PRACTICAL PARSIMONY: Yard sale finds

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Yard sale finds

Sweet dress!

This dress was only $2 at a yard sale. I was ready to pay the price asked when I discovered a dirty, black spot on the white sash. Then, I found huge yellow arm pit stains.

I asked the guy if he would take $1. You never can tell if stains will be okay after a wash. Here it is, hanging on the line at dusk after I machine washed it in a load of light, good items of mine. Perfect! K will love this. The tiers are so fluttery and sheer. Plus, she loves lavender.

Toys R Us Totally Me Sewing Machine and Knitting Machine
Then, there was this gem. The little girl got it out once and put it away, showing no interest whatsoever. The grandmother sewed and tried to get the little girl interested. Only the thread is missing, although it is threaded for the first time, threaded from the factory.

Hmmm, the knitter looks interesting, like something I might like. If K, the g-daughter does not want me to send the sewing machine and knitter, I may sell it. I have lots of regular machines, but this one with the chain stitch might be interesting for some items. It is certainly portable, weighing less than a pound.

The sewing machine and knitting machine cost me $5 in the box, along with the yarn for the knitter and a little sewing box. I will sell it for $15. It is $29 on the internet.

Today, I spent $6, will make $15, a $9 profit plus a free dress. I was not out to make anything, but why not? Well, if daughter wants K to have machine and knitter, I will be out the whole $6! Oh well....

Your turn
Did you find anything at yard sales today? How fabulous was it?

3 comments:

LindaMJune 26, 2011 at 6:09 AM
Great finds Linda! Congrats.

Our sale went well and we'll be out there for part of today too but a neighbor brought us two things to sell for her. An old Sears bike (she wanted 50) and a great basket ( five). We took both immediately. The bike is for my daughter but we got a few big offers throughout the day on it.
Here we were trying to get rid of stuff. LOL!
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Practical ParsimonyJune 26, 2011 at 7:37 AM
I hope you are getting rid of stuff and making money! I would have bought an old Sears bike for me. Buying from the neighbors is not the idea....lol...unless they have good stuff.Let's just say you are upgrading your possessions.I have already listed the sewing and knitting machines to sell.
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DmarieJune 26, 2011 at 8:32 AM
ooh, I'm a sucker for a yard sale myself. look forward to hearing how you come out on that sew/knitter. what a cool "toy"!!
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Okay, hoping the annoyances have gone away.

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The Cast

Fancy is my favorite hen. She is one of the three youngest hens I adopted. Because she is so gentle and friendly, she may be the one I rescued when she was being pecked to death after she could no longer stand. She got to live in the house in a box. Sometimes, I let her sit in my lap while she was convalescing. Now, she comes to sit in the swing with me, cuddling up to my body like a cat or dog. She died in February 2012.

Fancy follows me begging, complaining, needing me to do for her. She talks to me in various voices. She allows me to pick her up and carry her. When she became an adult, her head was a darker red and her body was light brown. Around her neck were tips of black feathers. It appeared she had a necklace of jet around her neck. When I showed this characteristic to a friend, he said, "Oh, you have fancy chickens and plain chickens."

Chessie has a broken toe. I broke it! She had a habit of jumping really high and almost sticking. A raccoon ate her in October 2009.

Thelma is the blonde. She is also the largest hen and the alpha hen. I suspect the gigantic eggs are from her. She often squats and presents herself to me. She is top hen, but I suspect she knows she had better be deferent to top feeder of the flock--me.

Louise is the auburn-feathered hen. She looks like the true Rhode Island Reds in pictures. She is almost as large as Thelma. Some days I suspect she is trying to be top chicken. When I got Pepper, I found out Louise is the Alpha hen.

Pepper came here from the same home as the first four. We were discussing putting red pepper on their food, wondering if it really would increase egg production. Pepper is the only name we agreed on. She is terrorized each day by Louise. Even after the worst was over, she was and is still filled with terror and very wary.

Linda is owned by four hens. They allow her to fetch for them. She loves them dearly, so she allows them to boss her around. Linda comes out in the rain to perform chores for them and make sure they have food and water. She begs scraps from all sorts of places to make sure they have fresh fruits and vegetables.

Parsimony is not a vegetable

Parsimony is extreme care in spending money. Stick around and learn about my random thoughts on accomplishing goals economically--dumpster diving aka safari, gleaning, do-it-yourself, sewing tips, recipes, and whatever is happening in my life.

Okay so maybe "parsimony" is not your thing. How about thrift, frugality or just plain saving money? I try not to go the tightwad route as that seems to imply others will suffer from my habits.

Some of my not-spending habits have very much been a part of my lifelong habits. Other habits are newly acquired and are an extension of my lifelong not-spending habits.

I am very imaginative when it comes to substituting or making instead of buying. I will tell you about making a heater for the chickens' water. Not one dime was spent since I had everything I needed right in my basement.

Practicality must rear its head alongside parsimony. For example, I will use the dryer in bad weather or because of allergies in the spring. But, I will not wash clothes in a tub as long as I have a washing machine or can find one.

You may hear more about my four Rhode Island Red hens than you care to hear. They lay delicious brown eggs.

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Saturday, June 25, 2011

Yard sale finds

3 comments: