Following Wal-Mart’s announcement in late September that stores across the country would expand last year’s holiday come-on of ten toys priced at $10 to 100 toys this year. The list includes such desirables as the New Transformers Revenge of the Fallen Deluxe Action Figures, board games including Monopoly and Battleship, Tonka trucks with light and sound, the Play=Doh Burger Builder Set (for those young wannabe burger-flippers in your family, and even a Nerf sword. Among other items.

So it was probably to be expected that competitor Target would come up with an alternative plan to get shoppers into the stores during what is expected to be a dismal holiday shopping season. Target’s come-on is to offer a selection of toys discounted up to 50%. Whether that offers more savings to cash-strapped parents than the guaranteed low prices at Wal-Mart remains to be seen.

For parents who really have to buy a few ‘regular’ toys for young children this may be a good deal, as there are unlikely to be any new Transformers or Nerf swords at Goodwill. But definitely keep the resale outlets in your planning, for such things as winter coats, dress-ups for girls, trikes and bicycles, those ubiquitous plastic child cars and play sets, etc. And it’s always possible to find one-of-a-kind items they just don’t make any more that would be perfect for someone on your list. Kitchen canisters, spice racks (may have to give empty), wooden utensil sets and many other things that are more opportunistic than planned as gifts.

The whole 50% off thing sort of reminds me of when I got a 2-day job in North Chicago while my husband was in A-School (Navy) many long years ago. I had small children and he was only there for 10 weeks, so getting a regular full-time job was very unlikely. It was at the area’s Carson Pirie and Scott department store for an upcoming late summer half price sale. One day helping prepare, and the opening day of the sale as floor help in Women’s Wear.

I showed up at the appointed hour, the store was closed in preparation for the sale. Turned out our job as temps was to replace the price tags on all the items in our departments – with the ‘original’ price doubled so the sale price underneath was exactly the same as full price was just yesterday. What a scam! Then the next day we braced ourselves against the huge crowd of revved-up shoppers who had been waiting for hours on the sidewalk. Nothing can really prepare you for watching a bunch of frenzied women with credit cards literally fighting over bras, sweaters, skirts, dresses, jeans and other items they only THINK they’re getting cheap. Clothes were flying everywhere, some things got ripped in half. It disgusted me enough that I never have trusted sales gimmicks ever since.

It wouldn’t hurt to check up on the going prices for some of those items you’re supposed to think you’re getting a great price on before you go to the big box stores to spend hard earned money. You might really be saving on that $20 item now going for $14.99, but you could be making it up on that peripheral item that’s been marked up to double. It might be a really pretty candy plate with angels and Aunt Ruth would love it, but if your experience suggests you could get the same useless item at the Dollar Store for $2, $9.99 is way too much. Retail is a little like a gambling casino. Sure, there are occasional winners, but the house always wins in the end.

I stumbled across a really terrific blog post today on one of my regular check-ins dedicated to the automotive industry. It’s RideLust: 15 Beater Cars That Won’t Disappoint, and it makes the case for the very best deals among ‘Brand New Used’ vehicles that can be had for under $2500 (that’s a deal that can’t be beat by much these days!).

Sure, sometimes you can happen across the Greatest Deal On The Planet just when you happen to need it, as explained in my previous post A Car, A Car, My Kingdom for a Car!. In lieu of that sort of deal, Ryan has lined up some really good ones. There’s the legendary long-lived staples like Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla, but a surprising number of Detroit-produced cars that will at least be good for nostalgia’s sake if they all go under in the current crisis.

As for me personally, we have one of those ’90s Chevy S-10 pickups. It’s an honest workhorse, didn’t cost an arm and leg, and isn’t all that difficult to work on (if you’re into that sort of thing). These are the smaller pickups that can still manage a half a ton of cargo if you need it, but manage to get mid-20s mileage. Gas isn’t going to be as cheap as it is today forever, you know.

So if you or someone in your family has a need for a nice gad-about and you don’t have a lot of money to waste, check these out. Then do your homework for dealers or sellers in your area that have used stock, make your best deal. Merry Christmas!

Links:

RideLust: 15 Beater Cars That Won’t Disappoint
A Car, A Car, My Kingdom for a Car!

My eldest grandson graduated from high school in the top 10% of his class a couple of months ago, for which we are inordinately proud – he was taking courses like advanced biology, pre-calc, physics and advanced literature/writing, which most kids around here avoid like the plague. Now we’re facing the costs of getting him through college, since we raised him and of course we will.

We have had to seriously crimp some of our expectations about how this could happen, as things have changed both personally and societally since our children were in college. First, they don’t give out full scholarships to incoming freshmen around here, no matter how well they do in high school. You have to start with your basic Pell Grant and complete at least two semesters before you’re eligible for scholarship or extra grant money. The Pell Grant won’t come in until the second semester because the process doesn’t even start until the student’s already enrolled, so tuition must be paid up front out of pocket, along with all fees and the cost of textbooks.

So for our grandson, we have made concessions. He will work for his father in another state through the fall, save up money to be put toward tuition, books and transportation (or one of those, since they’re all necessities). That means not starting college until January. That will give us time to save for the tuition.

We’ve also decided to begin his academic career at the area community college rather than the university his mother graduated from, because the first year or two is just basic requirements, the CC offers them in a straight transfer program, and the cost is less than a third what the university costs for a full-time student. That way if he does well, he can get into the scholarship system quickly, including those from university when it’s time to make the change.

Tuition at our Community College is less than $700 per semester, which leaves $300 from the basic level Pell Grant to pay for everything else. $300 won’t even buy him lunch, so saving on the cost of books – which can often add up to tuition for the course – is required. Luckily, the CC here knows it’s in an official “economically depressed region” and offers cool alternatives. Most courses have online sources for lesson material, so students needn’t purchase textbooks at all. There’s also a lively book exchange, a used book option, and even a lending library on campus. So we’re hoping to get by at least the first year without having to buy any books at all.

At higher levels, however, he’s going to WANT to purchase books – he’ll want to keep them forever, as source material he can readily access in his future life. So I have found a couple of sources of very good information on how to save a bundle on college textbooks. If you’ve got someone in or getting ready for college, the tips will serve you very well! Check them out:

10 Tips: Save on college textbooks
MSNBC: 10 ways to save on college textbooks

Many of us watched with serious confusion the strange financial market machinations that led to the Fed bailout of investment bank Bear-Stearns, taxpayers taking on bad debt paper held by speculators rather than any actual member of the central banking community. JP Morgan bought B-S for mere pennies on the dollar, ending up buying for just a 5th of what B-S’s Madison Avenue headquarters building is worth – the rich folks have taken their hit. What matters now is how much of a hit the average cash-strapped citizen will have to take.

Government bailouts of junk paper speculators is outrageous, and does not a thing to help homeowners whose mortgages far outstrip the current reduced value of their homes – while the price of every necessity is going through the roof. Yet at the same time Fed chair Ben Bernanke pledged to “do all that is possible” to help struggling homeowners. There actually may be hope on the horizon, though nobody should bank on Fed “pledges.”

What should a homeowner behind in mortgage payments (and unable to catch up) hold out for? With the cost of everything going up quickly, there isn’t much incentive to hang on to an overpriced mortgage or the increasing fees for being hopelessly behind. If the homeowner still has a job, here are the things to insist if the mortgage holder is willing to negotiate…

1. Reduced principal. Tell the holder you don’t want a property that’s worth tens of thousands less than what you bought it for in an inflated market.

2. Reduced interest. Tell the holder you don’t care to pay 13-20% interest over 20-30 years and certainly aren’t looking to be able to afford a balloon payment in this economy. If they won’t re-set to a flat rate of 8% or less, tell ‘em you’ll send a postcard from wherever you end up.

3. Make sure they re-set the whole thing so you start fresh in the new mortgage. Don’t agree to start over already behind, and don’t accept imposition of ‘points’ on the renegotiation.

In some states courts have determined that the debt has been bundled and resold by speculators so many times that no one actually holds the mortgage paper. This means homeowners cannot be foreclosed on if no one can prove they hold the debt. If this is true in your situation, you just might come out ahead! At least, until the markets figure out how to re-do everything, and in your favor if you insist. They can’t re-do anything you won’t go along with.

And while you’re negotiating, remember that even with a low fixed-rate mortgage you’re still paying 3 times the actual price of the property over the life of the loan. That’s the way it works, and this is not going to change. It’s a trade-off for the real property asset – but useful only so long as it’s an actual asset and not a lead weight on your ability to get by in the world. If the feds can bail out the wealthy speculators, they can bail out strapped homeowners. If they won’t do that, there’s nothing wrong with walking away.

Being a “bad credit risk” in an economy where no credit is being extended anyway isn’t much of a problem. By the time the economy climbs out, just about everything will have to be re-set. If you take to heart the many resources available to conduct your life without going into debt (brand new used!), you’ll get by better than many others.

Links:

MSNBC: Mortgage Mess

Bernanke pledges to help troubled homeowners

Banks may lose $325 billion over mortgage mess

If you enjoy Selena’s video, don’t forget to check out her blog! There’s plenty more knowledge where that came from…

Previous Posts About Thrifting:

Thrifting: It’s An Art Form!
Credit Crunch: How to Survive the Recession
Living on Less: The Alternative Economies
The Payoff: Thrifting and Re-Selling
Free Yourself from Debtor’s Prison
Tips for Avoiding Pressure to Shop
Craig’s List: Great Resource or Scary Place?

A good friend read my post It’s Better than Cheap… It’s Free! and mentioned Craigslist as another very useful resource for the sale and exchange of items, along the lines of the Freecycle Network. I had never made use of Craigslist and wasn’t very familiar with how it works, so in this post let’s look at what it actually has to offer those of us trying to live well on limited budgets.

Craigslist is a lot broader in scope than the Freecycle Network, which maintains local sites devoted exclusively to the exchange of ’stuff’ for free – you advertise what you have to give away or want someone to give to you, and responses are routed through the administrators (sans personal information) to facilitate the exchange. In contrast, Craigslist advertises community news, businesses and services, housing, personals, for sale items and job openings (or wanteds), just like your local newspaper’s want ads – but much, much moreso!

There are local lists serving most cities and a lot of countries, just like for Freecycle Network. If your needs are fairly general, Craigslist might be more useful for some things than simple freecycling, given that it also has a section that basically IS freecycling. The list also offers a section for bartering, where you can exchange something you have or can do for something you want or need. Bartering is part of the notorious “underground economy” the IRS is constantly frustrated in trying to tax, but let’s face it – the government would be better advised to try and get its money from people who actually have money, rather than from people who have little to none.

Craigslist was founded in 1995 by Craig Newmark in the San Francisco Bay area. He incorporated in 1999, and now operates with a staff of 24 people. It does charge fees to place ads unless the exchange involves no money. In 2004 eBay purchased a 25% stake in the company, but so far that hasn’t changed its nature. The company projects an annual revenue for 2007 in the $150 million range – this is not a non-profit enterprise.

It hasn’t been without its controversies, either. in 2006 Craigs List was sued by the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law for allegedly allowing users to post discriminatory housing ads in Chicago that violate the Fair Housing Act. That suit was dismissed as more stringent rules were applied. The list also got in a bit of trouble in 2006 for publishing email addresses, phone numbers, home addresses, photos, etc. in its ‘personals’ sections, something the Freecycle Network guards studiously against with its admin firewall on direct communications. In September of 2007 a woman pled guilty to running an underage prostitution ring through the list, and in October a young woman was found murdered after replying to a list ad for a babysitting job. These are the very type of things responsible social site managers should take real precautions against, no matter how much money they’re making.

Craigslist has been criticized for being a lot like Wal-Mart in local communities, where it challenges local small businesses like the retail giant does. Yet for those of us who honestly cannot afford to spend money we don’t have on some overpriced item from Mom&Pop – or who just refuse to do it – who’s complaining?

But as long as you’re careful – and that advice is good no matter what resources you’re using to help stretch your budget – Craigslist does look to be a useful resource for exchange, barter, selling used items (when you don’t want to give them away), finding ‘gigs’, part or full time jobs, and the community forums might put you in touch with people who share your interests. It can be a good way to advertise a home business or art/craft items you make and wish to sell, and it does offer free ads for free items/services and local volunteer efforts of all varieties.

If you’re interested in checking out Craigslist generally or locally, the links below will get you started. Any reports from readers about their experiences with the list will be helpful too, so don’t hesitate to comment!

Links:

Craigslist Sites

Craig’s list Overview

Great tips about using Craigslist

How to stay away from Craigslist Scams and frauds

Wikipedia: Craigslist

I’ve written a bit about The Art of Thrifting, purchasing clothes, appliances, knick-knacks and gift items at secondhand outlets, garage sales and through auction outlets. I’ve also written about Alternative Economies and how systems like barter and straight trade can keep your family going without the exchange of cash or credit.

This post combines both of these approaches to make a talent at thrifting into an actual income. Over at Apron Thrift Girl blog there is a wonderful post describing one adventure in estate sale thrifting entitled Seeing What Has Always Been There that I recommend to readers so as to get a feel for how to make money by picking out bargains and re-selling them at a hefty profit.

Thrift Girl talks about finding some sterling silver pieces, and about a friend who found an entire set of sterling flatware for $40 that resold for $900. This is one of those spectacular deals everyone hopes to stumble into, but that’s not going to happen all the time. More modest profit potentials still build up and should not be overlooked. Estate sales are sometimes just boxed ’stuff’ in the old home, but are more often handled by small local auction houses. Which in my area advertise in the local paper and with posters on the storefront alerting buyers of the usual Saturday auction, and this can be a really fun way to pick up bargains in antiques, jewelry, artwork, porcelains, clocks and unusual items.

I once found a beautiful 1.5 carat diamond solitaire at an estate jewelry outlet for a mere $300. I had it re-set with a six-prong setting in white gold by a reputable jeweler for another $400 and wore it occasionally for a couple of years. It was too big to wear every day, but was a flawless super-sparkler that never failed to elicit oohs and aahs. I sold it – to the jeweler who had lovingly crafted the new setting for such a beautiful, century-old stone – for its insurance appraisal of $2,000. And he was delighted to get it at that price!

China (plus unusual odd pieces like tea cups and saucers, cream and sugar sets, serving bowls and gravy boats) is also a great investment if you can find whole or nearly whole sets. a complete set for 6 will sell quickly even if it was originally meant to be a set for 12 (but is missing some pieces). People these days don’t tend to have large families, do much formal dining, and even formal dinner parties aren’t so big anymore. My mother had several sets of china for 24, which she always complained were responsible for limiting the size of her dinner parties. I always took that with a grain of salt, given that the mahogany table could only seat 24 +2 with all its leaves. Where was she planning to seat extra guests?

Many china dealers specialize in particular brands and styles, and have websites you can peruse to identify pieces and buy or sell any odd pieces you have. These in turn are bought by people who inherited Great-Grandma’s bone china and the set is short a few plates, saucers or accessories. Return for odd pieces of popular styles is quite good. Crystal is also a good investment, as are any kitchen odds and ends in milkglass or depression glass. Old family Bibles sometimes go for a surprising amount of money to collectors, and the occasional old cardboard box chock full of baseball cards can be a regular treasure (an original Mickey Mantle rookie card in pristine shape can go for more than $30,000). Even textiles – bedspreads, tablecloths, linen napkins, handmade quilts and tatted lace can re-sell for a good profit if you know something about the items, their age, and if they’re in good shape.

Thing is, when you begin thrifting for items you want to re-sell at a profit, you’ve got to pay attention to items you might never think of buying for yourself. And having some idea of what various items are actually worth will keep you from ending up with a barn full of stuff you can’t sell at a profit. Many local auction houses will advertise at least a week ahead of time for all major items in an estate sale, allowing you to do your homework before the auction and before the bidding starts. Some will even let you lodge a pre-auction bid that will start the process on the big day (or just let you pre-purchase that item).

Once you’ve trained yourself to notice items that will readily sell to collectors (even if you don’t like them personally), you’ll need some reliable outlets for your own sales. eBay has proven to be a popular method that doesn’t cost much and has millions of customers. Research what’s available and be careful of the amount of time, effort and money you may have to put into the market in order to start seeing some profit. This can easily become more than a full time job if you’re not careful.

Happy thrifting, and big returns on the re-sale!

Links:

How to Find Great Live Auctions for Resale Items

Resale 101 Auction Secrets Revealed

NBER: Auctions with Resale when Private Values are Uncertain