Saturday, December 18, 2010

THRILLS

Today was the last possible yard sale day for 2010—and it rained. Going out not with a bang but a dribble! But a rainy morning is the perfect time to look back over the year’s purchases and see how I did.

I did good.

As you may know, I keep a spreadsheet with all my garaging purchases noted.

Date Item Paid Est. Value Category Notes
1/9/2010 toy 0.25 8.00 decoration gund classic piglet
1/9/2010 toy 0.50 5.00 decoration another wooden manikin
1/9/2010 quilt 3.00 25.00 household pink and green twin vintage quilt
1/16/2010 soap 0.50 10.00 household Gardeners Therapies liquid soap
1/16/2010 gift 0.50 25.00 gift gap overalls for Emily
1/16/2010 craft item 0.50 60.00 craft Chico's red embroidered shirt

I can’t recommend keeping a record too highly! It really give you a great picture of just how much bang you’re getting for your bucks. I like the feeling of control I have from know where my money goes. And as I’ve mentioned before, if you resell, you need a record for tax purposes.

But really, I do it for the thrill of the bottom line. This year’s bottom line? I spend $440.47 on driveways during the year, and brought home an estimated (conservatively estimated!) $10,510 worth of stuff. Woo hoo! I feel like a lottery winner this morning.

Of course, the bottom line means nothing if the stuff you bring home doesn’t prove useful and/or make you happy. I’m glad to be able to say I have a healthy bottom line in that regard as well. Let’s do the annual round-up by category, starting with clothes and accessories. Spent $5 on 10 accessories, including a darling vintage acorn circle pin.

IMG_9358Bought 31 pieces of clothing for $18.50, including a couple of twenty-five cent cashmere sweaters. I estimate the value in this category was about $1150.

Crafts: Didn’t spend much, though I still bought several sweaters to felt. Spent $3.85 on 8 items that would have been close to $100 in stores. The fave: my angora bed socks made from a felted sweater. I love having warm feet at night!

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Decor: Pretty frugal here—$23 for 14 items, and my vintage wire Christmas tree was more than half of the total! Yeah, a big blowout for me, but I love it. In spite of our decision not to decorate the house this year, my husband snuck up to the attic and grabbed a box of ornaments and surprised me yesterday.

IMG_9861It looks adorable. Wish my photography skills were equal to the task of showing it off!

I really scored in the entertainment category: 17 books, 29 CDs, 65 magazines, and 62 DVDs for less than a hundred bucks. Wow. No wonder I’ve never been tempted to spend dime on cable!

Reselling: I’m waiting for the economy to recover, but I did spend $12 in this category. Had a total of $180 in eBay sales, so I came out ahead.

Yard: my biggest spend of the year on a single item was for the yard.

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Thirty dollars for a gazebo. I can live with that.

Work: wow, bought 74 items worth about $800 for $53.75! Door prizes for children’s librarians, prizes in the staff summer reading program, toys for a grant project. Remember the Smencils back in March?

IMG_6345And the most hilarity was caused by the Winnie the Pooh wine glasses. Kind of wish I had kept these!

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Household: this is always a biggie because I stuff a lot of things under this category, including dishes, fabric, furniture, linens and office supplies. But our furniture finds were especially exciting, since I’ve been watching for mid-century items for the retirement house. I still get a thrill from these:

the atomic era lamps

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MCM bedside tables

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vintage bar stools

IMG_6804Heywood Wakefield vanity

IMG_9113Ingmar Relling Siesta chair

IMG_9079  Hans Olsen chairs

IMG_9865  and the Poul Hundevad credenza and hutch.

Poul Hundevad credenza   hutchI can’t help wondering what MCM marvels I missed in previous years just because I wasn’t looking for it! But I love what I found, and the fact that all of these pieces set me back a total of…are you ready?

$87.

My oh my, I do love to shop on driveways.

 

11 comments:

  1. That is amazing! Just shows how much you save by shopping yard sales, thrifts etc! I keep track of what I buy and pay for it. Some for the resale info but mostly for me and to know just what I have saved in my shopping. I can set a beautiful table with only thrifty finds and I'm darn proud of it!

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  2. a spreadsheet! sounds like something i would've done when i was younger (i used to catalogue all my vhs tapes on index cards including cross-referencing), but i've grown lazy (and less anal-retentive) in my older days. :)

    i'm impressed! it's a great tool to see just how much you've spent and how much you've saved!

    i junk every saturday too but honestly, sometimes i don't WANT to know how much i've spent! i mean, i always get great deals ... but many times i buy more than i should.

    anyway, congrats on a terrific and successful year of junking! here's hoping next year will be even better!

    terrylee

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  3. Merry Christmas to you and yours. I have really enjoyed your posts this year and following your thrifting adventures. Bring on the bargains in 2011!!! xx

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  4. Its good to be the Queen! Whatta great year..you did fantastically well. Here's to a smashing 2011!

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  5. You are the thrifting queen! I would never ever have thought of keeping a record of thrifted purchases, but how satisfying to be able to look back at the year in review. And I am so jealous of your $30 gazebo, btw.

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  6. Congrats on a successful year! I need a spreadsheet like NOW. Thats going to be a resolution for sure...keep better track of my reselling bought and sold figures!

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  7. Wow, impressive savings and all that beautiful, vintage furniture for $87??? Amazing! I am also "borrowing" your spreadsheet for the New Year goals.

    Best to you for 2011!

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  8. Maybe for the new year I'll keep a spreadsheet- that is such a good idea!

    You motivate me to hunt for the lowest prices, you found so many gorgeous mod finds for dirt cheap, so inspiring!

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  10. well now I never thought of a spread sheet but since a new year is coming up I think I will dive right in! Thanks!

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  11. Wow and WOW! Love the bedside tables and the lamp. The chairs, the stools. Well all of it really. Well done!!

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I really love your comments. Thanks for coming along on my thrifty adventures!

 
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