It's That Time of Year!

As the weather has grown warmer the past few weeks, I've been thinking about my favorite summer pasttime... RUMMAGING. (Since I have become a Dairy State dweller, I have referred to it as rummaging, but have previously referred to yard sale-ng, garage sale-ing, even have gone so far as garbage picking.)

I have started making a list of specific things that I would like to find. So far I have 3 CD wallets (2 for Son and 1 for me... son has music cds and mine cd book is way too big to keep in the car), Son is needing a portable CD player (will buy used if I find a nice one), Son needs a few summer items, and I will start looking for winter items for him as well, including coats, boots and snowpants, and living room furniture.

The following things, I always keep my eye out for:

Home Decor: As I look around my house, there is only one thing on my walls that I have purchased at a store. That item I purchased on clearance at about $2. Even the paint that is on my bathroom walls was purchased at a yard sale for $2.
In the past, I have bought everything I "liked". There is a lot of cute stuff to be had. However, when I get it home, it doesn't have a home. So, my thinking has changed on this. It must be an item that I love and it must come home to a specific spot. I have furnished many of my own rummage sales with items I didn't really need. (Good news is: I usually have gotton what I paid for it back, it just cost me the effort of moving it from one house to another.)

Kitchen Gadgets & Accesories: This is a very inexpensive way to try out kitchen gadgets that you don't know if you will like. Example: Silicone baking pans. A few years ago these were all the rage (well, according to my mom). I picked up a brand new boxed set for $1. It had a square pan, a muffin pan, a round pan and a hot pad (I think). I tried them, discovered  I could never get it clean and promptly put it a "future yard sale" box. I got my buck back and kept the hot pad.

Clothes for my family and friends with kids: Husband does construction and comes home covered in whatever "goo" he was working with that day. Often I will find the comfortable "henley type" shirts he likes for a quarter to 50 cents. He can wear them till they're too gross, then turn them into rags and we are not out any money. I find most of our everyday clothes at yard sales. I am not the most graceful person and I like to cook and bake. I am not too sad when my shirts get stained up because I usually pay less than $1 for them. Son grows out of his clothes too fast to justify paying new clothes prices for them. Also, I usually have way better luck at yard sales for his clothes than consignment shops or other stores that buy used clothes to sell. I find their prices are way too much. (I can find brand new stuff on clearance racks at a store for less.)

Educational Toys and Books: Son has enough toys, thanks to birthdays and Christmas and Grandmas' just becauses. I look for educational things he can learn with. We take a lot of road trips. Last year, I found a book reader with 9 books included in perfect shape for $5. That keeps him entertained for a couple hours and was completely worth the $5. I checked out the price of these new. What we got for $5 would have cost at least $50 new.

Paperback Books: I never ever buy new books. I never pay more than a quarter. It's a revolving system. I'll pick up a book for a quarter, read it and put it in my next sale for a quarter. So I read the book for free! (And don't have to worry about getting it back to the library on time.)

Now, where do I get my "rummaging" money? Husband hates to carry change in his pocket, so every night when he comes home, he dumps it in a dish I strategically placed on his dresser. During off season times, all this change goes in Son's bank account. During rummage season, I dig out all the quarters (which surprisingly there are a lot of) and put them in my "yard sale fund" (which is a little coin purse I found at a... you guessed it... rummage sale!) I usually have $10-$15 in my yard sale fund on a weekly basis. When that is gone, I am done and that's that. Occasionally, I will add any singles I have in my wallet to sweeten the pot. If the item I want is more than what I have in my "fund", then it's probably something I should ask Husband about before I buy anyway.

How do I do it? On Wednesday I start looking at the yard sale ads.(My paper posts them online on their website, so I just print those listings to take with me) Most sales are Friday and Saturday. Some, however start as early as Wednesday. I try to go to the first day of the sale, because, of course, that is when the selection is best. I color code the listings of the sales I definately want to check out. Red for Thursday, Yellow for Friday, Blue for Saturday.... I try to number them in the order of their location so I'm not back tracking all over town. A lot of yard sales aren't advertised in the paper, however, I usually stop at those anyway, because, you never know.... :-)

On Thursdays and Fridays ( my favorite days to go) I get myself and Son up early (yes, he loves to go too!), pack some snacks and water, grab my ads, a couple bags or a box and go.
The Word of God says that everything we set out hands to do is blessed. So, I pray and ask God to help me find good deals and to give me wisdom on things to purchase.

Some general tips:
1. Don't be afraid to negotiate. I rarely pay what's on the sticker, especially for larger items. Clothing you can usually find relatively inexpensive. A lot of times if you buy several clothing items, they will make a deal. However, on the other hand, if they won't take what I want to pay, I have been known to put it back on the table and leave. If they want to get rid of it bad enough, they will compromise. Sometimes, they get a little huffy with me but that's okay. I'm not being unreasonable. (Sidebar: My BIGGEST rummage sale pet peeve: "Well, I paid X number of dollars for it new." My response: I don't care. That's your problem you paid too much for it.... it's worth this much to me!.... I don't usually say that out loud, but just calmly put it back on the table and leave...)
2. Make sure it works before you buy it. Ask them to plug it in if it's electronic. Let your kid play with it a few minutes, with supervision, of course.
3. Don't get sucked in to "the deal"! Meaning, don't buy something because it seems like such a good buy if you don't have a specific purpose for it. If it seems too good to be true, then it probably is.
4. Be aware of neighborhoods. I like to stick to my neighborhood or ones similar to it. They usually have the same expectations of things that I do and the prices are what I want to pay. When I go to sales in "wealthier" areas, the prices tend to be inflated. (See above pet peeve)
5. Save time by going to block or city wide sales. I LOVE THESE. I drag out the wagon or stroller, park the car and walk as much as possible. Sometimes, I will just go to one city wide sale and come home with a trunk load for $10. And it only took a couple hours. If I buy something that I can't carry, they will usually let me leave it there and I can come back with the car later.

So, to encourage you. Part of being a help-meet to your husband is being wise with your money. Spend as little as you need to for the things your family needs. My husband is proud of my shopping "habits". You don't have to have brand new things to have nice things. It takes a little extra effort, but make the process fun and you will have fun and make your husband proud and look good too!