My Vintage Spice Tin Collection

I went to an indoor moving sale today. This was the second weekend of it and I'm kicking myself that I didn't go last Saturday (when I could have gone by myself without Jacob). But I went today, and had Jacob with me.

I bought the above tins to add to my kitchen spice tin collection. I paid $1 for all of them. I thought it was strange that these vintage spice and cocoa tins were still in the pantry being used. The moving sale was in a town home community that is probably only 10 years old so it wasn't even in a old house either. So that means this person who had these tins moved them from their last home. It just surprises me that someone would be using spices in their pantry with a date of 08APR79 marked on them.

These little spice tins are one of the few things I still collect. I justify it because they are small. Here's the rest of my collection. I don't know where I will put the ones I got today. I need to find a new home (or sell) the old Pillsbury cookie jar. I am glad I don't have a newer style kitchen with the tall 42" cabinets, if I did, it would cut down on my ability to display my clutter. I should find a better way to display them.

Rare Friday Yardsale

Yardsale season really hasn't started up around here but I did see an ad today for a rare Friday/Saturday yardsale. On paper, the ad looked like it would be good. In reality, it wasn't. Well anyway, there wasn't anything there that I needed to buy. It appeared that a majority of the stuff came from clearance or sale items at retail stores and then marked up to normal retail prices. For instance, they had a bunch of back-to-school items that I know Office Depot sold for .05 each (I know because I bought the exact same stuff at Office Depot). Things like erasers, rulers, protractors were .05 each during the Office Depot sale, but at this yardsale they were marked .75 each.

The yardsale was in a pre-fab 2 car garage that was set up like a store. Here's a pic of some of the stuff that I did not buy



Pics were taken with my cellphone so tonight when I was downloading the pics, I thought I would share a pic of one of the VV stores that I go to. A stealth thrift store, if you will. I guess they haven't gotten the word that businesses sometimes benefit from having a sign out front.






Oh and speaking of stuff I didn't buy, here is more stuff that I didn't buy at VV. The two little golden shot glass thingies are from Royal Caribbean cruise line. While onboard, they sell for $5.95 each plus 15% gratuity and come with a shot of something and you get to keep the shot glass. And then you pack it in your suitcase, take it home and then donate it to a thrift. Ok, I won't lie, I do already have one at home that I am keeping as a "souvenir" otherwise I may have bought them. The one I have I got free, when someone onboard wasn't going to keep it (they just wanted the drink).

And I didn't buy the opened contact lens cleaner either.

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I learned something today that I am a little miffed about the Post Office. I mailed something today using a small manila envelope with a metal clasp closure and the PO clerk said it would be an additional .20 because the metal clasp made the envelope "non-machinable". So I took the metal clasp off and didn't have to pay the extra .20 I told the clerk I've been using the same envelopes forever and she said the PO is starting to crack down on the metal clasps. Sheesh - who would know that?

Thrift Store Buys and I have a Smart Mouth

I did some thrift store buying yesterday and today. And today I also did some other bargain shopping at retail stores.

The above is what I bought yesterday. Most expensive thing was the $2 huge new bottle of Gazillion bubbles. I am putting it away for Jacob's birthday. The smurf mug and 20Q game were .25 each. And the vintage ketchup & mustard squeeze bottles were .25 for the pair. I won't use them of course, but bought them for the retro graphics.

Then today I hit 3 thrifts and bought all this:


Nothing was over $2. Bass shoes for Jacob $2, Dave Ramsay Financial Peace University set was $2, and the computer monitor storage thing was also $2. I already have one that I also bought at a thift, so I put this one under my printer, which already sits on a storage thing, so it creates even more storage. And you know I love storage.

I got my car's oil changed today ($19.99 special). I take my car to a place that is within walking distance of BJ's Warehouse, Staples, and Michaels. So while the oil is being changed, I do some shopping. It's not a Jiffy Lube place, so it usually takes an hour. At Staples, I saw on their clearance display, they had discounted a bunch of their office cleaners - most down to $1.50. I only bought a bottle of hand sanitizer that was reduced down to $1.50 and then I used a $1 Staples rewards buck that I had so it came to $.53 with tax. I am hoping to get a $60 rewards coupon in March.

My best retail bargain of the day was done at Walgreens. I saw that they had clearanced the SmartMouth mouthwash down to $4.19 - and I had a $4 coupon so it came to only costing .19




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And look at all these Pepsi caps I've been saving. Each code has a special code to enter on the Pepsi website for prizes etc. Well I've been saving them for months and months - I figured when I had time I would enter the codes on the pepsi website.

Well the day finally came when I had time to enter the codes. And guess what I can get with all those caps and cartons with the codes? Something really good, right? No....Nada, zip, zilch, nothing. The stupid Pepsi promo ended at 12/31/08. I figured it was like the Diet Coke Rewards where it was ongoing. I saw on the cap it said "Sweeps ends 12/31/08, but i figured it was just for the sweepstakes and not for the prizes.

Oh well, it's not like I was buying all that Diet Pepsi for the codes. It was to feed my soda addiction. Those caps only really represent a week's worth of soda anyway. haha. Yes, the caps went into the trash.

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I found out two of the concerts that will be held at the museum this year - Hank Williams Jr. and the Steve Miller Band. I will probably volunteer at both, even though I'm really not familiar with Hank Williams Jr music. I think it's old school country. I like volunteering so I get to have unlimited free soda all evening - and the free food before the concert starts. And of course for the good karma I get for donating my time to be a volunteer bartender, helping to quench the thirst of people in need of a beverage.

The Make It Fit Shimmy - LOL

This will be added to my Yardsale Humor page, but thought I would post it here until I do.

.20 JC Penneys shirt & more

Yesterday I spent the day at home, so today I wanted to shop. My day: bank to cash my $130 jewelry check, Post Office to mail an ebay package, library to see if one of Jacob's favorite Playstation games is back on the shelf (it wasn't. My library has free video game rentals, which I think is very strange, Wii, Playstation 3, Xbox 360. Not a whole lot of titles but it's free).

Then Walgreens, Food Lion, CVS, JC Penneys, Quiznos, Target, Chick-fil-a and lastly K-mart.

Before I go on about what I bought, if you have a Quiznos nearby (and a printer), go to Quiznos and sign up before it's too late to get a free small sub. Thanks to Sandi's Blog where I spotted the Free Quizno's link. Quiznos is giving away a million subs and the promo will probably be over within a day or so. The coupon is good for 5 days after you print it. So anyway, I picked up a free sub for DH to eat before work tonight. It's only a free small sub, so I'm sure that will just be considered a pre-dinner snack for him. Remember the old Quizno's ads? I miss the little weird guys, so I added a pic. Yes, I got the Quiznos sub for DH and left it in the car while I did all my other shopping and I ate at Chick-fil-a. Mmmmmm chick-fil-a. My chick-fil-a will accept expired coupons so I used one of my expired Buy a Shake ($2.89) and get a free Chicken Sandwich coupons.

Although it looks like I did a lot of shopping, not really. At Food Lion I only ran in to buy some Doritos which are Buy 1 Get 1 Free - and today was the last day of the sale. Doritos are for Jacob. At Walgreens, I bought more Pringles but this time I had coupons so they were only .35 a can. At CVS I bought 4 bottles of Centrum Kids vitamins (400 tablets) at $3.99 a bottle (on sale & with a coupon). So that will last more than a year and I made sure I bought the ones with late expiration dates. Oh and I saw that CVS's Valentine's candy went to 75% off so I bought Jacob more gumballs (.75 a package). So what that they are in Strawberry Shortcake frilly purses. Good gumballs are good gumballs regardless of the packaging. It's not like he is taking them to school. And I didn't buy a thing at Target. I went in to look at a sale item and didn't like it so didn't buy it.

I spent .20 at JC Penney's. Yep, I got another $10 off $10 coupon in the mail last week. It expires 3/3 so I wanted to use it this week. My JC Penney's is not a huge one, so my options are limited. For instance, my Penney's doesn't have a housewares section etc. It's mostly clothes. I bought one "active wear" shirt, cuz I am so active and always exercising etc. haha. On sale for $11.99. I was able to use both coupons so my grand total was .20 (I had a 15% off my entire purchase coupon from the last time I bought something AND they also took off the $10).





And lastly I did my double $2 Kmart shopping. I think they screwed up some of the the double coupons but I'm not going to worry about it. I paid $25.69 and it says I saved $32 in coupons.

Kmart Double Coupons

A pretty boring weekend here at the castle. Making stew for dinner. Had some freezer-burned stew meat from June '08 I wanted to do something with.

I found out yesterday that I'm going to have to miss one of the best yardsales of the year due to a prior commitment that I can't get out of. It's sorta like the unofficial opening of yardsale season around here. It's when the Parks & Recs Dept. holds their first yardsale of the year. It's a great sale to sell at since people are tired of winter and want to hit the yardsales. Oh well. There will be others.

I'll be making a Kmart shopping trip this week because certain stores are doubling coupons up to $2 and my store is one of them. I hate my Kmart (Kmart sucks), but I will take advantage of their coupon deals. Not all Kmarts suck, but one of them near me (there are 2) is like a trip down memory lane, feels like you have transported yourself to the 70's. And that one, of course, is the one that is doing the double coupons. The nicer - more upscale (haha) one is not.

And of course I will be doing some CVS shopping this week. They have the Centrum Nickelodeon vitamins on sale for $6.99 and I have $3 coupons. PLUS I have my extra care bucks to spend so I will stock up - reasonably - on vitamins for Jacob.

DH is working crazy hours again this week, so hopefully in the evenings I'll have time to get my butt in gear and list a ton of stuff on ebay. I need to make room for all the new junk I'll be buying at yardsales shortly.

Decluttered some Jewelry

I saw a full page ad in one of the newspapers that there was going to be a jewelry buy-back event at a local hotel today. So since I ran out of time the last time I went to one of those type events, I figured I'd give it another shot today. And I still had the jewelry sorted by what I wanted to part with. I ended up selling some of my gold jewelry that I never wear anymore for $130. I wasn't happy with what they were going to give me for the silver jewelry - practically nothing - so I kept the silver.

I probably could have gotten more for the jewelry if I had sold it as scrap gold or whatever on ebay, but I don't have a scale that weighs grams etc and I don't have a gold jewelry testing kit. I have a regular digital postal scale that weighs ounces but not a scale that is that precise. I'm not a jewelry expert so I don't feel like selling that sort of thing on ebay. It's a lot easier to make a quick nickle than a slow dime.

Also, I plan on decluttering all the old Nintendo and Gameboy games that I've bought cheap at yardsales and bring them to a new Play N Trade store that opened up in beautiful downtown Lusby. I'll get a store credit so I can see if I can get a "free" Nintendo DS for Jacob for his birthday which is coming up in March. I know he would like the Nintendo DS a lot more than the thing I have put away for his birthday. I bought him a fake hamster that runs on a wheel. I swear when I saw it, I was hypnotically entranced by it and had to buy it. I told myself it would make a good gift for Jacob, even though I'm the one who really wants it. (I got it at a Cracker Barrel when I was in NY the last time).

Speaking of beautiful downtown Lusby (nope, that's not it in the above pic), I saw that the new gas station opened today. It's part of a Giant grocery store so I think there is going to be some sort of deal where you get a discount on gas based on how much stuff you have bought at the grocery store. I will have to find out how it works.

In case you are wondering about the above pic - that is where were are going on vacation later sometime this year. I recently signed up for their newsletter and they had the pic in the it. We are staying in a condo above some stores. Unfortunately they are not thrift stores. It should be interesting. Not going for a while though.

Well Hello King David....and your twin

DH is working crazy hours for the next few weeks. He was off yesterday so that put a crimp in my thrift shopping for the day. We had lunch at Ruby Tuesday - a coupon came in the newspaper the other day - Buy 1 entree, Get 1 Free. We both like Ruby Tuesday. And as it turned out, I also got an email from Ruby Tuesday (I'm on their email newsletter list) so I have plenty more of the coupons if we go again.

Today I went to Smile I bought the above Michelangelo's Statue of David switchplate cover for .50. I also bought this Mickey Mouse back-scratcher ($1.50). I used to have one when I was a kid, but I don't know what happened to it. Maybe I sold it at a yardsale? I don't remember.



Then afterwards I went to Walgreens & CVS. Walgreens has had their Valentine's candy at 75% off for a few days now. I bought Jacob a few pretty little plastic heart shaped purses full of gumballs for .62 each. Gumballs are gumballs. Once the gumballs are gone, the little plastic cases/purses will be for sale at my next yardsale.

Walgreens was clearancing out all of their Pringles potato chips at .45 a can. I stocked up. The big cans are "single serving cans" when my DH gets a hold of one. I bought 15 cans. I did leave some for others to buy, but of course the ones I left are expiring in a few months. I bought the ones that are good until 2010.

Remember a little while back, I said I had enough feminine protection to last me thru menopause? Well today I got more to add to my stockpile. I mean, if a store is going to pay me to take stuff, how can I refuse? I can't. I'm weak. At CVS, when you bought one package at $3.89 - you got a $2 Extra Care Bucks so that brought the price down to $1.89 each. And I had some Buy 1 Get 1 Free coupons.

So with my coupons, I paid $3.89 for two packages and got $4.00 in Extra Care Bucks so that is a .11 profit for 2. And I did that twice.

The Kids Essentials drinks were free. A while back there was an online promo for a free coupon if you filled out a form on their website. So I did it and my mom did it too (so she sent me her coupon). Otherwise they would have been $9.99 each. But the thing is, I will be surprised if Jacob drinks it, but I will try. I will probably end up making milk shakes with it for myself. And the little box of aspirin was free at CVS with Extra Care Bucks.

Sex and Horror and Garage Sales

I went to Smile today and made my usual loop around the store and ended up with an empty shopping basket. I can't remember the last time I went to Smile and didn't buy anything. So I did another loop around the store and stopped again at the toy section, where I found 3 things at $1 each. Vintage Booby-trap game, $1 vintage Chinese Checkers metal board and a $1 Monkees puzzle (the box says its for Monkeelovers of all ages). The box is tattered but whoever last did the puzzle laid the puzzle down nicely in the box (instead of breaking up all the pieces). I hope its all there. Will wait til Jacob goes to bed tonight and put it together.

And I bought a $1 hardcover book: Shudder Again: 22 Tales of Sex and Horror. Not because I have a thing for the whole sex/horror combination but because, sex sells (I hope). Maybe someone will pay more than $1 on ebay for it.

Ok, so I was reading it this afternoon. But not because I am into the whole sex/horror fetish - I was just doing research, I swear. I stumbled upon a tale of Sex, Horror and Garage Sales. Oye. I didn't finish it so not sure how it ends. Not good I imagine. Here is part of the story from page 9: (click on the pic to enlarge it). If you are curious as to how it all ends, feel free to bid high and bid often on my auction when I finally put it up. (And no, the guy doesn't walk up to the owls and say "That's a nice pair of hooters you got" - that would be so Dumb and Dumber.)



Yesterday I told you I went to a thrift in another part of the county about 30 miles away and today of course, I did more shopping. Look at the bags I got, red glittery shopping bag to the left is from yesterday and red glittery shopping bag to the right is from today - two different thrift stores - 30 miles apart.

Belated Valentine's Gifts

As it turned out, on Valentine's Day, my DH was looking on ebay for a new cell phone and found one he wanted. So....I bought it for him with my Paypal money from my previous sales. $119 (with free shipping). Its a imitation I-phone. And then on Sunday (the day after Valentine's Day) I got a new vacuum cleaner. It sucks (really well). Just call me spoiled...I need both an upstairs and downstairs vacuum cleaner. And the upstairs vacuum bit the dust - so to speak - a few weeks ago.

Speaking of cellphones - this is how DH and I save a ton of money with our cellphone plan from T-Mobile. I am not a big cell phone talker, but I need one incase the school calls when I'm out shopping etc. And it does come in handy to take pics. And I am not a texter. I am glad I am not a teenager today because I think I would hate to be constantly texting people all the time.

Anyhow, we use the pay as you go plan. We don't get a monthly cellphone bill.
We use our own cellphone and just buy the $100 T-Mobile to-go phone card. It's good for 1000 minutes over the course of a year. I don't talk 1000 minutes a year on my cell so I always have rollover minutes at the end of the 12 months. So basically DH and I each pay $100 a year for a cellphone. Meanwhile, back when we had the cheapest MONTHLY plan thru T-Mobile, the most basic plan was around $20+ a month.

Buy of the Day: Terror in Toyland

I had a coupon for a free haircut to use this month (before it expired). It was at a fancy salon about 35 miles away, so I made a day out of it. Stopping at various shopping places along the way. The place charges $37 for a haircut, not including drying/styling. So even though the haircut was free, I did tip the shampoo girl and the stylist. Before the haircut, I stopped at a thrift that I go to from time to time. I paid $3 for the stuff above. Except for the black purse which was a $2 purchase from Smile last week (one of the things I forgot that I bought). I'll recycle the Brother ink cartridge at Staples for $3 credit. I think it was a quarter. I like the small black purse, but no way could it be my everyday purse. Way too small. But I can see myself using it - for instance, if I go on a cruise again and just want to carry a small purse to dinner. Or if I go to a wedding etc.

Favorite buy of the day is that Scared of Santa: Scenes of Terror in Toyland book. It shows page after page of kids sitting on Santa's lap crying. I find it LOL funny in a warped way.



So after my haircut, I walked over to the adjoining restaurant/faux casino and tried my luck at faux gambling. The same place I talked about a week or two ago. I won real money. Yep, I'm not afraid to walk away as a winner. (That is a saying that DH and I always tell each other whenever we talk about gambling - "Don't be afraid to walk away a winner". I put $5 real money into the machine and the above is what I cashed out. Oh yeah baby, I took that place for a respectable .80 CASH MONEY and I found a quarter on the floor. That is a whole $1.05 profit. I'm not afraid to walk away a winner.

Chance Encounter at a Yardsale Helps Solve Unsolved Double Murder Mystery

I was reading today's Washington Post and there was an article about a recent death bed confession pertaining to a 40 year old unsolved murder mystery. Here's the full article, it's rather long but pretty interesting.

Washington Post Article (I hope the link works)

From the article: "Sharron Diane Crawford Smith might have died without confessing if it weren't for a chance encounter at a yard sale June 21, 2008. Joyce Bradshaw, who used to work with Smith, was at the yard sale when she saw a truck that belonged to one of the victim's relatives and left a note asking him to call her. Until then, Smith's name had been buried deep in police files."

If the woman hadn't been at that yardsale and left the note and had the case reopened, the murderer probably would have died without confessing to the crime and giving some answers to the families involved and to those who were wrongly accused.

Farewell Old Yardsale Buddy Rick

Today I found out (thru reading the obituaries) that my old yardsale buddy Rick passed away a few weeks ago. He definitely was one of a kind. He was quick to tell a dirty joke to anyone anywhere and even got temporarily banned from the local senior citizen center where a lot of the senior citizens who still live in their homes go everyday for lunch, crafts, whatever old people do.

He LOVED yardsales. Too much I think. To the point where he got in trouble for having too much clutter in his yard. To say he was a packrat is an understatement. Yardsaling is where I met him at least 10+ years ago - you know how you tend to run into the same yardsailors week after week. Over the past few years his health declined (smoking like a chimney for 70 years straight doesn't help. I know he told me he tried his first cigarette when he was a young child and never stopped). I worried about him but didn't want to get too involved with his problems/legal issues etc since I know he has family members that live elsewhere in Maryland. And a wife somewhere too which he said he never divorced. One of the last times I visited, he got an unexpected visitor from DMV - it was a DMV (Dept. of Motor Vehicles) employee making a housecall to confiscate his driver's license. The DMV guy had paperwork etc saying that due to doctor's orders, he was not allowed to drive anymore. Rick opened up his wallet and handed over the license and signed the paperwork. After he man left, I said "Rick, you are taking that pretty well". He winked at me said that I didn't have to worry, since he has another one. Oye. I feel bad that it has been a few months since I visited, but every time I did, I left feeling and smelling like I smoked a pack and a half.

p.s. Edited to add: I think the pants he was wearing in the pic are the ones he wore all the time that had "Grumpy" written across the butt...

Recent Thrift Store Buys

Here are some of my thrift store buys from both Smile & a different church thrift.

.50 black light coasters
$1 Warhammer 40,000 playset
1.50 - set of unopened Brita water filters
.50 Guess Where? game
.25 each - 4 Anime books
$1 - small grater in box
.50 each two Pioneer CD cases
$1 vintage Fisher Price truck
.50 brand new Wine Tasting sign (currently sells for $19.99 at Target). It still had a piece of birthday wrapping paper attached to it.
.50 - reusable cloth bag (the wine tasting sign is sitting in it). So all the stuff in the second picture I got at the other church thrift and just paid $2 all (Wine tasting picture, coasters, Guess Where game and the cloth bag).

that was earier in the week. Today at Smile I bought myself a sweater ($2). Pirates of the Caribbean Life game ($1) to keep. $2 Golf Windshirt (for ebay). Hmmm...what else? I know I spent $11 even...will have to try to remember what else I bought.

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This is unrelated, but tonight after going to Giant, I stopped at Subway to get some $5 subs to take home for dinner. The woman behind me in line had on a Calvin Klein coat. You know how I know? The little cloth tag that some manufacturers tack on at the end of sleeve/cuff was still there. I wanted to tell her that you are supposed to remove that flimsy tag, but kept my mouth shut.

My Frugal Valentine

Here's the bunch of stuff my DH will be the recipient of tomorrow. I think the most expensive things - which probably will get returned - were the Nike golf gloves on clearance for $3.24 each. Normally around $15 each. I got the correct hand, but I think they will be too small. The gloves are both size L even though one says XL on the package. I knew it was in the wrong packaging but I bought it anyway thinking that maybe DH can use them (they were the last two on the clearance rack). If not, I saved my receipt.

The dashboard Homer & Charles Montgomery Burns were 75% off at a KB Toys going out of business sale. They both talk. You press a button and Homer says things like "Your child may be an honor student, but YOU are a moron!" and "Why do slow people always have to be in front of me" and "Why do fast people always have to be behind me". This is perfect for my DH because he thinks that 99% of all drivers on the road are idiots plotting to screw him over while driving. The Montgomery Burns one is better used at my husband's desk at the cubicle farm at the nuke plant.

And I wasn't kidding about the nasal spray. Yep, I bought two bottles at CVS (normally $7.99 each) BUT they were essentially FREE since I received a $7.99 Extra Care Bucks for each. DH is prone to bloody noses in the wintertime due to dry air, so lubing the nose helps. See how thoughtful I am? Well no, my life is all about ME ME ME, so giving it to him helps me since I won't have to look at him with toilet paper sticking out of his nose.

We met for lunch today and afterwards he followed me around doing Food Lion grocery shopping. He told me to pick out some flowers for Valentines Day. I told him no, I don't want Food Lion flowers. Sheesh. I want Giant (grocery store) flowers (since they are nicer). LOL. Actually I really don't care about getting gifts for Valentine's Day. I know I am hard to buy for. I told him I'd pick some up flowers tonight for myself since the grocery store is having a Valentine's Eve event tonight with raffles, cookie decorating for the kids etc. I'll take Jacob to it. At least he is not buying me food. I remember one year for Valentine's Day he bought me a package of those SnackWell cookies when they first came out. That gift didn't go over so well. Sometimes getting nothing is better.

Before I met DH for lunch, I did do some shopping at Giant. My Giant store is having another triple coupon promo this week. I can triple 5 coupons up to .99 (per visit). I bought 5 bottles of Loreal Kid's shampoo for .25 each. On sale for $2.50. So when my .75 coupons were tripled, that was $2.25 off each.

Jacob doesn't really care about Valentine's either. Last year when Big Lots was selling Eckerd store leftovers at 90% off, I bought a red Valentine's mylar balloon - that came with the weight and a ribbon. It just needed helium. Regular price $2.99, so I only paid .29 for it after the discount. Today I took it to Giant and the florist blew it up with helium for .69. So Jacob will get that. Then will probably buy some half priced candy next week. Even though we are still eating after Christmas sale M&Ms and after Halloween skittles. It's not like candy is a big thing to him.

Will cut this post off for now. I need to post about all the stuff I've bought in the last few days.

About the CPSC Used Clothing Toys Policy

I had a question over there in the Shoutbox about the new policy regarding the sale of used stuff for children under the age of 12.

Guidance on the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA)
for Small Businesses, Resellers, Crafters and Charities and then there is this
this

So...if anyone cares to please read all that and report back to me - and when you do, pretend you are explaining it to a 3rd grader if you don't mind - I don't want to have to look up big words in a dictionary.

One of my thrifts (VV) has stopped selling toys and children's clothing because of this new law. But then I went to the other VV stores and they still had a rack of children's clothes and I found toys there amongst their clutter. (I am not heartbroken they got rid of the kids clothes tho since it drew moms with crying babies from all over). And I have such a stash of clothes for Jacob that I think I have enough to clothe him until he is 34. But I see how some stores are panicing about this new law, as if the thrift store police are going to show up. The funny thing is is that my thrift store VV doesn't even have a sign out front to say what it is. I'll try to add a pic later. The thrift store police would have a hard time finding them!

If the Queen made the rules of the land, in the yardsale/thrift store world, it would be "buyer beware". I think it should be the buyer's responsibility to check to see if a toy or baby item has been recalled. When Jacob was a baby, the baby swing I bought (at a yardsale) turned out to be recalled. But I was smart enough to call the manufacturer at their toll free # to check for recalls. As it turned out, it just needed a different seat belt which they mailed to me free of charge.

Should anyone sell something at a yardsale that they know to be defective or recalled? No, that would be stupid. Throw it away. (But not before checking with the CPSC to see if you can get some sort of bennie out of it. For instance, last fall I bought some Little Tikes computer mice at a yardsale. I paid $1 each. As it turned out, they've been recalled. So now I can mail off a small piece and in return get a $10 Little Tikes coupon for each mouse).

I will be surprised if I see yardsale police at the yardsales in the spring. So....in conclusion, I don't have any real answers and I don't think the CPSC has thought all this out either.

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And speaking of answers, I had two people recently ask me when the official start of the yardsale season is. And will the state of the economy have anything to do with it?

Well.....again I don't have any answers written in stone. Yardsale season varies depending on where you live etc. Some areas of the country yardsale year-round. I did notice the yardsale season ran later than usual in 2008 in my neck of the woods. Some people on my message board report going to "Foreclosure Yardsales". I haven't seen any of those.

I think some yardsailors cut back their yardsaling last summer due to the high price of gas, but as long as it stays low, I'm optimistic of the 2009 yardsale season. I try to be optimistic about all kinds of stuff anyhow.

My Cake is on the Cake Wrecks Blog!

I submitted a pic of last year's Valentine's Day to Cake Wrecks and today they posted a bunch of Valentine's Day inspired wrecks. Long time blog readers may remember it from Feb. 2007 Blog posting

I bought the cake at Food Lion after the bakery people had gone home for the day and I asked the deli guy to write Happy Valentine's Day on it. And that's what I got. It was just for us (Jacob) to eat so I really didn't care.

Hmmmm....the cake wreck queen used to link people's websites/blogs (if they had one) of wreck submitters, but I don't see a linkie this time....oh well probably too much work.

Speaking of Weddings

I was going thru some old pics/files on my computer and here's a goody that I think I forgot to post when I first saw it in the newspaper. Who knows, maybe I did post it, I can't remember. Identities have been hidden to protect the sweaty and the olfactory impaired. No - this is NOT my niece. Hint: if you still don't realize why I thought this was funny, look at the man's armpit area. Sweaty armpit area.

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I guess maybe I should wrap DH's Valentine's gifts soon. Yes, I bought more than one. Will take a pic beforehand though. Nasal spray makes a good gift for a guy, right? Last year I went the beef jerky on clearance and twizzlers route, this year will be non-food gift(s).

This and that

Before I forget, those below who answered my question about the real vs. fake tennis bracelet were all correct. The one on the left is the fake and the one on the right is the real one. I actually like the fake (.50) one better. In real life, if you look at them side by side, the fake looks so much more blingy. You practically need a microscope to see the diamonds in the real one that I think cost (if I remember right, over $200).

Today I did something I haven't done in a long time. Clean my house? No. Declutter my computer desk? No. Make a healthy and nutritious dinner? No. I exercised. I dusted off the treadmill and used it. One of my nieces is getting married in the fall and that is my motivation to declutter some fat. Ideally, I'd love to weigh what my driver's license says that I weigh. But I'd I know that would be impossible without the use of scary fat-sucking surgery and cutting off some appendages. So....I'll settle of weighing 30 lbs MORE than what my driver's license says I weigh. Aye yi yi. I am glad the DMV doesn't make people hop on a scale when you renew your license since I don't think my weight (on my license) has changed since I was around 23.

Today was a good day, mail-wise. And I especially like getting freebie mail. I got a $3.99 refund check today, a coupon for a free 2-liter of Dr. Pepper, a Bath & Body Works coupon, and a $5 gift card for Chevron (apparently I was a winner in one of their online contests).

I did not do any shopping today, but I did buy something yesterday on eBay. A big load of inkjet cartridges to recycle at Staples and Office Depot. Staples recently revised their inkjet cartridge recycling program to include all inkjet cartridges (not just HP, Lexmark & Dell). The inkjets I bought are HP brand, but I want to go to Staples to find out exactly what they mean my "all" inkjet cartridges. Sometimes you gotta spend money to make money. I paid $70 (including shipping) for 120 cartridges, which over the course of recycling them at a rate of $3 value each at Staples & Office Depot, will end up being worth $360 in merchandise. Well actually $290 after I subtract my $70 investment.

Candycanes, Know Nukes, and Bingo??

For candy cane lovers, boy did my grocery store have a deal. Any cheaper and they'd be free. I didn't buy any though but I wanted to. I know some people take 2 candy canes and then tape them to a piece of paper to make them into a heart shape to give for Valentines Day. Eh...didn't feel like doing that. And I don't think I could feed them to the birds and squirrels. I would feel guilty if I rotted their teeth.



Last night DH and I attended an awards dinner for his job. Give me an invitation for an open bar, hors d'Oeuvres, and free dinner at a nice Chesapeake Bay front restaurant, and I'm there. Just in case you've forgotten, I love me some nuclear power. Here's a pic of my dessert.

At the restaurant which is located within this hotel/spa, the website doesn't mention it, but they have these machines - do you know what they are called???



If you answered "Slot Machines" - good try, but you would be wrong. There is not currently any legalized slot machine play in Maryland. No, what we have here ladies and gentlemen is an anomaly called pull-tab Bingo. They look and act a lot like slot machines, but they are called pull-tab machines or whatever the legal term is. The only difference I saw what that every time you lost a bet, a piece of paper would fall into the tray saying you were a loser (or whatever it said). And then if you wanted to cash in your winnings you had to press some other button to get a different receipt to bring to a cashier. This is some sort of throwback to when Maryland had legalized gambling decades ago and a few locations got grandfathered in. But now Maryland is supposed to have real slot machines (someday) since it just passed the last time we voted on it.

The weird thing is, the resort does have actual real bingo too. I hadn't been to that particular restaurant in years and didn't realized how much they expanded their faux-slot machines. I wish I had known it last summer when my mom came to visit. I could have dropped her off in the morning and then picked her up at night.

My homework that I had to do the other day was an email interview with Woman's World magazine. Doing an email interview is much more time consuming than just talking to a reporter over the phone and letting me just ramble on and on.

No yardsales today.

Homework & Extracurricular Activities

Sorry I haven't blogged the past few days. I had some homework to do and then tonight I had extracurricular activities. Will blog on Saturday. No yardsales that I know of on Saturday. Boo hoo.

Thrift store Cock Soup for me? No thanks I'm full.

After being housebound for the last two days I spent the day at 4 different thrifts, Target and a grocery store. I hope it was just an off day, but all 4 thifts were disappointing in the quality of their junk. Don't get me wrong, I didn't go home empty-handed. Just that nothing was really great.

Here are a few of the things I did not buy today:


A $1 Souvenir spoon rest depicting the Pennsylvania Turnpike (it says Pennsylvania Turnpike in red in the center). It had been broken and glued back together. Who goes on vacation to the Pennsylvania Turnpike anyway.

I also did not buy an inspirational Never Give Up poster - depicting a bird swallowing a frog but the frog is choking the chicken...I mean bird. I think it was $1 too.



I did not buy this gorgeous LL Bean fleece jacket circa 1988. Gorgeous isn't it?? I had the exact thing back in the 80's. I figured I already had the glory of having that jacket once, I'll let someone else buy it and enjoy the wonderfulness of it. I think I had to get rid of mine when a mouse also enjoyed the comfort of it and ate it.






And lastly, no cock soup for me. Thinking back I should have bought it and mailed it anonymously to my cock loving neighbor. She has a rooster as a pet and I really would like her to make cock soup. My theory is that you either have to be very ignorant or inconsiderate to have a rooster as a pet in a residential neighborhood.

Day #2 - No Spend Day

Today is turning into Day #2 of not spending a cent. Jacob started not feeling well on Sunday afternoon and I kept him home yesterday and today. I am thankful that despite his steady diet of pretzels and McNuggets, he stays pretty healthy. Knock on wood. I can't remember the last time he was home sick from school.

So, no shopping yesterday or today. Maybe I can find time to put away the Christmas decorations. Maybe today will be a day of making money. I have lots of good stuff to put on eBay.

I did clean out my jewelry box a while ago (I went to a "cash for gold" event but didn't sell anything - long story). Well anyway I found two tennis bracelets (that I am keeping). One is real, one cost .50 at a yardsale. Can you tell the difference? I will tell which is which in a later post, and which one is my favorite and why.



I put out more of my peanut butter bird suet out today and within minutes came a red-bellied woodpecker (male). Weird name for it, since it does have a red head, but not a red-headed woodpecker - since that is the name of a different woodpecker.



At the grocery store the other day, I saw that they don't make that old style round bottle of French's mustard. I know I need to recycle it, but the clutterbug in me says to save it. Decisions decisions.

Yesterday I had an interview with a writer from Parenting Magazine. I thought for sure they were calling to give me a Mother of the Year or Mother of the Century award, but no. They are doing a small piece about yardsales in an upcoming issue and wanted to get my 02. Should be in the June 2009 issue (to be on the newstands in May).

An Open Letter to Bruce Springsteen regarding Queen of the Yardsale

Bruce, in case you haven't heard, some people are criticizing your new song "Queen of the Supermarket". I know what the problem is and it's easily fixable with a few word changes here and there with the lyrics. You and I both know it should have been about "Queen of the Yardsale". It's not too late, just fix a few of the words here and there (for instance, yardsale queens don't wear a white apron, but you can change the word to fanny pack, or just money apron).

I'm in love with the Queen of the Yardsale
I'm in love with the Queen of the Yardsale
I'm in love with the Queen of the Yardsale
I'm in love with the Queen of the Yardsale

See? Sounds nice doesn't it? Will be watching the halftime show tonight and hopefully you'll have time to fix the song and sing the new and improved version tonight at the Superbowl.



p.s. just a note - Bruce managed to work the f-word into the song - so just giving you a heads up incase you don't like that sorta thing. When Bruce asks me to collaborate with him on the re-write for the yardsale queen version, I'll get the word taken out (so that it will sound better on the radio without having to bleep it).