He saw something he wanted, barely touches it, and a mean customer snaps "i just bought that" then he picks up something next to it, and again" i just bought that too." spencers response "is there anything you DIDNT buy?" haha. that part was funny, but the next part is not. When this happens, and it was something you actually kind of wanted, walk tot eh other side of the yard or you'll regret it if you dont. Spencer stayed, and found out that one of the things she just purchased, that retails for 50$ in the store (it was one of those car battery jumper cable things that has its own battery to you can jump yourself) and the price the lady paid? 3$. yeah its hurts. thats why i saw your better to have never knwn the steal that person took your item away for.
So after all was said and done, the sales actually got better the later in the day. And think if i would have hit them up FIRST. but you learn from these things, next time that area has sales, thats where ill be at 7am sharp, not at 830. But we got alot of cool stuff:
-My Rainbows for 2$
-brown Target flats (ive been looking for for awhile): 2$
-a deep glass lasangna dish: 3$
-a dora/diego dvd (which i had been wanting but didnt think to really look for til spencer mentioned it and im like yeah, i DO need that): 3$
-a rug for the boys room, the one with the roads and buildings: 5$
-an AWESOME inflatable ball pit with a bajillion balls : was 5$ (and that was a deal, but it was 830 and it hadnt sold by then, gives you automatic permission to haggle) i got it for 3$
-(another) train that has a track and is battery powered: 1$
-20 pairs of socks (which my mother will shot for joy that i got) 10 cents each
-4 handmade silk ties brand new they wanted 3 each but when you are getting more than 1 you say (since im buying more than one, will you do 2$ each? and yeah, they were 2$ each
-2 bucket hats for zeke and kai, 1$ each (Childrens place and Janie and Jack brand)
-2 gas cans for 50 cents each
-a tunnel to connect play tents we have 1$
-my shirts, 4 for 1$ each
im sure theres a few more small things im forgetting, but thats most of it. and on a scale from one to ten, id rate that bounty about a 6 or 7. and remember, even if its a stinking good deal already, like the ball pit and the ties, you can STILL haggle and get an even better deal! the worst they say is no, and you still get it for the original deal.
So yeah, thats how we afford almost everything in our home. I plan to update more as the summer continues, and let you know about how we make money (a lot sometimes) flipping our yard sale purchases. Hope you had fun reading this, and remember buying used makes COMPLETE since, its easy on your pocket, since its a fraction of Retail, and its easy on the environment, since technically, you're recycling!
I have a special post tomorrow. something AMAZING is happening in just a few hours! I can't wait to share it with you all!
Love,
Sky
Now, the previous night, I am on the computer with 4 tabs open, Facebook on our local towns yard sale page, gsalr.com, the newspaper's list of sales in their classifieds, and google maps. I then take all the sales I can find (gsalr searches craigslist among a few other places) and put them together on google maps then re-arrange in a route that make sense based on the sales that start at 7 vs 8, kid stuff vs just good ol yard sale, distance from the house/ to the next sale etc. So this is my GAME PLAN. I need to create an algorithm really. It usually takes about 1 hr to do this, but I wouldnt find near the amount of stuff i do with out planning it out. ITs not like california where there were so many yard sales off of one st (Wardlow in LB) it took you 3 hours to go 6 or 7 miles.
So this morning, the yard sales were scattered. The good ones I like to hit first of course, cause as the Master of all Yard saling has shared with me, my FIL Galen, the early bird gets the worm and that is SO true. The golden hour is 7-8. But alot of ppl out here dont start til 8 so that makes things tricky. So lie I was saying, this morning the 7 am good ones were very spread out. some were in stuarts draft, which is about 7-10 miles south of me. some were her in my town, and others were about 5 miles north! I hate that. caus ehten you have to choose where to strike first bassed on their ads. Sometimes you choose right and sometimes you dont. this morning, unfortunately, I didn't choose right.
WE headed out and the first couple of sales were bombs. then I hit one sale that I wasnt even going to but saw a sign for ( another rule of yard saleing you ALWAYS stop whe you see a sign. you can never be too far for a u turn. but you have to make quick judgement, if this sale is worth it to make you late for the sale you were already heading to. in this case that was a yes. I got some clothes for me (Kohls and target brand) for 1$ each. that is a great price. (always compare to thrift stores. at good will, those clothes would have been 3.50 each, and proabbly would have been snagged cause they were cute.)
at the same yard sale though one of those very typical things happened to spencer that sucks. He saw something he wanted, barely touches it, and a mean customer snaps "i just bought that" then he picks up something next to it, and again" i just bought that too." spencers response "is there anything you DIDNT buy?" haha. that part was funny, but the next part is not. When this happens, and it was something you actually kind of wanted, walk tot eh other side of the yard or you'll regret it if you dont. Spencer stayed, and found out that one of the things she just purchased, that retails for 50$ in the store (it was one of those car battery jumper cable things that has its own battery to you can jump yourself) and the price the lady paid? 3$. yeah its hurts. thats why i saw your better to have never knwn the steal that person took your item away for.
So after all was said and done, the sales actually got better the later in the day. And think if i would have hit them up FIRST. but you learn from these things, next time that area has sales, thats where ill be at 7am sharp, not at 830. But we got alot of cool stuff:
-My Rainbows for 2$
-brown Target flats (ive been looking for for awhile): 2$
-a deep glass lasangna dish: 3$
-a dora/diego dvd (which i had been wanting but didnt think to really look for til spencer mentioned it and im like yeah, i DO need that): 3$
-a rug for the boys room, the one with the roads and buildings: 5$
-an AWESOME inflatable ball pit with a bajillion balls : was 5$ (and that was a deal, but it was 830 and it hadnt sold by then, gives you automatic permission to haggle) i got it for 3$
-(another) train that has a track and is battery powered: 1$
-20 pairs of socks (which my mother will shot for joy that i got) 10 cents each
-4 handmade silk ties brand new they wanted 3 each but when you are getting more than 1 you say (since im buying more than one, will you do 2$ each? and yeah, they were 2$ each
-2 bucket hats for zeke and kai, 1$ each (Childrens place and Janie and Jack brand)
-2 gas cans for 50 cents each
-a tunnel to connect play tents we have 1$
-my shirts, 4 for 1$ each
im sure theres a few more small things im forgetting, but thats most of it. and on a scale from one to ten, id rate that bounty about a 6 or 7. and remember, even if its a stinking good deal already, like the ball pit and the ties, you can STILL haggle and get an even better deal! the worst they say is no, and you still get it for the original deal.
So yeah, thats how we afford almost everything in our home. I plan to update more as the summer continues, and let you know about how we make money (a lot sometimes) flipping our yard sale purchases. Hope you had fun reading this, and remember buying used makes COMPLETE since, its easy on your pocket, since its a fraction of Retail, and its easy on the environment, since technically, you're recycling!
I have a special post tomorrow. something AMAZING is happening in just a few hours! I can't wait to share it with you all!
Love,
Sky
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