Gas Prices and Rummage Sales

duke3522 · #1 04/05/05, 07:15 AM

Hi Everyone,

Most summers DW and myself are out at the rummage sales looking for bargains to use around the house and for some stuff to sell on eBay. But for the last two summers the high gas prices have made those bargains a lot less attractive. With gas now running in the $2.30+, and since DW won’t be getting out as much, I am not sure just how much rummaging I will be doing this summer. Seems like the time might be better spent gardening and making sure the house is as tight as possible.

Just wondering how these high gas prices will effect other folks rummage sale plans for this summer?

Duke

SpiritoftheWind · #2 04/05/05, 07:30 AM

I only go out 2 weekends a month to sales, but most of the good ones are about 20 miles away. I won't be able to go much this year, that's for sure. Gas here isn't quite that high yet, but summer is coming.Even with my husband's small S-10 pickup that we take, it's just too much extra money. That fifty cent item will turn into a dollar fifty.

Yep, gardening and fixing up the house are about all I'm going to do this summer. Not that it's a bad thing. I just enjoy getting out and talking to folks that I meet at yard sales and at the farmer's market.

#3 04/05/05, 09:13 AM

Closes town to us is 21 miles to the near edge. So going every Friday and Saturday is out. Will have to narrow it down to just one day a week. Since we have to go to town at least one day a week anyway to buy groceries. Chances are it is going to be on Friday's since wife works in town and a lot of times only has to put in half a day of work on Fridays. Last summer I would drop her off at work (6 am), go grab a biscuit & gravy somewhere and then start hitting the yard sales that morning.

What's going to be rough is if there is going to be a great yardsale somewhere on Saturday. Then I will be asking, will it be worth the drive?

I have the same delema about fishing this spring. Fishing is a hit and miss kind of thing. You never know just how good they are going to be biting until you get there. So do I waste all that gas and not catch anything or waste all that gas and possibly catch a fish fry full?

shelljo · #4 04/05/05, 09:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by r.h. in okla.

I have the same delema about fishing this spring. Fishing is a hit and miss kind of thing. You never know just how good they are going to be biting until you get there. So do I waste all that gas and not catch anything or waste all that gas and possibly catch a fish fry full?

Gee, I didn't know that fishing was about catching fish!

My DH seems to think that fishing is just about sitting on the bank with a pole in the water!

Seriously, around here, the only fishing is in the resevoirs, but since were are in year 5 of a drought, and no end in sight, there just isn't any water, and not many fish.

Helena · #5 04/05/05, 10:53 AM

Husband just came back from the dentist and saw on TV there that the average family will spend an average of $240 MORE!! on gas per week if they take a vacation !! That seems awful high !! So I guess many of them will be staying closer to home this year for the yearly vacations. Hubby and I work within blocks of each other ( I work only 2-3 days a week away from the homestead) but we beginning to ride together in our little VW. Sometimes the hours are a little different but no big deal for riding together. It is pretty sad when you go to the dentist to hear the news of the outside world when you have just recently done away with your TV and don't listen to the radio... Am I becoming a hermit...I sure hope so !!

GrannyG · #6 04/05/05, 11:15 AM

Higher gas prices affect all of us, especially if you are retired and on a fixed income. I really could be a hermit, I think. I do not like to go anywhere, I love to be home and just enjoy gardening and all my animals. With us, hospitals and specialists are over 50 miles away, so you have to keep Dr. appts, regardless of what gas costs. Cost $55.oo just to fill the little pick-up. OUCH. I have to work part time to take care of my grown kids who have lost their jobs due to down sizing, so that takes another bite out of a small paycheck.

kppop · #7 04/05/05, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Helena

Husband just came back from the dentist and saw on TV there that the average family will spend an average of $240 MORE!! on gas per week if they take a vacation !! That seems awful high !! So I guess many of them will be staying closer to home this year for the yearly vacations. Hubby and I work within blocks of each other ( I work only 2-3 days a week away from the homestead) but we beginning to ride together in our little VW. Sometimes the hours are a little different but no big deal for riding together. It is pretty sad when you go to the dentist to hear the news of the outside world when you have just recently done away with your TV and don't listen to the radio... Am I becoming a hermit...I sure hope so !!

**********

We are going on vacation in a few weeks. We will be driving from SW Mi to S Florida..roughly 1300 miles..the price of gas isn't one I worry about much..I can't afford to..we have 3 cars on the road and soon to be 4 and we have to buy gas..can't get around it. Kids and dh have to go to work and I have to have a car at home available to me..we homeschool and do field trips and run to the library.

Even with gas costing what it does..it's still cheaper for the 7 of us to drive than it is for us to fly and then rent a van. I'm not about to disrupt my life and turn it all upside down because the price of gas has gone up. I've got other places I can pinch if need be.

kppop

Cindy in NY · #8 04/05/05, 02:38 PM

I usually do a lot of yard sales too. Last Friday, there was only one that sounded interesting but I couldn't justify using gas to drive probably 10 - 15 miles. We'll probably be going to more townwide sales this summer. Most of those we can park in one spot and walk the entire town. I'm also trying to stretch the time between other trips too. I used to go to the grocery store once a week, not I'm going about every 10 days.

Jessikate · #9 04/05/05, 06:26 PM

A couple of friends and I coame up with a good solution for us - Carpool!

Most of the time our purchases will fit into the trunk, but in case we find a large item, we can generaly come back later to pick it up in a pickup or meet the seller halfway somewhere. We all throw three dollars into an envelope every weekend and the driver arrives with a full tank of gas. When we are done garage sailing, the driver returns to the gas station and refills the tank, using the money from the envelope. Last year we actualy had money left over that we used to put toward's a new set of tires for our regular driver, a gentleman that must love hanging out with us ladies, because he drove just about every weekend last year.

Jo in PA · #10 04/05/05, 06:31 PM

I will still hit the sales as I live in a small town, but there is usually 4 or 5 sales every weekend. Won't use much gas.

Janon · #11 04/06/05, 12:19 AM

Sometimes you do things just because you enjoy doing them, and you justify the cost as "entertainment". Every so often we'll go to the casino or the horse track - and yup, 99% of the time we lose money - but its not like you make any money going to the movies either.

No doubt, the price of fuel will certainly effect our decisions... ahhh but you only live once!

cheers,

manygoatsnmore · #12 04/06/05, 12:34 AM

Give up my garage sales?

Not a chance! I did skip going last Friday (my usual day) because the weather wasn't that great. There weren't enough sales to make it worth the 60 mile round trip, plus travel between sales, but I would have done the same thing last year. I save so much money by going to garage sales, that I can pay for quite a bit of gas before I lose money by garage saling.

My friend and I usually go together on Fridays, with me driving because I have the larger vehicle. She usually buys lunch. I may ask her to chip in a bit more toward the gas, maybe not. We have fun, so it's entertainment as well as bargain shopping, and we usually do our grocery shopping and other errands while we're in town.

On the weekends that I work, I get off at 0730 Saturday morning and spend a little time with a newspaper planning what sales I can hit on my way home. I don't try to hit too many of them, as I need to go home and sleep before my next night's work shift, just some of the early opening sales along the way.

kz · #13 04/06/05, 03:46 PM

Since hubby will be retired in a few weeks I figure he'll do alot of rummaging this yr. He put a milk crate on the back of his moped a few yrs ago and gets to lots of sales that way. If he finds something big he returns home and gets the truck. Works pretty good.

reluctantpatriot · #14 04/06/05, 04:41 PM

...and then I decide if I want to go to them before I actually drive. Two weekends ago I went to an auction that had listed some fencing, fence posts, an anvil and a .303 British caliber rifle and some ammunition for it that interested me, but there were many more items too. I surived the 4.5 hour auction and bought the circa World War I rifle that had been "sporterized" ham-handedly, but the internals of it were rather good as well as 12 20-round boxes of hunting ammunition for it. The other items were priced beyond what I was willing to pay, but the I got the rifle for $150 and the ammo for $50 for the lot.

I am a gunsmith and know what I can get the surplus SMLE Enfield rifles (in full military spec) for around that price or less, but the ammuntion will cost about three to four times as much, so I actually got a good deal on the two purchases. I do have another sporterized SMLE of the same model on the homestead, so having a spare for parts is fine or just to have another one for a vehicle rifle.

I know what I need to buy to stock up on and equip the homestead with, and sometimes I am better off waiting to buy brand new for the longer life rather than the cheaper price of the used at a sale. Either way, going the auction/yard sale or occasional trip to the store, I figure out what I need, how much I am willing to pay for it and do a little figuring to see if the trip is worth it for the return on investment.

Make several stops on one big day trip is better than several single-purpose trips in any case.

Just my pennies worth to share...

roncarla · #15 06/30/05, 04:08 PM

No way will I give up garage sales.

On Friday mornings, I take my little girls and a friend garage saling.

On Saturdays, Ron and I go for our weekly date. It's money better spent than going out to dinner. :haha:

nicholascovey · #16 07/01/05, 08:39 AM

Given that necessity of the mother of invention, it's plausible that serious alternative fuel concepts will come from this fuel crisis.

My FIL is an energy consultant and he says that the Saudis are doing everything in their power to cheapen gas because they're afraid we'll find a cheaper alternative source of fuel. However, greedy stock traders are into all sorts of other markets (since the stock market is so unstable), including cattle, grains, and oil, and are falsely inflating the crap out of them for their own gains.

So as usual, blame the rich. They're making it more economical to buy new than to rummage. I somehow think this helps them more than us.

Pork Chop · #17 07/01/05, 08:59 AM

Going to sales,auctions,and even dumpster diving is one way i make $$$. No matter how high gas gets i will still do it. I do alot of scrapping for metal and with the price up for aluminum, iron etc... it is still worth my efforts no matter how high gas goes. Plus my wife and I love going to sales and such.

Pork Chop