Ever since my mom shared the thrill of thrifting and clearance shopping with me as a girl, I've had the insatiable desire to seek out cheap items and to reconfigure old items for new purposes. There is a beauty and an inherent problem-solving nature in repurposing. Like a calculus problem with complicated variables and imposed limits.During these warm summer months, I've found that I'm not just a cheap-skate. I'm also a scavenger. And my extended family is just as vulture-like as I am!
Since my in-laws and tia have been here visiting we've scored a table, an attachable child bike seat, and a plastic toy lawn mower all for free! Someone's trash has become our treasure. :) Our best find was a few years back when we scored a little tykes desk for free. And then this summer we sold it for $7. Score!
Of course, it's awesome to get stuff gratis but there are a few drawbacks to our scavenging tendencies.
For one, it's hard for me to say no to "free". My mom-in-law and tia have the repurposing vision and see a use for EVERY piece of junk lying on the roadside. I'm a bit more discriminating and I have a difficult time turning them down. They grew up in poverty in Mexico so I feel like a spoiled gringa when I say no to their finds.
Alas, there is the problem of space. We have a small old home and storage space is extremely limited. I really dislike clutter but I find it super hard to pass up good/free deals so we keep accumulating. Argh!
Do you scavenge? If so, what was your best snag?
2 comments:
Our best one was a gorgeous king-size bed frame that our neighbors had out with a "free" sign. We snatched it up and then sold it for $100.
I'm not much of a scavenger or even a yard sale shopper, but my grandpa is the king of scavengers. When I was a kid he used to walk their dog in the alley & around the block & he found us all kinds of things - atari games, jewelry, trinkets. We loved it 'cause grandpa always had a surprise for us :-)
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