Summer Thrift

Two vintage pots. Left one is from antique store. Right one is from a garage sale.

Hope everyone had a productive Monday. I wanted to catch everyone at the beginning of the week so you can start planning out your thrifty weekend. Now with it being the start of summer, everyone has done there spring cleaning and now needs some way of getting rid of all there “junk”. Some will donate to thrift stores but the others will take advantage of the nice weather, get a cup of lemonade put up a few tables in their driveway and sit out of the sun in their garage and try to make a few bucks. Then you have your people moving out of their homes or sadly just passed and open their homes up to company’s like the Lady Bug estate or Bobby’s estate.   Churches are trying to make money for youth trips or renovation projects, and antique shops are pulling out all their best items for first Fridays. Most garage sales start on Wednesday or Thursday, so while you’re driving to work you can start mapping out where to go on your lunch break or even early in the morning before work. Estate sales start mostly on Fridays, making the weekend good to go to a few estate sales and then go to some antique shops. Church sales or rummage sales can be a great mixture of items and some will do $5 bag day.

 Pillows from garage sale.

 Candle holder from antique shop.

 Deer tray came from a garage sale.

Exit sign came from antique sale.

 Estate Sale find.

 Jewelry Holder came from garage sale.

 Everything on the left garage sale. Right estate sale find.

Estate Sale boxes.

You don’t have to feel overwhelmed hitting everyone on the same day or missing one or two because you’re human and you have to go to work. I end up missing the first few days of a sale and always am able to find good stuff still. Remember not everyone is looking for the same thing you are, so there is a good chance you can find what you want. Estate sales can sometimes be better to go the last day because most the time its 50% off day and estate sale are great for big ticket item like furniture. Antique shops and flea markets, on the other hand, are really good to go to early in the morning so you can see everything before everyone else. Sometimes it can be okay to get to a flea market or garage sale late because they bargain better, so they can take less back home with them. Thrift store have certain days where they have big sales or better days to come in when they get a fresh shipment. I love thrift store outlets personally, you should go on a day when you’re really ready to shop and really ready to dig.  When I go to a thrift store outlet I actually wait back until everyone else gets done digging through the new items, unless I see something on top I know someone will take before I get to it, I feel they don’t look hard enough because they’re trying to move fast, so then I can  come in and get some great items after.

 This came from an estate sale but my dad and I d.i.y. the doors. $2 find.

 

 Rite dye estate sale $4 for box. Film garage sale.

 Thrift Store trays.

  Stain glass came from a garage sale for $10.

 Estate Sale $2.

 Big mirror came from the thrift store $10.

 Antiques are somewhat overpriced due to the fact they’re thrifty people just like you and I are but they go around fixing up items and turning them for a profit. That is fine with me because it takes out the work we would have to put into it when we don’t have the time and some people can’t think of all the creative ways to turn items. Still I’ll go to find key items that are worth investing in such as furniture and vintage kitchenware. Estate sales can kind of be the same way because they have to make enough to pay the estate sale people that put it on. Crazy thing is, I have found some of my best, cheapest items at estate sales. It’s all about knowing what you’re looking for especially at garage sales because people don’t always know the real value of their stuff, or they just want to get rid of it and make money fast. Summer comes with a lot of great events to go to for thrifty people, so check out local papers or free local magazines. Facebook has low budget auction groups and garage sale groups, so you can see items before you waste your time driving by; plus, they will hold things for you sometimes making it easier to shop. Last but not least everyone’s popular go to site, Craigslist or the new app Offer Up, to find targeted items all week long. So go out this weekend and get thrifty!

 Anita