Thrifty Friday

I was excited to garage sale today ... if you remember 2 weeks ago our basement flooded .. and for 2 weeks now my house has been a total disaster!  So to get out and shop today was awesome .. AND .. our new sump pump is being installed today!  And if you dont know .. that means about 3 hours of a jack hammer in your concrete, nice and echo-y, basement.  See ya house!

I only went to 2 "sales" today.  One was a street sale close to my house and one was a fund raiser at a local Church.

I scored a NEW, never used bread maker for my friend!  Its an Oyster, older but never used.  I would guess it was close to $40 bucks new ... I paid just $10 bucks!  (Hey Jen.. how do you like it?!?!)

My son picked up that guitar .. for 2 bucks from his "spend" jar.

Oh, my 3 year old models for Fisher Price (she goes in, plays with a toy, they take pictures, she ends up on the box!)  Recently she modeled some snap on roller blades.  She was a natural at skating!  And wanted to keep them .. but they are not on the market yet!  I found this pink pair for 2 bucks! 

My son loves to buy his own things now.  Today he picked up a box of legos and offered the lady .25 cents, she happily said yes!  He did the same for an iron man puzzle that was still sealed in plastic.

One of my favorite scores today were 2 Melissa and Doug magnet puzzles.  I love these!  We have several of them. One is a Bride and Groom and one is a King and Queen!  These are $30 each on Amazon!  I paid just 2 buck each!

The sale also had clothing and shoes, fill a bag for 2 bucks!  HOLY HOT DEAL!

I packed 2 bags!  One of was full of clothing for my younger girls and a pair of shoes .. the other bag was for  my older girls, I will show you that soon (watch for details on back to school shopping on a budget!) 

Not pictured are a new bike for my son and a super cute HUGE art easel!  Both are getting a make over!

I spent $42 bucks.  $10 I will get back when I deliver the bread maker :) 

The yard sale at the Church was to raise money for a group called "Let Them LOL" and they are raising money to dig wells in Africa to provide fresh water.  What could be better then fresh water??  My total at their sale was just 10 bucks .. but I paid $20.  Think of all the sources of fresh water you have in your house, we have 5 (kitchen sink, bathroom sink, shower, toilet (cleaner then people in Africa!) our hose) There are thousands around the world who walk MILES and carry 40+ pounds of water miles back .. daily!  

Did you score any deals today?? 

Thrifty Friday

I went to 1 yard sale today ... 1 quick one!  June is a very  busy month for me .. this might be the only one I stop at all month!

She had BINS of amazing clothing.  Gap, Carters, Old Navy and Gymboree, great condition ..

just a buck a piece! 

8 pairs of zip-up feetie jammies (all Carters)

3 pairs of pants

2 pairs of shorts

5 shirts

2 skirts

6 dresses

1 pair of cute white snow boots

It was about 1:45 and her sale was sent to end at 2.  I offered her 20 bucks for the bag and she said yes!

I ended up paying just $.74 cents an item!  WOW!  

The apple peeler in the back I picked up last week for 5 bucks and forgot about it!  As with the navy blue and white stripped shower curtain for just 2 bucks.  Shower curtains are great for fabric because they are large.  This fabric will be an accent color in my master bedroom make over! 

Row Row Row your boat .. gently through our basement.

I wish I was joking.  Our basement flooded.  Our finished family room / play room / husbands office flooded.  

Judging by the water mark on the wall I am guessing around 3 inches of water entered our basement at some point Saturday night while we slept .. while a storm raged on outside.  Sunday morning when I stepped off the last step into the basement and the water squished between my toes I knew it was all over.. 

We spent the better part of 8 hours moving everything up stairs.  EVERYTHING.  800 sqft of living space worth of stuff .. crammed into my tiny living room! 

The best news is that I was a good mama the night of the flood .. and I had picked up the basement!  So the loss was minimal!!

The carpet and walls are a total loss, way to much water damage.  If this ever happens to you ... relax, dont panic.  Pick up anything off the floor that is being damaged!  Remember plastic, tubs and things safely on shelves ARE NOT BEING DAMAGED, look for wooden, paper, stray items on the floor, electronics .. that sort of thing!

Once the first wave of panic is over ... call your insurance company!  We use Nationwide and they have always been super helpful! (No they did not ask me to say anything nice about them .. my opinions are mine)  We were told we could remove everything from the house and huck it in the yard and they would take pictures the following day.  

After the adjuster came to measure, snap pictures and talk to us we were given the green light for demo.

Our basement was nothing special .. Berber carpet and paneling on the walls. See the water line?  Lucky you this is not a smelling blog .. because trust me, it was bad.  

(this is rain water back up that flooded, NOT dukie water. Yes I said dukie.) 

When you file an insurance claim you are given x amount for the damage to your house and x amount for damaged stuff.   We already know we will receive $5000 for the house damage, that's the carpet and walls.  Our insurance guy will cap the house repairs at 5k because over that and our mortgage holder would need to do their own inspection to check the structural integrity of our house .. which is totally not needed.  Oh-. and this only works if you have homeowners insurance!  And if you carry "storm sewer back up" insurance!  And if you actually carry enough insurance!!  So check your policy!  We were smart .. we are, maybe even slightly over insured. 

Lets talk demo.  I had never removed carpet before .. and its not that hard!  I picked up a carpet knife (basically a box cutter with a special angel to the handle and a blade that is sharp on all sides) a roll of duct tape and some PINK work gloves!  Or glubs as my daughter calls them. 

Check with your local trash removal company for how they want you to throw away carpet.  Ours wants us in no less then 4 feet wide sections, tightly rolled and taped or tied shut.  Stacked on the curb for trash day. Easy peasy!  The carpet knife made short work of the carpet!  I just sliced down the carpet at around the 4 foot mark from wall to wall.  I went IN the direction of the grain of the carpet.  Once it was cut I peeled back the edge and started to roll.  

Once I had a roll I taped it together and my sweet husband threw them outside!  They were water logged and heavy .. HEAVY .. and drippy.. and they smelled .. UGH.  I removed the carpet pad in the same way.  We were soooooooooo lucky .. the guys who installed this carpet before we bought the house .. they were kind enough to use about 20 staples to hold down the carpet pad.  That's it, just 20.  In the whole 20x15 foot basement .. 20 staples!  It took me about 3 hours to move all the carpet and stack it on the curb!  

We were also lucky to find this fabulous tile under our carpet!  Gorgeous I know!  Really though .. its ugly asbestos tile, glued to the concrete sub-floor .. but handles water VERY well .. so this tile was able to dry and we don't have to mess with the sub-floor or any other sort of vapor barrier!  Which means we can re-carpet right over the top! See what piece of wood next to the wall?  That's a carpet tac strip, it held the carpet in place!  I used a crow bar to pry it up and in about 10 minutes the whole room was smooth and clean and ready for new flooring! 

Next step - removing the wet paneling!

These are the parties I link to each week!  Check them out. 

Monday: Alderberry Hill, Etcetorize, The Gunny Sack, The Dedicated House, Adventures of a DIY Mom, Home Stories A to Z, Tip Junkie, Making the World Cuter, The Girl Creative, Mad in Crafts, Skip to My Lou, C.R.A.F.T., Keeping it Simple, Me and my Boys, Made By You Mondays, Its So Very Cheri, Craft-O-Maniac, Lines Across, Polish The Stars,

Tuesday: Back 4 Seconds, A Diamond in the Stuff, Real Housewives of Riverton, Elizabeth & Co, Romance on a Dime, The NY Melrose Family, Simply Done Wright, The DIY Dreamer, Coastal Charm, Creating a House of Grace, Today's Creative Blog, Not JUST a Housewife, Just a Girl, Chef in Training, Sugarbee Crafts, Bowl Full of Lemons

Wednesday: Polkadots on Parade, Southern Lovely, We Like To Learn As We Go, The Shabby Creek Cottage

Thursday: Adorned From Above, At The Picket Fence, Live Laugh Rowe, A Glimpse Inside, Seven Alive, 52 Mantles, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Bloom Designs, House of Hepworths, Stone Gable

Friday: Shaken Togerher, Simply Designing, 504 Main, Redoux Interiors, Raising Oranges, Craftionary, Simply Sweet Home, The Grant Life, Just Us Four, Thrifty Handmade Days, Tatertots & Jello, My Romantic Home

Saturday: Too Much Time On My Hands, Tutus and Tea Parties, Classy Clutter, Its Overflowing

Sunday: Nifty Thrifty Things, Flamingo Toes, Twigg Studios, C.R.A.F.T., My 1929 Charmer, Jam's Corner, Brassy Apple, Sew Chatty

Thrifty Friday

Today was an EPIC yard sale day ... I left my house at 8 am and returned home at 3:30 having spent $87 dollars .. more then I have ever spent on one day before!

There was a town wide sale!  And several block sales!  And it was my lucky day to hit sales with items I needed!

I picked up 2 pairs of shorts, 1 skirt, 15 shirts, 4 pair of shoes and 2 bathing suits for my oldest daughters.  I paid $18.00 for all of it! That's just $.75 cents each! It will all be put away for the fall!

I also found 9 pairs of jeans that will fit my oldest in 2 years, they are all from Macy's and I paid just $5.00 for all 9 pairs or $.61 cents each .. to good to pass up!! 

I found a coffee pot for MOPS, 5 bucks.

Another 4 frames for my mirror and frame wall $2.00 total.

The pink Crocs were .50 cents and fit my daughter now.

The black sandles are to big for her but super cute and in great shape!  They are American Eagle and I paid $.75 cents! 

I scored a bag of plastic heart bracelets which my 3 year old daughter paid for her self, just .25 cents!

Oh, that big dinosaur made my only son happy!  Another .25 cents well spent!

The set of Batman board books were .50 cents for all 4.  These will be stocking stuffers this year as we will be learning to read by then. 

The box on the right .. its a huge Erector set!  My husband and son are going to have hours and hours of fun with it!  I spent $5.00 on it, well under retail .. and it was bought at a yard sale raising money for cancer research .. win win!

My next score is my favorite!  June and I passed this yard and stopped to look .. she wanted this entertainment center but had no room for it .. the seller was ready to deal and when he said $50 bucks I said YES!    I was super excited to bring it home and fill it with kids toys in the basement ... After my husband came to pick it up, packed it up, started to drive away, almost lost it, unloaded it, reloaded it, drove home, drug it inside the house (after lining it up for me to snap this picture, such a good man!) and having the middle not fit through the door, and taking 4 doors off the hinges, and then taking it apart and putting it back together in our basement ... 5 hours later its all set up and looking gorgeous! 

And as I mentioned .. it was a whomping 50 bucks.  A STEAL! 

I spent $87.50 !!  But the entertainment center alone was at least $400 bucks new .. 

so I am pretty stinking happy!!  

Did you shop today?? What did you find?!?!

Thrift Store Shoes - yes or no? And how to clean'm up!

Wednesdays are half price day at our local Salvation Army.  Wednesdays are also my "run around out of the house day" so I try and swing by.  I did not have a lot of time today when I stopped so I just peeked at shoes and house wares.  

I scored this cute mirror for 6 bucks.  I saw this on Pinterest the other day and now I want it in my master bedroom! (Starting that make over soon!!)

I found a pair is darn near new New Balance tennis shoes that will fit my oldest in the fall for school!  I am sure these shoes were at least $40 bucks  new .. maybe even $60.  They were 50% off which made them just $2.50! 

My daughter was with me and spotted those pink slippers ... for .99 they came home with us!  They still had the tags on them for $19.99

I spotted these super cute "Converse" look a likes from Air Walk, again 50% off which made then $1.50.  They were dirty but hardly worn.  They fit one of my daughters just right so I decided to see if I could brighten the white a little.  I used some BarKeeprsFriend (The same stuff that whitens my kitchen sink!) and spent about 5 seconds rubbing some on the toe of the shoes.  Check it out! I went with BarKeepersFriend because I knew it would whiten .. and unlike bleach would not hurt the black part of the shoes.  

I was so surprised in fact at how white they got .. I ran to snag another pair or shoes to clean!  These were my 3rd daughters white sandles .. and now they are waiting to become my 4th daughters .. but little A did a number on them and they were looking pretty grimy.  The shoe on the right, duh, is the clean one!   Took about 30 seconds worth of scrubbing .. easy peasy!  These are Stride Rite shoes and still in great shape since little A only wore them for Church 1 summer.. I am glad the baby can wear them next! 

Have you ever seen one of those "never buy this at a garage sale" lists ... well on a recent list of 21 items I routinely buy 11 of the items!   There are no-brainers .. like mattresses!  OMG .. no. But cookware?  I buy it! Kids toys?  I buy it! Kids shoes?  I buy it .. sometimes!

There is some evidence to not buy used kids shoes .. like a well worn shoe "forms" to the foot of the wearer - so putting it on my child's foot causes walking problems because their foot is formed differently.  I dont buy "worn" shoes .. as in shoes that are so worn its very evident.  Soles are worn down, shoes are torn or ripped, they smell, the insides have a "foot" mark from the last wearer, all of those I pass up.  Quite often I find NEW or worn just a few time pairs of shoes in thrift stores and garage sales .. those I buy.  A quick wash and they are good as new!

These are the parties I link to each week!  Check them out. 

Monday: Alderberry Hill, Etcetorize, The Gunny Sack, The Dedicated House, Adventures of a DIY Mom, Home Stories A to Z, Tip Junkie, Making the World Cuter, The Girl Creative, Mad in Crafts, Skip to My Lou, C.R.A.F.T., Keeping it Simple, Me and my Boys, Made By You Mondays, Its So Very Cheri, Craft-O-Maniac, Lines Across, Polish The Stars,

Tuesday: Back 4 Seconds, A Diamond in the Stuff, Real Housewives of Riverton, Elizabeth & Co, Romance on a Dime, The NY Melrose Family, Simply Done Wright, The DIY Dreamer, Coastal Charm, Creating a House of Grace, Today's Creative Blog, Not JUST a Housewife, Just a Girl, Chef in Training, Sugarbee Crafts, Bowl Full of Lemons

Wednesday: Polkadots on Parade, Southern Lovely, We Like To Learn As We Go, The Shabby Creek Cottage

Thursday: Adorned From Above, At The Picket Fence, Live Laugh Rowe, A Glimpse Inside, Seven Alive, 52 Mantles, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Bloom Designs, House of Hepworths, Stone Gable

Friday: Shaken Togerher, Simply Designing, 504 Main, Redoux Interiors, Raising Oranges, Craftionary, Simply Sweet Home, The Grant Life, Just Us Four, Thrifty Handmade Days, Tatertots & Jello, My Romantic Home

Saturday: Too Much Time On My Hands, Tutus and Tea Parties, Classy Clutter, Its Overflowing

Sunday: Nifty Thrifty Things, Flamingo Toes, Twigg Studios, C.R.A.F.T., My 1929 Charmer, Jam's Corner, Brassy Apple, Sew Chatty

Stained something other then my Labor Day white tee-shirt

Back to this table..

When we last left off it looked like this.

I will admit having all that bare wood showing made me smile .. it took a lot of work to get it to this point!

I knew I wanted to stain it a nice dark color, something like Dark Walnut from Minwax to help off set the bright white of the legs and benches. 

I picked up this tiny can, the larger can of that color was sold out, for 4 bucks at Lowe's.  I already had hundreds of these foam brushes on hand and the cloth is an old burp rag. 

I read lots of online help about staining and I read the can .. seamed pretty straight forward.  Paint on, wait, wipe off. 

I started with just one corner . if I hated it or did something wrong I wanted to have to sand the lease amount of table!   The instructions said to let it sit 15 minutes .. but not so long it dried.  Well after 3 minutes it was drying!!  So I was only able to work in small sections like this, paint on, blink a few times, rub off!

The trick I learned was to watch the seams .. don't stain over something already stained because the overlap will end up darker.  I think if you look at the table as a whole you can see my seams .. but its not that noticeable  maybe I am the only one who can even see it because I know where it is. 

And here she is all stained! 

The drying time says 8 hours.

I left the table inside until the following morning and then it sat in the hot sun for another 3 hours so I was pretty sure it was dry!

This is Poly, shes about to become my new best friend.  She promises to protest, keep shiny, make it easy to clean and look gorgeous for years to come!  I also splurged for a set of Purdy Brushes.  I am using a satin finish poly because .. well because I wanted to. 

The instructions on the poly are pretty clear, paint on, wait 2 hours, lightly sand, do it again, and again, and again, and again .. between 3 and 5 times. I planned on 5 coats, one per child ... seamed like a good plan. 

Each coat took just 10 minutes to apply.  Minus the wait time this step took maybe an hour. 

And here she is!

Up next??  Paint and fabric!! I will say I am growing more and more in love with this table as I go! 

Thrifty Friday

Another fabulous day to yard sale!  This week I went with a sweet friend of mine (and her non english speaking mother in law .. so there was lots of smiling and nodding) 

Check out my goodies!

* 5 stainless steal waterbottles! .50 cents each, retail for $5.00 each on Amazon

* 2 cute mini picture frames, .50 each, watch for these in an upcoming craft project for MOPS! 

* 4 brooches, I will turn these into hair clips for my girls, .50 each

* Purple Robeez I paid just $1.00, retail for at least $25

* Dolly and Me dress size 3T $2.00, tags still attached say $24.99 

* Gap Baby purple blazer, super cute!! .50 cents, retails for around $30.00

* 4 Carters 2T shirts, paid .50 cents each, retails for around $5.00 each on sale

* 2 Carters zip up footie jammies, paid .50 each, retails for around $8.50 each on sale

* 2 packs of 12x12 white craft paper for the kids $1.50 total

* Large 2.5 foot circle lazy susan not pictured .. watch for a make over on it soon! $10.00

And these ... vintage Lincoln Logs!  In their original boxes!!

I started to count them, there are at least 600 wooden pieces!

I paid just $5.00 !!  Really.. an awesome deal! I am putting them away for my son for Christmas! 

One can says it retails for $1.00 the other two said $1.50 (I am guessing they are circa 1970's ish) but today I would guess them to be worth at least $100 bucks!  Even these brand new sets only have 80-150 pieces in them for $30 - $100 bucks. 

I spent $30 even but I would guess the retail value to be around $250 bucks!  

Help me pick a neutral fabric!

As you know I am refinishing my first ever piece of furniture (although it may very well be my last!)

I am torn on what to do with this table once its done.  My plan was to refinish it and sell it on Craigs List "flip it" if you will.  But it has been so much work .. and its so stinking cute I want to keep it!  I don't really have the space for it though.  Our house is tiny, and there are 7 of us.  I would love to put it in the basement and use it as a craft table until the day we move and it can live in my eat in kitchen. 

But, since I am working to de-clutter my house I know I should sell it. 

So, that brings me to which fabric I should use on the seats!  I want something "in" and "trendy" so it sells fast.  I also want something neutral so it will appeal to more buyers.  And I plan on using outdoor fabric so its wipe-able since it will be eaten on. 

The top will be dark walnut by Minwax.

And the bottom legs and chairs and benches will be glossy white. 

Here are the choices I am in love with .. help me pick!

Because of the white and dark wood stain I think something in blue would be good .. navy/teal/royal.  Grey is really in right now.  But I love that green one!!

Any thoughts??  Comment and vote 1-9

Monday: Alderberry Hill, Etcetorize, The Gunny Sack, The Dedicated House, Adventures of a DIY Mom, Home Stories A to Z, Tip Junkie, Making the World Cuter, The Girl Creative, Mad in Crafts, Skip to My Lou, C.R.A.F.T., Keeping it Simple, Me and my Boys, Made By You Mondays, Its So Very Cheri, Craft-O-Maniac, Lines Across, Polish The Stars,

Tuesday: Back 4 Seconds, A Diamond in the Stuff, Real Housewives of Riverton, Elizabeth & Co, Romance on a Dime, The NY Melrose Family, Simply Done Wright, The DIY Dreamer, Coastal Charm, Creating a House of Grace, Today's Creative Blog, Not JUST a Housewife, Just a Girl, Chef in Training, Sugarbee Crafts, Bowl Full of Lemons

Wednesday: Polkadots on Parade, Southern Lovely, We Like To Learn As We Go, The Shabby Creek Cottage

Thursday: Adorned From Above, At The Picket Fence, Live Laugh Rowe, A Glimpse Inside, Seven Alive, 52 Mantles, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Bloom Designs, House of Hepworths, Momnivores Dilemma, Stone Gable

Friday: Shaken Togerher, Simply Designing, 504 Main, Redoux Interiors, Raising Oranges, Craftionary, Simply Sweet Home, The Grant Life, Just Us Four, Thrifty Handmade Days, Tatertots & Jello, My Romantic Home

Saturday: Too Much Time On My Hands, Tutus and Tea Parties, Classy Clutter, Its Overflowing

Sunday: Nifty Thrifty Things, Flamingo Toes, Twigg Studios, C.R.A.F.T., My 1929 Charmer, Jam's Corner, Brassy Apple, Sew Chatty

Sanding, Stripping and Staining ... Oh My!

Last week while out visiting garage sales a friend of mine spotted this table.  She sent me a text and a picture and asked if I wanted it .. I screamed YES! 

The table top is almost 36x48 with 2 benches and 2 chairs not to mention super cute and full of potential! 

As it turns out its to small for my dining room .. but I love a good project so I planned on staining the top, painting the rest and recovering the benches and chairs. 

My first step was to pull the old fabric off ... you see this table belonged to Smokey the Grandma who kept it in her basement.  After throwing away what ended up being 4 layers of fabric and enough staples to match our nations debt, I was ready to sand, paint and stain!  Too bad it started snowing, in May.

So I stacked it all up and waited for nicer weather. 

Warmer weather came in the form of a 50 degree day, rather then 37 degrees.  I lugged my table top outside and grabbed my husbands sander and went to work!

I figured a quick 15 minutes with this thing and my table would be topless and ready for stain!  Easy-peasy. 

30 minutes later this was as far as I had gotten.

Maybe I should just paint the table white??

There were also 2 coffee rings on the table ... lets sand those off next .. maybe seeing the rings disappear will bring me the instant gratification I need to keep sanding the rest!

Another 20 minutes later ... 

That was enough to call it quits for the night!

Maybe I can Pin something that will help!  After an hour on Pinterest and countless "refinish a table in one hour with NO sanding" pins I was ready to paint the stupid thing white and walk away!

Actually Pinterest did help, it was there I discovered my problem.  220.  I was trying to sand off layers of poly and stain with 220 grit sand paper.  That's like trying to dry concrete with my hair dryer, sure its blowing .. but its not doing a dang thing! 

A quick hop over to Valu and I came home with this .. my new best friend!

60 grit "paint stripping" sand paper!  Surely this would work!

Another 45 minutes later it was clear, Surely should not be giving DIY advice. 

It was then I decided I would stop crying over sawdust and do the only right thing in this situation.  Hire a stripper. 

I quickly sprayed the whole can on my table top and set a timer for 15 minutes to allow her to work her magic.

The left side had been scraped, the right side not .. Although it does not look different I felt something had worked since the once clear stripper was now a nasty brownish orangish color as it piled up on my scraper. 

I finished scrapping the whole table top and wiped off the extra and allowed the table to dry .. maybe now it will be easier to sand??

I picked up the sander and started back at it.  Easier??  No.

This is after another hour ... Still not done.  If I thought I could do it without breaking my toes .. I would drop kick this table to the other side of my yard!  What am I doing wrong?!?!?!  I guess I should just suck it up and keep sanding ... but there really has to be an easier way!  I must have missed a step somewhere!! 

Finished ...  Lets not ever talk about this experience again! 

Up next ... stain, paint, new fabric.  Then I have to decide if I am going to keep it or sell it! 

Yard sale tips and tricks!

I talk a lot about garage sales and scoring great deals and some of you asked for more details!

I find my sales through Craigs List .  I don't get the weekly newspaper and I find their online version hard to use.  

When you log into Craigs List you pick your city and right in the middle is a section listed as "for sale" and within that list you will find "Garage Sale"

I log in Thursday night to gather my addresses.  I typically only scan the first 2 or 3 pages.  

First thing I look at is where the sale is!  No point in reading whats being sold and getting excited for a sale that is an hour away!! CL is great in that each listing has a simple title and in these things ---> (    )  the city is listed. 

When I spot one near enough to me I click on it.  Hopefully they have some sort of a list of whats for sale .. if not I tend to skip them.  I am not looking for sales with antiques, records, tools, clothing for small dogs (no joke) or car parts.  I am looking for sales that say things like "toys, children's clothing size xx to xx, household" those sort of things.   

I also look for block sales, neighborhood sales, street sales, multi family sales, larger sales with more stuff!  Gas is expensive .. today it was $3.79.  If I can find a larger sale with more stuff its worth the gas money to get there and back because I stand more of a chance of finding something I need. 

Oh, another big tip - WATCH THE SALE DATES!! People post their sales on CL weeks in advance so even though you see the ad today the sale might be next month.  I also only yard sale on Fridays so make sure the sale starts Friday rather then Saturday (and lots and lots do)

Once I have my list all set I have 1 more super great tip that helps me save even more money .. its this website.  Find The Best Route.com.  You enter all the addresses you want to go to, up to 25, enter your address as the start and finish location and click go.  Within seconds you have turn by turn directions to each one of your sales following either "fastest time" or "shortest distance"  As I said before, gas is expensive!  Driving in circles wastes time and money!  I love this website because it keeps me from wasting gas. 

I often see signs for sales while I am out .. rarely will I stop.  Signs are often weeks old and the sale is long over.  Without knowing whats for sale I risk ending up at a sale with nothing for me wasting time and gas.  If the sale is right there and I can see it out my window I "slow down" and window shop if something catches my eye but this only applies to sales I drive past (not a sign for a sale that I would have to turn to get to) 

Friday morning I head out with my map, snacks for the kids, cash and a smile!

I have a few tips to help save a few bucks when shopping .. I would think most of these tips would be common sense but in this day and age it turns out they are not. 

- Be NICE.  You are walking into someone else's space! Smile as you walk up their driveway. I always spot the seller fast (typically the women standing there with a fanny pack or apron!) and say Good Morning! Being nice right off the bat will most likely cause her to be nice back .. more open to haggle. 

- Leave the sale as you found it.  If they have clothing for sale don't riffle through checking sizes and leave it all unfolded in a heap. If  you pick something up and decide you don't want it, put it back where you found it.  

- Be respectful of the homeowners house.  Just today  saw someone cut through a yard to get to the sale next door and trampled their bulbs, I am hoping he just did not see them.  Watch their flower beds, try not to  walk through the yard, don't snoop in the garage where things are not for sale.  I had this happen today .. knocked my socks off .. DON'T SMOKE IN THEIR DRIVEWAY!!! Seriously people. 

So now you have picked a house, smiled and said good morning, picked up a few things you want and its time to check out.

- I listen to the seller and other buyers for a few minutes while I shop before I check out (My sweet friend Kristy taught me this trick) If another buyer tries for a lower price and is told no I know trying for a better deal for me may not work.  If another buyer haggles and wins there is a pretty good chance I can offer less and be told sure also! 

- If something is an amazing deal already, like these brand new shoes for 25 cents and the others for just 1 dollar I wont haggle!  Take the good deal they are offering and be happy, don't be greedy/to cheap. 

- Try "grouping" or "bundling"  things together and offering just slightly lower.  A good example of this would be 2 items both listed at $3.00 bucks, I would offer $5.00 for both.  I find this works pretty good. 

- If someone is selling an item for say $50 .. don't low ball it and offer $20.  Insulting the seller will always result in a NO.  

- Always buy the lemonade!  We were all children once and tried to sell kool-aid on the side of the road, remember how it felt to be passed by??  Whats .50 cents here and there to make a kid smile.  Buy it! 

- If you are able to score a lower price, great!  Make sure you have smaller bills with you!  Asking of they will take $12 rather then $15 and they say yes and you pay with a $20 ... I personally think its rude. To me its like saying "I had the money to pay your price but still offered less" Maybe sellers don't care but I do.  I try and pay with the actual amount needed so they don't know I have a pocket full of cash. 

- Lastly, whether you buy something or not .. say good bye!  I always leave saying "good luck today!" to the seller.  

I know this was a lot of reading ... with no awesome picture .. but I hope it was helpful!