What's the best "finds" you've made

 Frugally speaking I mean.  We probably all have our badge of glory
about the diamond ring found in the costume jewelry section.  Here's
some of mine:

1.  Paid .50¢ at a silent auction for a Kodak "Instant" camera.  That
..50¢ turned into $50 because Kodak settled a class action lawsuit
where they had to give certificates good for batteries/film to people
who owned the cameras.

2.  Paid $2 for a 2 qt Magnalite pot (think high-end Circulon) at a
garage sale, it had a life time warranty and I was able to get it
exchanged for "new" because of discoloration on the interior.  I still
use this pot almost daily.

2.  Paid $3 for a pair of Levi's at a church yard sale and found $10 in
the back pocket.  Karma got me back though, the $10 was taken from my
purse by a crack-head neighbor at the time.

3.  Paid $400 for a "mint condition" 66 Ford Falcon (even had plastic
protecting the back seat) being sold by an older lady because her
husband died and she didn't drive stick.  I wish I still had that car,
I sold it for $250 because I put a little ding in the right rear light
area.

  Classic style black wool Jones New York overcoat, in my exact size (petite),
no signs of wear, $16.99 at Goodwill.

If I'd had 100 new coats to choose among in a department store and price
wasn't an object, it's the coat I would have selected.

Frugally speaking I mean.  We probably all have our badge of glory
about the diamond ring found in the costume jewelry section.  Here's
some of mine:

1.  Paid .50¢ at a silent auction for a Kodak "Instant" camera.  That
..50¢ turned into $50 because Kodak settled a class action lawsuit
where they had to give certificates good for batteries/film to people
who owned the cameras.

2.  Paid $2 for a 2 qt Magnalite pot (think high-end Circulon) at a
garage sale, it had a life time warranty and I was able to get it
exchanged for "new" because of discoloration on the interior.  I still
use this pot almost daily.

2.  Paid $3 for a pair of Levi's at a church yard sale and found $10 in
the back pocket.  Karma got me back though, the $10 was taken from my
purse by a crack-head neighbor at the time.

3.  Paid $400 for a "mint condition" 66 Ford Falcon (even had plastic
protecting the back seat) being sold by an older lady because her
husband died and she didn't drive stick.  I wish I still had that car,
I sold it for $250 because I put a little ding in the right rear light
area.

 
Chloe wrote:

I think the garage sales and some thrift stores are great to find
impulse bought designer goods at, not that I'm clothes horse or
anything.  The drag about the thrift stores is that they usually have
some "pricer" who thinks they know what things are worth and way
overprices.  Sounds like you got a great deal on that coat though.  I
just remembered some more frugal finds:

Paid .50¢ each for Laurel Burch sweat shirts (normally $30+ at Macy's)

Paid $3 each for unopened SBC touchtone phones (heavy duty...not the
cheapy Conair kind...and multiple colors like Turquoise) at Target in
the "clearance" section; I suspect they were supposed to have been $13
but someone goofed ;)

 
Frugally speaking I mean.  We probably all have our badge of glory
about the diamond ring found in the costume jewelry section.  Here's
some of mine:

REPLY:

Just 2 days ago I found a leather reclining  chair and foot stool on the
side of the road with a "free" sign on it. I wasnt going to stop, glad I
did! Not a tear or mark on it, no smell other than the leather smell, REAL
leather, chair reclines perfectly and it is the perfect colour to fit into
my T.V. room. Looked up similar chairs on the net.... $200 - $900 depending
on condition! <mine is near perfect and comes with the footstool wish
apparently is a rare find>

Found a box of books by a dumpster, and being an avid reading home, I picked
out 4 books, 2 for hubby, 2 for me. Opened one picked up for hubby.... $220
American money! Since there is no way of finding the owner, SCORE! <has been
put into a savings account for "rainy day" use>

Garage sale 2 weeks ago, quilting fabric lady went out of business. Got $150
worth of quilt shop quality fabric for $20!

Those are just a few that I can remember off the top of my head. I have to
admit, between finds and garage sales and thrift stores we dress in name
brands and our home has many unique and "expensive" looks to its decor.

~KK in BC~

 
~KK in BC~ wrote:

Now that's what I'm talking about!  Major score! It's amazing what
people toss sometimes; one of my friends a few years back talked me
into "junk piling" and my initial reaction was like "ewww".  But I went
with her anyway and dang...I piled my truck with all kinds of good,
usable items...a box fan that looked new, the button was just "stuck".
Opened it up, popped the button and voila...new fan.  I also got a Dirt
Devil vac (it was back when those first came out), the only thing wrong
with it was hair wrapped around the roller.  I kept what I could use
and donated the rest to charity (which is what these people should have
done originally of course, I hate the idea of good, usable items ending
up in the dump).

On one of these days going around the piles some lady was cleaning out
her garage, I got the best Club aluminum 12 frypan with lid (I use the
lid all the time with my non-stick 12 in pans) and a Sunbeam deep fryer
(from the 40's) which I also use fairly often.

One more recent "find" was a "new" Lane cedar chest that was donated to
the Goodwill because the fabric seat had been sat on in the furniture
store and looks a little dingy...I paid $50 (see
http://www.furniturefan.com/catalog/detail.aspx?category 1&productid700914&rtB6&page=1&itemnum=4
for the value) .  I'm in the process of redoing my bedroom and this
will look great at the foot of my bed.