Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Budget Friendly Idea #2

First of all, I loved hearing your recommendations on the last post! Keep them coming! I don't claim to have all the bases covered on these topics, so your input is greatly appreciated & I'm sure it helps out other readers as well! Anyway, on to #2!

Budget Friendly Idea #2- Craigslist It!

It's no secret I'm a huge craigslist fan- and before I explain how (if it's not already obvious) it helps your budget, let me give you a little list of the things I've found, sold, or purchased on craigslist:
  • A place to live #1. Z's sister & our found our duplex in the city this way.
  • Roommate #1- a great girl- a little weird at times, but a good roommate nonetheless!
  • Roommate #2- the law school student- still friends to this day. Love her!
  • A place to live #2- Z and I found a house we were going to buy. Great deal, but turned out it just wasn't where God wanted us.
  • A Brand New Dryer. Z's sister and I needed one for the duplex- $100 brand new. Not bad.
  • An entertainment center and TV. In excellent condition, at a fraction of the cost.
  • Coffee Table & End Table. Excellent, quality construction for $75. A coat or two of paint and they look like something out of a magazine.
  • Dining Table, 4 matching chairs, and 3 vintage-y chairs- $40. A good bit of time refinishing and they're gorgeous!
  • Our Wii
  • A Piano. Unfortunately, we had to call the deal off because our living situation changed (again), but still, it was an amazing deal.
  • A car. Great deal!
  • A truck. Great deal again.
  • A puppy. Oh wait... that was just me dreaming... :(
  • Sold a little coffee table we got for free for $20. Straight profit baby! :)
  • Just sold a ton of lockers for my boss for upwards of $4k.
  • Sold 3 cars. (Yes, we've gone through a few)
I'm sure there's more, but I'll stop now- you get the idea.

Holly over @ Life in the Fun Lane blogged about a craigslist find recently. Read it here. (Hope you don't mind me mentioning it, Holly!)

This is not just limited to craigslist either- we've found amazing deals on ebay, amazon, Ubid.com, and theknot.com message boards when it was wedding time!

If you are patient, and keep your eye out for a good deal, you can find just about anything- at drastically lower prices. And when it comes to furniture, buying a piece and refinishing it can be a fun project & way to practice your handy-woman skills. :)

It can be a good way to compromise with the hubby too. If yours is anything like mine, he doesn't exactly share the same appreciation for decor that I do, and tends to keep the budget reins a good bit tighter than I would. So if you're redecorating a room & have a piece you absolutley love & want to buy new, chances are your hubby will be much more receptive to the *new* pricetag when you've saved him major $$ on other pieces. Or it could be the fact that he doesn't want to redecorate at all, and could be swayed to accept it at a lower pricetag.

Anyone have some awesome finds they'd like to share?

6 comments:

The Ratpack said...

wow, your table and chairs look great! nice job!

We once got a brand new Ashley furniture entertainment center off of craigs list. She was selling it for $450, and she had just bought it months before for $1100! Turns out she and her boyfriend bought it together and then broke up, and she couldn't stand the sight of it anymore!

Lindsey said...

Nice job!!! You are awesome at Craigslist deals!

The Porter Family said...

Thanks for all of your sweet comments :) I love new visitors! And I love your blog! SO fun.

Jen said...

I love craigslist! I've found 2 roommates, the hubby's found a few apartments (before we were married), and we've sold/given away a bunch of stuff on it. Actually, now that I think about it, the hubby applied for and got a job he found posted on craigslist, which gave him the experience necessary to get his current awesome job offer. Hmm.

I think, though, that your dining set takes the cake! It looks fantastic!

Courtney said...

Thanks for the dining set comments! Too sweet!

Sounds like I'm not the only one who's gotten deals! That's awesome!

Jen- you reminded me- Z's gotten 2 jobs from a craigslist ad! lol! :)

The Ratpack said...

yes, you can absolutely use my pics!