Some of my yardsale and thrift store buys from the last week

I bought the little blue suitcase ($1) which in in immaculate condition to store mementos and such. After hearing about all those awful California fires, it made me realize that if I had to evacuate quickly, I don't have all my sentimental stuff in one easy location. So I think I'll use the small suitcase - which would easily fit under a bed to store a bunch of my stuff. For instance, I have CD-roms full of pictures of Jacob when he was younger (and deleted off my computer), and even made back-up copies too. And I have no idea where any of it is.

Now, all I have to do is somehow find room under a bed to store it. I like that the logo emblem on it is "Lady Baltimore"

Also in the pic is a fog machine light. When I first saw them I thought they were so neat, I guess I'll see if it lives up to my expectations. It was marked $8 but I got it for $5. I remember seeing them in Antique stores (the kind of antique stores that sell new stuff too) for about $30 or $40.

I bought for $3 the Black and Decker jar opener to give to my mom. She probably won't use it but complain about her arthritis anyhow. I did test it out and it does do what its supposed to. But the place where you put the jars, is pretty narrow. A wide bottom jar would not fit. How stupid, those are the hardest to open!

Confession: sometimes I don't think used.

Yesterday we had two sets of doors replaced - here is one of the doors with "Before" and "After" pics. Didn't want to buy used doors for the home improvement project. I may have mentioned on the blog a few months ago that I broke one of the doors back in August. (It took a while to figure out who we wanted to replace the doors and then it took a while to figure out what we wanted and then place the order and then schedule the installation).

There are many choices when replacing doors - the doors we replaced were the original cheapest sliding doors possible that the builder put in. Hopefully the new doors with be more energy efficient. I am just glad to have a door that actually works as a door now! For the past 2 months, one set of doors was not useable. We also replaced the sliders off the kitchen.

Did trick or treating with the boy last night. Took him to a strip mall where the businesses just position someone out on the sidewalk to give out treats. Then had a late dinner at Chick-fil-a. It used to be he was happy with a 4-pack nuggets kids meal. Then he graduated to the 6-pack kids nugget meal. Last night he enjoyed a 6-pack nugget meal and then requested more nuggets, so I got him an 8-pack. I don't mind though - I tend to think of Chick-fil-a chicken has healthy food. Much better than some of the other junk he likes.

Think Used!

Last week I drove by this car junk yard and the thought the sign was very insightful.

Taco Bell Tuesday 10/30/07

If you happen to be by a Taco Bell this Tuesday between 2-5pm, swing by and get a free taco. Click here to read about it: FREE Taco Bell taco

Happy Halloween Saturday

Yesterday was the first Saturday in a long time that I didn't go yardsailing. It rained all day on Friday and rain was forecasted for Saturday morning so I slept in.

In the afternoon Jacob and I went to the annual trick or treating at Annmarie Gardens. It was $1 per person and lots of businesses and community groups line the walkway giving out treats (and info to the parents about their business etc). Many businesses decorate their area with Halloween displays etc. Last year Jacob really liked the one business that had upside down kids planted in the ground (top picture was taken last year and the bottom pic I took yesterday during a lull in the crowd - the pathway gets very crowded with kids, adults, costumes and strollers.) And yes, that is the SAME fireman costume from last year.

In the past, there was a Girl Scout troop that would set up Fortune Telling Booths - they would accost people on the path and ask "Do you want your palm read?" and then they would take their victims to their booth where they would take a red ink pad and stamp your palm red. LOL!

The Whiskey dog worked the crowd tonight

I saw that there was going to be a free rabies clinic at the local firehouse tonight so I took the ole Whiskey dog to get a shot (my bad - he was due in 2006 for another). Well anyway, he is now good until 2010. The local SPCA runs the free clinics here and you can give a donation. All the volunteers and workers fell in love with him. I am not exaggerating, I didn't see any of them fawn all over other dogs as they did with the Whiskey dog. For some reason I always add the word "dog" when talking about the Whiskey dog. Or else I refer to him by his full name: Whiskey Weiner with the Weird Wild Hair. I had to show proof of a prior vaccination and when I was pulling out rabies receipts for him from 1994 and 1996 etc, the volunteer looked at me and said "this can't be the same dog - he is too young". And I had to tell her that yes indeed, he is an approximately 14 year old give or take some years. (He was a stray that we got around 1994 or so).

Then went thru the drive thru at Burger King for two Whoppers (using a Buy 1 Get 1 Free coupon, total $2.93 for both). I have a bunch of Burger King coupons listed on ebay right now -
Yardsalequeen Auctions - a real money saver if you plan on eating at Burger King within the next month.

Then drove thru the KFC drive thru to get Jacob something to eat. (He is a very picky eatter so there are only certain foods he eats, and Burger King isn't one of them). So his three KFC chicken strips came to $4.09. Doesn't seem right that a meal for a 7 year old should cost more than mine.

Update for the last week or so

Well it's Wednesday, so that makes day number three of having lasagna for dinner. Aye yi yi, I made a monster sized lasagne on Monday and now on day 3, it's about half gone. I need to find (at a yardsale) a smaller sized lasagne pan. Someone should invent a lasagne pan that is just as long as a noodle is.

A quick update on what's been going on. Last Friday my son (and husband) had the day off from school/work so we went to the mall. Didn't buy a thing. Also test drove a Honda Ridgeline truck. My husband already has a truck (about 10 years old with only 40,000 miles on it) but was looking for an upgrade. My husband's other vehicle is a motorcycle so he drives that half the year or better. Ain't buying a Ridgeline. Crappy mileage and plus it was expensive ta boot.

On Saturday I sold junk and stuff at the local fairgrounds flea market. I figured it would be last chance for the year to sell at that one since the next two Saturdays I have other plans. I signed up to sell stuff at an indoor yardsale in December ($5 space). That will be a good one since people will be out Christmas shopping etc and many of the vendors bring crafts and stuff.

I made $125 on Saturday and then afterwards I went shopping at a huge flea market in another town. At the huge flea market there are a lot of professional vendors etc, most of them are not selling the stuff they got out of their basement. More like all the Made in China imports and knockoffs etc. There is a Farmer's Market part of the flea market too. The pictures above are pictures I took on Saturday.

If Heather from Lusby is reading this - I know I missed your yardsale on Saturday - I couldn't go since I was busy with my own at the fairgrounds.

Didn't do much on Sunday.

Monday is when I made that big ass lasagne along with a big batch of meat sauce. Then on Tuesday I made several (small) trays of stuffed shells and put them in the freezer. Today (Wednedsay) I did some grocery shopping and some other shopping.


I had a particularly good coupon day at Giant today, so I'm showing my receipt above. Most items were free cans of dog food that I had a bunch of coupons for.

Also went to Staples and bought 3 packages of Sharpie markers - amount paid: 0.00. The sale was a 5 pack of Sharpies for $3, so I bought three for a grand total of $9.00 plus tax, but after they deducted my three $3 Staple Ink Jet recycling coupons, the total went down to 0.00 and since there is no tax on 0.00, I didn't have to even pay tax.

Some of the Sharpies may be put towards a "prize pack" - I think I'm going to have my first ever contest on the website soon so I've been putting a few things together for a prize.

A few of my buys from last Saturday

I tried doing a blog posting the other day, but apparently blogspot was having technically difficulty so I gave up. So here's a few things I got last Saturday. $3 Plastic Storage drawer thing, $2 vintage old trunk, $3 set of brand new Martha Stewart flannel sheets for the guest bed. Also bought this ginormous fake ring for .50

Weather permitting, I'm going to go up to the Fairgrounds this Saturday and rent a yardsale space ($10) for the day and try to get rid of some stuff. I'll probably mark that trunk $20 and see if someone buys it for shabby chic decor.

Dawn over at Frugal For Life Blog "tagged me", whatever that means. I'm not sure really, but I'm guess its like the kids game of tag, where I become "it" and now have to "tag" someone else's blog. Hmmmm...I guess I will just tag Frugal For Life Blog back. She has a ton of links to other blogs - if you are into frugal/thrifty living, it will keep you busy for quite a while.

I think today was the day that Hell froze over....

My husband had the day off today so we did some shopping - had a $10 Best Buy Rewards card to use, and we also went to Staples, Walmart, BJs Warehouse, Lowes and Target. Well the reason why I think hell may have frozen over is that my husband bought a country music CD. Wow - I never thought I would type those words ever. He is someone who is totally stuck in the 80's as far as music is concerned and says he hates country music. At Target he picked out a Martina McBride greatest hits CD ($9.99) and said he liked a few of the songs on it. Then we had lunch at Ruby Tuesdays. They really re-designed the restaurant - no more crap and junk thrown up on the walls anymore. (Hmmmm...makes me wonder what they did with all that stuff - it better not have ended up in a dumpster!) Thankfully they still had my Carolina Chicken Salad on the menu.

Ok, now I am going to type something I never thought I would. I own a William Hung CD. NO NO NO, I did not pay retail for it. Bought it this week at $1 at one of my thrifts and comes with a DVD. (I didn't even know William Hung had a DVD).

The most crazy statement I heard last weekend at a yardsale.

I spotted a tiny Longaberger basket at a yardsale. The owner messed it up by trying to put a regular nail thru the back. I asked how much it was and her reply was "It's a little damaged, so I'm only asking $10 for it." Yeah right, only $10. I guess she didn't know I find nice, undamaged Longabergers for $1 at yardsales.

Did more thrift store Christmas shopping

The other day at one of my thrifts I saw a shirt that is perfect for my brother. I don't understand of fascination of watching cars driving around and turning left, but it's one of my brother's hobbies. His favorite Nascar driver is Matt Kenseth. At the thrift I saw an incredibly gaudy Matt Kenseth shirt in my brother's size, for $1 so I had to buy it.

My earrings from the Silver Jewelry club came in and I've been wearing them. They don't look exactly like they do in the picture, but not a bad buy for $5.99 - will post a pic of them soon.

Great News!! Had dentist appointment today and....

After my dentist appointment today I went searching for recently opened Tuesday Morning store that is in a shopping plaza I don't normally shop at. I like browsing at Tuesday Mornings but the nearest one is at least a good 50 miles away, well not anymore.

But guess what was right next to Tuesday Morning, with a big grand opening sign?? A DOLLAR TREE!!! whoo-hooo!!!!! How the hell did I not hear about a Dollar Tree coming to our area?? As I have mentioned before on the blog, I love the Dollar Tree! This is so awesome. So now I won't have to stock up on graham crackers and batteries when I visit my mom in NY and shop at her Dollar Tree. Now I have my own!

Now if an Aldi's opens up anywhere around here, it would be like I died and gone to heaven.

PRAD Parade - Solomon's Island Maryland

Speaking of senator Bernie Fowler, here is a pic I took today, he was the Grand Marshall of the Prad Parade, as usual he is dressed in his standard overalls and hat with flag. I hope I'm that lively and vibrant when I'm in my 80's. The YouTube video is a part of the Shriner's portion of the parade - I purposely taped it so you will have the song stuck in your head for the rest of the day.

The parade wasn't as big as last year (an election year), when there were a bunch of local politicians and politicans wannabees working the crowd etc.

Yardsale season slowing down

Yardsale season is starting to slow down a little - probably went to about 8 sales today. I could, of course, gone to more but didn't want to drive far.

As it turned out, the last yardsale I went to was the best, I spent a whopping $4.50 and got a ton of good stuff. It was at a waterfront house so an added benny was that Jacob got to have fun and throw crabapples into the Bay.

I haven't taken a picture of my buys, but here is what I got: .25 an Ikea cat tent like the one pictured above (no I don't have a cat but my brother and his wife have several so I will give it to them). $1 - set of cabinet drawer cubbyholes. You know how some cabinets (like kitchen sink cabinet) have the fake panels that look like drawers but in fact its not? Well these are little cubbyhole things that you can add to the fake panels to make them actually useful.

Also bought: $1 a two-pack of Fix-a-Flat. .25 large Tigger mug, .25 cute glass fan shaped vase, $1 little step stool. In my bathroom at the sink, I currently use my old step-aerobics step for Jacob to use to stand on. It does the job, but takes up a lot of room, I think this little step stool will be better. Free Burnes of Boston picture frame, .50 license plate frame that looks like little soda bottle caps all around it. But the best buy was a $2 two drawer filing cabinet.

I forgot to mention this but I had a good buy yesterday. Something I had been looking for since June (when I found out my son was going to a new school this fall). I wanted to buy a logo t-shirt from his school (but of course, not pay full price). Yesterday I found several at the thrift for $1 each, but only bought 1 since the others were too small.

In the afternoon I went to the Calvert Museum for their annual PRAD Festival It was nice to by myself and leisurely look at all the exhibits and the craft show. Will go back tomorrow with Jacob to watch the parade. Got to meet (again) former Maryland Senator Bernie Fowler and had him autograph a souvenir poster (a freebie) for Jacob. As he was autographing a poster for someone else, I noticed he didn't have a good pen, so I gave him the Sharpie I had.

Bam! Bought a $5 apron; Bam! Found the Bam Margera t-shirt

Started doing my yardsale Christmas shopping. People who receive gifts from me don't ask where I bought something - they know better. Yesterday as I was at the thrift getting my free Panera leftover bread and muffins, I saw a "like new" Emeril Lagasse BAM! apron, marked $5. A little high, but the money goes to a good cause plus I had taken a bag full of free bread. I bought it for my mom who sort of collects aprons and is a big fan of Food TV. The Bam! aprons on the Emeril website sell for $19.99 plus shipping. I would take a pic and show it but heck, its been a whole day and who the hell knows where I put it.

I haven't given an update on my "get rid of playpen full of toys by October 1 or else it's going to the dump" challenge. Well the pack n play playpen full of toys is gone (technically speaking). The playpen is history. I donated it to my thrift (and they took it) but I didn't see it for sale, so maybe it got tossed. I don't think it was recalled or anything, just not very current and a PITA to put together. The little battery operated ninja 4 wheeler was in a different location when picture #1 was taken. That is something I will sell at a yardsale or put in the Pennysaver - BUT we have to find the battery charger for it. I know its around here somewhere.

And as I was cleaning out the toy area, I came across a bag of purchases I had made months ago. I love it when that happens, it's sort of like Christmas...opening up a bag to see a nice surprise of a long ago thrift store shopping experience. (Actually I get that feeling quite often - I squirrel stuff away and then I come across it months later.) I found a Bam Margera t-shirt that I bought at the .35 clothing thrift sometime last spring, to give to a friend who has a crush on Bam Margera.

I went to the dentist this week. I always schedule my dental appts to coincide with the .35 sale days at VV (which is near the dentist). So anyway, as usual, when the dentist can't find anything wrong, they go with the "some of these old fillings need to be replaced" spiel. So I am going back to the dentist next week to get some filings replaced - on a .35 shopping day at VV of course.

$5 Zipline works pretty good

Back on the blog entry from June 30, I posted a pic of the $5 Funride (zipline) that I was excited to find at a yardsale. Well this weekend we finally put it up. Of course my husband didn't like my choice of locations for it so I let him put it up where he wanted to (gotta pick your battles and I didn't mind losing this one since he did the majority of the installation work).

So I made a little YouTube video to show that indeed it does work (and yes, it is higher when he starts off and just gets slowly lowered to the ground).

So, here is the $5 yardsale Funride in action, which would have cost around $79 if I had paid retail:

My eBay Listings

I have a set a new personal record - my highest amount of auction listings going at one time. I currently have 68 auctions going! I know its a lot, but I think I'll be able to handle it. The big rush is always packing stuff up and going to the Post Office. But since a lot of the auctions will end on Sunday, and the following day Monday is Columbus Day (a postal holiday), I won't be going crazy packing stuff up since there won't be a need to rush to the Post Office on Monday. Check out and see my auctions - something for everyone from Little Tikes to Playboy software and everything in between!

Yardsalequeen.com Auctions

I see dead people's clothes

While at Smile on Wednesday, as I was standing in line to check out (I've seen the line to check out be 20 people deep on a busy day; they just have two cash registers). Well anyway I was in line with one of my yardsale buddies. We got to talking about buying men's clothes at thrifts and my friend said "My husband doesn't like clothes from a thrift store, unless they still have tags, he thinks of it as dead people's clothes."

So I said that I didn't think of it that way at all, I think of it as people who either got too skinny or fat and can't wear the clothes anymore so they donate them.

Then yesterday I was at a different thrift (a non-profit that benefits low cost spay and neuter programs). Another shopper there recognized me and comes over to say hi. I didn't recognize her off the bat, she was older, slurred her words and walked with a cane. Then I recognized her from someone I used to see on occasion while working at the nuke plant. She told me was suffering from terminal lung cancer. Then she added "When I decide to go, I'm going to tell my husband to donate my clothes to this thrift, to help the animals". Boy did that shoot my fat/skinny theory down the tubes!

Speaking of Staples, look at what I bought for .53

At Staples today, I saw they had a bunch of stuff on clearance, including the rolling storage crate for $9.50 (reg. $19.99). So after my inkjet recycling coupons were taken off, I paid a whopping .53 So now I have two of them (you may remember that in my Aug 30 blog entry, I show my other one I bought for $2 being used as a kid transporation device).

My thrift store buys today

Had a good day thrifting - here's part of what I bought (didn't photograph any of the clothes, bought myself a $1 Crazy Horse sweater, a boy scout uniform shirt (.50) and some vintage Izod shirts with the alligator (.35 each), a Tommy Bahama t-shirt for me (.35), and probably some other clothes but can't remember offhand.

My other buys:
$1.50 each - two black storage boxes (when I was at Staples today I see they sell for around $16.50 each)
$3 - tall funky Ikea lamp
.50 Saab repair book
$1 - brand new looking lifevest for Jacob
$3 - Piglet costume
.25 each - promo pirate banners
.50 set of travel curlers
.75 - set of Kids K'nex
.50 - new (I took the lid off for the pic so you can see the seal hasn't been broken) jar of Avon Planet Spa detoxifying body mask
.50 Candy Land electronic game. At that price, I can't pass it up, especially when they have batteries already in it.

Bought myself new earrings today

Oval Cut Genuine London Blue 2.00 Carat Total Weight Topaz Loop pure Sterling Silver stamped .925 earrings, to be exact. I've been waiting to see the blue topaz ring I want on the jewelry website (I have linked on the side) but then I realized, I have no idea of my ring size! doh! I know its gotta be bigger than some of the size 6 rings they have, but I will go to a store and try on some rings to figure out what size range I'm looking for. BUT today I spotted the above earrings for $5.99 (that's the total cost - including shipping) and thought they looked nice. I'll let you know when I get them and what I think of them and see if they look like they do in the pic.

More on Gretchen Wilson concert

It was a lot of fun *working* at the concert, selling beer, wine and sodas. Volunteers got free soda & water. Prices were ridiculous, of course. $4 for wine, $4 for a cup of beer and $2 for cans of soda or water. So doing the math was pretty easy - and having my tons of yardsale experience in wearing a carpenter's apron and making change came in handy. The really ironic thing was, people were actually buying the $2 cans of soda and water. If they walked 30 feet away, there were two soda vending machines, selling large 16 oz bottles for $1.25. All the tip money went towards one of the museum's restoration projects. I was at a BJ's warehouse today and saw that a CASE of water, 35 bottles cost around $6.00. At $2 a bottle, that same case would have sold for $70 at the concert.

I definitely want to volunteer at future concerts. I couldn't sign up for the last one since Jeff was out of town on business (so no one around to watch Jacob).

Near the stage, there was a walkway allowed for taking pics close to the stage. But of course, getting a good concert pic is difficult at night with a little Sony digital camera, but I think these came out pretty good, considering. Afterwards I was kicking myself though - I should have taken Gretchen some flowers! A local florist has a coupon for a free rose with all the bells & whistles. I am sure Security would have let me hand her the rose (which of course I would have attached one of my yardsalequeen.com business cards). Oh well, next time, next concert I will think of that!

clips of Gretchen Wilson's performance at Solomon's Island Maryland 9/23/07

Here's a couple of short clips of the concert tonight that I took while on break - but believe me, right afterwards I got back to my volunteering and helped to quench the thirst of people in need of a cool beverage.

Junk, volunteering, and Gretchen Wilson

Here's pics of the junk I bought yesterday. One yardsale seller had a ton of older software at .25 a box. I bought a bunch of Playboy software thinking I can ebay it, and if it doesn't sell there, I know I'd be able to sell it at a yardsale for more. Sex sells baby. In the other pic are two Yankee Candles at $1.50 each, bottle of Liz Clairborne Realities .50, a couple of Pooh Brown Bag cookie molds .50 each, a Showbox photo frame $1 (for Jacob), .50 and .25 - two pieces of vintage Hull pottery, .50 each - two large storage bags.

Today I plan on doing some volunteering. I bet you didn't know that about me - that I volunteer. Oh yes, I believe in giving back to the community. I'm going to be bartender. There are so many thirsty people in the world that need my help - and I plan on helping them. The money raised will help benefit the Calvert Marine Museum in their educational programs etc, so basically you can say that I am helping to Save the Bay, one beer at a time. Please please - sit down, no need for the standing ovation.

My bartending skills (or lack thereof) will be during the Gretchen Wilson concert today that will be taking place at the Museum parking lot. I think I would rather be bartending than being packed in like a can of sardines. Here's a pic of a previous concert and how they set it up.

My favorite yardsale buy - Continued....

I'd like to introduce you to Rocky, my pet rock. Shhhhh...he's sleeping. I can tell that by the way he lays on his little kleenex blanket (when his original owners couldn't keep him any longer, I adopted him at the yardsale and he came with his little kleenex blanket). I am not like that - I think a pet should be a pet for life, you know a "forever home". Please forgive me for not using the politically correct term "animal companion" instead of "pet" but I don't think the term "animal companion" applies in this case.

Big Brother Finale tonight

Tonight is the finale for Big Brother - I think I mentioned this a while ago but I am a big reality tv addict. Dick & Danielle were not who I would have wanted as the final 2 by any means, but nothing I can do about it. I am hoping Dick wins and gambles it all way or spends it all on ciggys and beer.

One of my favorite yardsale buys - ever!

Just thought I'd share a pic of one of my favorite yardsale buys. Next to it is a penny to give you an idea of the size. I paid .33 for it.

It's great, isn't it!!?? I bought it about 10 years ago, at an indoor fundraising yardsale, I picked up three items (with this being one of them) and the organizer said it would be $1 for all. I can't remember the other two items I bought that day, but this is definitely a keeper.

Afternoon at the lighthouse

This weekend in Maryland was the annual lighthouse challenge. Its where people who are crazy about lighthouses plan to see all of Maryland's lighthouses in two days. Sounds pretty ridiculous to me - I mean if you are really into lighthouses, then wouldn't you want to spend more than a hour (or so) at each one before you have to hit the road again to see the next???

Anyhow with that going on, it means one of the lighthouses near us that is normally closed, was free and open to the public so Jacob and I went to it. We went last year for the first time. Above is a pic I took today. They plan on renovating the actual lighthouse keeper's house to rent out, like a B&B. But geez, the whole grounds is surrounded by a chain link fence with barbed wire on top. I think they would have to do something about that - otherwise it would seem like you are paying big bucks to stay at a prision (with a pretty view, except for the chain link fence)

Another Saturday, another yardsale

I had another yardsale today - so that makes it two Saturdays in a row. After having the highway yardsale last Saturday, I decided to check out having a yardsale at the local fairgrounds. Every Saturday the county fairgrounds turns into a combo flea market and yardsale, and they charge a $10 fee. I normally don't *shop* at it since it's a little out of the way for me and I prefer to go to regular yardsales at people's houses.

This past week I sorted thru my yardsale leftovers from last week and donated a bunch of stuff to Smile. Then yesterday I went around the house finding *new* stuff to add to my carload of stuff. I had left my table and yardsale supplies in my car from last week so I didn't have to unload and reload.

Today I made $112.One of the best things about today was that I didn't have to pay the $10 rental fee! The woman who collects the money came around and told everyone that because the weather wasn't that great this morning (it was overcast early on but turned sunny as the day wore on) and because they will be closed for the next three Saturdays due to the actual Fair going on, she didn't think it would be right (or fair - haha) to collect money this week. Works for me!

There is a dirt walkway that customers stroll down - people's space includes space on both sides of the walkway. Here's a pic of some of my junk - I liked the way I could see the hay bales in the distance.

Like jewelry?? Check out the ad on the left

Yesterday I found out about a place online that has pretty jewelry - and all you pay is $5.99 for shipping. One of the blue rings caught my eye and I was going to get it but I totally missed out - when you're on the website you can see the upcoming jewelry. And I saw the pretty blue ring but I misjudged the time. I will definitely get it - will have to watch for it again. And since they take Paypal it's will be convenient for me to pay. When I was in NY this summer, the stone came out of a ring that I bought in St. Croix - I can't remember the name of the stone but it looked like turquoise but it was bluer. I did save the silver band so maybe I can sell just the band to a silver dealer or something.

Actually with this jewelry, I'm thinking at that price, I may buy a few pieces to sell at a Parks & Recs yardsale that is planned for December. I could buy pieces for $5.99 and then mark it up to $10. I have a ton of fancy jewelry boxes (that I bought at a yardsale) so its something I'm going to think about doing.

Update for last two weeks

Sorry I've been neglecting the blog. I should start writing a little every day just to make it a habit. In the past couple of weeks: I did a "highway yardsale", went to yardsales, shopped at my thrift, did some Staples shopping and BJ's Warehouse shopping. I stopped at BJ's to see when my free 60-day membership expired - the free membership I wrote about here a little while back. I remembered that I never posted a pic of my wonderful pic on the BJ's ID card, so here it is. I have not edited the pic at all, that's how it appears. As it turns out the membership is good until the end of September, which I think is longer than 60 days. I may join on October 1st, I got a notice that my son's school is doing a fundraiser, join for $35 and get 15 months and the school gets a kick-back.

And as I was walking out BJ's I passed one of the lottery scratch off machines and saw a lottery card sitting there in the slot. (Maryland has some self-serve scratch-off lottery machines - you put in your money and you choose what type of scratch off you want). Anyhow no one was around, so I took it. I won $3. (And someone actually paid $3 for it and left it there - or maybe they were doing a random act of kindness, who knows.)

At Staples, I bought Jacob a nice backpack for school. Price: $39.99, sale price $29.99 - $20 rebate brings it down to $9.99. I used three $3 inkjet cartridge coupons to pay for it. So after the rebates, the cost will have been $2.04 (ok, I did spent .75 per $3 coupon ($2.25) so really it will have cost me $4.29. But I will be getting a % back of the $29.99 cost with my Staples Rewards Card. Actually it think I paid .60 per coupon, I can't remember but I know it was cheap. A while back I bought about 200 used inkjet cartridges on ebay - then I just take them to Staples for recycling and get the $3 coupon in exchange.




Last Saturday I did a "highway yardsale" - where people just set up mini-yardsales on the little deadend roads next to the highway. Got rid of some of the toys from the playpen. And last Saturday there were some EARLY yardsales starting, I went to one at 6am! and another started at 7:30. Then by 8am I was set up on the highway. Glad I went to the early yardsales. I bought a very nice almost new panini maker with a Williams & Sonoma panini cookbook for $5, a big McCoy bowl for $4, a trumpet for $10 and a bunch of cds for .25 each. I didn't notice the trumpet had a big dent in it, I sold it that very same day for $15 at my own yardsales and many of the CDs sold for $1 each.

Oh and I wanted to share these pics - when I was at the 6am indoor yardsale at a community center, I could see the sunrise so after I left, I drove to the beach and took these pics.

Happy Labor Day

Happy Labor Day (well what's left of it anyway). It was a crappy Saturday for yardsales (as I thought it would be). On Sunday we took the Metro in DC for the day. Jacob has never ridden the Metro, or seen the monuments. And we didn't see many of the monuments anyway since they are so far apart. Mainly we just walked passed the Washington Monument, to the WWII Memorial (which I had never seen) and then walked thru most of the Museum of Natural History. And when I say "walked thru", I mean it, we walked through and barely stopped to look at anything. Amazing how he's Mr. Slow Pokey while walking from place to place outside dragging his feet, but then once we get inside a building, it's an instant transformation into Speedy Gonzales.





I made an agreement with my husband the other day - a contract of sorts. By 9/30/07 (yes, he was sure to specify the year), that by that date, I will have gotten rid of the playpen full o'toys that resides next to our dining room table (which we never use since its full of other type of clutter - but that's another subject for another day). So....I have my work cut out for me. Wish me luck - I need it. Here's my "Before" picture:

Yardsale Buys from last Saturday

Here are a few pics of stuff I bought last Saturday. One of the sellers I bought stuff from reads this blog from time to time, so I figured I'd show some of her former stuff in use. The vintage white handled curling iron was .50 and I have it displayed in my bathroom with others I have (one of which belonged to my mom). Also bought the rolling storage kid transportation device for $2.

Yes, those are red shoes for girls in the pic above. No, I won't make Jacob wear them (not his size anyway....). The brand name is Born and they are going up on ebay. They were $2 (a little "pricy" but I think they will sell for decent money).

Inside the wooden box is a bunch of Betty Crocker recipe cards from 1971 ($1 for the wooden box with the cards). Wow - what were they thinking when they photographed some of that food - really ickky looking. There is a website that is devoted to ugly pics of food that has appeared on these cards Ugly Food Website

I love Staples

Yes, I know I sound like a broken record, but I love Staples (boy, a statement like that makes me sound like I'm ready for the nursing home!) Today I got free colorized business cards, a $29.99 value. I had a coupon (that they mailed me) for 100 of the new do-it-yourself business card maker that they have.

I still have lots of my other free 1,000 business cards that I got from them, probably over a year ago (I blogged about it). But those I just use as *advertisement* for this website to put up on public bulletin boards and such, they don't have personal info like my email or address on them. So the cards I got today are more personalized. Got them so I can put them in the fishbowls at restaurants and win free lunches. Or if I'm at a cocktail party (hey, it *could* happen!) and someone asks "So what do you do?" instead of my usual "As little as possible", I can say "I am a Queen" and hand them my yardsale queen card.





Here I am as I would appear if I lived in Springfield (is that a thrift store I see further up ahead?? It's like a bad dream, I keep walking but never get to it). Know nukes!

Time for New Years Resolutions

Well today is the beginning of a new year - a school year that is. Today is the day I was to have my nose to the grindstone, getting the house in order, list a gazillion things on ebay and work on my grand plan to create world peace. Oh well, none of that got done. My friend called me at 10:30 (a friend who also sent her kid off to school today after a long summer) and we talked about going to out lunch. I told her not today since I was going to get my nose right on that grindstone.

Then about a half hour later, my husband called to see what my plans were today, since he was thinking of taking half day off from work, and did I want to go to lunch. Sure, the grindstone will still be there waiting. Went to Lonestar (one of our lunches was free since I have a lunch card thing that was fully stamped). Thankfully, there was no crying baby convention going on there.

Then I remembered seeing an ad for JC Penney's, some clearance sale. So we went there and didn't find a thing for me or Jacob, but my husband found three $4.97 shirts for himself. Also stopped at Food Lion and bought some of the Kid's Wonderbread and luckily it was on sale for $1.89. I hate paying full price for bread. Jacob hasn't eaten a PB&J sandwich all summer, but today he checked to make sure he had one for lunch.

The grocery stores I normally shop at are Food Lion and Giant (and sometimes Shopper's Food Warehouse if I see a particularly good deal on something). There is a Safeway about 15 miles away but I normally don't shop there since its location is usually not in the direction I'm going. But last week they had Skippy PB on sale for .99/jar and I had $1 off 2 coupons. So that was a good deal... paying .49/jar for peanut butter. I got the maximum allowed, 6 jars at .49 each.

Someone left me a comment a while ago on where to get coupons. I know some people buy extra copies of the Sunday paper, but that seems pretty wasteful. For almost any coupon that appears in a Sunday paper, there usually be people selling that coupon in groups of 20 on eBay. There are also coupon message boards like
Refund Sweepers where people post lists of coupons they have to trade or sell. I remember back a few years ago when Banquet had those free bowling coupons on the packages of tv dinners, I bought about 40 coupons for like .05 each from some lady on there. There are also coupon cutting websites where you put in an order for what coupons you want to buy multiples of, like Coupon Clippers

Queen gets a new throne

Yes, I know its Saturday, but I will save my discussion about my yardsale buys til another day.

Today's blog entry is brought to you by the letters J and Y (I think an O is still lodged in the toilet). Big news this week was that the queen got a new throne. I caught Jacob playing in the bathroom the other night (making quite a mess with throwing toys in the bathtub and seeing how big of a splash he could make) and right afterwards I got a funny feeling when the toilet wasn't flushing right. I plunged and plunged AND even stuck my hand down there! (yes, I know that's something a queen should never have to do), but I did it and thankfully I didn't find any surprises.

However, I do like having a toilet that actually flushes (I'm funny that way), so I had my husband remove it and we dug around in there and that's when I found the foam - supposed to float - letters J and Y after wrestling with that beast turning it upside down and backwards. I thought I saw another letter, but either I was just imagining it or its really really stuck good in there. So we were going to put the toilet back on, but then noticed we broke some dohickey piece inside the tank. So that's when my husband said we should just go buy a new one, that way we'll know it definitely is not clogged and will work than have to go buy replacement pieces etc.

Regarding the pic above. Who would have known that where a toilet sits could be so damn dirty? And am I the first person to house the elusive dust bunnies that are able to climb the walls?

So on Friday we go to Lowes. And wouldn't you know it, he wants to buy the cheapy $77 WHITE generic toilet. No, that won't work for me. Especially when I know he bought the $200 Super Deluxe Wide Butt model for his bathroom about 6 months ago (yes, incase you didn't know, they make an extra wide model). A $77 white toilet would have looked just great next to the beige tub and beige sink. I settled on a $139 beige beauty with special antibacterial glaze or something. NOT a big butt one. If I don't post for a while, that is because I am busy bedazzling....

So you know how everything happens in "3's"? The week before, one of our sliding glass doors broke, so we have to get that replaced. Then my toilet. And now I am just waiting to see what else goes.

Speaking of Friday - was it "Take Your Crying Baby Out to Lunch at Applebee's Day" and I didn't know about it until it was too late? Aye yi yi. Man, it was like a crying baby convention going on.

last few weeks

I went to upstate NY the week before last - stayed with my mom (at my childhood home). They have a lot of yardsales on Fridays there, but the Friday I was there, it was pouring rain. The garage sales were still held anyways, we just took umbrellas.

I mostly bought a bunch of books. One of my better buys was a Longaberger Berry Basket with protector for $1. It had a big ugly ivy in it so I think a lot of people who saw it didn't realize it was a Longaberger. I was going to throw the ivy out, but my mom wanted it.

Also bought the above vintage lamp $2 and the set of four vintage glasses ($1).

I got to visit with everyone I wanted to: family, one of my old high school friends and one of my old coworkers. This same time last year when I visited, I went cold turkey without internet for over a week, but this time I took our laptop. It was a rude awakening when I found out that you have to pay for wireless at McDonald's and Borders. I thought it would be free. No problem tho since a Moe's Southwest Grill is nearby.

I also did all the regular retail shopping I wanted to do:
Christmas Tree Shops, Aldi's and Dollar Tree , Toys R Us, and Kohl's. Where I live, the closest Dollar Tree, Toys R Us and Kohl's is a good hour away. (Yes, the Dollar Tree is a dollar store, but I think its nicer than your average dollar store).

As usual, I took Jacob to Chuck E. Cheese (twice) and found a new place to take him to called Jeepers It was $14.99 for one hour of all you can play games and indoor rides.

One day after I visited my brother who lives in Albany, I drove downtown (to see my old office building) and to see what has changed etc. I snapped a pic of the capitol building which is near my old office building.

Returned home from Upstate New York yesterday

Did you miss me? I just got back yesterday from spending a week in upstate New York (Clifton Park, Albany, Saratoga Springs area). So that is why I haven't posted lately. Will write again soon and tell about my trip.

World's Longest Yardsale - Highway 127 yard sale - Garage Sale America

Alas, another year is over and once again I have missed the World's Longest Yardsale (it ends today) World's Longest Yardsale. A few people on the message board are at it and posting about their experience. There is always next year, August 7-10, 2008 to be exact. But geez, I am a little spoiled, I don't like to yardsale when it's a million degrees outside.

And plus, I sorta feel like I've already been to it without having to sweat or drive forever. I have my copy of Garage Sale America by Bruce Littlefield, and in it he details his adventure and treasures found during his roadtrip to this annual cultural event. There's also descriptions of some interesting people in the world of yardsales/garage sales. Like me on page 46 - hehe (end of shameless plug). Click the link above to read more about it. You can also see if your local library has it. You can check out Bruce's website at:
Garage Sale America



My pickin's from yesterday were pretty slim. Bought an already built, Build-a-Bear ($1. Don't worry, I don't have a house decorated with a zillion build a bears or plan on giving it to my son (as I've said before, he prefers Dora the Explorer anyway). It will be put on ebay eventually. .50 Chick-fil-a cow as Santa beanie, a sturdy Fireman's hat .25 (Jacob has been a fireman for Halloween and for the hat he usually just wears one of those flimsy freebie fireman's hats that firemen give away when they visit schools etc.. BUT they are too small for my kid's noggin. This one is sturdy AND its adult sized. $2 Purple Dragon thing that twirls and lights up. The seller said her son bought it at a Disney on Ice show for $16., $1 pair of brass bunnies, .50 bottle of Avon perfume in pretty bottle, $1 - red ball - that folds flat, so you can throw it like a frisbee then while its flying, it converts to a ball.

I won a $300 Sailing lesson (unfortunately it's not yardsailing...)

I don't think I mentioned this here on the blog (but I think I mentioned it on my message board). Earlier this summer we went to an Open House for a new sailing school that opened nearby. Not yardsailing, regular sailboat sailing. I won their giveaway of a 2 day sailing course for beginners, value of $300. Since the class is only on Saturday and Sunday, that would seriously put a cramp in my Saturday routine. I have to think about priorities, you know.

My husband was actually interested in taking one of their more advanced sailing class (cost $400) so I asked if I could put the prize value towards an advanced class for my husband. They agreed. Today I dropped off the paperwork and paid the additional $100, so now my husband is set for the class in a few weeks.

In today's mailbox, there was a surprise. A card I had sent to an elderly friend in California had been returned and marked "not at this address". It was a Christmas card from December 2006. (The woman had been put in a nursing home in the fall of 2006 and I didn't know about it). I wonder if the card took a world tour or something.

p.s. Yes I know *yardsailing* is not word that the average person uses or spells, but I think it's my mission on earth to get it added to the English dictionary; so the more times I use it, the more the world will see it and someday my mission will be accomplished. I like to think of it as sailing through people's yards, looking for treasures.

Funny remark overheard at a yardsale

"All money raised is going to the Shave the Whales Foundation. This Sunday we're going to round up as many whales as we can and shave them".

I overheard this a while ago, and since I am a sensitive and caring person and an animal lover, I think I bought something. If I remember right, it was a 4 pack variety of hot sauces for $2.

Happy August! That means school starts in 22 days, not that I am counting or anything.