Well I did it! I confess! I have become a garbage monger. Last night the condo complex that I live in had a bulk pick up. I forgot about it until my husband came home from work at 9:30 p.m.Told me you wouldn't believe all the stuff at the curb across the street.........OMG! He should have never told me. Here I was in my Jammie's, watching Dancing with the Stars and I had to.......I just had to run upstairs (now if you know me - running is impossible for me to do with my arthritis) OK, I hobbled up the stairs about as fast as a turtle running a race and threw on my clothes.
Of course sans bra! Hobbled down the stairs, grabbed the emergency flashlight off the outlet and my cane and out the door I went. WOW!!! Randy was right....holy crap! Let me at it!!! I found an entire miniature Christmas village still in their boxes, bag of VHS tapes for the kids, Black and Decker scum buster scrubber still in the box, several other nice nearly new Christmas ornaments and wreaths, a Yankee candle - the big size one hardly used, wrought iron candle holder - the kind you put in your fireplace still in the box and a whole bunch of other stuff I can't seem to remember now. There were kitchen chairs, various TVs, electronics, computer components etc. etc. etc. Well you get the picture. I didn't even open any of the trash bags either. Of course the weekly trash pick up was put out too but you can tell the difference. What I just can't get over is the blatant waste of usable items that could have been freecycled or given to one of the local thrift shops. How sad that people are either too selfish or just don't think to donate. So many usable things just going to a landfill. Many people in this country are in need of these items and they just go to waste. Think about it my friends. If you have items that you no longer need no matter how old they are, if they are in good condition please think about donating or join your local freecycle group and give them away. I belong to Freecycle New Haven and have given and received many useful items. I just gave away one of our old cell phones to a lady who's phone was 8 years old. This phone was only 2 year old. We belong to a plan that gives us new phones every two years. She was sooooo happy to get it. And
I just gave a bag of clothing away to another freecycler. They were the items that just didn't fit me right but all new or gently used. You would not believe how many requests I received for these clothes! I finally just put everyones names into a hat and pulled out a name.
After I went through the items across the street from me, I decided to drive through the rest of the complex. Boy did I feel like a thief in the night!!!! But......I found a nearly new Fisher Price trike for my Chessie and an adorable child's picnic table. The table was round with four little round stools attached. Perfect condition. I had to go back home and get Randy to help get that one. I again saw so many usable things. A Hitchcock twin bed, a white metal bakers rack, TVs, etc. What a waste! My niece would like so many things for Chessie but lives on an almost nonexistent budget. So she was so thrilled about the picnic table and trike. I will divide the Christmas decor between her and Danielle. The kids will also get the VHS tapes as they still enjoy the old technology and do not care what the venue is as long as they get to enjoy the tapes.
My niece Diana and I have a laughing competition about who finds the most "great stuff" at yard sales. Here in southern New England we call them "tag" sales but also use the terms garage sales and yard sales. I honestly believe that I am the queen of the tag sale's! I cannot even begin to list what I have gotten at tag sales. I think that half of my house has been furnished from them. And I think my home is very classy and elegant. People never believe me when I tell them that. They think that I had a decorator help in designing my rooms. Nope! Just me and the Randy. But I admit I do not buy junk. It has to be nice or pretty or I need to have a use for it. Some of the items that I got this month are:
A Kitchenaid Juicer in the original box for 5.00. Sold for over 100.00!
Yards and yards of new fabric for sewing and craft projects. At least 200.00 worth of fabric for 20.00 at our local thrift store.
A set of Syracuse bone china - service for 12 - very beautiful - Governor Clinton pattern which included 8 Lenox cups and saucers and 4 dinner plates in the Eternal pattern, all for 30.00!
My china set is Lenox which was discontinues but the eternal pattern is the same dishes color and shape - just minus the flowers on it so I can use it with my wedding china to fill in what I don't have. Each cup and saucer is more than 30.00 each!
DVDs for 1.00 each.
Various crafting supplies for just pennies.
Yarn for my crochet projects for just a few dollars for a trash bag full!
The list goes on and on. People give me lists of items that they need so I can find them at tag sales. I am always happy to shop for them.
Soooo expensive! I love old things. China and glassware with flowers, old linens that are hand made, etc. My husband and I love to browse antique shops to see how much things are prices and then we laugh cause we bought the same item at a yard sale! But we paid only fifty cents or a dollar for them. My daughter went to her first yard sale when she was 4 weeks old. I would put her in her infant carrier and park her under a shady spot and browse the wares. There was nothing she wanted for when she was little. She had the best clothes, the best toys, the most books of any child in her school. The only difference was that her Mom got them for next to nothing and their Moms had to pay full price. No one ever knew. They just thought we were rich! They will never know how rich we really are! One of my best buys was a real genuine Louis Vouton purse. It had a broken zipper so I took it to the shoe repair shop and it cost me 5.00 for a new zipper. He was impressed with my purse. Said it was really nice. I paid one dollar for it. It originally cost about 1400.00 new. 18 years later I still have it and use it. My daughter went nuts when I told her I had it. It was put away in my closet and I even forgot it was there. You would have thought that I just produced the Holy Grail!! She was that excited and or course used it for 3 months before returning it to me. Gotta love it! Its in my blood.
I will always salivate at the sight of a tag sale sign.
Hope you enjoyed this posting. Don't forget you can drop me a line at Jiggsiemamma@sbcglobal.net anytime. Peace, Joy and Love.
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