Neighborhood Sale May '11

There is an awesome neighborhood garage sale where I live that happens in May and then another at the end of the summer. I thought I'd share with you our biggest ONE day haul ever!! It took two carloads to get everything home. By we, I mean my mom too. I usually take my mom or my grandma with me so I have an extra hand with my daughter. They love thrifting as much as I do. But, Giovanna should be easier to manage this summer- so I'll probably be able to go it alone when I need to. Put on a video in the car.... and direct her to the toys at the sale we are at (90% of them have toys.) Last year she wasn't walking yet- so it was kind of difficult.

Anyways- We got so much stuff that we had to set it all out for a picture.... Let's just say Giovanna does not lack anything... :)

We only paid $110 for all of this. Or that's what we estimated when we added things up. I'll try to list whats here- some of it you can't see well.

-Rock and ride bike
-Baby gate
-Eddie Bauer high chair (behind the baby gate box, it's hiding kind of)
-Plastic chairs
-Dragon Halloween costume
-Veggie Tales DVDs
-Giant Legos
-Baby clothes
-Toy ambulance (My husband and I are both Paramedics)
-The two raccoon stuffed animals... Ricky and Rocky. (There is a good story to their names)
-Box toy play thing.... It's in the front.... no idea what it's really called, lol.
-Little Tykes car
-Potty chair
-Baby shoes
-Wooden puzzle
-Coffee maker
-Baby Bibs
-McLaren baby stroller
-More DVDs
-Play kitchen
-Swim suit
-Plastic animals
-Pink chair
-Hello Kitty pillow doll

That's everything I can see at least... worth $110? Absolutely- probably more than quadruple. People don't know what they are missing.  My husband likes that I save a lot of money this way, but he is NOT into it. Which is fine, but sometimes I like his opinion on stuff before I buy it.  I guess it's a catch 22 though.... because when he is back from Afghanistan for good I will have someone to babysit so I can go to sales/thrifting without dragging any kids with me. :)

My best advice for someone who wants to start hitting the sales in the summer? Planning. Sales start as early as Thursday in the summer. I usually check Craigslist and the newspaper on-line at the beginning of the week and usually once a night to see if anything is added. I will then choose which sales I think will be the best for me and map my route in town. Sometimes you get lucky. Sometimes you bomb. But the total end result will be a lot of money saved.

Well- Wheel of Fortune is on so I must leave you! Enjoy the weekend!

The March 2012 Goodwill 50% Sale

In an effort to get my blog rolling.... I'm going to try to post things FOR THE next several days. C`aps lock anD ALL WEIRD things in this text are Giovanna's contributions as `guest Co-blogger. Apparently. These are some of my faves from the 50% off sale this month at Goodwill. My favorite day of the month!!! Unfortunately I didn't have a lot of patience this Saturday- and I was juggling my own plans with my mom's plans, since she babysits for me. So I just went to the Westside Goodwill- I walked into the Eastside and walked right out. No carts left, long lines and tons of people. Seems like it keeps getting busier and busier on the sale day!

Vintage IU jacket for my nephew.... coming July 1st!

$15 for this brand new in the box Dinnerware set. Retails for $60. Our Goodwill get's Target's new old stock.... Goodwill calls it Greyware.

Princess tent for Miss G $10 (greyware=brand new)

And this is the saaaweet shirt I got for myself... Love it $1.99

$5 Swimming pool (greyware)

Shoes for my daughter & nephew - all greyware. $1 each

Good Morning you guys!!

And last but not least... Giovanna and her friend Zaylee at the park today.... it was 68 degrees!! PS I woke up to everything covered in snow just yesterday.... Indiana is so weird.

And finally- Snooki is pregnant. Wow. If you don't know who Snooki is- you're better off that way. (I've never watched Jersey Shore.......... errrr, lol. Guilty)

Goodnight!

PS- Seahorse was just an answer on Jeopardy.... something good is in store for me!!

Summer 2011: A Summer of Thriftyness.

I'm new to blogging.... So, let's see if I'm any good at it. What I KNOW I'm good at is saving money. I thrift, garage sale, coupon- you name it. I am as cheap as they come.... in regards to saving money at least. :) I don't get to do it as much as I'd like... I'm hoping in a few years Giovanna will start enjoying it as much as me- but now, as a 1 1/2 year old, well, she's not really fun to drag along to these usually fairly time consuming digs.

I'm going to start of here with the best finds of Summer 2011. Last summer was a great summer of garage saling and thrifting. I started really mapping out where I wanted to go and in what order. I'm sure I sound crazy. That's because I am. These are all kid related items... I find that being very thrifty with your kids is one of the best things you can do because they don't care!!! My daughter has no idea that almost all of her clothes and toys were worn and played with by someone before her. This give you a little bit more leg room in spending when you really want to splurge on something for yourself. It occurs to me that I'm giving away my secrets here.... which means less for me!!! But, that's okay. The truth is I would love for everyone to start saving and turning their financial situations around cough*Dave Ramsey*cough.

This is in my daughters room. Giraffe $3 & and lamp was a free curb pick up by my mom.

This is from the Habitat For Humanity ReStore $20 It's in my daughters room- the knobs have little animals on them and it's in perfect condition. STEAL.

This rocker was $5 at a garage sale. This was a good sale I remember well. One of my friends was over a couple weeks ago and informed me that these are over $100 new. Wow. I had no idea.

Garage Sale $10 This one vaguely sticks out in my mind because they were moving overseas to be with the husband of the family.

Same garage sale as the rocker $5

This chair is a HIT. It's adorable and pink.... $5

I love, love, love this picture $3

Kitchen w/food $8 & Shopping cart 75 cents.

$3... proceeds for this went to a missionary trip.

$3 for the tool set. I also got my Lucky brand purse at this same sale for $1

Okay, guys. I'm done for the day. I'll drag out some of my other favorites over the next few days, and add some more tips for you all!

xo