We just did some butchering and needed to buy an extra freezer this weekend. Found a like-new one advertised in the Thrifty Ads for $155.

Dh and I have never bothered with riding helmets, but after a friend's recent near-death experience, we decided helmets were cheap insurance. We were going to get new ones, but found 2 approved helmets, just our sizes, without a scratch on them in the thrift store for $10 each. (New are $50 and up.)

I love to listen to Christian tapes while doing housework or traveling in the car. I recently found a collection of tapes of the Psalms and Proverbs in the thrift store. Then found 3 additional tapes, one of Psalms, the other two are various Bible readings, by Charlton Heston. Paid a whole 25 cents per tape. I LOVE listening to Charlton Heston's voice! He puts so much emotion in the readings that they literally come alive for me.

Another great find was a whole stack of Countryside magazines in a secondhand book store. That's something I rarely run across.

-- Lenette in OR (kigervixen@webtv.net), March 11, 2002

Answers

Lenette--hubby went to a farm action this week end---& found cookbooks & old wonderful magazines with tons of recipes/ in a box & got it all for $2.00. I'm haveing great fun with!!

-- Sonda in Ks. (sgbruce@birch.net), March 11, 2002.

We also got some great deals at an auction Saturday. Got some farrowing crates for hogs and a horse drawn mower. We have put more hay out and have been looking for a second mower for some time. My best deal of all was at Goodwill a week ago. My daughter is an eight grader and for their graduation dance, they all dress formal, like in prom dresses. I have heard of many parents spent $100 to $200 on the dress. I was not going to do that. I asked the counter girl at goodwill and she said they had some in the back that never got put out. They were brought in by a bridal shop and still had all the tags on them. I bought her a beautiful purple dress, tags still on it (price was $135.00) I asked the lady how much and she says, "they never told us a price - how about $3.00." I bought it and ran out before they changed their mind. Amie loves the dress and I saved bunches of money.

-- Joanie (ber-gust@prodigy.net), March 11, 2002.

DH and I found a box full of Star Trek paperback books at a consignment shop, and got the entire box for only $15.00. Inside the box were also 6 tv guides with Star Trek covers. We started seperating the books, and selling them in lots on eBay. Made over $60.00! :-)

-- Cheryl in KS (cherylmccoy@rocketmail.com), March 11, 2002.

Last month or so I got a new wedding dress and a newmaid of honor dress for under $100.00.The wedding dress was $500.00 and the other dress was $225.00.The shop was no longer going to sell dresses just mens wear .Proably will be the best by I get this year.willa in IL.

-- willa in IL. (goodall6@hotmail.com), March 11, 2002.

2 years ago, found an 18 foot aboveground pool for 30 dollars, never out of the box. 2 weeks ago, got a 3 piece wooden deck that just needs repainted for 20 dollars that fits perfectly. At the same place, got a metal pool deck for $10, single horse trailer for $30, 10 by 10 foot wooden garage door for $10 all at a garage sale. I furnished my whole house and buy all my families clothing at garage sales. I took my 4 year old with me on Saturday, and after one nice lady loaded his arms with free toys, he told me it was time to go home, he had enough toys!! On Saturdays, especially, my poor DH never knows what he is going to come home from work and have to go haul home.

-- Gina NM (inhock@pvt networks.net), March 11, 2002.

Last year I bought our home away from home for $2,500 - 1 1984 14'x70 mobile home. Had it hauled to our land for $1,400 and spent another $1,200 bringing electrical, water, and septic lines to it. In good shape inside after some paint, so we have a great weekend residence for a total of $4,150 (not including land). To furnish it, bought a like-new double recliner sofa, two end tables and a coffee table for $75.00 at garage sales. But my best garage sale bargain ever - a tin- type gilded frame photo of a civil war soldier holding a pistol in one hand - the other hand was gone. Sold it to a collector for $350.00. My cost was $3.00.

-- SteveD(TX) (smdann@swbell.net), March 11, 2002.

My list is too long lol. I pass up an incredible amount of freebies just about every day. Just don't have the space right now. Living outside of Los Angeles, there is a seemingly endless supply of free stuff, quite a bit is not junk either. People just don't want to deal with it and would rather someone haul it off for them, even if it's something like appliances only a few months old or cars still worth several thousand dollars. I'm constantly amazed at what I find around here. Many areas I've lived in, you just don't see people giving stuff away so willingly.

I scan several classifieds papers every day. One of them is online, look for yourself if you're curious. http://www.recycler.com/asp/ClassBrowse.asp?iSC=6004

scroll down that page to "search ads that are _ days old", and just check the last few days. I saw a nearly new 27" tv on there for free, surely that's worth $100.

-- Dave (multiplierx9@hotmail.com), March 11, 2002.

Wow! I'm amazed at the variety of really cool stuff you all have come up with. I guess that's why I love thrift stores, garage sales, etc. so much, you just never know what you're going to find.

A couple of other bargains we've run across recently...the clinic my dh works in had metal roofing put on it not long ago. It was improperly installed and developed a leak so they ended up removing it all. Dh offered to haul it off to save them the trouble. :) There's enough there to finish siding the rest of our (large) barn, covering a number of storage sheds and probably whatever else we choose to cover.

I've been wanting some new sheds for my ever increasing goat herd, as well as a new chicken coop, etc. We just happened to run across a widow whose husband raised poultry. Now the birds are all sold and she needs to get rid of a number of nice sheds. :) Fortunately, we have a nice big flatbed truck to haul them with. Incidently, we traded a rifle for the truck a few years back. We've got more use out of the truck!

-- Lenette (kigervixen@webtv.net), March 12, 2002.

I actually haven't been to any garage sales lately. Come about May we will go every Saturday until fall. Many of the things we buy including clothing, tools, household items and gifts are purchased during the garage sale season. However, we did run into a streak of good stuff recently. Every year we barter with some friends. We give them one of our Highland cattle and we get a logging truck load of logs for firewood. This year they are getting a bred cow, so in addition to the wood we are getting a purebred boxer puppy! Then I was talking to a friend about the load of logs and she said they had a huge maple tree that had fallen in their pasture that we could have. In exchange I helped them to determine the sex of their seven emus. A very interesting learning experience! On the way home with one of three pickup truck loads of wood from this source, we stopped and picked up a forty year old grapevine that another friend had dug up for new construction. I have been making jam etc. with the grapes from this vine for years and now it will be growing here on the farm (I hope). It,too, was free. The last deal came after we bought a couple meat rabbits for 4H projects, from a woman who was selling out her rabbitry. She mentioned it had all gotten to be too much for her and she couldn't keep up with the manure. Later, a woman at chruch asked if our children had any rabbit manure to sell for her garden. We put two and two together, cleaned out the woman's rabbitry for her, and now the kids have a way to make a few bucks! What wonderful abundance we have been blesed with!

-- Darcy in NW WA (gatecity@nomail.com), March 12, 2002.

Got a free Hunter ceiling fan with light kit in front of a neighbors yard. They were renovating and didn't want the fan anymore. Okay by me :^)!

-- j.r. guerra in s. tx. (jrguerra@boultinghousesimpson.com), March 12, 2002.

We went on the 130 mile garage sale in Arkansas. It's called Bargains Galore on 64. It starts in Ft. Smith and goes all the way to Conway on Hwy. 64. My husband and I found a sleigh baby bed, baby play pen, wind up baby swing, triycycle,radio flyer red wagon, dishes, clothes, horseshoes, we had a lot of fun. It's always the second weekend in Aug. We will definitely make it every year. It's 130 miles of yard sales, antiques,collectibles,flea markets. The merchants mark things down as well. Go to their web site BargainsGaloreon64

-- jlgant (jlgant1231@yahoo.com), August 24, 2002.