Another Day...Another Dollar (or Six Dollars in Our Case)

One of my favorite ways to get coupons is printing them online. We don't have a printer in New Hampshire, so I've been doing without, but there have been quite a few coupons that would have come in handy (especially since groceries are quite a bit more costly up here!) Fred and I have been looking on Craigslist, eBay, and various store websites as well as looking in stores. We finally found a printer, scanner, copier at WalMart for $39. We were pretty impressed and we brought it home last night. We were so tired when we got home that we never took it out of the car (which turns out to be quite a good thing!).

Today we went garage sale-ing...which is one of my favorite pasttimes. I was looking for lampshades and a sewing machine and Fred was looking for power tools. I also hoped to find some books and puzzles for the girls. At our first garage sale, we were able to get a bag full of new earrings (over 10 pairs), 2 puzzles (100 piece and 500 piece), a 3D puzzle of the White House that had a $20 price tag and hadn't been opened and an old picture frame for $3. Our next garage sale was even better. We got a Lexmark printer/copier/scanner and a 9 books (Nancy Drew and Baby-Sitters Club) for $3! The printer was in it's original box and doesn't look like it's ever been used! We were able to take the other printer back to Wal-Mart today for a refund. I love getting good deals like this! I can't wait to try out my new printer.

I have a list of things that I am looking for this summer and a price limit in mind for each. It doesn't do you any good to buy a bunch of random things that you don't need. Our cottage is extremely small and I need to be getting rid of stuff, not adding to the clutter. With that being said, I still need a few pieces of furniture, some bedding, some decorative stuff, a sewing machine and a few lamps and lampshades. I'd also like to get a few more puzzles, books, and board games for the girls. Although I usually get books from the library, it's nice to have a selection of books around here that the girls can take with them to the pool or the park without worrying about them getting lost or rained on.

I hope you are taking advantage of your area garage sales. It's a great way to spend a morning or afternoon and it's a great way to stretch your dollars! I usually check Craigslist or the paper to find local sales that have what I'm looking for and then I head off in that direction. I'd love to hear what great things you've found lately!