Find Fabulous Frugal Bargains at Yard Sales

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By Shel Horowitz

As of last Sunday, I'm now the proud owner of a set of 10 French crystal wine glasses--for eight dollars. I have items in my wardrobe that cost me a quarter. The $600 Scandinavian wall unit that holds my computer and lots of other stuff cost me $50. When my kids were younger, our swing set was $25--the same price I paid for a $300 exercise machine last fall.

All these and hundreds more bargains, some as little as a nickel, came to me from good yard sale shopping. (They may be called garage sales, stoop sales, tag sales, swap meets...)

Yet I know many people who get very frustrated, pawing through junk and never finding anything. Here are a few tips to yard sale success.

• Spend a few minutes with your newspaper classified section--look for geographical concentrations of good stuff and plan a route that takes you to half a dozen or so
• Go early in the day for best selection, late in the day for best price
• Don't be afraid to dicker--or to leave your phone number with your best price if you can't negotiate (if it doesn't sell at the asking price, guess who'll get called)
• Neighborhood-wide or street-wide sales, sales at churches and schools, sales to benefit nonprofits tend to have the most stuff (and often, the lowest prices)--especially good for kid and baby items
• If there's a college near you, end-of-semester is prime yard sale time
• Rich neighborhoods have the best stuff, but may charge way too much for it
• When you drive by and see one or two blankets with meager selection, don't bother stopping
• Know how much it would cost to buy new; aim to pay 10% or less, up to 25% if you really want something
• Thoroughly examine condition: test drawers, plug in appliances, sniff clothing and books for mildew, hold vinyl record albums flat to check if they're badly warped, etc.

My thanks to those who sent me ideas for the first-ever International Frugal Fun Day, October 2, 1999. You can read all the suggestions and send your own at https://www.frugalfun.com/frugal.html

Lots more on shopping, as well as tons of good stuff about slashing the cost of travel ... dining ... live entertainment ... and so much more. 280 pages of grat advice on having fun cheaply: The Penny-Pinching Hedonist: How to Live Like Royalty with a Peasant's Pocketbook, https://www.frugalfun.com