Shopping Yard Sales
With summer in full swing, there’s no doubt you’ve seen the signs around town forweekend yard sales. If you’re not a regular yard-saler, you may want to give it a try. High-ticket items that can hurt a multiples family’s budget (like sports equipment, outdoor toys, and seasonal clothing/gear) are great items to buy used. Here are some tips for shopping yard sales:
1. Shop with a list. I treat yard sales the same way I treat the grocery store or Target/Walmart. I shop with a list and stick to it. Otherwise, I’m just as susceptible to impulse buying and overspending, even at bargain prices. This summer, my list includes: snow pants and boots for next winter, a small wooden desk for my son’s room (I can repaint anything for the right price), jigsaw puzzles with 50-100 pieces, and sports equipment like basketballs, soccer balls, etc.
2. Plan ahead. Usually on Friday, I get some small bills and quarters together (it’s tough on the sellers when you only have a $20 bill for a $1 item) and I look at the Craigslist garage sale listings for my area. I look for neighborhood/HOA sales or large community sales held at churches; that way, I can visit several sales at once without having to drive around too much. I try not to waste gas, I just focus on a general area and follow signs once I’m there.
I paid $20 for this dining room buffet, spent $8 on replacement knobs, and ended up with a lovely piece with great storage!
3. Know your limitations. Over the years, I’ve had a habit of picking up yard sale furniture with the intention of painting it/fixing it up, and then it doesn’t get done, so it ends up getting sold at one of our own yard sales. You, too? If you really have the time/space/inclination to refinish furniture, you can do amazing things with yard sale finds, but if you don’t, save yourself the stress and money by not buying those things in the first place. No need to add someone else’s clutter to your house!
Shopping yard sales for good-quality used items can be a big help to your family budget, as long as you’re careful. Pick up some “new to you” board games, puzzles, and toys to get your kids through the rainy days this summer, then you can pass them along at your next consignment sale or share them with another family.
Oh my gosh, I love what you did with the buffet! That's gorgeous!
I'm not a big yard sale shopper, but would like to be. For the boys' clothes and toys I do hit the consignment sales though and I've gotten some sweet deals that way!
That buffet is great! We do a good bit of yard sale shopping in the summer. I try to be on the lookout for good furniture pieces I could fix up, but usually we just end up with books, toys, or a few clothing items.
I never thought of shopping with list for a garage sale- great idea! All those quarters and dollar deals add up after a while and then you still end up going home without the item you really needed.
I have an obsession with Estate Sales and vintage stuff (cameras, glassware, typography, etc.)! I also collect unique wooden chairs to refinish because one day I WILL have 6 different, groovy, cream-colored chairs around our big dark rubberwood table!
My husband and my garage hate me. The kids really love shopping with me though, I generally give them a couple dollars to bargain with and they go wild! They are partial to retro Fisher Price toys. 🙂
I hope to have a garage sales near me, but here people don't use it (I don't know why)