Saturday, May 30, 2009

My Bargain for a Buck



It's Saturday, so you know where I was this morning. I don't have a pic or video of my entire stash today, but I did take this pic of my bargain for a buck while it was still on the lawn at the yardsale. A rug from Target. When I saw the dollar price tag I thought I mis-read it. The seller said it needed cleaning but hey, I didn't see a pool of blood on it nor any other dried bodily fluids. But I will Bissell the heck out of it.

I spent $1.75 at that sale so I put my other purchases on it before I rolled it up so you could kinda see the scale of it. Also bought .25 Scooby Doo hat for Jacob, .25 package of ColorWonder markers (can never have enough) and a .25 cute Teddy Bear that does something (but I don't know what yet - I pulled out the battery compartment out of the butt to see if the batteries worked - they didn't. I don't need a teddy bear, but it was very cute and it's the kinda thing that will sell for a few bucks when I do a December yardsale.

So, when I get home from yardsaling - Dh is cleaning out the garage and wanting me to throw stuff away. That is crazy talk. I am surprised that no one stopped and asked if we were having a garage sale. Out of my stash of treasures in the garage, I managed to find one thing to throw away. A big spool of plastic wrap I had purchased at a YS for $1. I bought it so I could do imitation at-home shrink-wrap when I wrap stuff that is getting sold on ebay. Well I tried it, and the wrap had like a greasy feel to it. So...no way do I want to mail greasy feeling plastic to people. I have an ebay reputation to uphold. haha. If you forgot what my garage looks like, here is a pic from last year Organized Chaos And you know what? I have more stuff crammed in there now. And don't even ask to see a pic of my corner of the garage.

If you enlarge the pic, on the freezer door is a I Brake for Junk bumpersticker. I won it years ago from the Carter Junkwebsite. The webmaster of that site is Mary Randolph Carter, she is an adverting bigwig at Ralph Lauren in NYC. I think she was like the first "famous" person who complimented me on my website years and years ago (she even signed my guestbook).

Speaking of my guestbook, I hope I am not jinxing it, but I am surprised that it has been running continuously since 1997!!! View my guestbook I thought for sure there would be some glitch by now that would have erased it long ago.

Friday, May 29, 2009

$8500 cash found at a garage sale


On my message board, one of the many Minnesotans posted this story

$8500 found in garage sale hip waders - Video Link

Story Link

The person who found the money think they did the right thing, but personally I think it angered the YSG (yardsale god). I think the YSG wanted the $8000 that was found in one boot to go towards the disabled men's Disney trip, and the other $500 was intended as a consolation prize to whoever found the money. Because otherwise, if the YSG wanted the original owner to have it, they would have looked in the boots before donating the item.

You ALWAYS thoroughly check the pockets of pants, suits, blazers, jackets, hip waders, cubbyholes, mystery compartments of ANYTHING you donate or before selling at your yardsale. Check underneath chairs/tables/cars to make sure dear Aunt Edna didn't tape an envelope full of cash and stash it underneath. And if you don't, you lose. That's the way it works. I don't make the rules. It's written in the YSG bible.

And then there's the whole other side to this story. What's up with a pregant woman wanting to buy hip waders to begin with??? Maybe its a Minnesota thing. They look sweaty to wear and not very cute. Not a fashion statement I want to make.

p.s. And I do take offense to the first sentence of the video: It looks like any garage sale, lamps, Christmas ornaments, vases...junk. WHAT DID I JUST HEAR? Junk!!?? I challenge them to find junk at my garage sale - I only sell treasures!

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Thrift Store Bargains and Buys

Yep, I made another video. I can't stop now. And, of course, I cannot stop shopping either.

here is what I bought today. I forgot to mention in the video that the cheesy As Seen On TV Smooth Away hair kit is new (the pads are still in the cellophane), but it was not in a box. I would not buy a used hair removal kit. See? I do have a little restraint while shopping.



But before any shopping took place today, Jacob had a dentist appointment that I had been dreading. (His dental visits used to mean I would have to break out in a sweat, holding him down etc.) Today he had to have a small cavity filled, and a sealant replaced. The last time they attempted nitrous oxide on him, he wanted no part of it. But this time, they used a different hose attachment and he was great with it. Overall, a really great appointment.



He is holding onto a mirror to see himself while looking up towards the TV.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

My Thrift Store buys today

I hit two of my local thrifts today (Smile and Spot - to be exact). What I really like about the thrift shops in my area is that there are no big thrift store chains - like Salvation Army or Goodwill. Both thrifts I hit today are charity-based, run by volunteers. Then there is also a very small chain of thrifts in my area - they have 2 stores so I guess that is a chain? They are run by an organization to use the thrift as a job-training facility for the disabled. They are opening a third location in June, so I am excited about that.

Shoes were half off at one store so I bought several pairs. I made a video of my buys today. I forgot to display a pair of canvas Nike shoes ($1.50 for myself) since I had put them in the washing machine. Same with a nice hand embroidered pillowcase (.50) - forgot to put that in the video.



Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Just a quick post - more on Bud Light Beer Carton hats

You know how I suggested the Bud Light beer carton hat the other day? Well guess what? Not only is it a great environmentally friendly hat, you can also use it as a disguise to rob places. Not that I would recommend doing that, but I'm just saying.

Man wears Bud Light beer carton hat as a disguise in a robbery

And you can see photos on TMZ, my favorite website for getting important news.

Yardsale Buys and Media stuff

Here is the stuff I bought on Saturday. And that's not all. I bought a .50 HP printer (missing the cords etc), BUT it had two used inkjets in it, so I will take the inkjets to Staples for $6 in credit and e-recycle the printer. Also bought a new jar of Victoria's Secret Romantic Wish body butter (.25) - originally $10 according to the price tag on it. Best buy of the day was the set of ValueTales books for $7 which are good sellers on ebay.



And I'm trying something new. I made a crappy video for YouTube to show off my bargains (and to and get free advertising for yardsalequeen.com) You know how some videos are so bad that they're good? Well that's what I was shooting for, so if you think the video is bad, then I succeeded :) My hair/make-up/wardrobe team didn't show up, so that is why I am not appearing in the video.



As I was leaving the church yardsale on Saturday, I noticed the car that parked next to me was my old car! I can tell it's my old Nissan Maxima because we added that car seat safety hook thing that is near the back windshield. And we sold it to a guy who lives in our neighborhood so seeing it out in public is not really that unusual. But I am glad to see the car still makes it to the yardsales. The new owner must be someone who is very smart.



Today I did a live radio interview for KPAM radio in Portland, Oregon. It aired at 5:30am their time, so I hope not many people were listening. Doing live radio interviews is definitely not my forte. Oye.

Recent newspaper article from Denver:Denver Post article

And a recent newspaper article from glorious upstate New York Times Union (while growing up and my family being a Times Union subscriber - we always called it the Times Onion for some reason).

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Hank Williams Jr. Concert (and a craft idea)


The concert last night was good - and very busy from a bartender's perspective. I know there are lots of people are waking up to hangovers this morning.

Next time I need to get there earlier for the free pre-show dinner. I missed out on my shrimp salad wrap and had to settle for a turkey wrap. boo-hoo for me.

They had a photo line and got to get very close - touchable close. The sound overwhelmed the little microphone on my cybershot so the videos I took are very distorted sounding. (wasn't like that at all during the show).





He seemed to really be enjoying himself on stage. He is a man of many hats - literally. He was always changing hats.

Speaking of hats, here is a hat I spotted during a break from my bartending duties. (Also towards the end of the show, somehow (haha) I ended up in the photo line and Security had stopped ushering people through. So I was forced to stand there at least a good 20 minutes standing next to the stage within touching distance of Hank. It was wall to wall people so I couldn't move.

Anyhow, here's the craft related hat. Perfect for anyone to wear from age 8 to 80. Step 1. Get an empty beer box. Step 2. Place it on your head. Step 3. Enjoy. Sorry for the blurry pic but you get the idea. The funny thing is, we don't sell Bud Light at the concert so this patron of the arts wore it specifically to the show.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Yard Sale Breakfast




Here's my yardsale breakfast from this morning. One of my first stops was at a church yardsale and for the grand total of $2.50 you got 3 huge pancakes, 2 sausage and either juice or coffee. (I don't do maple syrup or coffee). It was too much to eat and ended up giving the remainder of the pancakes to Whiskey. I normally don't eat church yardsale breakfasts since I'd rather spend the time shopping, but it smelled so good this morning and it was quick (I took it to go and ate in my car). ACKKK - I just realized I sound like my mother - discussing details of what I ate!!!

Yardsales today were ok, got some good stuff, but no pics yet to share.

The Blue Angels are doing shows today and tomorrow nearby. Kinda neat that I can stand in my driveway and see them overhead practicing. Since we are close to a big Navy base, we see some pretty slick Top Gun type aircraft pretty often. Unfortunately, I never run into any Tom Cruise/Top Gun look-alike pilots while shopping at my thrifts.

These are pics I took yesterday while waiting for Jacob to get off the bus. I am bummed that I missed a great shot of them all in tight formation.




Yesterday at Smile I bought these funky shoes for myself in new condition ($5). Click here to see better pics. $49 is what they cost new.



Then tonight, I will be getting my honky-tonk on and doing my volunteer bartending work - helping to quench the thirst of people in need of an adult beverage. Or perhaps a $2 bottle of water. Bartenders cannot accept tips so it actually is volunteering. I will be seeing and hearing Bocephus tonight. Should be interesting.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Yardsale Tip - How to Hang Clothes at a Yard Sale



Displaying clothes for sale at a yardsale is usually pretty tricky. A lot of people will stretch a rope between two trees but what happens a lot of the times is that the rope droops (due to the weight of the clothes). And then all the clothes get bunched up in the middle.

Anyhow, here's a pic I took last Saturday - I thought the person having the yardsale had an ingenious way to hang clothes. She just took an unused soccer goal stand that they were no longer using and put it on it's side and stuck a cinder block on it to keep it weighed down.

And here's what I bought last Saturday. Most expensive thing was the $10 new Le Creuset frying pan. Other notable things are the green depression glass bowl ($4) and the vintage Sesame Street playhouse ($5). All the FPLP (that's Fisher Price Little People for the uniformed) were .25 each, and some are the older wooden ones. Oh and how can I forget the new-in-box Stripper Pole Alarm Clock (it was .50) The big mylar balloon fish has a $9.99 price tag on it (but that was the store price). I paid $2 (I will take it to the florist at the grocery store for helium).


Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Finally made the craft I mentioned in January



Back in January - this post to be specific - I mentioned I wanted to make a craft that I saw in Family Fun magazine. Well I got tired of looking at the two milk cartons I had saved for it so I made one yesterday. And then promptly threw away the second milk carton. What a piece of crap I made. That is why I don't do crafts. I bought a nice real wallet for $3 at Smile last week. Trying to neatly bend waxy cardboard into a nice accordion shape is a PITA. So that's why I threw out the other milk carton, no plans to make more.

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I spent a little part of today trying to find Parenting magazine on the newsstands. There's an article in it (June edition) that I was interviewed for so I want to see it. Will have to check out some other stores to see if I can find it. The funny thing was, I was thinking it was Parents magazine (which is different).

Sunday, May 17, 2009

The Kramer - He is a loathesome, offensive brute. Yet I can't look away



I still don't have a pic of my yardsale finds from yesterday, so instead here are some pics of some stuff I bought earlier last week. I bought The Kramer artwork for $5. It's framed and ready to hang. I used to have a "The Kramer" t-shirt that I remember buying at a place called a "store" but the shirt is long gone. I think I may have sold it on ebay after I tired of owning it. But this, this is artwork - something that is destined to be passed down from generation to generation. Not like a t-shirt.

And I bought a pair of Aerosoles sandals for $2 at Smile. They are practically new. I love Aerosoles. I hate flip-flops.



And here is a trash-pickin find. I forgot to mention that after doing my Shoppers Food Warehouse shopping on Thursday, when I was returning the shopping cart to the shopping cart corral in the parking lot, I saw a brown paper bag in a cart, like someone had cleaned out their car or had yardsale leftovers they wanted to throw away and instead of putting them in a garbage can, they stuck them in a cart for a grocery store employee to deal with. There was a bunch of plastic hangers, some broken nick-nacks and a Baby Phat hat. Of course if I see a bag of something in a grocery cart in the parking lot, of course I'm going to take a peek inside and see what's there. So I took the hat.


Saturday, May 16, 2009

Yard Sale Pet Peeves



I was reading an article online recently about yardsales and one of the tips that someone commented was that the best way to price stuff is to make a chart with different colored stickers, so that a blue stickers means that its .50, a yellow sticker means its a $1 and so on. Acck....as a buyer, I hate that (and don't think I would like totalling up purchases being a seller. I'd be like....oh I forgot is the light yellow .50 or is the slightly darker yellow .50? It would drive me nuts. I saw it being done today. Why would I want to look at a chart to find out how much something costs? If something is .50, write .50 with a sharpie on the sticker. Or buy the pre-printed stickers.

Barack Obama used inaugural souvenirs are starting to show up at yardsales. And today was the second time I've seen the Aquaglobes. Didn't buy either. Will show what I bought this weekend later sometime.

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Friday night I had to return some PS3 games to the library (yes, our library loans out Playstation 3 games for free - isn't America great!) and the Parks & Recs department was sponsoring a car show in the parking lot. Just look at that car - isn't it amazing!! And just look at that awesome color. We are looking at the same car, right? That super roomy beautiful Mazda MPV that is in the back, next to some other cars.

Friday, May 15, 2009

Grocery Shopping Savings



Just a quick post before too late to tell you about my grocery shopping trip on Thursday. Shoppers Food Warehouse had triple coupons up to .99. My total before coupons was $110.47 and after coupons I ended up paying $29.73 But actually it will end up being cheaper than that because I'll be getting a $3.99 mail-in rebate for one of the items I bought. Plus the receipt spit out a survey for me to take via phone, and after I do that, I'll get a free loaf of french bread the next time I shop.

here is the stuff I got. And of course, you can't see some of the stuff since its in the bags. As you see, I am very health conscience ....veggies/rice in cheese sauce, sour cream, white chocolate covered pretzels and pretzels for baking, Eggo Danish, butter and more butter. All the important food groups. And some sort of fiber pop-tarts.


Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Yard Sale Food

I am not a big fan of selling snacks and food when I have a yardsale. Having a yardsale in itself is a lot of work so having a food and beverage element is something I normally skip. Except maybe selling bottled water occasionally. And even that is extra work since you gotta keep it cold etc.



Anyhow, I was reading the ads today and spotted this ad. For some reason I think putting Egg Rolls in their ad seems funny. Sure they could have used other words such as Antiques, Household, Collectibles, Tools, Toys, Misc. but instead they went with egg rolls. Or maybe they plan on having like an Easter Egg Roll event as a fun activity for the kiddos while the grown-ups shopped. Unlikely. The sale is too far for me, but even so, if I'm going to eat an egg roll, I usually don't think of it as a breakfast item.

Here's a pic I snapped last Saturday when out yardsaling. I know it's not LOL funny but I found it amusing.



And lastly, here's the stuff I bought today at Smile:


$1 Deceptively Delicious book Jessica Seinfeld (ebay)
$1.50 Shalimar (ebay)
$1 Hagar the Horrible mug (ebay)
$1 candle in box (keep)
$1.50 trivet - A plump wife and a big barn never did any man harm (but be careful if she is holding a frying pan....I'm just saying)
$1.50 vintage-y looking DMC sign. I think some crafty person on ebay would like it.

I will thumb thru the Deceptively Delicious book since its all about hidden ways to sneak veggies into your kids meals. But I doubt it will help me at all (so it will be ebay bound). I can't get Jacob to eat NORMAL foods to begin with, so sneaking veggie puree in Beef Stew or scrambled eggs is not something I see myself doing. I would just be satisfied if he ate beef stew or scrambled eggs WITHOUT anything extra. We go thru a lot of popcorn in my house.

And see that little red 3" tall candle? I hesitated buying it, since it was so small and it was a whole dollar. I mean, in the past I've bought those ginormous Yankee Candles for $1 and now they want a $1 for this tiny little candle?? Anyhow I bought it since it was new in the box. The box had the company's website on it so this afternoon I looked it up, and the thing has a retail price of $34. $34!!! Who pays $34 for a tiny candle? Who knows, maybe burning this candle will fill my house with such a great scent that the only candles I buy from now on cost $34. I doubt it. It even has its own name italian blood orange petal topped candle

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Yardsale Humor - Mardi Gras for White Trash

Jokes.com
John Caparulo - Yard Sale
dians.comedycentral.com
Joke of the DayStand-Up ComedyFree Online Games


The naughty words are bleeped out. (Just thought I would say that in case throngs of kids who are reading the The New 50 Simple Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth book are here)

p.s. I do agree with his return policy. The last thing I want at my yardsale is someone coming back expecting a return policy.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Yard Sale Shopping

On Saturday, I started off at a church yardsale/plant sale that started at 6:30 a.m. They also had a raffle drawing, I bought $5 worth of tickets.

After that I went to another church yardsale (less than a mile from the first) and then to individual yardsales. I usually just stay within a 5 mile radius of my house. (I was home by 10:30am.)

I remembered seeing a sign that the expensive waterfront retirement/senior citizen community was having a Book Fair and Bake Sale. They used to have a big yardsale this same weekend in May every year but did away with it since it was too much work for them to store the possessions (when someone there dies, they would keep the leftover possessions until the annual yardsale in May). Now they do mini unadvertised yardsales through out the year, so I will call and get the details about the unadvertised sales.

Well long story short, I get to the Book Fair but they said the doors wouldn't open until 10am on the dot (it was 9:55 a.m.) I overheard some residents talking and they said they sneaked in and saw some good cookbooks but they got kicked out until the official start time. I look around and realize that I'm the only one who is not a member of the AARP (even tho the sale is open to the public). I thought that was a little odd but I'm thinking - woo-hoo - I'll clean up finding all the old collectible books.

At 10am, they open the door, I push and shove my way in and get in front of the oldsters. (JUST KIDDING!!! do not send hate mail). And then what do I see? NEW stuff at new stuff prices! Accckkkk!!!! It suddenly dawned on me that the same kind of book fairs that travel around to schools for kids to buy stuff, also go to retirement communities.


The "younger" man in the pic was one of the book fair workers.

Despite the book fair snafu, it was a great yardsaling day for me. Here's what I got:

Bunch of clothes for Jacob (most from Children's Place and Old Navy)
and some still new with tag (the new blue camo shorts are from Lands End)
all were ONLY .25 each!



At another sale, the seller had new stuff (she worked at a grocery store and they were told they could have the clearanced stuff that didn't sell). paid .25 each (all unused)



And the rest of the stuff I bought. New Spongebob DVDs were just .50 and the most expensive thing in the pic was $1 (Pampered Chef thing, Obama audio book, old coffee tin) but everything else was .50 or cheaper. I bought a huge Happy 75th banner (.50) since in another 50 years or so, I plan on having a big blowout party for myself :) Not in picture - a gallon sized container of red daylillies for $3. Longaberger pitcher has a repaired handle (but it was only.50)



$1.50 storage rack and $2 Old Navy coat bought at Smile this week:


And remember I said I bought $5 worth of raffle tickets? Here's what I won, a Sonicare toothbrush - they said it was valued at $200 (but looking on ebay, they sell for about $100). I think I am going to keep it though.



Sunday, May 10, 2009

Borat at a Garage Sale

I still want to post about all my great buys from Saturday but didn't have time today (maybe tomorrow)

Anyhow, in the meantime, you can watch this clip of Borat at a garage sale.

Saturday, May 09, 2009

Great Buys at the Yardsales Today...

But I don't have time to post about them. Just got home from a Cinco de Mayo (plus 4) party.

Friday, May 08, 2009

The New 50 Simple things Kids Can Do...



I found out the other day that yardsalequeen.com is mentioned in the above book. Page 37 to be exact. Tip #5 - Pass it on. I do find it funny that they suggest that the kids read the other websites mentioned with a grown-up, but no need to have a grown-up around to read mine. Oye. No comment.

And one of the other sites the book listed Getrichslowly actually has a link to yardsalequeen.com and I let them use my cute little yardsale sign graphic that is on their page. And a while back I wrote a guest-blog entry which you can read here



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And in the June 2009 issue of Parenting magazine, there is a short garage sale article that I was interviewed for. Will post it when it comes in the mail (I'm a subscriber - somehow I got a free subscription)

Thursday, May 07, 2009

Happy Belated Birthday to Me Me Me!

Yesterday was my "special day" as my friend Bev calls it. My birthday is not complete without getting a call from my friend Bev singing me Happy Birthday the standard way and also a remixed version.

I got excited when I saw a Fed Ex package on my porch. Who could be sending me a special present on my special day via Fed Ex???? What could it possibly be? Maybe I won some grand prize in a contest and it was paperwork for me to fill out. But not this time. It was something much better. Laundry detergent. I kid you not.



I signed up to test market a new laundry soap and I was one of the chosen few. They must have known that I am someone of impeccable taste and is on the cutting edge of laundry soap technology.



And this is my special birthday plant that was given to me expectantly yesterday. Well actually as I was leaving Food Lion the guy working in the florist area says "Hey, do you want this for free? I'm gonna throw it out". So what that it says "Easter Lily" on it, it's my special birthday plant.

Had dinner at Lone Star Steakhouse and used my free birthday meal coupon (from email). I managed to live all these years without having a group of waiters clap and sing some silly song at my table on my birthday. That record was broken last night. But they did give me a HUGE brownie sundae for free, so it was worth it.

Here's that ceramic vase thing that I bought the other day and love. Was $1.



And here's recent pics of the Whiskey Dog. He's still a bag of bones but I think he is feeling good.


Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Pseudo Slots Playing - Lucky Dawg




I went and renewed my driver's license today since it expires tomorrow. So the DMV is only about 10 miles away from another thrift that I like so I stopped and and spent $7. Will post later a pic of the vase I got.

So then the thrift isn't far from the pseudo-slot non-gambling place. And I had with me my birthday card from them for a free $20 in slot place. So since my gambling motto is "Don't be afraid to walk away a winner" - I cashed out at $28.95. A free $28.95 never hurts.