Why I love Yard Sales!

Some women have a thing for shoes.  Not me.  Others have a love for buying new clothes.  No, thank you.  What I love...well, actually there's two things: food and good deals.  There's no way to my heart quite like food, but today I'm going to focus on the "good deals" section of my love.

I think every classroom teacher loves good deals, because having a classroom is pricey!  There's books to buy, bulletin boards to create, and little details down to the kleenex boxes that are sure to run out right in cold season.

This is exactly why I love yard sales.  I can get SO many things for my little ones to use for at least half the price.  So far this summer, I've went "yard sale-ing" three days.  Just take a gander at this loot.

I have 2 closing cabinets, 3 shelves, 1 rack (with Disney princesses!), and a hot pink bean bag (not shown in picture).  Regularly, this would have cost at least $100 - if not more.  I know I bought a shelf this year like those on top for $20 by itself.  Ready to guess how much all of this was...c'mon guess.  Twenty-five bucks.  So for $25, I now have pretty much my entire reading center for this upcoming year.  With a little bit of repainting, these will fit right into my classroom.

So teachers out there, take advantage of this summer!  Go hit yard sales at least once every couple weeks.  Find them in the newspaper, look on Craigslist, or my favorite - just go out and follow the signs.  Your classroom will look fabulous and you'll have more money to spend on those shoes, clothes, or in my case - food.