The THRILL of a good bargain

I love garage sales! For one, it is something different for Allie and I to do. Secondly, it gives us the chance to explore new areas. Best of all, we can find great deals on things......especially baby things!! So yesterday Allie and I went to a garage sale and hit the jackpot. Here is what we found:

• Power Wheels Barbie Jeep - $20 (came w/ battery and charger)
• Big Spring Horse - $15
• Mega Blocks - $2
• Beach Chair - $2

All of that retails for well over $300 in the stores. Ever since our trip back to Indiana over the 4th of July weekend, where Allie got to ride and drive Mason's Gator, we've been wanting to get her some sort of a battery operated vehicle. We just didn't want to buy it new and spend an arm and a leg on it. We kept looking and looking on craigslist and we would always find something that was half way decent, but usually didn't come with a battery or charger. We actually just found something similar to the Gator for $50 the other day and we had planned on picking that up today until I found the BARBIE Jeep yesterday!! I really wanted to get something more girly since we're going to have 2 girls and I couldn't pass it up for $20.

I know I mention Craigslist a lot on here. What exactly is Craigslist? Well, it's basically an online garage sale. People post things that they want to sell, listing price and location and you just contact them and let them know you're interested. Then they'll tell you where exactly to pick it up at (usually their home, which I would never do myself). Derek and I were just talking about how addicted we are go to craigslist last night. We'll get on there just to look and find something that seems to be a good deal and we'll get it, even if we don't need it. So, we're going to slow down on that for sure, hopefully ;) Anyway, I thought it would be fun to list some of our awesome finds (I won't list prices b/c I don't remember all of them exactly, but I do know that they are all well under 50% the original cost - the best deal being the jet skis):

• 2 Jet Ski's w/ trailer
• Pool Table
• Bike Trailer for Kids to ride in
• My First LeapPad Leapster w/ 3 books
• Carpet to cover our ENTIRE basement
• Stationary Bike
• Tons of Computer things (FREE)
• 2 Trikes
• 2 Sheds (FREE)
• Double Stroller
• Jogging Stroller
• Toddler Bed
• Little People (Farm, House, Garage, 2 Circus Sets, Noah's Ark, School Bus, tons of people, animals and cars)
• Art Easel/Chalkboard
• Art Desk
• Car Top Luggage Carrier

I'm sure there is a lot more, but those are the ones I could think of off the top of my head! So, we also go on trash walks.........doesn't sound appealing, I know. I don't like to do it, but Derek really loves it. He'll go out at night (trash night) and see what people has out for their trash and if there is something he likes, he'll take it. Here's a list of some things we've got from doing this:

• 3 Kids Bikes
• Furniture for our porch
• Kids Folding Chairs
• Christmas Tree

That's all I can think of there. We also do a lot of shopping at thrift stores......call us cheap, but we like to call it THRIFTY!!!