Live on Less - Clothing and Other Necessities

There are just some things we can not do without, no matter how limited the income or budget may be. Everything you need, everything you want is already out there and a lot cheaper than you can get in any retail store. Why pay for something full price or even on sale for that matter, brand new. If your able to swallow your pride a little, theres almost nothing you can't find in one of the following places.

Thrift Shops and Second hand Stores

Goodwill, Salvation Army and Mission stores have great second-hand stuff. Anything from clothes to dishes to furniture, and anything in between. The items are usually in great shape and clean. If your looking for furniture or appliances, they may not have what you want right away, keep going back as they get new items in a couple times a week. Your bound to find something sooner or later. And the prices are normally at or near rummage sale price, and should be in good working order. A good rule of thumb is, to ask before buying.

Rummage Sales - Yard Sales and Garage Sales.

These are all the same thing, in Europe they are called tag-sales'. One person's junk is another persons treasure as the saying goes. One can find nearly everything here, from dishes to furniture to appliances to knick-knacks and everything in between. Again, make sure things work properly before you buy. These are generally listed in the local newspaper.

City Clean-up

Here is another fun way to get things you need. I don't know about all over the country, but here where I live, there are a lot of town that have city clean-up about twice a year, usually in the Spring and Fall. If you looking for an end-table, couch or even a washer and can fix it up, you can get those this way too for nothing. And it's all sitting right out there at the curb, if you can get to it before the city does. Most of the time, if you go this way a lot of the stuff may need just a little fixing up and it's as good as new. My husband a couple years ago found four air conditioners in one day, going around the city. With some minor fixing, and cleanup, all four worked like new. We kept and are using two of them, and gave the other two to friends. And I tell you, they cool the house down rather nicely!

Cyber Sales

Ebay, online rummage sales and other auction websites are good places to find and sell stuff, but they also carry a S & H (shipping and handling) fee onto the cost. And it takes about a few days to a week before you even get the item you want. I have tried a couple of these websites, but if your on a limited income, this may not be the best way to go. I do agree however, they are very good sites.

But if your looking to stay local, there is a very good group called "Free-Cycle". This is a national group, they have their own website where you can search for your city or area to see if they have it there locally. Here is the website: http://www.freecycle.org I am currently in the group here locally. The idea here, is to keep the good stuff out of the landfills, by that, they mean things that can still be fixed or whatever. The three "R's" is their motto. Reduce, recycle and reuse.

Sources: http://www.ebay.com
http://www.freecycle.org

Learn more about this author, Madison Ogashi.
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