Blue Tags Are Half Off

One of the cool kids

noreply@blogger.com (Alicia) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 04:50:00 +0000

Its hard to keep up with all the cool hipster moms around my neighborhood. I can only dream of being able to keep my hair styled as well as they can while still keeping their kids (usually named Cash) dressed in screen printed t-shirts and hand made dresses. One major stumbling block for me is money, but time and energy are also in short supply around these parts. However I did manage to find a very cute pair of Chuck Taylors at my local Value Village that may help the whole effort:Very cute and in my daughter's upcoming size. They cost a bit more than I would like ($4.99) but I willing paid it in the attempt to keep up with the cool kids.

These Boots are Made for Splashin'

noreply@blogger.com (Alicia) — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 21:14:00 +0000

Boots are fairly essential foot ware for kids in the Northwest. There is really no stopping a preschooler from stomping in puddles when they are as plentiful as they are in Seattle, so you might as well embrace it and put those little feet in rain boots. Hannah has never had a great deal of coordination (that may come from her mother) so its only recently that she has really figured out how to walk in boots. Having these lady bug boots helps because she enjoys wearing them.

We got these free from a lost and found clean out at our friend's preschool several months ago. Basically they were going to throw out (like into the dumpster!) any lost and found stuff that didn't get taken. When he saw all the stuff being tossed he thought of me and I scored these boots as well as a yellow pair of bee boots in the next size up.

Next Generation of Savers

noreply@blogger.com (Alicia) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 23:08:00 +0000

Hannah has a very positive association with the thrift store. For her its a place where you can dig and touch stuff without mom constantly saying "no, put that down please." While I am glad she enjoys our little trips I also find that she always wants to bring something home. I rarely say yes, but sometimes cave. (I remember from one of my psych classes in college that intermittent rewards create the strongest conditioning, so I am not doing myself any favors here.) Here she is with a pink bunny bank. I really have no idea why I would have said yes to this request and not others. It was only $1, but I think beyond that I had some fantasy that she would start saving money because of this bank. Predictably she sort of forgot about it the next day, but at least I got a cute picture out of it. (I can't remember why we were in the laundry room for this? )

Back in the Game

noreply@blogger.com (Alicia) — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 02:28:00 +0000

Its been awhile since I posted. This has been caused by several factors - 1. laziness (sorry about that) 2. cold and wet weather (less freebies on the street) 3. a lack of trips to the thrift store (I am not sure what caused this actually). Since its been awhile since I have been to the thrift store I had lots of energy to dig the last time I went and found some great stuff. Some of which I will pass off as Christmas gifts and some stuff which was just good stuff for myself. Here you see a new package of Huggies brand diapers in H's size. It was $3, which is a pretty good deal on disposable diapers. I never really know why these things end up in the thrift store, but for whatever reason it is a good bargain for us.

I'm a big fan

noreply@blogger.com (Alicia) — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 21:23:00 +0000

So I neglected my blog for so long some of my finds are no longer very timely. In the middle of a heat wave this summer (that one hot week we had between the months of cold and rain) Dan and I were walking home and found this fan on the side of the road. There was a sign on it that said "Free, Works" and we decided to trust it. It was a little tricky to carry home the remaining three blocks, but we made it and installed it in our bedroom. The style left a little bit to be desired, but Dan managed to remove the offending light fixture portion, which helps a lot. It seems like a quality fan- it doesn't rattle when on high and is quiet. It worked like a charm while it was hot. Now we just need to find a space heater with a pre-paid electricity bill and we'll be all set for winter.

Money Maker part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Alicia) — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 18:38:00 +0000

Awhile ago I had a good run of luck at the Goodwill. In my previous post you saw the Stokke high chair I got for $5. About a week before that truly amazing find I found this BOB jogging stroller. (This of course is a picture stolen off the web, but I sold mine so I have no picture for you. It looked exactly like this though, in brand new condition.) It was in new shape (in fact it had the REI tag on it still - $265). I got it for $30. I knew I could easily sell it on Craigslist, but when I got it home I somehow deluded myself into thinking now that I had this product I would morph into the kind of woman who goes jogging early in the morning with her child. I jogged once then posted it on craigslist. It sold pretty fast for $200, making a good profit which nicely off set the shame I felt in admitting I was not going to be a jogger.

Money Maker

noreply@blogger.com (Alicia) — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 17:03:00 +0000

If there is one thing I have come to know well its used baby stuff. For some reason it is even more fun to shop for my baby then for myself. Since I read baby magazines/blogs/attend baby-centered events I have picked up a good sense of what the cool baby stuff is (its a lot like high school out there at times). Add to this the fact that thrift stores are overflowing with used baby stuff and you see how I can often find great stuff to sell at the thrift store. One of my best finds is this high chair. Looks pretty average right? Its a Stokke (European brand) high chair with a washable chair covering. Retail the high chair costs over $200 and the cover is an additional $30. I actually have used one these things and was not impressed, but that is beside the point. The point is that I got it at Goodwill for $5 and sold it on craigslist for $135 within 1 hour of posting it. It was a pretty impressive turn around for me. Definitely the best I have done yet. My real question is who gave this to the thrift store without even trying to sell it on craigslist first? I had a dozen people email me immediately when I posted it. It easier to have someone else come and get it from you then to take it to Goodwill yourself. Whatever the reason their loss is my gain.

Free things do grow on trees

noreply@blogger.com (Alicia) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 22:33:00 +0000

DH recently found this perfectly good bag of printer paper sitting on the sidewalk. Two things were unclear to me about this - 1. (the obvious) why do people throw away perfectly good stuff? and 2. how did this avoid the rain and wind of seattle and remain relatively intact? What ever the case it turned out well for us.

Lawnmower Man

noreply@blogger.com (Alicia) — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 17:02:00 +0000

First off, a confession - I have never mowed a lawn in my life. Despite this I can certainly see the need for a lawnmower when one moves into a new neighborhood and doesn't want their home being viewed as blight by the neighbors. We actually have only a tiny, tiny patch of grass since we ripped out most of the yard to put in a vegetable garden. However this patch of grass was sadly overgrown and strewn with weeds until we found this:

I should actually clarify that DH's sister Carrie found this. (thanks Carrie!) It was sitting out by their parent's house with a free sign on it. We all walked over and talked with the owner who was weeding her yard. She said her husband bought it only a year and a half ago and simply wanted a nicer model. It works great and had gas in it already. Since its arrival our little patch of grass looks much better (well, at least much shorter). Additionally we've been able to loan this beauty to our next door neighbors, so I think it fair to say we have moved from an eyesore to an asset to the community all thanks to the lawnmower.

Jam Plan

noreply@blogger.com (Alicia) — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 19:18:00 +0000

Its canning season, a time of year I always look forward to. There is something very nostalgic about canning for me. Its one of the few kitchen activities I actually wear an apron for. Not really because its messier than others, but because it seems like you should when you are canning. You should also probably have a very old fan blowing fly paper around as well. Anyway, we spent a weekend at a friend of our's parent's house and managed to leave with a flat of their beautifully ripe and tasty strawberries for free. We were with some other people who took a bag full each and I was only slightly embarrassed that we picked so many. I couldn't stand the thought of these berries rotting on the bush because no one picked them. These were cut, cooked and made into freezer jam quickly, which we have been enjoying since. We are now on the look out for blackberries and hopefully some apples soon.

Home Improvement for the Birds

noreply@blogger.com (Alicia) — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 16:01:00 +0000

With our new home has come many new opportunities for home improvements (which is why we could afford the house in the first place). Each of these projects seems to necessitate a new tool for DH (Dear husband). I am all kinds of supportive about this, but as far as I am concerned if a project can be done without spending hundreds on tools all the better. Recently DH saw the below saw in a pile of free stuff while out and about:
He said it is a miter saw and was just what he needed to build our chicken coop. It works perfectly. Its definitely a lower end model and a little dirty, but what do you expect when its free, right? Anyway, since he found the saw he did in fact finish our chicken coop and now we can look forward to a thrifty source of eggs.

Order Up

noreply@blogger.com (Alicia) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 16:54:00 +0000

I have very fond memories of playing with my pretend food and play kitchen as a child. Since my primary objective when it comes to toys for my daughter, is to recreate my childhood I have been on the look out for a play kitchen for some time. I wanted a wooden one that wouldn't look bad being in the living space of our house. Behold what I found at the Goodwill for $9.99 recently:
Very cute compact play kitchen. The left side should have doors on it and its missing the handles for the cabinets under the sink area, but truly I have no complaints about this thing. Its exactly what I have been hoping to find. Luckily when I found this I was shopping with my sister-in-law with her parents minivan, not on my bike.
So far DD (dear daughter) loves it, although she primarily seems to think that cooking in the kitchen means making coffee. I am not sure where she got that idea...

New Place, New Stuff

noreply@blogger.com (Alicia) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 21:22:00 +0000

With our move about a month ago came the opportunity (or temptation) of all sorts of new room to furnish/fill with junk. Since we don't own a car its fairly difficult for us to acquire too many large pieces of furniture, but moving weekend we had borrowed a truck and so were free to acquire away. You would think after moving all of our stuff we would be inclined to avoid acquiring more, but inexplicable we decided to go to the thrift store to escape our home which was over loaded with unpacked boxes. While there we came across this chair:

Pretty cute, fairly compact and a good deal at $7. I also managed to get my hands on another 30% off coupon so it really only costs $5. It wasn't until we got home we realized it had a bit of a funk to it. (I guess the general thrift store smell covered it up). Luckily we had a steam cleaner borrowed from DH's parents and a half filled bottle of Febreeze left by dear previous-home-owners. This combination managed to clean out or mask the offending smell. Now the chair provides a nice reading corner in our home library.

This could have been a better post

noreply@blogger.com (Alicia) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 21:54:00 +0000

I found the best gift for someone at the thrift store yesterday. I wish I could post it, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the recipient reads this blog, so I resisted. I will say though that it only cost me 99 cents and I think the recipient will enjoy exponentially more. In place of what would have been a great post I decided to post a rather average find:

Two tins that were cute, cheap and unnecessary. I have a similar one of the smaller size which I use for loose tea. I think this smaller one will have that same function. As for the larger one, well they matched so I couldn't separate the set. In other words I have no idea what I will use it for yet. The cost a total of $3 and I loved the colors (you may be able to tell that I like turquoise blue by the matching lamp in the background).

Fiesta Time

noreply@blogger.com (Alicia) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 03:26:00 +0000

I have had a fondness for Fiestaware ever since I was introduced to them at the Bon Marche (now no longer in existence) while registering when I was engaged. They're cute, they're colorful and they can handle a pretty good amount of dropping and related abuse. (That last reason may be the main reason why they are our dishes) Occasionally I see Fiestaware in thrift stores, but it is usually way over priced and in the "collectibles" section. The other week at Goodwill I saw some priced at almost twice the retail value. (and I'm not talking about vintage pieces in retired colors) Last week at my local Lifelong AIDS Alliance thrift store I saw these bowls:
I loved the turquoise color and they were $2.99 each, which isn't a fabulous deal, but at least its around 50% off retail. I snatched them up and paid before I changed my mind. As I left the store I had a tiny bit of buyer's remorse since I am trying to avoid filling our home with too much stuff too soon, but once I got them home I decided I was glad I bought them. Plus today is our anniversary and I figured it was nostalgic or something to continue to add to our wedding "china".

Green Tags are $1.29

noreply@blogger.com (Alicia) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:06:00 +0000

Yesterday I enjoyed a rare baby-free morning, which I used to go to the thrift store. My excuse for going was to drop off a pile of stuff collecting in our basement, but really I wanted to shop.
I found this bag:

It was a green tag special day so I got it for $1.29, which I thought was a fair price. Now I just need to ditch the diaper bag and start carrying some of my many purses again.

noreply@blogger.com (Alicia) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:46:00 +0000

Recently a friend was doing a shift cleaning out his son's preschool for the end of the school year. He gave me a call when he saw a large pile of usable stuff that was going into the dumpster. This is one of the advantages of cultivating a reputation as a trash picker. I have gotten numerous calls alerting me to great free stuff. And just the other week (month?) my brother-in-law carefully unwrapped his birthday present so he could save the wrapping paper for me. How thoughtful. Anyway, one of the things they were going to throw out was this baby stroller (the cabbage patch kid was mine from childhood):
DD is obsessed this these things. She can get a little feisty about them when we go over to a friend's house who has one. I thought maybe having one of her own would relax her a little bit and she would be more able to share when we are out and about. Now ,of course, when any friend comes over she has a hard time sharing hers and anyone who dares touch it is met with a round of "NO MINE, MINE, MINE!" So this free find gives us many wonderful teachable moments. Bonus.

New Hobby Anyone?

noreply@blogger.com (Alicia) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:33:00 +0000

I have a hard time resisting free stuff even if I don't need it or already own it. Such is the case with the below book about knitting:

I actually already have a copy, but this one was in almost new condition and was just sitting in a box on the side of the road on my way to the library (maybe I was in a book mood at the time). I started imagining it getting rained on and ruined and I just had to bring it home. I am on the look out for someone to give it too now. Unfortunately I think the season to take up knitting, especially in Seattle, is not summer. I may have to hold onto it for awhile until someone starts knitting again. Let me know if you're interested.

Weed Control

noreply@blogger.com (Alicia) — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 15:49:00 +0000

DD's feet are growing like weeds. (as are the actually weeds surrounding our garden.) Just recently we were given a pair of new Keen sandals for her. They seemed really big so I considered exchanging them for a smaller size. Now I am pushing to get them on her feet. This occurrence has necessitated more kids shoes. I am starting to think there is a conspiracy to get parents to spend lots and lots of money on shoes. Sizing seems intentionally random. We have some potential kids shoes in her size (in theory at least) waiting in the wings*, but they are too big. I found these cute kid shoes at Goodwill for $2 and got them with the hope that they would fit.
They are leather and seemed solid even if a little warn. Plus they are "boy" shoes. I know this is a silly designation, but I like getting boy stuff so I can use it when baby #2 comes around. I have this premonition it will be a boy. (I also had this with baby #1 and was completely wrong, but I have a 50/50 chance so I am going with it.) Anyway they fit/look cute this week, but no promises about next week.
*thanks Kara

Tuck this one away

noreply@blogger.com (Alicia) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:13:00 +0000

Recently I was back at the old apartment building visiting a friend and gathering mail. I got nostalgic to see free stuff in the entry way and helped myself to the complete 1st season of the show Nip/Tuck, a show about plastic surgeons.
Since we don't have a TV I am pretty much open to any and all TV on DVD I can get, but I should have known that this show wasn't for me when it was described on the box as "utterly fearless." I have admittedly watched some HBO shows that could be described that way and enjoyed them, so I figured, why not. Well I will tell you why not- they show footage of people GETTING THEIR FACE CUT OPEN! (I had to resort to the internet equivalent of yelling there. Sorry, but that is how gross it was) We're talking knives, blood, fat, hospital gowns, the whole bit. I got about 10 minutes into the first episode and had to admit that I was not fearless enough to watch this show. If anyone else is interested let me know and I will pass it on, but you've been warned.

Don't look if I've ever given you a gift

noreply@blogger.com (Alicia) — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 20:18:00 +0000

I often give gifts I have bought at a thrift store and/or found in a box on the side of road. Sadly some people think this is tacky/cheap/weird, etc. Usually I try to avoid letting others know about my second hand gifts, but who am I kidding, most people have probably already figured it out anyway. Below you see a very cute little purple teapot. It was so cute and only $3. Unfortunately it in no way matches my decor and I happen to have plenty of teapots already. (actually I have a ridiculous amount of teapots already) I decided I could get it and save it for a gift. However since I have just posted it on my blog I may have to keep it for myself now.

noreply@blogger.com (Alicia) — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 21:52:00 +0000

Recently I took my annual thrift shopping vacation and spent three days driving up the I-5 corridor and scouring all available thrift shops. It was a lot of fun and I even managed to reach my thrifting limit, which I haven't done in a long time. Over the next couple of days I will post some of my best finds from my trip. Today's feature is more Pyrex:

I've blogged about vintage Pyrex before, but I just can't pass it up when I see it. Above is a rectangular baking tray in white with a turquoise design. Very cute (and very unnecessary). I got it for $2.99 at the Mt. Vernon Goodwill.

noreply@blogger.com (Alicia) — Sat, 31 May 2008 17:32:00 +0000

First I wanted to say sorry for the hiatus to any readers I may have left. Our move ended up taking up a lot more energy than I thought and I just never could bring myself to post. On the upside I now have a back log of thrifty finds to blog about so maybe I can lure some readers back with my frequent posts and amazing finds. To re-launch my blog I begin with another free find below:
First you may need a little back story. Our closets in our new house are really weird. Basically you can't really hang things in them so we have a big need for some shelves and/or drawers for both ours and DD's closet. While walking home from the grocery store with a bag of groceries and DD in the stroller I saw the above shelving cart for free on the side of the road. It looked like it would work great to hold all the blankets, diapers and misc stuff in DD's closet. However it also required an additional two hands. Since I was pushing the stroller the only two hands available were DD's. So I unloaded her and she pushed the cart for almost 4 blocks. (it was very slow going.) That is when things took a bad turn. We came to a busy road and I had to get her, the groceries, the stroller and this cart across the street at once. (It involved a screaming child under my arm.) Once across the street DD was so mad about what had just happened she could only lay on the ground and scream while I pondered how much this cart was worth and how much I would pay to be out of this situation. With two blocks to go I had to get screaming kid, stroller, groceries and cart home by myself which was more than a little tricky. Once we got home both DD and I were crying and the whole thing seemed like a really bad idea. However the cart does work great in DD's closet and it gives me a story for my blog so we'll count it an upside.
Thanks for reading my blog again. I'll be posting regularly now, I promise.

noreply@blogger.com (Alicia) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 04:28:00 +0000

A whole week and not a thrifty find to be had. I guess I am going to have to hit up the thrift stores this week just so I can update by blog. What a burden.

DH recently find something worth posting though, so I just decided to borrow his find for my blog. Below is a fairly cute vintage typewriter from the Goodwill.
DH teaches at the local art school where typewriters are always in need, so he picked it up "for his students." I think he really just thought it was cute and needed and excuse to buy it. Whatever the reason it now has a home and will hopefully see some action now that it has been rescued from the obscurity of the Goodwill.

noreply@blogger.com (Alicia) — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 04:49:00 +0000

We're moving out of our apartment building soon and aside from my lovely friends and neighbors there is not much I will miss about our apartment as it is pretty much a big white box. One of those few things I will miss is the free table located in the entryway of the building by the mail boxes. Mostly people just put old magazines down there (which totally rocks because someone in the building subscribes to People) but every now and then people put hats, books, pots and pans or other random household goods. Recently I found these on the free table:
Brown, Mary Jane-type Danskos that, amazingly, were my size. The elastic on one of the shoes was broken so I took it to our neighborhood cobbler (doesn't it seem like cobblers only existed in the middle ages?) and got it fixed for $5. So basically I got a new pair of Danskos for my $5 investment. Its great to go searching for free stuff without even having to leave your apartment and sadly it is something that I soon will be unable to do.