Garage Sale Treasures

This week's garage sale adventure was a lot of fun. I was pretty tight on money so I busted out my quarter stash which amounted to $31.  At first I was bummed because I knew there were a lot of great sales this week and I wouldn't be able to go to them all with only $30.  I must say that I was completely surprised with how much I did find this week.  Although I would've spent a TON more if I had the finances for it, I am very pleased with how well I did.  Everything pictured was $27 (there are a few things not pictured that are for resale)!!!

Found a couple of teacher sales (where I would've spent a FORTUNE if I had more money).  I was extremely happy with what I came out with though.  A few great books, a few craft supplies AND.....

Handwriting without Tears curriculum.  I was so super excited to find this.  It is on my current wish list.  I purchased it for...get this....$2!  Are you kidding me??  What a blessing.  Plus, the ladies there were so nice and very excited that I was using it to teach my little guys with.

I did already own the Stories From Around the World Book....mine is pocket sized so I gladly bought this full size one for $1.  It will be much nicer to read from and much easier for 3 kids to see the pictures in at the same time.

This sale there was a lady selling her little guys clothes for .25 a piece.  They were so adorable and the right size for the baby should he happen to be a boy (which for some reason I feel it may be...I convince myself that all my babies will be boys)....anyway this is 6 onsies, 3 pair of pants (to wear over onsies), and 4 nice outfits to wear out.  Also there I bought 3 containers of baby wipes for .25 a piece, and some breast pads for a quarter as well.

I was also able to find all of these clothes for the kids.  This was another sale I would've spent a TON more if I had had the funds (maybe it's a good thing I didn't have the funds lol).  Anyway, for Silas: 3 shorts, 2 shirts, a polo, and a sweater, for Asa: 2 shorts, pair of pants, 2 t-shirts, 1 long sleeve shirt, and one vest, for Annabelle: 2 pair of pjs, and a pair of crocs.

I was truly, truly blessed this week.  One of my favorite weeks so far this summer because I feel that the Lord really multiplied my money (I mean this quite literally as I found several great things to sell) and led me to some fantastic finds.  Linking up to My Life on a Taffy Pull.  Happy blogging!

jess_hak

Garage Sale Treasures

Thursday was a much better sale day than Friday here, which surprised me because normally it's the other way around.  There were TONS of good sounding sales on Friday, I must have picked the wrong ones to go to.  I will say that Friday did not start off on a good note when 2 of the very first sales I stopped at weren't open.  That always makes me irritated....I spent time and money to drive here to look at your stuff...the least you could do was open (or post on Craigslist that you weren't going to be opening).  Anyway, rant over....I just have a limited amount of time to garage sale before the kids go crazy so it's just frustrating when the things don't open.  At least I wasn't crazy enough to knock on the door like a couple people were doing when I drove past one (talk about weird). lol

Anyway.....found MORE clothes for Asa.  This might sound strange, but I have honestly been praying before I go out to garage sales for the items that I need and the things have been falling into my lap for a great price!  I truly believe that I serve a personal God....who enjoys garage sales as much as I do. ;)  The clothes in the next 2 pics were around $10 total!  A few pieces for next year too.

This really cute bike was $3....the boys have been asking for bikes for a while.  Just have to buy some training wheels for this one.  Silas tried to ride it without the training wheels (or me) and totally wiped out....poor guy.

3 wheeled scooter for $3

I have also been looking/praying for storage....these were $1 a piece.  The best price I have seen all summer...most sales I've been to are asking anywhere from $3-$10 a piece on something like this (crazies).

The purple thing is going to be a 'desk mate' for Annabelle $2...it will hold her daily assignments and such.  A couple drawing books for .25 a piece....and three brand new containers ($1 a piece)  to use in the school room by Annabelle's area for pencils, scissors, glue etc.

Close-up of what the containers look like.

Robe for Annabelle .75, Dora Candy Land Game....can't believe we didn't own a candy land game $1.  Fishing game .50 (that is already thrown away because it was broken....at least I only paid .50 lol), sweet little plush barn with animals for the baby for Christmas (who I am done with presents for!)...the animals all make their sounds when you push their bellies $1) 2 maternity shirts $1 a piece (only 4 more weeks of pregnancy left!!!).

.

I found these books at a teacher sale for a quarter a piece!!  I was so excited.  I have wanted Me on the Map for a long time and also the Usborne book of Peoples of the World is on my list for this year!  I was also excited about the My America book, it's a 'poetry atlas' for the United States.  It will be a great addition when we start our US studies in a few years.  The bottom thing that says Fraction Tower isn't a book, but fraction blocks from Learning Resources with activity cards.  I paid $3 for those.

GRAND TOTAL: around $34....pretty close to what I wanted to spend!

Linking up to My Life on a Taffy Pull. :)  Happy blogging.

jess_hak

Vacation Time

We took a family vacation the end of May. We stayed at my parents cottage on a lake.  Unfortunately the weather was only warm enough to enjoy the water for a couple days.  We found a few other things to do though that were just as fun.

I blogged about the Anderson Girls farm back in September.  We ventured out there again and had just as much fun as we did the first time.

There was hardly anyone there so the kids got to play all they wanted with things which was nice for them.  They played on this slide for a long time.

Silas really enjoyed this peacock.  He had flown into a wallaby cage and was shaking his feathers and scaring the wallaby.  Silas thought it was the funniest thing in the world and would clap and say 'do it again'. :)  Silas likes to pick on people to.....

Holding hands. :)

Another day was really cold and rainy so ventured to the nearest Children's Museum.  The kids had a ton of fun.  They had a huge music exhibit.

.....and bubbles.

The boys really loved the magnet table.

And they spent some time in the construction zone.

They had a bee exhibit.....and Zak even found the queen bee in all of those bees!

They all really enjoyed the light table and blocks (Zak too).

Racing cars down the ramps.

All in all it was a fun relaxing week....bad weather and all.  We're going back this week and the weather is supposed to be hot....so I for see lots of water fun for everyone.  Hope everyone has a great holiday.  Happy blogging!

jess_hak

Garage Saling for Curriculum

I was finally able to purchase most of the rest of Asa's Pre-K curriculum!  My parents blessed us with some monies specifically for curriculum.  That helped purchase All About Reading Pre-Level 1.  I really wanted to use Sonlight this year with Asa.  He seriously BEGS for school work and I knew that I needed to capitalize on that desire to learn.  I also knew that I needed a ready made curriculum for him due to the fact that I just do not/will not (especially with a new little one) have the time to put together trays and units for him myself this year.  The problem was that it was not in our budget to buy a pre-k curriculum (and the curriculum I wanted is on the pricey side)....hard to do in a one income family (or 2 income for that matter).  Enter Ebay.

Some of you may know that I buy things at garage sales to resell on ebay.  I've been doing it for almost a year....with a break from Jan-March.  It is a fun hobby of mine.  I love garage sales, and I love hunting for things that I know I can sell on ebay.....I guess my hobby makes me a nice little profit which in turn funds my garage saling addiction and gives me a little extra spending money.

I was actually able to purchase the complete Sonlight Pre-K curriculum (sans 2 books) for almost 1/2 the price of buying brand new from a seller on Ebay (one of the reasons I LOVE Ebay).  I was also able to purchase it with money that I earned from garage saling.....what, doesn't everyone get paid to garage sale? :)  Look at all these lovely books just waiting to be explored this next year with Asa......books make me giddy.

I thought that I would share with you some of the purchases I made at garage sales that help make buying the curriculum I wanted possible.  Such a fun way to make some extra money.  I know that some people will think that this is not a great thing to do, and that's ok.  I will just say that this is my creative way for my family to buy the curriculum we love, and our way to save money (since it funds my garage saling, which in turn saves us money on clothes, Christmas, etc.).  If that makes you upset I am sorry, I am really not trying to upset you.  If it intrigues/inspires you than great!  This is really something anybody could do....and in this economy creative money making is sometimes needed. :)

At one garage sale I bought a huge box of duplo for $15.  When I got home I was so happy to see all the lots that I could make from it (duplo and lego are great sellers).  All 3 of these lots sold for a Buy it Now price of $29.99 (keep in mind that about 12% goes to fees, and 10% of my total sales also go to tithe).  The really fun thing is that I also got about 3 more lots out of this box and 2 have sold (one for 19.99 and the other for 14.99).

I LOVE to buy/sell books.  They key to making a decent profit on a book lot is to not pay more than .25-.50 a book.  Sandra Boynton is a very good seller....the more books in the lot the more attention/bids it will get.  I paid $4.00 for this lot and it sold for 20.83.

I found this lot of Tag Reader books for $1 a piece (so $9 total).  I was pleasantly surprised with the turn around on this.  They sold for 38.85.

I bought this lot of Polly Pocket princess clothes for 2.00 (I actually got a couple lots out of what I purchased) and it sold for 14.99.....slow and steady....not everything needs to sell for big money....the little things add up quick.

This was a fun find at $3.00.....it was really, really cute!  It sold for 24.99.

A good friend of mine found this lot of little Polly cars for .25 (I still owe her .25 lol)....she does the same thing I do only she sells a different genre.  If she sees something that may do well for me for a good price she will pick it up.  It's like I go to double the garage sales that way. lol  These sold almost immediately for 17.99.

These guys were fun.  I paid $1.25 for them and they sold for 17.99.  They brought back memories from childhood...they are vintage 1980s hand puppets from a Pizza Hut promotion.  We had a couple of them.

This Super Why computer was .25 at a sale.....it sold for $12.99.  I thought it would go higher....the completed listings showed it selling for 20-30....oh well....still a fantastic turn around!

This one makes me laugh.  And just to show you that you don't have to buy and sell just toys......  I took a risk on these Wizard of Oz thimbles and bought them for $2.00.  I was so surprised when the auction ended at $33!  Seriously.....what do people even do with these things.

My friend was also very generous and gave me these vintage glass chandelier parts (when she thought she was done selling on ebay) and they sold for 34.33.

These are just some of the sales that I've made in the past few months....and all of these helped me buy a wonderful curriculum.  Still planning on doing it for the next few months.  I'll either be saving up for Christmas or saving up for curriculum for next year. :)  Happy blogging!

jess_hak

Garage Sale Treasures

Hello all my neglected blog world friends.  We have been so busy here!  I have not had the time I wanted to have to blog....I've also not had the time I wanted to do school.  We've been doing our basic schooling  2-3 times a week (math, reading) but we haven't been doing anything fun to make a blog post about it interesting (unless you think that looking at a dozen completed math sheets is interesting).  Anyway, garage sales.....I only got to go one day last week and didn't get much....just some books.  This week I went a couple days, but the kids weren't too into it so I tried not to take too long for their sake (plus it was super hot and we don't have working AC in the van).  I did manage to snag a few great things.

This first picture turned out to be $6.50 total for the books and the U.S. puzzle.  I particularly LOVE the set of Little House books for $3.00!  It isn't the complete set, but it is only missing a couple books.  I have the complete set from when I was little.....it is just so used and loved it is falling apart so finding these like new ones for .50 a piece gave me a big smile.  Can't wait to start reading them with Annabelle this fall/winter.

Hit not 1 but 2 garage sales with boys 4T and 5T clothing.  I NEVER see this size at garage sales so I scooped up a lot.  One sale was pricier (like consignment sale pricing), but I must say that their things were quality name brand items that looked new so I really didn't mind paying more than I usually would.  I just kept telling myself....'this is cheaper than paying retail.....this is cheaper than paying retail'. :)  The other sale was pricing that I liked a lot more.  7 long sleeve shirts, 1 sweater, 2 pair 'play' pants, 2 pair dress pants.....

.....4 t-shirts, 2 short sleeve dress shirts, 5 swim suits (3 are 5T for next year), 2 swim shirts (so nice to have!), 4 pair of shorts, and 2 hats.....all for $29!!  I guess I shouldn't have complained about the price because this is a fantastic price for 31 articles of clothing.  Guess the inexpensive sale evened out the expensive sale.

This is a fun maternity maxi dress for me. $3 and super comfy!

3 baskets at .25 a piece (can never have enough nice baskets for random things....school, toys, desk organization), Thomas backpack for Silas for 1.00, New diaper bag for me 3.00, Iron man will go into the Christmas pile $2, huge bag of dinosaurs, $2, small snack bowls .50 for all, and a puzzle for the boys .25.

That was it for me the last couple weeks.  I won't be able to go this weekend as we will be out of town again.  Hope everyone has a great time celebrating the 4th of July.  Happy blogging!

jess_hak
Linking up to My Life on a Taffy Pull. :)