Wednesday, March 28, 2012

The meaning of true love

If this isn't true love, I don't know what is. True love is a man who will hold a woman's hot pink purse for her while she shops at a thrift store.

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Nice set of hooters you got there



I beg your pardon?
The owls! They're beautiful!
(Dumb and Dumber)

No, I didn't buy the owls. The thrift store was overrun with owls this week. And I didn't buy any VHS of Titanic - they seem to multiply on their own. Right after this movie came out is when DVDs must have become popular. It seems like it's the last big movie that was sold on VHS (and everyone and their brother ran out and bought it).




And I didn't buy this "I put out" t-shirt. It wasn't my size. Actually, it was a child's size!



And also didn't buy this sofa, which apparently is in mint condition.



I recently went to a yardsale where a boxing match could have broken out at any time. The seller had a small boxing ring built in their garage. I did buy some brand new unopened beauty products from them.



Not a whole lot going on. I saw that my beloved Whiskey dog has yet again been reincarnated into another tv commerical. Here is his look-a-like in a McDonald's filet-o-fish commercial recently.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Spring Cleaning - make money while decluttering & how we lost 270 pounds!


Spring is nature's way of saying, "Let's party!"
- Robin Williams, 2007




My pink cherry trees in the front yard will soon be in full bloom. I am not the best gardener, but I'm so glad I planted these trees when we first bought our house. They put on quite a show every spring. After a few weeks of blooming, the pedals fall to the ground and it looks like Mother Nature had a big pink confetti party in the yard.




Springtime is my absolute favorite time of the year because it's when a lot of people get spring cleaning fever and they have a yardsale. I've had so many yard sales over the years, I can't keep track. If you've never had a yard sale or garage sale before, why not give it a try this year? It can be some work putting together a great yard sale but it's not rocket science. And just think how good you'll feel afterward with your pockets full of cold hard cash and your house cleaned out. Just go thru your house, your garage, your attic - and just start gathering up everything you no longer need or want (but would still be useable to someone else). If you are a bit anxious about having a yard sale for the first time (yes, even the yard sale queen was anxious at first), combine forces with a friend and have a multi-family yard sale. The more the merrier! Just be careful that you don't end up buying all of her stuff and coming home with more than you left with!

There are many benefits of having a yard sale in the spring. A lot of people who feel like they've been cooped up all winter are out in full force at the yard sales in spring - and more customers mean a better chance of making big money at your yard sale. If you are new to the neighborhood, having a yard sale is a great way to meet your neighbors while de-cluttering your home. An easy way to advertise your sale is to post a free ad on Craigslist (in the Garage Sale section). At the end of your sale, just box up any good, usable leftovers and donate to a non-profit organization for a tax receipt.

For some items that I can't turn into cash at a yard sale - I have another way to score some free bucks. I recently loaded up our truck (and by "I" what I mean is that I made Mr. Yardsalequeen do the heavy lifting) with scrap metal stuff we had cluttering up the garage. We took it to a metal recycling center that pays cash for it. During Hurricane Irene last year, our extra freezer that we have in the garage, died because of the power outage and subsequent power surges. It wasn't worth fixing. Actually it was a blessing in disguise since we bought a new freezer - that I absolutely love.

So while I supervised, Mr. Yardsalequeen loaded up our truck with the broken freezer plus several outdated, broken computers. I hate being wasteful, but at least I know the stuff won't be filling up a landfill. And I got a few bucks. A total win-win. Our "junk" weighed 270 pounds and at $10 per 100 pounds, the scrap metal place paid me $27 in cash!

Before:


After:


And the best part:


Now get busy, organizing your yard sale, recycling and making money! Hope all your yardsales are great this year and you just never know, maybe I'll show up at it.

Friday, March 16, 2012

My new chariot awaits - to bring me to the yardsales

So long 2005 Mazda MPV minivan (boo hoo, I really will miss you with your awesome sliding doors and abundant storage space) but I have bitten the bullet and made a decision and there is a new vehicle in my life. A 2013 Mazda CX-5.



One of our other vehicles is a truck, sooooo I figure if whatever I buy won't fit in the CX-5, I'll just use the truck. But there is still plenty of storage in the CX-5, I can fold the back seats down. Unfortunately, it did not come in purple - the color of royalty.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Progress is being made

Progress is being made on the new car shopping front. I'm sure you remember that I went new car shopping in 2010 and again in 2011. Well I think it may happen soon. Like this year even. Stay tuned for details.

I managed to hit a good moving sale last weekend, plus a yardsale. Here's what I bought:

$5 picture
$3 green depression bowl
$1 vintage nuclear power plant t-shirts
.50 yankee candle
$1 - DVD boxed sets
$1 Ball canning jar
.50 cookbooks
.50 boxed perfume

Sunday, March 04, 2012

Thrift Store Fashionista

No yardsales just quite yet, but I did get some bargains this week at my favorite thrift. All clothes were half priced. For myself I bought this wool coat for $4:



W Magazine must have heard about my awesome fashion/thrift store shopping finds and therefore gave me a complimentary subscription to the fashion bible until January 2014. I know I didn't pay for it but for some reason I have been getting it.