ID Mommy Bargains: Garage Sale Finds of the Week

It's Thursday, and in my world, that means GARAGE SALE DAY!  Although it was rainy, I still managed to hit 3 great sales this morning before I had to pick my hubby up from the airport, and found some great deals.

 First, I must give kudos to one of my favorite apps on my iPhone, "iGarageSale."  It automatically zones in on your area (or whatever area you tell it to), pulls the garage sale ads off of CraigsList, and maps them out for you.  It's awesome and worth the newly lowered price of $1.99 if you are a garage saler with an iPhone like myself! Just tap on the "pin" on the map for each sale and it'll pop up with the ad and details.  Sure makes it easier to pick and choose the closest and best sales...I used to do this on Wednesday nights at my computer...sifting through the ads, writing down the addresses, then mapping them all out on Google Maps.  This is SO MUCH EASIER!!!

So here are a few of my favorite finds of the day...

First off, I got this little pop-up baby beach tent.  It was $8 which is still a bit pricey for me for a garage sale, but it looked like brand new and great condition.  Brand new they cost $35.00 so still a steal!  The whole thing folds down into a maybe 18" circle and slides into a zipper pouch with shoulder straps on it.  Great for the beach, and hopefully if we move into the house we're trying to get into soon, we'll be able to use it this summer on our new lake shore!

Next up is an item I thought would look nice for our upcoming open house, and also could be used in our new house since one of it's two fireplaces is non-functioning.  While I couldn't find one exactly like this available online, I did find some similar ones, and they seem to run in the $70-$80 range. Of course, this is outrageous and I would not pay that for a candle holder...I paid $4 and all the candles were included.  It inspired me to clean out all the ash and logs from our fireplace this afternoon, and I think this will look much better for showings! 

Alright, back to some more kid stuff!  I found this "MULA" push toy, which by the sound of it's name you can probably guess is made by Ikea.  It's only $7.99 new, which is not bad at all.  I paid a buck.  It looks like new, and I'm such a sucker for wood toys, and toys that do not require batteries for that matter.  These little pegs with cute faces on them pop in and out as your child rolls it across the floor.  Sammy loved this, and to justify buying another big toy while trying to de-clutter our house, I am probably going to donate his other plastic, battery-powered, not-as-cool push toy to charity.

This is something I've been watching for at garage sales...a puzzle rack.  I found this Melissa & Doug rack for $4.  They sell for around $35 or so new.  It matches perfectly with Sammy's primary colored desk and his Melissa & Doug piano (also picked up at a garage sale of course), and now his puzzles have a place to live.  I usually pick up Melissa & Doug toys when I see them...again, the whole wood toy obsession, but they are also very well made toys.

And last but not least, this is probably the best deal because they were FREE...a cute pair of plaid canvas Converse All Stars.  Too cute to pass up and you just can't beat that price! Similar ones on Amazon run for about $35.00.

So, all in all, the total cost of all these items new: $188.00
What I paid: $17.00

Total savings: $171.00!

Not bad for an hour's shopping trip...especially considering I made $50 selling crap out of my garage this week on Craig's List that my husband just wanted me to throw in the trash!!  ;-)

More proof of my theory that garage sales are awesome!