Stuff

So winter break is almost over. I haven't done much of anything productive! I'm not looking forward to going back to work. Before break, some trivial things occurred that just got me super frustrated. It's those political, behind-the-scenes things that occur in school systems that can drive you insane. I just feel so much pressure to get so much done and not enough support, encouragement, or praise from the powers that be. Instead, I get a lot of "do this, do this, don't do this, you're not doing enough of this..." AHHHHH!!

You'd think that all this pessimism regarding my job would have me listing like crazy. But it's not! While I did some shopping and I did get inventory listed for the spring consignment sale, I'm not doing enough...

What it sold for

Paid $3.00, sold for $20.49

Paid $0 (came with our mattress), sold for $26.00

Paid $10.00, sold for $37.36 (I think I could have gotten more if I had divided this lot up...)

Paid .15, sold for $6.99

Purchased a big lap desk table thing for Play-Doh, with some molds in it for $5, most of it I still have, but some of this came from that set along with another box full of molds that I got for $1. So at most I spent $6 on a bunch of various Play-Doh pieces, what's pictured sold for $16.50. And like I said, still have a bunch left.

Back to Work

3 weeks until Christmas break! 15 days to push through. My Christmas break will mostly consist of watching movies and getting organized. Same things as every year. Just a little relaxation!

These 5 days off have been decently productive. I got Wednesday off because I was presenting at a professional development day in Cleveland. So we left Tuesday night, spent the night at my dad's, I presented Wednesday afternoon, had Thanksgiving dinner with my dad & sister Wednesday night, went to my brother-in-laws Thursday and drove home Thursday night, did some shopping Friday and went to the gym, and then yesterday & today have been lounging days.

I got some thrift shopping in this break! I made it to 2 thrifts back in northern OH, including Salvo on 1/2 price day! I miss that store.

Still focusing on listing with my goal being to use up all my 50 free listings this month & next month.

Happy Thanksgiving (weekend!)

I am such a bad blogger. Every day I check into my favorite thrifty blogs, but I rarely seem to update my own. I love hearing about others' experiences but I just can't seem to return the favor.

Black Friday was a wonderful opportunity to feed my frugal habits. I grabbed a bunch of stuff that was free after ECBs at CVS, including dishwashing tablets, toothbrushes, Kleenex, and Excedrin. With the ECBs, I was able to pick up a HUGE (1 lb!) set of Reese cups as one of my dad's Christmas presents and Carlos found two Star Wars figurines/candy dispensers for his stocking. We still have some ECBs to burn too. I've given up on couponing so I rarely go to CVS but I'm glad I checked the ad!

We also went to my favorite thrift which was having a 50% off everything sale (they also do this the last Tuesday of each month!). I got a load of awesome stuff for only $15.

Then we went to Wal-Mart where I got my nieces and nephews their pajamas for less than $5 each. I also picked up a bunch of TV shows on DVD which I listed on Half.com.

Here's what I've sold recently on eBay:

These first three items were given to me by my dad to sell online. So I didn't spend anything on them.

Sold at Buy It Now for $29.99

Sold for $17.99

Sold for $6.99 BIN

This clock was one of the first items I bought for resale, back in the summer! I listed it half a dozen times, so I am amazingly grateful that it finally sold this time! I paid 90 cents and it sold for $15.99.

random

We went out to dinner with some friends & I stopped in the Goodwill up near our old apartment. We got an assortment of random stuff... The prices there are a little high for my taste, but nevertheless, we found:

A necklace for me $4

Loaded Questions game (NIB) $3

90s Girl Talk game (NIB) $4

a bag of Barbie and other dolls $5... will resell at consignment sale

DH got an XBox Tony Hawk skateboard thing for $5.50

small Victoria's Secret dog .50

I've also picked up a handful of Halloween costumes for 75% off for next year.

Tossing up ideas for Christmas gifts this year. I'm thinking of doing pajamas for all the nephews & nieces, along with maybe fuzzy socks and some hot cocoa. In-laws thought of a breakfast for two basket & maybe some homemade scrubs for the ladies. Not wanting to spend an arm & a leg!

And the beat goes on...

Bad things

- car got broken into

- someone got ahold of our bank info and a dozen mysterious charges appeared

Was really doubting the goodness of mankind. But I am a strong believer in karma, so I kept doing what I know is right. Things are looking up:

+ mysterious charges were all reversed and I got my new card

+ I got feedback on the presentation I gave a few weeks ago at our professional development event and it was all positive. So much in fact, that I was asked to present at the northern OH PD day!

+ I sold a puzzle for almost $30 on eBay.

+ We got a kitten!

With Christmas coming I know I need to be listing...

$%*!

Some worthless human being(s) broke into my husband's car sometime in the early morning. He works third shift at a hospital. They broke the window and there are now a million little pieces of glass all over the car. They sold the GPS and my iPod which I left in there after visiting the gym last night. These selfish, useless morons however left all the change in the car as well as CDs, DVDs, and a checkbook. Not to mention the GPS is over 2 years old so it's not even a hot model. The iPod was a 80g iPod classic that was purchased secondhand last year for 60$. So explain to me how pathetic your life must be to steal electronics that won't even get you probably 50$ at a pawn shop. I feel sorry for you.

Replacing the window will cost almost $400. Who knows when we'll get a new GPS & iPod. This whole situation has just made me more driven to succeed, bust my ass, and make lots of money. eBay and otherwise.

Goals

This past weekend I went to a church rummage sale. I've been going to it for the last few years (since we moved down here) and have always walked away with some goodies. It's a donation sale, which is a double-edged sword in my opinion. It means I can pick my prices but then I have to negotiate with the cashier. I must say I am getting more assertive as I do this. I came to the sale with a $10 bill, a few ones and some odd change. Here's what I found:

• kids' clothes--an Old Navy sundress, 3 boys' tank tops, Children's Place athletic shorts, Disney Princess pants, infant pants NWT, girls' Old Navy shorts, and 2 pairs of boys' swim trunks (1 NWT)
• a Longaberger cookie mold
• Wilton Barney cake pan
• lots of books
• 10 DVDs

They asked for $15, I countered with $10, and they accepted. Most of it I will hold on to for the spring consignment sale. I think I can easily triple my profit. I'll list the cake pan on eBay. Turns out the Longaberger mold is a dud, but I'll either sell in a lot or put it in the consignment sale (they do household items as well).

DH & I would like to go on a vacation this December so I've really got to get to goal setting with my eBay business. I've decided I will start small this week at $100.

Also, I'm going to set a goal for the spring consignment sale. I have plenty of time to get some inventory so I am aiming high. I want to bring 1000 items and earn a $2000+ check. Let's get started!

Tastefully Simple

I am hosting a Tastefully Simple online party. I'm hoping to be able to get some holiday shopping done inexpensively. Their food is so yummy.

What's nice about TS is that you order online and they ship directly to you or your recipient, anywhere in the US.

If you'd like an invitation let me know so I can get some products for cheap!

Consignment Sale Success!!

I had an easy, profitable experience with the recent consignment sale! It was as amazing as I had hoped and I am already fired up for the spring one. Here is the list of my sales and profits:

Items Purchased from Garage Sales

Sponge Bob Connect 4 Paid $1.00 Sold for $2.93 Profit: $1.93

Milles Bornes Paid $1.00 Sold for $3.90 Profit: $2.90

Pulling My Leg Paid $1.00 Sold for $3.90 Profit: $2.90

Witch Doctor Paid $1.00 Sold for $1.95 Profit: $0.95

IZZI brain teaser Paid $.25 Sold for $2.60 Profit: $2.35

Build a Bear hoop Paid $.50 Sold for $1.30 Profit $.80

Barbie DVDs Paid $2.00 Sold for $6.50 Profit $4.50

Bean Bag Chair Paid $3.00 Sold for $6.50 Profit $3.50

Gymboree Shoes Paid $1.00 Sold for $5.20 Profit $4.20

Bloomers Paid $.40 Sold for $.98 Profit $.58

Pirate Ship Playset Paid $2.00 Sold for $5.20 Profit $3.20

Voltron/Monster Paid $1.00 Sold for $1.30 Profit $.30

Building Set Paid $2.00 Sold for $4.55 Profit $2.55

Items from Goodwill

The Children's Place Skirt Paid $.40 Sold for $5.85 Profit $5.45

Circo Jeans Paid $.40 Sold for $3.90 Profit $3.50

Guess Skirt Paid $3.00 Sold for $6.82 Profit $3.82

Cherokee White Sweater Paid $1.00 Sold for $3.90 Profit $2.90

Kaskey Hockey Kids Paid $2.00 Sold for $5.85 Profit $3.85

Diva Sweatsuit Paid $1.00 Sold for $3.25 Profit $2.25

Guess Jean Skirt Paid $.75 Sold for $1.95 Profit $1.20

Jumping Beans Giraffe Paid $.20 Sold for $2.28 Profit $2.08

Jumping Beans Reindeer Paid $.75 Sold for $2.93 Profit $2.18

Noah's Ark outfit Paid $.40 Sold for $2.28 Profit $1.88

Monkey & Mommy Paid $.80 Sold for $1.30 Profit $.50

Ralph & Sonoma Paid $.20 Sold for $.81 Profit $.61

Dr. Seuss books Paid ?? Picked up over time Sold for $3.90

Items from VOA Thrift

Glo Bonz Paid $.90 Sold for $1.30 Profit $.40

(Which is great considering when I got home and opened the Glo Bonz container,

I realized half the pieces were missing and instead the container was filled with

marbles, checkers, and various pieces and parts from toys)

Football Toy Box Paid $8.00 Sold for $22.75 Profit $14.75 (So glad to be

getting rid of this after having it listed for months on Craigslist with no bites)

Umi Shoes Paid $3.00 Sold for $6.34 Profit $3.34

Leopard Print Circos Paid $.50 Sold for $1.30 Profit $.80

Smart Fit Blue shoes Paid $1.00 Sold for $2.60 Profit $1.60

Black Circo Flower Shoes Paid $1.00 Sold for $2.60 Profit $1.60

Baby Smart Shiny Shoes Paid $1.00 Sold for $2.60 Profit $1.60

Build a Bear Blanket & Pillow Paid $.90 Sold for $1.46 Profit $.56

Pirates Dice Game Paid $2.00 Sold for $3.90 Profit $1.90

Goodwill Outlet Trips

Trip #1

Little People Tractor $2.60

Godzilla Monsters & Dinosaurs $2.60

Profit-to-date -$3.07

Trip #2

Nancy Drew mysteries $3.25

Blankets $.98

Smart Fit boots $2.00

Profit-to-date $11.59

Personal Belongings... The few things that were originally purchased NOT to resell

Disney Tree Purchased back in 2006 for $20.00 Sold for $4.55

Longaberger Basket My dad gave me to sell; Sold for $6.50

String Lights Purchased last year, I believe at 75% off which would have been\

$5.25 Sold for $6.50

2 Sets of Pencils Purchased at I believe 75% off or $3.00 for all Sold $3.24

Wig Purchased for $4.00 Sold for $2.60

The Game of Life Given to me by my dad to sell, Sold for $2.60

Christmas Tree I believe purchased at 75% off, which would be around

$24.50 Sold for $18.20

NCAA game Bought $4.00 Sold $2.60

The prices sold for up there are AFTER the 35% cut the sale gets. After the cut and the consigner's fee, I will be getting a check for approx $177.

Lessons learned for next time:

Start MUCH earlier with the tagging and packaging. Like months in advance. Like now. That way my living room doesn't look like a tornado and I actually have time to bring all my inventory.

Color-code my hangers. I was confused as to why some folks' hangers had ribbon on them. Well when I went to pick-up my remaining items it made perfect sense. You have to find your items in a sea of chaos. Some other people duct taped their hangers with pretty colored tape. I'm thinking I might order labels from Vista Print for next time. They'll be pre-cut as opposed to having to get the duct tape off the roll, and will probably cost about the same after Vista Print's freebie deals.

P.S. No clue why a few lines of this post are highlighted.

Consignment Sale

So tonight we dropped off our items at the consignment sale. It looks like it's going to go well; everything was so neat and organized. I ended up having time to list 131 items but only had time to tag and bring 94 of them. 2 additional items I put in inventory I realized I couldn't sell--one pair of pants was stained and our old vacuum was missing a piece. They said everything I did bring looks good, with the exception of one pair of shoes that was too scuffed, which I figured. However a lady told me she'd pay me for the shoes anyway, so I got a quick 2 bucks in my pocket. I'll get 65% of whatever I make minus a $25 consignor fee. Tomorrow Carlos & I are going to shop the pre-sale.

Consignment Sale Inventory

I've been finding more and more junk to take to the consignment sale. It's sort of sad that I've acquired so much random stuff. This sale also does household items so I'm getting rid of a lot of the holiday decor we have, since it's a pain to put up and no one comes to visit anyway. So far, I have items worth $579.50 (before the 35% taken out) listed in the database. My goal is to get to $1000. $1500 would be nice but I doubt if I have that much stuff. We'll see. The deadline to enter inventory is Monday at 10 AM so we'll see what I get done tomorrow. I have all the Christmas stuff in the attic, some books, board games, a few items from the thrift in the trunk of my car, an end table, and some various toys to list.

So Long September

Next week I will be taking stuff to a consignment sale, so this weekend I'll be finishing up adding the inventory to the online database and tagging items. Today was a professional development day (AKA a waste of time) and afterwards I swung by the VOA thrift store. I found a toy of the green striped character from Yo Gabba Gabba that I still need to research, but he was 90 cents so I figured I'd go for it. I think he needs new batteries too. I also found 3 pairs of kid's shoes packaged in bags at 99 cents each. I found it strange because through the bags they seemed in excellent shape and I don't know why they were so cheap and in bags to begin with, when all the other shoes are on a shelf and are more costly and in crummier condition. Well at home I opened the bags and examined them, and sure enough, each pair is in wonderful shape. Only downside was one pair are LeBron James Nikes and being as I am an Ohioan I despise him, but as Carlos pointed out it's not like he's getting paid off of them since I bought them secondhand. Plus I'll hopefully make several bucks profit at the consignment sale.

I'm going to take a bunch of stuff to the sale that I could sell on eBay, but I figure since I move so slowly listing I minds well get rid of some of my inventory so I can do what I do best and that is buy more!

Tomorrow unfortunately are conferences from 10-2 so I'm missing out on a few church sales. Oh how I love church sales because they frequently have fill a bag deals at the end. I hope to get to one though that doesn't end until 4.

So long September, you zoomed by.

eBay...

Dear eBay,

I really don't understand you. Why is it that certain amazing things with great completeds just don't sell when I list them? Or great amazing things in general? Like a like new pair of Ferragamo shoes complete with box? And why is it that something will get no watchers or views, then immediately after it is relisted, it sells for the Buy it Now price?

How many relists does it take you until an item sells?

And I just keep buying and buying...

I've come along some super neat finds recently. My main obstacle is still getting these neat things listed. I reason with myself that I just have to keep going to as many garage sales as possible because winter will be here soon! And winter in Ohio means no garage sales. I did just sell Renaissance chess pieces for $11.99 which I bought about a month ago for 90 cents. Also the Citizens of Humanity jeans I got for $2.49 sold at Buy it Now for $28.99! And I hit the shipping right on the head to the exact penny!

50% off Labor Day Sale!

Yesterday was a great day. Carlos & I went to a waterpark and had a great time in the beautiful weather. On the way home, we hit Goodwill which was having a 50% off EVERYTHING Labor Day sale. I shopped for a long time, even looking at clothes which I normally bypass as there's just too many. I got a great haul:

All 8 volumes of the Charlie Brown Dictionaries

A Berenstein Bears book to add to my stash to list as a lot

A dictionary for my classroom

All books were cost $2.95

A pair of big men's shoes NWT $1.99

3 men's shirts, an Aeropostale, Tommy Hilfiger, and Abercrombie $1.74 each

A set of 2 3-D Christmas Tree cake pans in box $3.49

3 pairs of shoes, men's Cole Haan's & Florsheims & women's Danskos!!! $2.49 each

2 pairs of women's jeans, Citizens of Humanity & Lilly Pulitzer, $2.49 each

2 Holly Hobbie plates $.99 for both

A Ren & Stimpy Christmas mug $.49

Stencil decor that looks like books, I think I'll put up in my office/"eBay room" $.99

A pair of leggings that look like jeans (not jeggings) for myself, $.49

An exercise DVD, $1.49

Stretchable book cover, $.49... The front of the package says 7 ct. value pack, but there's only 1 in here... sniff... I'll take to school and see if any student wants it.

NWT girls' Circo cowboy boots... $.99 so awesome because I just read an entry about them at eBay Underground.

Also Carlos got a pair of boxers which I don't see on the receipt. At the end the cashier was like, "you have a lot of random stuff," and I think just stopped caring about ringing them up lol. That and he and Carlos started talking about Star Wars.

So excited to get these things listed. I am having a difficult time staying on top of my pile 'o' stuff. I didn't sell anything on eBay this past week :-P

Eid=Thrift Store Shopping!

Today is a Muslim holiday, and since so much of the student body celebrates it, we had a day off. That meant breakfast out with hubby followed by thrift store shopping! We went to a little Mennonite shop the town over which is sooooo clean and organized and has lots of cheap goodies. I got some random stuff, including several VHS tapes for 25 cents, a few Junie B. Jones books (I think I have enough for a lot), a few items for teaching, etc. I spent around $7.50 there. Then we went to Volunteers of America. On the last Tuesday of every month, EVERYTHING there is 50% off! I just learned that. I am so excited about this... another store, Ohio Thrift, does 50% off clothing and shoes every last Wednesday, but it's way over on the other side of the city. VOA is close and nicer! We spent about $34 on the following:

Spiderman shirt for DH: $2

AE plaid shorts for me: $3

NWT Christopher & Banks shirt for me: $2

beautiful Indian style New York & Co top for me: $3

NWT Everlast Coolmax exercise top... I might resell, will check prices, if not, I'll keep: $3

NWT Covington sweater for me: $3.50

simple Banana Republic top for me: $3

Adidas windpants for DH: $1

The North Face shirt to sell: $4.50

Adidas Clima365 top for me: $3

Care Bears bed sheet to sell: $1

Pixos: .45

EDIT: forgot a bag of more things from VOA:

My strange spouse wanted 2 stuffed animals. He's Mexican and found a teddy with a sombrero as well as the TY Beanie Buddy Mexican bear. I think each was .50 or $1. Seriously he has the strangest collection of random toys. Star Wars, wrestling figures, superheroes. It's cute but sort of annoying. I want to get him a shelfing unit so at least everything will be displayed. But it's all up in his man cave a.k.a. the spare bedroom upstairs so out of sight, out of mind. Who am I to judge; I have a curio cabinet full of roosters.

I got a Puffalump to resell for $1.

Also a stack of postcards that say "Greetings from the Seventies" and have a guy in a leisure suit. Still sealed. Can't find any info on them but I have a feeling they'll do well. Cost .45.

I really need to list. My house is overflowing with random crap!! It's much more fun shopping than listing.

eBay sales... the I Screwed Up Again edition

So I screwed up yet again with underestimating shipping for international buyers. I can't believe it costs so much. I also had a horrible experience at the P.O. with perhaps the meanest USPS worker in central Ohio. I think he might be Steve from Meijer's brother. Anyway here's what I sent out today:

Risk game= sold for $31.99-$3 I paid for-$29.29 shipping to Spain (WHAT?!)= .30 in the hole. !!!!!

Allen Edmonds from GW Outlet sold for $31.96-$27.50 to Germany=$4.46 :'( so sad... That brings me to $13.35 left to break even on GW Outlet trip #2.

I did do good here:

Allen Edmonds loafers sold for $26.94-$8.23 shipping=$18.71. Yay broke even at GW with $5.36 profit & lots more to sell.

Also sold a lot of Tamagotchis. They cost about $2. Sold for $18.40-$4.56 shipping.

Of course after I went to the P.O. and got depressed, I had to walk next door to the thrift store. I got a Far Side mug for 30 cents, blank cassette tape .50, a No Whining sign for my classroom for .50, 3 Popples magnets for .90, and this thing of Glo Bonz, building toys for .90.

Craigslist Success

I managed to find a Little Tikes Football Toy Chest at VOA Thrift Store! It was $8. I logged into our CL account to list it and noticed 2 listings had expired: one for our garage door opener & one for my old phone. Oh, so that's why no one had been inquiring about them! So I reactivated both, and ta-da! They've both sold!

The garage door opener was picked up in the spring at a yard sale, with intentions of installing it in our garage. Mr. Thrifty is not so handy, or so he says, so we decided to resell it instead. It sold early on in the summer for $100 to an older couple, who then called the next day and asked if they could return it, because according to the people who were going to install it, it was a crappy model. Uh. Anyone else think the old folks were getting screwed by the company who convinced them to buy their $300+ model? I do! Anyway, we gave them a refund but they told us to keep $10 for the inconvenience.

Originally paid $40 at yard sale-$10 from old folks=$30 in the hole

Today we sold it for $85 to another guy. Hopefully he won't have any problems!

-$30 + $85= $55 profit!!

I don't know how much we originally paid for the phone, but we got $50 for it today.

However, the Little Tikes cooler/toy box/whatever hasn't sold yet. But I live in Buckeye Country so I'm not worried! I think I will change the category (currently in baby & kids) and that will do the trick!

More eBay sales

Shoes that have cat faces on them, purchased in the fall for $1 at a sale. Wear them several times. Sold for $31 with free shipping. Made a profit of $21.23

Leapfrog Cartridge bought for $2.13, sold for $6.99. After shipping made a $5.24 profit.

Sold a box with a duck on it that I got at GW Outlet Trip #1. Sold for $6.99. Need $8.27 to break even on that trip.

Also sold a Patriots patch that I got free from my dad. Made $5.09 after shipping.

Goodwill Outlet Profit Checks, Yays, an Oops, and News for Tomorrow

So it's easy for me to know whether or not I make profit off of items at regular thrift stores and yard sales, because it's all individually priced. Well at the GW outlet, since it's weighed by pound, I will take the total I paid and slowly subtract each item that sells until I've made more than I've spent.

Goodwill Outlet Trip #1... the receipt went missing...pretty sure DH had it... need to learn to stay better organized if I truly want to continue to grow my eBay business/inventory... sigh... Anyway DH said he thought it was $19. For some reason I thought $22. I'm going to go with the higher amount...

$22

1 item sold so far, Jell-O Beans mold, $6.00

Around $16 to go to break even!

Goodwill Outlet #2

Spent $30.51

1 item sold so far, Tinkerbell curtain, $12.70

$17.81 to go to break even

Here's some Yays. Two items from Half.com.

I purchased an audio version of the Bible, NIP, at a yard sale for $2. Sold for $14.55

WTC DVD purchased at a yard sale for .50, sold for $5.86

Oops. I made a huge blunder in terms of shipping. I thought the flat rate boxes cost the same no matter where they go. The medium boxes are $10.95 to send domestic, but I learned they're over $40 to ship internationally! The buyer of my LPS lot is in Russia. The USPS clerk told me if I put it in another box it would be around $22. The buyer paid $10.95 for shipping. I just can't cover $11 in shipping. That will kill any profit. I know I'm risking a negative feedback, but, I emailed the buyer and explained the situation. Mentioned I am new to shipping internationally and told her she can either paypal me the difference and I'll ship or I can refund her. We'll see how that goes. SIGH!!! I'm not going to stop shipping internationally though, as the buyer of the Tinkerbell curtain is in Canada. I just need to be more careful.

Tomorrow, Wednesday August 17, is National Thrift Store Day! I know one Goodwill here is doing 50% off children's clothes. Volunteers of America is giving 25% off your total if you bring in a bag of donations. We're going to do that as we are planning on buying a couch from them, if it hasn't sold yet!

Goodwill Outlet Trip 2

Went to my new-found treasure chest yesterday, the Goodwill Outlet. It's over an hour away so it will be a rare treat for me to go there, and we have to justify the gas mileage. It wasn't nearly as exciting as the first trip there. It was really mellow, which, if you read anyone's descriptions of what shopping at a GW Outlet is like, is very rare. They only switched out the bins once the entire time we were there. Bleh!

I didn't get anything super exciting... Last time I looked exclusively at the housewares bins, but this time I rummaged through books, shoes, and linens. I managed to find three pairs of Allen Edmonds men's shoes. Supposedly they sell well, we'll see how mine do. I also got a pair of Smart Fit kids boots & Land's End's kids canvas shoes for the consignment sale I've signed up for in October. Shoes total= $14.25 (they weigh by the pound). I sure hope the Allen Edmonds pay off!!!

Linens, I grabbed a bunch of receiving blankets to bundle together for the consignment sale. I also found a vintage Mickey Mouse bed sheet, a piece of Winnie the Pooh crib bedding, and a Winnie the Pooh throw. And a bandanna for Daisy, since I lost the one I got for 10 cents! Linen total= $3.38.

For books, I got 5 Nancy Drew books in great condition, a few books for my classroom, and some other children's books. $3.77.

Housewares... 2 Littlest Pet shops pets, some McDonald's toys still in their packaging (will throw that into a big lot with the stuff I got at a garage sale last week), a vintage Playskool puzzle set, some VHS tapes of Barney, Mary-Kate & Ashley, & Richard Simmons, a battery-operated dinosaur, some Mr. Potato Head parts, a notepad for myself, Blue's Clues radio, small My Little Pony, vintage Avon perfume, NIP Tinkerbell valance, & a NIP Wee Sing cassette & book. $7.11 for wares.

Also, on our way to GW we stopped at a sale advertised as "awesome" on Craigslist. There were like 3 kids that were getting in the way and being total pains. Whining to their mom about why their toys were out there and the prices of things. O.M.G. I spent $10 and I don't even know why I got some of the things I did. I got a knock-off Christian Dior purse for $1. For whatever reason I was thinking it might be authentic. I don't know why. I got home and found an authenticity card inside and got stoked! Well then I looked up how to tell a real designer bag vs. a knock off, and sure enough, it's a knock-off. It's simple and in excellent shape so I'll probably use it. I also got a Tamagotchi which is up in a lot right now, Carlos found an Xbox 360 game, I got a Melissa & Doug pirate chest, what I thought might be a Playmobil pirate ship but I don't know what it is after trying to research it, a Voltron or something figure, this box of random building pieces and parts, and a bottle of vinegar. Yes, I bought Giant Eagle apple cider vinegar at a garage sale. Well I needed it and it was still sealed. I used it today to make microwave pickles, YUM!

Teacher orientation starts tomorrow and goes all week so my summer is pretty much over. Which I guess in a way is good because I've been buying so much and not seeing a big enough profit just yet to justify spending more money, so it's good to cool down for a week or so.

Today's Garage Sale Successes and (kinda-sorta) Failures

Whew! I am tired! Got to some great sales today, including a huge one at a local high school. Sorry too lazy for a picture, but I'll tell you what I got.

Sale #1

Don't we love the dads who take care of the sales? I know I do. Case in point: I was sorting through a box of VHS tapes. Noticed a lot of Barney ones. The box said "25 cents each". Daddy-0 says, without any prompting by me at all, "I'll take $2 for the whole box." SOLD! When I get home, I count the tapes. Most are Barney, with some Blues, and a few various. Ends up there are 43 tapes in the box! What!!

At the same sale, I got a baggie with three virtual pets. I believe 2 are actual Tamagatchi brand. I also got a pack of blank cassette tapes. For both, I paid $1.

Sale #2

I got a Scooby Doo Mystery Machine kinda toy thing for $1, a Blues Clues suitcase kinda thing that has some art supplies in it for $1, a pair of kids' Born sandals for $4 (IDK if I spent too much... the completeds are iffy), & Carlos A.K.A. Mr. Big Kid himself got a toy light saber for $1.

Sale #3

This was the big high school sale. It's for athletic boosters and each sports' team had its own table/area. I got a ton of stuff, I'm going to see what I remember...

I got a bunch of fabric book covers for 25 cents each... I'll sell these to my students because book cover was one of the supplies for my class. I know I'll have kids who come unprepared to school, unfortunately...

A bunch of Mary-Kate & Ashley VHS tapes... 25 cents each

For my classroom, the following items:

talking GeoSafari globe $2, little bag of coin/token things for playing games .10, magnetic USA map (fun, I played with it, haha!) $1, some books from 10 cents to 50 cents, giant USA map floor puzzle $2, USA trivia game $2.

Also got a leash for the dog $1.

For resale... a set of hot rollers $2, Lemony Snicket game $1, Star Wars Monopoly $3, Risk game $3, some blank cassettes .50, some various books like Junie B. Jones, Berenstein Bears 10 cents to 25 cents, a bunch of POGS .50

Also got an Abercrombie tote bag $1, Life is good flip flops .50, and a cool pillow $1, both for myself

Weirdo husband got some Hulk gloves for 25 cents.

Here's my kinda-sorta failure... I also bought a set of Sesame Street books for $3 and a cool pop-up book for .50. At that table I had bought the VHS tapes... Ended up I only got one of my bags... Sigh... So I lost $3.50... They are open tomorrow but I doubt we'll go back, it's for a good cause anyway... So I'm bummed but I guess I'll get over it.

Sale #4

Set of notepads & a cool bandana for the dog .50. Failure #2-- I think the bandana fell out of the car at some point because I can't find it.

Then I dragged the spouse to Goodwill! I got this Hockey Guys set for $1.99 to sell at the consignment sale, but similar items sell well on eBay so I'll probably try that first. No insertion fee, no loss! Darling just had to have some skate shoes for $4.99.

Hoping I'll do well... Sold my Littlest Pet Shop lot but the buyer hasn't paid... Knock on wood... haven't had a nonpaying buyer yet...

Yays & Nays

Let me tell you some of my successful and unsuccessful auctions on eBay. We'll get the bad over first...

This was my first auction since I started reselling again. Even though it was a few short weeks ago, I already realize things I should have done differently. It was a lot of Little People animals and other generic animals. I should have sold the generics separately and held on to the LPs for later. You live, you learn. I paid $3.18. I only got one bid, $6.99. I underestimated shipping. Ended up with a very slim profit of 36 cents. Probably nonexistent if you factor in the eBay fees.

Secondly was a set of Sweet Valley High books. Paid $4.82. Sold for $9.98. After shipping, profit of $1.93. Not much but it did get me a positive feedback. So there's the bright side!

Just to vent, here's some more nays unrelated to eBay. I cut my finger open while chopping cabbage (from the garden!) for coleslaw. I cut it at a very awkward angle where it went through my fingernail. It still hurts. Also, I was making microwave bread & butter pickles out of my garden grown cucumbers. As I was taking the bowl out of the microwave, I dropped it on the floor. Poor pickles and sticky me.

Now on to the YAYS!!

Picked up a set of Pokemon tupperware lids for $1.07. Ended up with a profit of $7.93.

Got a brand-new Carters romper for $1.07. This was my only Buy-it-Now. Profit of $5.64.

How is everyone doing?!

:-D

So, I took some more pictures of a Littlest Pet Shop auction that's been up for almost a week. I linked to my photobucket account. Lo & behold, an hour later, I have a bid! Yeah! The power of pictures! I love seeing green instead of red.

Goodwill Finds 8/9/11

A special hello and thank you to those of you who have just found my blog thanks to Yard Sale Mommy! It's exciting and encouraging to see some new comments on my entries. For whatever reason, the comments aren't being emailed to me, but I'll try to reply to them manually.

Well today I got a mishmash of random things at Goodwill. I spent more money than I normally do, but there's truth in the adage that you have to spend money to make money.

For myself, I got the rooster picture. I collect roosters & have decorated my kitchen & living room with them. There's always room for another rooster. Note, I could have made a tasteless joke in that last sentence but I chose not to. ;)... Anyway rooster pic was $1.99

Also for myself, got the scrubbing mitt there. I thought I'd use it to groom the animals. It was still sealed but I've already tried it once on the fur babies. $0.99

Everything else is for resale. 2 pairs of Naturalizer shoes in pretty good shape. $3.99 a pair

2 new Leapfrog Leappad something or anothers... $1.99 each

new Wee Sing tape & book, $0.99

The things in boxes are both from IKEA. I don't know much about them, and I've never shopped at IKEA but I know they have some quality stuff. I did an eBay search and both items have sold in the past. One is called an Ekorre and it's like a baby swing. It was $5.99. Hope I made the right decision here or I might have to set it up and give the cats a swing around the liviing room. Hmm they might like that. The other item is some sort of lamp, Orgel. It was $2.99. Both still in boxes with the Ekorre still sealed.

We'll see how everything goes. I have a ton of listing to do. Right now it's been so slow & discouraging. I recently got a photobucket account so I can take a bunch of pictures of each item and not have to pay. So hopefully that will help. Later on I'll post about my recent sales & profits.

Just the Two of Us...

Happy Anniversary to my best friend and husband! Three years down, 80 more to go! I love you.

One Last Awesome Sale

Linking up with Yard Sale Mommy. Her blog rocks!

Daisy & her sniffer... investigating items that were in someone's basement for awhile!

The last sale we hit on Friday was the best sale I've been to in awhile. There was so much stuff there and it all brought me back to my childhood! Immediately I noticed something called Dolly Pops. It was old and something I'd never played with, so I knew it was early '80s or older. A quick eBay search on my phone showed some completed listings for $20+. I grabbed it. Had a $5 tag on it but asked if they'd take $4 and they did. I saw some Barbie accessories that I had as a child. Got geeked over, a quick bit of nostalgia, but passed on 'em. There was a boatload of older board games, priced at only .25. I had Carlos check some on eBay as I looked around at more stuff. In the mean time, I grabbed 3 VHS tapes still in wrap (.25 each), 3 oversized NKOTB buttons , .50 each, figured I could capitalize on the NKOTBSB tour and make some cash off these, and then I saw a Caboodle. I had one of these and it was so cool. I even had mini Caboodles that were like lip gloss holders. No price, but the guy there saw me eyeing it and asked his wife (?) how much it was. She said $1. I grabbed it because I thought it would be a good container for make-up and such. Those things are durable. A search at home shows these sell well so I will resell it! Carlos told me that the NKOTB board game sells well, so we grabbed that and 4 other board games. Thanks to I Can Sell This, I knew I could make a profit from the complete set of Big Bird Dictionaries. I got them, all 8 volumes, for $4. Finally my eyes gravitated to this huge box of McDonald's toys. I saw a bunch I had as a kid so I knew these were late '80s and early '90s. It said 5 toys for $1.00 on the box but I knew I couldn't just pick 5. So I bravely asked what kind of offer they'd do for the whole box. They said $8. Thinking of my fellow eBay blog friends, I courageously countered, "will you do $6?". They said sure. Everything together came to $18.50.

At this point two things happened. #1 I reached into my pocket and panicked. No $20 bill. CRAP! I searched around, and WHEW! It was on the ground. Close call. My potential eBay earnings were almost shot. #2, one of the people hosting the sale showed her sister (?) something on her phone. I knew they were looking at the value of something on eBay. They had caught onto us. Carlos is not very sly at using his phone. I can do it kneeling on the floor pretending to be searching through boxes, but he's super obvious. I could tell they were kind of irritated. But oh well. I walked away with my huge collection of loot. Later on it was great fun going through that box of McDonald's toys. There were over a hundred pieces. I will be working on getting these goodies listed and will report back about how I did!

How do you feel if you get outed as a reseller? I feel kind of dirty or like I'm cheating. Similar to the way I feel when I coupon and get things for FREE. But in terms of the garage sale, this is what I have to say about it...

Anyone with even a small amount of computer literacy can search things on eBay... even my dad can do it, and that's saying something LOL! They should have considered that "vintage" things might sell well and look it up BEFORE the sale. Also, it's going to be a decent amount of work to get these things listed. Especially the board games, as I have to see if there are pieces missing and figure out what condition they're in, and then figure out how to ship them. So for the people who try to deter us eBayers... yeah, it's work. Fun work, but still...

Great Sales on Friday

I am officially addicted to selling on Ebay & Half.com!! I've been building my inventory & learning a wealth of information from reading some blogs. Previously I was scouring yard sales & thrifts just for things for me and my family but now I'm on the lookout for resale items. And this will be the focus of my blog. Anyway, so on Friday DH & I ventured to a different area than we normally go, because Carlos heard about a restaurant he wanted to check out. The first two sales we visited were at neighbors' homes.

At the first sale, I found some vintage Polly Pockets! I have honestly never seen these at a garage sale or thrift! You would have bet I would have snagged them, because I loved PP's as a child and they're like the one toy I still have. I was super stoked to get these, even though they're just the houses and there's no people. I might venture up to the attic and take a few of my PP people; I know I have multiples. Each PP house was $1. I also got 6 books. I grabbed some for my classroom library as they were in good shape and newer titles. I think I will put Saving Juliet on Half.com though because it sells for a few bucks. The Dear America book I'm holding on to as I plan on listing a lot on Ebay when I get enough. Each book was .50. Spent $5.00 at this sale.

Next door I grabbed this Snugli baby carrier. It's in great shape. I signed up for a kids' consignment sale so I figure I can bring this there. I paid $3. I really should have asked if he'd have taken $2, but for whatever reason I didn't... I'm getting better at bartering though!

We went to a handful of other sales, but there was nothing fun. Next thing I got was a thing of yarn for .25. I'm going to use it for a team-building activity at school. At this same sale those blasted preschool entrepreneurs sucked us into getting a glass of lemonade for .25. They're persistent!

Next sale, no picture, but I got Jillian Michaels's 30 Day Shred workout DVD, .50. I picked it up for myself but will probably sell it. At this sale, I also got some items from the "FREE" bin/table... 4 pieces of boys' clothing (will try at consignment sale) and a book (to toss in my stack for Half Price Books)

Down the street we found another sale. As soon as we pulled up Carlos said "I am getting that Cavs chair!" Awesomely it was $5, but marked down to $2!

Goodwill Outlet

Hello, my name is Amanda and I am an addict. Addicted to the Goodwill Outlet store.

I just learned that there was such a thing last week, after I came across this blog. I read through several of her entries, in which she repeatedly mentioned something called the Goodwill Outlet. Huh? I thought to myself. Now I know Goodwills. I've been shopping hardcore at Goodwill for years. And I know what outlets are. I picked up my most favorite Gap sundress for only 10$ at the Gap outlet last year. But Goodwill and outlet in the same sentence. What?!!

Of course, I had to google this newfangled idea. What I discovered was like more crack to my bargain-hunting addiction. What made me want to snort it (are my drug references working? I don't know, I'm straight-edge!) was that there was a Goodwill Outlet only an hour away!!!

The Goodwill outlet is like a legal place to dumpster dive. This is where any merchandise that didn't sell at a regular Goodwill goes to hopefully get bought up. Instead of individually tagging everything, things are dumped into these big bins and you get to "pick". Then you push your shopping cart up onto a humongous scale and it gets weighed. You pay by the pound!

Well on Saturday my most-fabulous-perfect-wonderful husband of 2 years and 51 weeks drove us down to Dayton to check out the outlet. At first, I was a little weirded out. It was crazy packed for a Goodwill and at first I didn't dig right in. I walked around with my cart, and all I was finding was a really random assortment of junk. A "Happy 27th" birthday banner that I almost got for Amy Winehouse. Broken glasses. Pop cans. Pieces & parts to Lord knows what. But then the goodies started getting better and better. Ooh, a Little People person! That probably weighs an ounce or two, I can get that! Ooh, more Little People! Ooh, a laminated poster for class rules! Ooh, what's that? Let me throw that in my cart. And that, and that! Ten minutes later, I'm ravenously digging like the guy next to me. Begging DH to get me a soda from the vending machine because I'm working up a sweat.

This place was absolutely amazing. It was like I had died and gone to frugal heaven. I found the strangest, coolest things. And they were so cheap. I believe it was something like 68 cents a pound. Total ended up coming to maybe, $22; the receipt is in hubby's car. Let me tell you just some of the things I walked away with:

• lots of old patterns, including some for making clothing for Cabbage Patch kids
• a handful of Fisher Price Little People
• addition Learning Wrap-Ups
• Magna Doodle accessory kit
• Jello Beans jiggler mold
• a 1990s Jurassic Park T-Rex toy
• 1990s Godzilla alien toys
• new-in-box America Brain Quest
• packaging tape
• almost the complete alphabet in Sizzix die-cuts
• Little People farm truck, which scared the daylights out of the dog
• rubber stamp & ink pad
• two decorative mirrors
• Li'l Tuppers Adventures game
• Star Wars Empire Strikes Back music cassette
• Star Wars Darth Maul costume, book on computer programming, and a Star Wars folder (hubby's picks)
• HDMI cord-splitter-thingamajig
• two classroom posters
• brand-new Purdy paintbrush
• pieces for Mr. Potato Heads
  

probably more stuff that I don't feel like running downstairs to look at.

Like I said, most of it was so unbelievably random. Most of it is going to be put on Ebay. The Jello beans, Learning Wrap-ups, and action figure toys look promising.

What was so neato about the Goodwill outlet was that they bring out new bins about every 30 minutes. And everyone lines up. It's a dog-eat-dog world. People grab at the stuff before the workers even have a chance to stop the carts. A lady grabbed for something, lost hold of it, and it flew through the air and broke, falling on my toe in the process. Alas, it happens when you wear flip flops to the troughs.

Beware! When they bring out a new bin, it's like Black Friday on steroids. Oops, another drug reference. See DH there? He's the one under the TV monitor, wearing black.

Some of the people there are absolutely nuts! You know, those folks that give the whole thrift store game a bad name. Let me tell you a little story here. There was a cart sitting absently. It had several bags of yarn in it. I eyed the cart and walked away. Came back a few minutes later and it was still there, sans owner. Looked around, with no potential owners near. So I took the yarn. Isn't that the number one rule you learn when you're five and at the grocery store with your parents? Don't leave your items unattended. Well, about 20 minutes later, as I'm digging through more junk, some lady rudely comes up to Carlos and rips into him about "stealing" her yarn. He gave it to her, with some sort of tongue-in-check comment to "take it, obviously you need it more than I do"... Manners, people, seriously. It wasn't like I intentionally took something; a simple, "Excuse me, I think you have something that's mine" would have been enough. Or, if I had been that lady, I would have said, that's what I get for walking away from my cart. But anyway, if you ever have the privilege (or punishment if you're Carlos, but he loves me so much he lets me be) to find a Goodwill Outlet here's some advice:

• Bring gloves. I wore a pair of latex ones. The stuff you will find is grody. And there's sharp edges, broken glass, etc.
• Set aside a few hours. This isn't an in-and-out sorta thing. It's treasure huntin' time.
• Be prepared for nasty people. Turn the other cheek and kill 'em with kindness. I thought about throwing my sweaty gloves into Yarn Lady's cart. But instead I helped someone else find trolls.
• Remember, the heavier, the more it costs. See that Handy Manny workbench in the first picture? It was in great shape. But it was big and I didn't want to have to pay several dollars (remember, it's pay by the pound). So instead I looked for small doodads. The Little People, the patterns... Could you imagine the payoff if you found vintage Polly Pockets? Whoa!

So much fun; I'm already thinking of begging DH to let us go in two weekends. There's an aquarium down in Dayton so we'll make a day of it. It'll depend on how my goods do at auction... Is the payoff worth the drive? Stay tuned...

What's a Storage Auction Really Like?

I am hooked on reality shows about everyday people. Maybe it's because I feel like I can relate to them, who knows. I've been checking out Tough Cookies on the Food Network, and of course you know I watched Extreme Couponing, but something else I watch weekly is Storage Wars on A&E. In case you have not heard of it, Storage Wars follows four professional buyers as they bid on auctions for delinquent storage units. My understanding is that if you do not pay for your unit for three months, then all the items you have left in there go up for auction. Well Storage Wars makes the storage auction trade seem a bit crazy. There's often heated bidding and the units sell for thousands. But wow, sometimes the payoff is amazing! One of the folks on the show, Darrell Sheets, once won a lot full of comic books that made him over $100,000! The whole concept of storage auctions seems like one big treasure hunt. This frugalista just had to check it out for herself!

My first step was of course, consulting Google. A simple search led me to a website called Auction Zip which has a complete calendar of all kinds of auctions near your zip code. I used the filter to search storage auctions only, and I found several of them. They were all at Uncle Bob's Public Storage Units, but in different locations throughout the city. The first stop wasn't too far from our house, and it was set to start at 9:30. So my husband & I headed out.

I live in Columbus, OH, so I knew going into this that I had a good chance of being able to actually afford some of the units up for auction here (the show is filmed in California and the cost of living there is much higher than here in the Midwest). We brought almost $300 with us just in case something caught our eye.

We arrived at the facility shortly before 9:30 and there was a small crowd, perhaps 20 people. We waited for a good 15 minutes until the auctioneer told everyone the "rules" of the auction. It was to be a cash only sale, and if you wanted to bid, you had to go inside and sign your name and get your driver's license copied. Then you were given a number.

As we waited, I was getting so excited! I looked around at the crowd which was full of all sorts of people. First-time auction-goers with small children. A tattoo artist. A couple who have done storage auctions before, and who mentioned a unit containing a Kirby vacuum on which they had doubled their investment. I looked around and found folks who were dopplegangers of Dave, Darrell, Jared, Brandi, & Barry (the cast of Storage Wars). I could hardly wait to hear the auctioneer's call in person!

Finally, nearly half an hour after the auction was supposed to start, it got started. Fortunately it was a lovely, sunny morning so the wait was bearable, although I wished I had grabbed my drink from the car! Everyone headed back into the facility, and the storage unit owner unlocked the first unit.

there we go!

You cannot go inside the units or pick up anything they contain prior to winning. You can look at the door. Some folks brought their own flashlights so they could see what each unit contained a little better.

The first unit was a disappointment. All that it contained was a weird fuzzy stool and a box from Amazon.com. The auctioneer asked if anyone would offer him $5 or $10. No one did. I joked to my husband that I would pay a dollar just to see what was in that box. But it wasn't a risk I was going to take. The first unit didn't sell.

On to the second unit. It had a mattress, a cat tunnel toy, and some other random items. I should have thrown out a $5 bid, but I didn't. Unlike the folks on the show, we don't have hired help to lift things and it wouldn't have been worth our effort to clear any big items out. You have 24 hours to clean the unit and remove its contents or you can potentially get fined. Unit #2 did sell for $5 to Dave Hester's lookalike.

The next unit contained a television (not a flat screen!), a cheap looking entertainment center, and a computer chair. I thought I could make a profit off that chair but again, not worth my effort to lift everything. It did sell for $27.

That was it for this facility. We got into our cars and most of us followed the auctioneer to the next location about 10 minutes away. We again signed in, and went on. This facility had two units. The first unit had an old nightstand. It didn't sell, but again, I remarked to my husband, "I want to know what's in the drawer!" "A million dollars!" he retorted. We'll never know.

The second unit here was full of lots of items. Some Rocawear hoodies, shovels, a television, a china cabinet. If you had the muscles and space it had the potential to generate some revenue. We walked away, but as we were leaving the bids were up to $200.

So here are the tips I've learned from my experience.

• The storage auction scene is something that everyone of us thrifty folks can benefit from. Everything from clothing to furniture might be there. If you are moving to a new place, looking to expand your ebay store, or if you are into collectibles, you might find what you're looking for.
  
• It's not as expensive as other auctions. I don't go to auctions because I don't like expensive antiques. Well storage auctions aren't like that. They have everyday items.
• It's not ANYWHERE near as intimidating as it looks on TV! People there were friendly, talkative, and not at all pushy. The auctioneer explained the rules and the owner of the units said he'd be willing to help if anyone had any questions. I was worried I might feel like a fish out of water, but I was very comfortable.

Would I do it again?

Even though I walked away empty handed, the fever has hit me. I definitely plan on going again. It's the thrill of the hunt, not knowing what to expect. Possible treasures! Hearts racing as the door to the units gets lifted. As Darrell Sheets says, "it's the wow factor!"

Debt Update

Update since March!

Citi CC: $8,548.38
Discover CC: $1,547.67
Goodyear CC: paid off... will pay a few bucks in interest next month & then this baby is getting closed!
Student Loan: $6,671.50
Car: $15,415.22
House:$152,648.97

Debt is down from$187,669.23 in March to $184,831.74. It's nice to see the numbers going down instead of going up; even though they go down much slower than I'd like, it's still a good sign.

The Things They Carried

An update on one of my recent thrift purchases. Got The Things They Carried (good book btw) for .90, after shipping and commission sold for $5.23. So a $4.33 profit. A small start, but every bit counts.

Craigslist

My husband piqued my interest about Craigslist. Over the past few years, we've sold some furniture items. But the coolest thing we've done is barter electronics. For instance, DH got an iPad for Christmas. About a month ago, he decided he was bored of it. So he traded it for a BRAND NEW Dell Inspiron laptop. Today he's trading that laptop for a Droid X phone. Since technology changes so quickly, this is a great way to get rid of older models and get more bang for your buck.

Finds for July 19, 2011

I decided to try my hand at a little video about what I got at the Volunteers of America thrift. Enjoy!

Flipping

Remember that garage sale where everything was a quarter? Well, I picked up a bunch of stuff there that I didn't really need, but it was just in such wonderful condition, not to mention, practically free, that I couldn't pass it up. I wore the sandals for awhile (then Daisy enjoyed eating them), hung up the mirror & clock, and hung up the Van Goghs. A few weekends ago, we had a garage sale in which I decided to sell some of the things from the quarter sale. CHA-CHING is all I have to say.

The Hooked on Phonics set sold for $20. The mom was ecstatic because she scored a deal. Myself, even more, because I made a huge profit.

The scrapbook frame sold for $5.

Remember, I only paid $3 for everything that I picked up that day! In retrospect, I really should have picked up more at that sale.

I am planning on taking the pineapple cutter to a resale store to make a buck on, because really, how often do I buy pineapple? I'm in limbo about the Van Goghs... I kinda like them, but they're not anything I'm crazy about. I may take them to New Uses as well.

I've decided I am going to work more diligently at "flipping" items from yard sales & thrift stores. I'll post if I am successful. My mom & I had a great business before she passed of selling books & media on Amazon. I'd like to start that again as well.

Paid $5.83 OOP for everything, got $2 back!

Cha-ching!

Meijer

6 cottage cheeses @ .89 each -(2) .75 coupons doubled

Febreze Noticeables warmer @ 2.99-FREE coupon

3 Crunch bars @ .59 each -.50/2 coupon doubled -B2G1 FREE coupon

2 Butterfingers @ .59 each -.50/2 coupon doubled

1 Baby Ruth & 1 100 Grand @ .59 each -.50/2 coupon doubled

4 cans of black beans @ .66 each -(1) .50/2 coupon doubled -(1)$1/2 coupon -(1) $1/4 mealbox coupon

Chi Chi's Salsa @ .99 -.50 coupon doubled

Chex Mix @ 1.00 -$1 coupon (DH opened these before the picture could be taken)

Dole Fruit Crisp @ 2.00-.75 coupon doubled

Had $3 oyno catalina to use

Paid $1.72

Walgreens

2 Tylenol Precise Patches @ 7.99 each -(2) 3.00 WAGS coupon -(2)$5 coupons

garage sale labels @ 1.99

Paid $3.18

CVS

5 Honest Teas @ 1.00 each -(5)$1 coupons

Xtra detergent @ 1.49-$1 coupon

Pringles to Go @ .99-$1 coupon

Paid .$93, got back $2 ECB

PetSmart, Target, & CVS 6/17

I am stoked about the deals I snagged today!

At PetSmart:
3 Nylabone edible bones @ .99 each; I had 3 $1.50 coupons. I got an overage of $1.53.
1 bottle of floor cleaner on sale @ .99; I had 1 $1.00 coupon. I got an overage of .01.
I found a Fisher-Price See & Bark Spinner on clearance for $2.97 (originally $12.99). I am in love with the Fisher-Price pets stuff; it's just too cute! Daisy got a bowl 'o' bones earlier in the year and she loved it too.
The overage paid for part of the toy. The remainder, OOP, was $1.90.

I will be donating the cleaner to the Humane Society. I'm not much for all those conventional cleaning supplies; I think baking soda and vinegar and hot water do the trick! We are planning to visit the Humane Society this weekend. They also need paper for the copier, and I have plenty from a deal a few years ago. So we'll bring up a few donations and go play with the animals.

At Target:
a 2-liter of Diet Coke for FREE. We received a coupon in the mail because our store just renovated to include a grocery section.

At CVS:
A Schick Hydro 3 razor @ $8.00. I had a $3 coupon. I paid the remaining $5 with ECB I rolled over. I paid the .54 cents tax on a CVS gift card I earned from SBKC. I got a $4 ECB back.

Daisy loves her toy already!


=)

CVS & Giant Eagle

Today's errands left me with 2 free Hershey Aerated Bars from CVS, thanks to free item coupons I printed off.

At Giant Eagle I got 4 DiGiorno small pizzas. They were on sale for 4/$12, buy 4 and get an automatic $2 off, plus I had 3 $1 coupons & 1 $2 coupon. So 4 pizzas for $5.

I got 2 boxes of Frosted Mini Wheats with fruit in the middle. Priced at $2.50 each, plus I had a $1 coupon & a BOGO free coupon. So 2 boxes for $1.50.

Also a little birdie on A Full Cup tipped me off to a deal. Rhodes Warm & Serve Multigrain rolls are being discontinued and are 50% off, or $1.49. I had .75 coupons which doubled to make this FREE! I got 2 packages. I have 2 coupons left if I can find anymore at another store.

.04 Lunchable and more...

Purina One Cat Food $6.99 -$2q
Reynolds Foil $3.99
Reynolds Foil $3.00 -$1q
Super Glue $0.89
Lunchable $1.04 -$1q

Used $5.75 in CATs from the Dole deal... Spent $7.16 OOP. Will be getting a rebate for the $3.99 foil!

So... $3.17 for all.

Giant Eagle 6/6

I uncovered a delightful Dole deal. Ooh, alliteration!

At Giant Eagle this week, if you purchased $15 worth(pre-coupons) of Dole products, you got a $5 catalina. I just so happened to have enough coupons for $15 worth of merchandise!

We got 2 Fruit Crisps @ 1.66 each - (2) .75q doubled= .32 for 2

2 gel bowls @ 2.00 each -.50 off 2 q doubled=3.00 for 2

2 fruit bowls @ 2.00 each -.50 off 2 q doubled=3.00 for 2

1 parfait @ 2.00 -.50q doubled= 1.00

1 sliced peaches @ 2.00 -.75q doubled=.50

OOP paid $7.82. Got the $5 CAT I was promised, and also a pleasant surprise of a .75 CAT.

So... total cost only $2.07 :) Sweet deal, literally and figuratively!

Thirst-Quenching

Here's a deal I got at Kroger today.

Sobe LifeWater is on sale for $1.00 each. If you buy 10, you get 5 free.

I got 16 @ $1.00= 16.00

-5FREE=11.00

Plus I had coupons for $1 off 4 - $4.00= 7.00

plus tax .74

$7.74 for 16 drinks, or .48 each.

I got a lot of different flavors to try throughout the hot hot heat.

Meijer 5/28

Well I must say that while I got a lot of good deals today at Meijer, my experience with the cashier was not a good one. It was nothing particular; he was just an unfriendly, rude person. I'm sorry but if you don't like your job, then find a new one. No need to take it out on the customers. Needless to say next time I will be avoiding his checkout lane.

Garden soil @ $3.99

Cottage Cheese @ .89- FREE item coupon which only took off .85 (who knows why, and it wasn't worth my while to ask Steve the cashier for 4 cents)=.04

Aunt Millie's hot dog buns @ 1.69-.55 q doubled= .59. Store was having a B1G2 free sale, so I got 3-packs of buns for .59!

Duncan Hines brownies which I had a raincheck for. FYI make sure you give the cashiers the rainchecks at the beginning. Scuba Steve grumpily informed me of this. @ 1.09 -50q doubled=.09

Milk @ 1.99

6 Smart Ones= 15.48 - 2 .75q which did not double and a free item coupon for one= $11.09 for 6

Cottage Cheese @ 2.68 -FREE coupon which took off 1.12= 1.56

Cream Cheese @ 2.99- FREE coupon which took off 2.28= .71

Pork Chops @ 4.86

Steak @ 5.30

Steak @ 7.86

Cat food @ 7.49 -2.00q= 5.49

Ribs @ 11.21

Brats @ 2.89 -.55 q doubled= 1.79

8 packs of Ballparks @ .98 each - (4) .75/2 q doubled= $1.84 for 8 packs! That's 23 cents each pack!

3 Kraft BBQ sauce @ 1.25= 3.75 and we got 8 ears of corn free because of this

2 boxes 100 calorie pack cookies @ 2.50 each -1.00 Meijer coupon= 4.00

2 bags dog food @ 16.99 -8.00q= $25.98 plus a $6 catalina printed= $19.98 also I believe there is a rebate for 1 bag that I can submit

No clue why those free items rang up the way they did. It's disappointing but I didn't want to "trouble" Steve anymore than I had to. Lesson learned: sometimes arguing over a few dollars isn't worth it.

Lesson #2: Meat is EXPENSIVE. We're grilling this weekend though. Normally we stick to pork chops and chicken for dinners with meat.

I am getting more assertive though. The 2 free buns didn't come off, so I went to customer service and got a refund.

Big Spender: the Old Navy, Meijer, and GE version 5/21

Today Old Navy had their $1 flip flop sale. I was only able to find one pair (brown) in my size. But that's okay.

flip flops: $1.07

Meijer:

2 bottles of Frank's Thick Sauce @ 1.47 each - (2) .75q doubled= paid me 6 cents to buy

tub of Cottonelle moist wipes=used FREE item coupon

bag of Ore Ida sweet potato fries=used FREE item coupon

Spent .09 in tax

Giant Eagle:

tube of Colgate toothpaste @ $1.49, used .75q doubled=FREE

2 jars of Vlasic relish on sale for $1 each, used .55q doubled=FREE

Spent .05 in tax, but found 11 cents at the Coinstar, so I earned .06 at GE

Generosity

Having a stockpile is nice for things like this: my 8th grade students had a car wash yesterday to raise money for their King's Island trip. I was able to donate the dish soap that they used, which I got free with doubled coupons.

Being frugal allows us to have money to donate when and where we see fit. The 8th graders washed my car and I was able to give them a $20 donation.

Church Sale Saturday

This is the reason why people should never pay retail.

We went to some garage sales this morning. They were all church sales, which I loooove, because they have super cheap prices. Also the proceeds go to good causes, like urban programs, trips to developing countries, relief aid, etc.

Sale #1: $2.75

Clothes were 25 cents each. I got:

* 2 Calvin Klein bras

* Dashboard Confessional t-shirt

* Xhilaration pajama pants

* Eddie Bauer sweater

* Forever 21 jean shorts/capris

* plaid Mossimo shirt

We also got some goodies from the bake sale- proceeds were going to help Japan.

Sale #2: $1.00

Clothes were 50 cents each. I got:

*long-sleeved Old Navy shirt

* pair of SO jeans

Sale #3: $5.50

Perhaps my favorite part of church sales is they often have fill-a-bag deals towards the end. This sale had fill-a-bag for $5.00. I got a bag of the following:

*Victoria's Secret bra

*No Boundaries shirt

* 2 American Eagle shirts

* Juicy Couture shirt

* OSU sweater

* Eddie Bauer shirt

* Old Navy shirt

* Tommy Hilfiger shirt

* Gap Inspi(red) shirt

* Volcom zip-up hoodie

* 5 other no-name shirts

* Tommy Hilfiger pants

* Merona khaki shorts

* J. Crew pants

* 2 pairs of AE jeans

* AE khakis

* no-name dress pants

* no-name dressy capris

* gorgeous Old Navy skirt

*I also got a pair of Nine West sandals for .50

Overall I picked up 35 items and spent $9.25. Upon inspection at home, I noticed one of the pairs of pants is ripped. But I can live with that. It cost pocket change to build up my wardrobe, so I'm not overly bummed if I stain a shirt or if the dog eats a pair of shoes (oh and she has, like a pair of Crocs, which I got for... one dollar... gasp) . If clothes I pick up don't fit, I will auction them off on Listia, or as I am currently doing, put things aside for my own garage sale this summer.

Companies I've Emailed Today

Chiquita

DiGiorno

Seventh Generation

Sweet Baby Ray's

Heiner's bread

Renpure Organics

Buddig

Crest

Fresh Express

Lindsay Olives

Bic

Annie's

Mail today

I got a response from Mrs. T's, 2 .55 coupons!

I also got another envelope from Nielsen's asking to fill out another survey. As a thank-you, they enclosed $5.00.

May Day Festival & Silent Auction

My school had a May Day Festival to earn money to build a security fence. I brought my "birthday money" (LOL...) which my dad sent to me, $20, to spend. I spent $17 of it on the following:

$10 on a handmade necklace & earring set one of my students' sisters was selling

$3 on sweets my student made

$3.50 on hamburgers

$.50 on a carnival game

(have $3 left)

There was also a silent auction. I won the following which I wrote a check for:

a handmade bracelet @ $2.50

FREE haircut coupon @ $1.00

gift card for Loops restaurant (not sure how much is on it, I will ask the PTO mom on Monday) @ $5.56

the cake pictured which is delicious... @ $13.00

Jimmy John's 15-piece party tray @ $7.50

FREE professional bike tune-up @ $2.00

So we spent around $50 which goes to a good cause... And we got some cool deals out of it.

Free Comic Book Day!

We had to go to the BMV to get new tags, and on the way we passed Packrat Comics where they were having Free Comic Book Day events. Billy West, voice actor (Futurama), was there. We didn't wait for his autograph but did see him. They were having lots of freebies. Each person got a free Delivery-Boy Man comic and you got to pick another free comic. We also got free popcorn, two free bottles of Diet Sun Drop, and a bunch of buttons. DH has put his on his backpack and I'll be using mine as prizes in my classroom store.

Deals on my Birthday!

Today is my birthday, so I did what any frugalista does, and that's go couponing! Here's what I got at Wal*Mart.

I spent $5.24. Retail value $34.98.

Easter candy @ 75% off:

4 packages of marshmallows .25 each

2 packages of chocolate eggs .50 each

3 crispy bunnies .25

Dude the Bunny 1.74

6 Nivea body washes @ 3.00 -(6) $3q=FREE

Purex laundry sheets @ .97-$1q=.03 overage

$1.28 in tax

E-mailing Companies

It's time again that I try my hand at emailing some companies to get coupons.

Today I emailed:
Horizon Organic Milk
World's Best Cat Litter (they have a rebate up on their Facebook page which I found after the fact, so I'm not sure if they'll send me anything else... oh well their litter really is the best; it clumps like a charm!)
Mrs. T's pierogies
Smart Ones (again!)
Better'n Peanut Butter
Dr. Pepper

Kroger 4/30

Spent $39.18 for all the items pictured, thanks to Kroger's Triple Coupons event.

Gorton's Popcorn Shrimp @ $5.19-.50q tripled=$3.69

Gorton's Tilapia @ $4.99-.50q tripled=$3.49

Gorton's Potato Crunch fish @ $4.62-.50q tripled=$3.12

2 bags of Birdseye Steamfresh Lightly Sauced Pasta @ $2.69 each -(2) .50q tripled= $1.19 each

Texas Toast Croutons @ $1.99-.50q tripled=.49

2 boxes pierogies @ $2.89 each-$1/2q=$4.78 for both

Bertolli pasta sauce @ $3.19-.75q doubled=$1.69

1 box Stove Top stuffing @ $1.00-.50q doubled=FREE

Jell-o Temptations pudding @ $2.89-.50q tripled=$1.39

2 small pizzas @ $1.00 each

Biggest Loser lasagna meal=$5.99, will submit for rebate making it FREE minus the cost of a postage stamp

2 packages Carefree pantyliners @ $1.09 each -(2) .50q tripled=FREE

1 box Pop-tarts @ $1.99

Ivory soap 3-pack @ $1-.50q doubled=FREE

Celestial Seasonings tea @ $2.59-.50q tripled=$1.09

Krusteaz Pancake mix @ $3.09-.50q tripled=$1.59

Dawn dish soap @ $1.49-.50q tripled=FREE

3-pack yeast @ $1.49- .40q tripled=.29

2 Reach floss @ $1 each -(2) .50q doubled=FREE

3 Listerine Pocketpacs @ $1 each -(3) .50q doubled=FREE

Mentos gum @ $1 -.35q tripled=FREE

2 packs of Uncle Ben's ready rice @ $1.60 each= had 1 FREE item coupon, had .75 q doubled=.10 for the other

2 boxes Pringles Stix @ $3.69 each -(2) .50q tripled= $2.19 each

loaf of bread=manager's special .59

7 packs of Ramen= .18 each

smoked sausage @ $2.50-.55q doubled=$1.40