I just bought a mint twin cot (metal frame; mattress) for $35.00 at a garage sale. She even threw in the sheets. I need it for guests coming next weekend. I think it was a deal although honestly I didn't price new cots or air mattresses. It was just what I needed at the right time for the right price.

Marita40, Sounds like a pretty good deal to me. I know that they go for a pretty penny around here. The reason is that the mattresses are so hard to replace. Air mattresses are impossible to keep from getting holes in. I have a king that seperates into two twins and pumps up itself. I can tell you, it was a lot more than I should have spent. LOL. I have to admit it has stood up to two camping trips and no holes yet. I love yardsales because I get great deals on clothes. I don't seem to find much else here for a good price. Maybe I'm just stopping at the wrong ones. I hate buying jeans though. They are okay for the baby, but for the adults they cost too much. Seems like no one has my size either. Oh well, can't win them all. Haha. Congrats on the good deal.
peanutmom

I love auctions, estate sales and thrift stores. I buy more used stuff than I do new. I not only save money but very often get better quality items for less than what I would have spent if I had to buy it new.
The trick is to have a list of what you need and knowing what you are shopping for is going to cost you if you buy it new, so you know if you are getting a real deal or not.
I've picked up everything from gardening tools, ladders, furniture and kids stuff to some fine antiques at these types of places.
It's hard to pick out the best deal but getting gardening tools for dollar each that are better made than the ones in the stores today that cost anywhere from 30 dollars and up has got to be in there along with the sandblaster I bought for 15.

We love rummage sales and thrift stores and buy stuff ALL the time. We get a lot of great antiques that way. A few weeks ago, we bought a new regular size pillowtop mattress and box springs for $40 (for our daughter's bed). The person selling them said her mom had bought them for her, she used them a week, then decided she wanted a queen size so was selling this set. A great bargain for us and our daughter loves them!

We recently went to a yard sale and bought a Pack N Play crib for $4....in case our 1 yr. old granddaughter comes to visit.
It was really clean and in good shape. I checked it out on line and found that many like it were recalled. I did get a serial number and phone # of the company and the one we bought was NOT recalled.
So it was a good deal.....but it is something to think about before buying kids toys, etc.

There are many bargains at auctions, estate and yard sales, etc. I got several part-balls of wool (and other material) in a bag
at one for $1.00 that I'll use during this winter to darn some heavy work socks, etc. And some others that I can't remember
at the moment.

Careful when you're at an auction, though ... don't get into a bidding war and end up paying about double what you would
have paid in a store! That happens sometimes ... and a person feels really stupid when thinking what a dumb trick one played
on one's self!

The best deal, though, is shoopping at the roadside clearance place. I've picked up cupboards, shelves, wood, running
shoes, etc. Plus a good crib blanket on the street in town last Sunday and some good sheets on the freeway ... in fact,
I picked up a light jacket (CVS logo - and "Donnell"), almost new in northern Ohio on the freeway about 4 years ago -
that I'm wearing at the moment, as a matter of fact: it's 60 degrees in here. There's a U.S. flag at the top of one sleeve,
that I've never bothered to remove, though I can't qualify, being true-blue Canadian ... but my kids can, as they have dual
citizenship, their late Mom having been an Iowan ... and daughter has worked in AZ for several recent years.

Some folks on this thread got a good laugh about six years ago when I told how I found a good chesterfield a couple of blocks
away, went to son's apt. downtown and pressed him into service to come out to carry the other end as I slowly drove
home with one end in the back of the car, with the hatch open ...

... asking him several times whether I was driving too quickly.

And he answered ... that I wasn't ... between puffs of breathing.

I took a vanload of pop cans, most intact, when I helped a friend move a trailerload of scrap iron to the scrap metal dealer's
about three years ago, yielding $90.00, most of them picked up on the roadside, at summer festivals, fall fairs and other
joyous gatherings, when I took my son to be an entertainer. Plus quite a few dollsrs' worth on other occasions.

And I've taken a bunch of beer cans and bottles, about 1/3 - 1/2 of them originating at a friend's house who likes to drink
but has no vehicle, to the beer store, where they pay me 10 cents each for them, that has netted a number of dollars, as well.

Being cheap - pays!!

Enjoy your weekend, everyone.

One of the perquisites of retirement is - every day is weekend!

ole joyful ... thankful to be in good health at 80

I have a bunch of margaine bowls what craft can i make out of them i do crochet any ideas?

One time I went to an auction and bought a load of clothing (my size) that had been in storage. and guess what? there was money in the pockets!!! lolol...not much, like maybe $3, but the auctioneer must have noticed when I squealed out loud upon receiving my items!!!

My husband and I were at Goodwill while people were dropping off items and we noticed a pile off stuff off to the side. He went over and looked at it and the person sorting said it was trash and they were throwing it away. I went over and saw 3 cast iron pans, 2 galvanized tubs and 2 large antique saw blades that were about 4 ft long. He asked if we could have it and the woman working said they were not allowed to give anything away - even the trash. But if we had a dollar it could be ours. We gave her the dollar and took the stuff home.
We use the tubs in the garden, 2 of the pans we cleaned and reseasoned, the other was trash. We use one of the pans constantly in the kitchen. The saw blades decorate my husbands space / workshop /bike shop in the garage. Not bad for a dollar.
Another time our neighbors had a yard sale and at the end of the day put all the stuff that did not sell at the curb. We went for a walk that night and saw the boxes so we snooped through and got a large crockpot that works, a ceramic pitcher and bowl set, a few glasses and candle holders and some really nice white table linens. we are using the linen and crock pot today.
A lot of the items we use daily are these "finds". It saves a lot of money when things are free or low cost and allows us to save $$$ for the important things in our life.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I am thrilled to see that more people have logged in with the things they had rescued or gotted for a song. I love a bargain. My husband was totally in shock when we started dating and he has come around beautifully. LOL. Guess it's easier when you keep more money.

I found a crib at a recycling center and I think I can replace the hardware and make it like new for the grandbaby coming along. My first. It it pretty scuffed, but I think it will be worth a little time.

I also have made out like a bandit lately with clothes for my 3 yr old. I have been given quite a few bags of clothes and all I had to do was go pick them up and give them a good cleaning. They had been in storage for a couple of years. I doubt my 3 yr old cares how old her jeans are. I know I don't. LOL.

BTW, we have gotten my mom and stepdad hooked on auctions and they have been making out like bandits. I guess learning can work both ways when there is money to be saved.

Have wonderful holidays all!

In the interests of ways to pass some long winter evenings with some friends who we play board games with, I have found 3 boxed games at a local thrift store. All found at different times and all once you got beyond the shopworn look of the boxes contained complete games -ALL unopened decks where such things were part of the game, obviously never even used. The boxes were taped shut as is the stores policy but taking a chance I went for broke and got a nice surprise each time. Three "almost" new games - and for pennies. One I was particularly pleased to get was one I'd been looking at on the shelves in other stores - no I wasn't going to buy it new (the frugal in me) but I made note of the name of the game and checked the toy/game shelf each time I went into the thrift stores. There are a couple more games I want to get - when/if I ever see them at the thrift store that is. So that is my nice surprise......3 games, lots of evenings of fun - if we don't like the game, fine, I'll pass it along or back to the thrift.

Several years ago I took my son, a clown who blows up long balloons and twists them into hats, animal, watch, etc. shapes for kids, to a nearby village to a festival, and visited a yard sale.

I priced two or three things, and a young man about 14 told me what they were. I was interested in a small portable radio, for $2.00 ... but didn't go to that at first. Then the young man, whose Mom was standing there, said that I could have it for a dollar.

I told him, in a bit of a light-hearted manner, that, no, he had it wrong.

That he was not to soon offer to reduce the price (unless it was late in the day and he wanted to get rid of it rather badly).

That it was my job to hem and haw ... and ask whether he'd take $1.50 ... or $1.00.

That, until I started to walk away, he had lots of time in which he could offer to reduce the price, later. That he should leave the ball in my court to play, not be eager to offer the reduced price.

We both enjoyed the experience, I think ... as did his Mom.

Sometimes we listen better when a message comes from strangers than when it comes from parents.

Good wishes for making those dollars work hard.

ole joyful