Are you a thrift store and garage sale glutton? I know that I am. The season of yard and garage sales is upon us, and with it comes the deep desire to buy, buy, buy. I’m not much of a purchaser of new items, and I love a good deal. This means that I can become seriously addicted to the pursuit of happiness through garage sale finds.
This also means that I need to watch the clutter that enters my house. Like many others, sometimes I wonder where all of the stuff comes from. Stuff seems to breed in the dark corners of my living room or in my daughter’s toy box. Then I realize that it’s all from the free bins at garage sales, or it was a deal that I couldn’t pass up.
I have a plan, though. It’s a garage sale list. During the year and at the beginning of garage sale season, I make a list of all of the items that I could get at garage sales. These items need to be fairly simple to find. If it’s a niche market item, I can get it on Ebay. Then I look for items that fit the bill. I don’t look for fifteen more food processors or ten more dolls.
If I feel the need to buy fifteen more food processors, that’s where my other tool comes in: the garage sale budget. I take part of our home budget and spend it on garage sales. I give myself a small amount of money to spend, no more than twenty dollars. If I spend it on additional food processors, then I don’t have that money to spend on the items I really need. However, this also gives me a little bit of license to spend small amounts of money on items that I know would be useful in our home.
If you love thrift stores and garage sales, how do you temper your spending?