DH and I are not lavish people. While we fall prey to our collections and sometimes spend frivolously on those, we aren't compulsive shoppers. We're actually very conservative with our spending.
In the early days of eBay (when it was still in Beta until shortly after it went public), we would shop yard/garage sales for items to resell on eBay. We both had full time jobs, it was a hobby for us, not a business and we only did it when we felt like it. When the rest of the world starting doing it, it wasn't fun any more and we found other things to focus on.
I still hit the sales on occasion, but find myself refocused. I used to walk straight to the trinkets and collectable stuff, now I hunt almost exclusively for kids' clothes, shoes and books. Books for a quarter are great, but a Gymboree outfit for $5 is the best. Since the kids are usually with me when I stop, they know that a short visit to a yard sale will typically net them at least one 'new' book.
Today, on the way to drop my three year old off at preschool, I received the ultimate bargain-hunter bonus. She said "Mom, I want to stop at a yard sale first." It's Tuesday, we're a few days away from finding a garage sale, but I hit the jackpot... knowing that my kids are open to the idea of one man's trash is a new treasure for us.
In the early days of eBay (when it was still in Beta until shortly after it went public), we would shop yard/garage sales for items to resell on eBay. We both had full time jobs, it was a hobby for us, not a business and we only did it when we felt like it. When the rest of the world starting doing it, it wasn't fun any more and we found other things to focus on.
I still hit the sales on occasion, but find myself refocused. I used to walk straight to the trinkets and collectable stuff, now I hunt almost exclusively for kids' clothes, shoes and books. Books for a quarter are great, but a Gymboree outfit for $5 is the best. Since the kids are usually with me when I stop, they know that a short visit to a yard sale will typically net them at least one 'new' book.
Today, on the way to drop my three year old off at preschool, I received the ultimate bargain-hunter bonus. She said "Mom, I want to stop at a yard sale first." It's Tuesday, we're a few days away from finding a garage sale, but I hit the jackpot... knowing that my kids are open to the idea of one man's trash is a new treasure for us.
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