In the Garage

My husband has always been a huge fan of garage sales and it's something I've never quite understood.  There is something about haggling over someone's once cherished personal belongings in their driveway that's always made me a little uncomfortable - I felt the same way when we were house hunting and the owners were home while we toured.  We've only ever held one garage sale with the purpose of raising some money to pay off our wedding, that was nearly 10 years ago and I vowed to never hold one again for two specific reasons 1) The bizarre middle aged man who purchased everything we were selling that had wheels on it for his own "personal pulley invention".  His likeness to a cartoon super villain plotting something evil was uncanny and I was not impressed with helping him in any way shape or form and 2) Chris immediately went to another garage sale after ours was over and purchased a giant set of neon orange lockers with our earnings making the entire sale pointless.

For years now I've groaned every time we walk or drive by a garage sale and Chris "just wants to check it out for a minute" until this weekend when I have to admit I got a little smitten with the idea of how much money we can save on some items that we regularly purchase for the minions.

Bat Girl - Playing with some magnets

Below are my 6 money saving tips for garage sales for your children

1.  Recycled Halloween costumes can be bought for dress up clothes, next Halloween or a few years down the road for a fraction of the cost you would pay in October.
2. Know the difference between actual value and perceived value...It doesn't matter if the book is brand new if it isn't very good, same goes for buying things like used bikes and wagons that the seller puts a premium on because they've decided this is how they're going to get their money's worth.
3. The more room that the item takes up in the sellers garage/basement/yard the more motivated they are to get rid of it.  This increases your buying power - which is how we managed to get a Dora the Explorer set of folding chairs, table and sun umbrella for $5.
4. You can bundle services with your Internet and cable provider, do the same at a sale.  People will often give you a discount based on the volume you purchase.  Hello 4 DVDs for a dollar!
5. The early bird may catch the worm, but the later bird catches better deals because the seller just wants to go inside and move on with their day.
6. Don't be afraid to walk away...granted this is harder to do when your toddler has fallen in love with the item and physically won't let go.  

To look at ways to raise money beyond a yard sale click here

To look at ways to cut household costs click here

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