Our One Day Holiday Weekend Sale

We had no intentions of doing a garage sale over the Memorial Day weekend. In fact we had a bar-be-cue planned for Sunday. Family and friends had accepted our invitation and thanked us for the get-together because no one wanted to travel over the holiday. We were busy cleaning, shopping, and prepping our menu. Then enter our next door neighbor Rob.

We haven't seen much of our neighbor since he got married and moved into his wife's house. His home has been up for sale for months. So out of the blue he shows up the Thursday afternoon before the holiday with the news that he has a buyer for the house. Also, that he was going to have a moving sale that whole weekend. And of course we should take advantage as the ad had already been placed in the classifieds. If only we had known sooner.

A little thing like a big family bar-be-cue was not going to deter Frugal Grandpa. He decided we would do a one day sale on Saturday. All we had to do was throw stuff on a few tables. We already had boxes full of priced items. We needed to take advantage of the free publicity. And the fact that we didn't have to run around hanging up signs. Was it worth it?

Junior brought a few things over - he made $25. FG & I made $29.60. We were left with almost full tables and it was miserable repacking everything. Oh well, that's the way it goes.

Our mailman stopped and he bought some Batman pinback buttons (mint on card) from us. He collects comic books and related items. He was the only one to do a........

Happy Dance! Happy Dance!

PhotoHunt Theme: Shoes

What is it about little boys and puddles?





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Garage Sale Finds: Brambly Hedge Edition

One of our town's subdivisions held their annual Neighborhood Sale last week. The best strategy would be to go the first day before all the good stuff is sold. It so didn't happen. I had Beth and Wullie visiting Thursday and Friday. Frugal Grandpa was off to Rockford to help Sonny with a remodeling project. I did consider taking the kids with me BUT it would have been too much of a hassle. When it's one grandparent to one kid things go smoothly. But getting both kids in and out of car seats myself would be daunting - also dangerous with all the traffic.

Saturday morning I hit the Books and Baubles Sale at our local library. It was wonderful - so many terrific books! I didn't get to the neighborhood sale until the afternoon. The one good thing about arriving on the last day - there were many "half off" and "make an offer" sales. I know I made at least thirty stops. I didn't find much but I was pleased with a few treasures.



I only found one gift item - this Brambly Hedge Memory Game. It's new - never opened - $2.00.




Picked up some activity books for the kids to play with at our house. The kids have already enjoyed the paint with water storybooks - $1.00.



Finally, a few vintage items - $5.30. And that was it. Not much, but no complaints. I hit a lot of sales with minimal use of gas - it was a good outing.

Happy Dance! Happy Dance!

Books & Baubles

Our local library held it's semi-annual "Books and Baubles" sale last week. I must admit I am a cheat. Instead of showing up the first day and paying full price for story books and white elephant items, I only went on the last day. Then it was all the books you could fit into a bag for one price. Baubles were half price.This year they charged $5.00 for the bag. I was a bit surprised as last year it was only $3.00. But, after all, it's to benefit our library and I was more than happy to make my contribution.

My thoughts before hitting the sale were to find some books in nice condition that would make good Christmas/birthday gifts for the grandchildren. I also thought it would be nice to to find a few books to offer on Paperbookswap (I will post about this website later). Up to this point there haven't been any books I have really wanted to put on the wish list at the swap. But, I thought it would be nice to have some credit accumulated in case I did down the road.

I didn't buy any Baubles. I did purchase one bag of books.

So, what did I put in the bag?



Yes, I did find some very nice books to give as gifts. Love the Shark book and Thomas story that have clocks. The kids are still a bit young for the concept of 60 minutes in an hour, but they know we regulate the day by time. I think the best find of the day was the Disney Golden Book compilation published in 1978. It contains three Uncle Remus stories including De Tar Baby - ah, gotta love those politically incorrect tales!



Found 5 nice board books for the baby.



Picked up these three books to list on Paperbackswap. The swap isn't limited to paperbacks. These hardcover editions are in like new condition.



Unexpected finds included these preschool workbooks from My Discovery Book. A Children's Bible Treasury contains 12 small volumes of Bible stories. Di appreciates anything educational I send her way - the kids will just think its fun.



Here are some stories to include in my Grandma Library. I was especially happy to get Little Red Riding Hood and Snow White. Now, I think the only fairy tale I am missing is Goldielocks and the Three Bears. Also it was fun to find my first book from The Stupids series.



Finally, here is a Mr. T book - the only Mr. T book in the sale. I am not too sure what to do with it. I doubt anyone would want to buy it off Ebay as it was part of a series. For now I will put it in my own private vintage children's books collection. Oh yes, yet another one of my many collections. But, I have some of the most wonderful old books. When the kids are old enough I will share and expose them to a world they can only find at Grandma's house.

What a fantastic sale. I got far more books than my $5.00 worth!

Happy Dance! Happy Dance!

PhotoHunt Theme: Candy

This is the Bassett's Candyman. He was originally filled with Liquorice Allsorts. Now that he is empty, he is a money box (bank).

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Love Beads at Woodstock

Now that Frugal Grandpa has retired, it is time to apply for a "Senior Citizens Assessment Freeze Homestead Exemption" (real estate tax relief). This meant a trip to the Treasurer's Office at the county seat in Woodstock, Illinois. We have been to the court house several times to do jury duty but this time we were directed to a new annex building. I was very surprised to see a memorial there for the 35 service men who gave their lives during the Vietnam War. McHenry County only lost 35 men? Well, 40 years ago the county was agricultural and the towns very small - my, how things have changed since then.



On the Vietnam Memorial were a number of bead necklaces - Love Beads? How ironic. The Hippie movement was so anti-war. In those days servicemen were chastised and treated like dirt. I hope this time the beads were left as a symbol of gratitude for the brave men who gave the ultimate sacrifice. This time I hope the beads say Thank You, you deserve our respect and our LOVE.

Frugal Garage Sale Lessons

We happened to be watching the grandkids on a garage sale day last week. FG checked the classifieds and found a whole subdivision was having a neighborhood sale and suggested we hit it. Now, my first thought was "Augh! These kids don't need any more toys!". But reinforcing the idea that garage sales are a wonderful way to find useful (and not so useful) things is a very frugal lesson. After all, their parents take the kids to sales. Much of their clothing has been purchased this way. And, of course, many of their books and toys too.



We were blessed with a sunny day (our Spring has been such a soggy one). We spent a solid two hours hitting at least 20 sales. The kids were unbelievably good and seemed quite content to just look at things and play for a few minutes at each stop. Of course we had to splurge and buy them each something. Wullie got a Thomas and Friends Roundhouse and Beth was delighted with a Disney Princesses Wand and Care Bears House with bears and accessories. Pretty good entertainment for about half the cost of one Happy Meal at McDonald's.

Who was the kid that scored the absolute best !?! It was me, me, me !!! I confess, I collect. I collect too many things. But, nothing seriously - a small cottage and frugal lifestyle doesn't allow it. I collect what I find at garage sales. Things that I fall in love with. Things that I know I should put on Ebay but I am too fond of to part with - at least for now.



I have a small Charlie Brown, Peanuts Gang collection. I found this Hallmark Nativity Christmas miniature ornament set of the Peanuts Gang never removed from the box. The seller only charged me 25 cents. It was all I could do to keep a straight face. Having the kids with us helped - I also bought a cute top for Beth - another 25 cents. Surely the seller thought I was just an indulging Grandma - not a collector who knew she could make a very handsome profit on those ornaments if I ever wanted to part with them.



At the sale where we purchased the kids' toys there was a box of books. They wanted $1.00 each. Normally I wouldn't even look through them at that price but there were some nice large Disney books so I decided to have a look. Oh, be still my beating heart - there among all the newer volumes was a vintage Charlie Brown classic in very good condition. Printed in 1966 - it is a First Edition!!! Again, I just looked like the average Grandma buying toys and a book for the grandkids. It was all I could do to refrain from doing cartwheels up and down the gal's driveway.

It was one of those absolutely fabulous garage sale outings. We spent next to nothing. The kids had a fun time and got a new toy. Treasures are getting harder and harder to find. But I found two for myself!

Happy Dance! Happy Dance!

PhotoHunt Theme: Share ANY Photo

Happy Mother's Day!

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Bling For Mother's Day

I recently told Frugal Grandpa that there was something I wanted for Mother's Day. You should have seen the delighted smile on his face. FG loves it when I actually tell him I have a want, or more realistically, a need of something. Instead of feeling guilty for not acknowledging a special day with a present, he can feel terrific by giving me something I will truly appreciate.

I then told FG that I wanted something shinny and very expensive. Substitute a happy smile with horrified bewilderment. Now he knows I am not a bling kind of gal. I have never asked for anything expensive before. Gracious, has Frugal Grandma gone off her rocker? It didn't matter - I asked and I received. Isn't it gorgeous!!!

PhotoHunt Theme: Time

TIME for "Nick at Nite". This alarm clock gets us up on Time when we loose electrical power!

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Menard's Freebie Gladiolus Bulbs

Menard's recently offered two bags of Gladiolus bulbs free after mail-in rebate. Ah, yes, the magic word "free" - of course we got them. Planting the bulbs would be a good frugal, learning experience for the grandkids.

Now, before I go on, I must tell you that I have the brownest thumb in the Midwest and Frugal Grandpa isn't much better. The only reason we have a raised flower bed in our front yard is because Charles made it years ago when he was still living with us.

Our yearly gardening routine goes like this - if the Spring flowers come up fantastic - if not - oh well. When they are finished we might buy some petunias and plant those - they are hearty and spread. This year though, we are really watching our pennies so I doubt we'll buy any annuals. Our perennials -snow on the mountain and some ferns do well every year and they will just have to suffice. Another reason to skip buying flowers this year is that the deer are finding them too tasty. We have already lost most of our tulips to Bambie and friends.

We got a good chuckle from reading the instructions on the Gladiolus packaging. It says we need to pull the bulbs at the end of the season and store them in a dry, cool place. Yeah right, like that is going to happen - hardy har har! Once they are in the ground, that's it. If they even grow this year, that will be fantastic. If they come up again next year, it will be a miracle - a "free" miracle.



We don't even own a watering can. The kids ran around with cups of water to give the newly planted bulbs a drink.

What Frugal lessons did the kids learn - well, none. We didn't tell them the Gladiolus were free. They did learn that some plants come from bulbs rather than seed and that watering all the plants is very important. I guess, it's pretty pathetic that I can't expose them to a love of gardening myself. Di doesn't garden, besides they are renting a house. Luckily their other Grandma will teach them a lot more about flowers - her garden has quite a large variety. She also has a watering can and proper tools. Thank goodness Grandma #2 has a green thumb!